Reunion (Caramoan)

Reunion
Episode Information
Version	United States
Season	Caramoan
Episode Number	15/15 (397)
Original Release	May 12, 2013
Viewership (in Millions)	8.13
Ratings/Share (18-49)	2.2/6
Episode Chronology
Previous	"Last Push"
Next	"Blood Is Thicker than Anything" (next season)
Subpages

Story

The reunion show for Survivor: Caramoan was a controversial one, as the contestants eliminated pre-jury were seated alongside the audience rather than onstage, with Brandon Hantz being absent. Only the finalists and the jury, except for Brenda Lowe, who at the time was in the last stages of her pregnancy, were seated onstage.

Host Jeff Probst explained that the reason why the pre-jury eliminees were not given a seat onstage was because the new set could not accommodate them all, but in a Facebook post, The Australian Outback and Philippines contestant Michael Skupin stated that the studio for the finale was the same set used in Philippines, and it was able to accommodate all 18 contestants from that season, the same number of contestants present at the Caramoan reunion show.

The Reunion was universally panned by fans and contestants alike, with many fans showing their distaste at the pre-jury contestants being left out and Jeff Probst addressing only six of the ten contestants allowed on stage. Erik Reichenbach, who was present but not acknowledged at the show, called the reunion "a farce", criticizing how the show left many questions on the season unanswered and how the pre-jury contestants were left out in favor of former contestants Rob Mariano and Rudy Boesch during the show. Allie Pohevitz and Corinne Kaplan posted rants on Facebook and Twitter respectively, expressing their disappointments about their being informed of their exclusion in such short notice, and wasting their families' time since the pre-jurors would not be able to sit onstage, much less speak (in said post, Allie revealed that each contestant was entitled to bring six family members at the live show).

Malcolm Freberg won the Fan Favorite Award over Brenda.

Trivia

• According to Brandon, he was set to attend the reunion in the days leading up to it, and Jeff Probst only called him to ban him from it after his uncle Russell threatened to fight Phillip on social media. He agreed to not attend after CBS agreed to still pay him the $10,000 he would have gotten for attending.
• With Brandon's ban and Brenda's pregnancy, this marks the first time that the attending cast is incomplete in the reunion.
  • This would happen once again in later seasons:
    • In Cambodia, when Vytas Baskauskas was banned from attending due to spoiling controversy.
    • In Ghost Island, when Stephanie Johnson did not attend for unspecified personal reasons.
    • In David vs. Goliath, when Alec Merlino was uninvited due to directly violating the non-disclosure agreement and Jeremy Crawford did not attend for unspecified reasons.
    • In Island of the Idols, when Dan Spilo was banned after his ejection from the game and Elizabeth Beisel and Jack Nichting did not attend for unspecified reasons.
• This is currently the last season to feature the Fan Favorite Award.