Survivor: Caramoan

Survivor: Caramoan
Season Information
Version	United States
Season No.	26
Filming Location	Caramoan, Camarines Sur, Philippines
Filming Dates	May 21, 2012 - June 28, 2012
Season Run	February 13, 2013 - May 12, 2013
No. of Episodes	15
No. of Days	39
No. of Castaways	20
Winner	John Cochran
Runner(s)-Up	Dawn Meehan Sherri Biethman
Tribes	Bikal Gota Enil Edam
Viewership (in Millions)	10.815
Cast
Opening Sequence
Season Chronology
Previous	Philippines
Next	Blood vs. Water

Survivor: Caramoan, also known as Survivor: Caramoan — Fans vs. Favorites, is the twenty-sixth season of Survivor. This season was the second season to feature the Fans vs. Favorites format, originally introduced to viewers in Survivor: Micronesia. John Cochran was crowned the Sole Survivor after achieving the second "perfect game" in Survivor history. Cochran beat out Dawn Meehan and Sherri Biethman in an 8-0-0 jury vote. It would ultimately feature two medical evacuations, and has to date produced two returning players (Andrea Boehlke and Malcolm Freberg) for subsequent seasons.

Production

This season repeats the back-to-back filming seen since 2009. Production for Caramoan began two-and-a-half weeks after Survivor: Philippines finished filming. CBS announced on January 11 that the season premiere would last for 2 hours; however, on February 7, CBS changed the premiere to be only 90 minutes long.

A casting call happened the same way as it did in Survivor: Micronesia. Jeff Probst stated that they would have liked to have Shambo Waters of Survivor: Samoa and Matt Elrod of Survivor: Redemption Island back, but both said that they were "done with Survivor" and Lisa Whelchel of Survivor: Philippines was considered difficult to be brought back on back-to-back seasons due to being a mother. Troyzan Robertson of Survivor: One World was originally going to be on the season but got cut in favor of Malcolm Freberg. Malcolm, who had just finished competing in Philippines, remained on-location to compete in Caramoan. Troyzan would eventually return for Survivor: Game Changers. Tyson Apostol from Survivor: Tocantins and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains was considered, but was not chosen due to the season taking a "different direction." Tyson however would return in Survivor: Blood vs. Water. Stephen Fishbach was also considered but did not make the cut. In 2015, Stephen would be voted back by fans to compete in Survivor: Cambodia.

This season's pre-jury trip took place in Malaysia.

Twists/Changes

• Fans vs. Favorites: Similar to past season Survivor: Micronesia, this season will feature one tribe made up of die-hard Fans of the show, while the other tribe will be made up of Favorite returning players from previous seasons.
• Returning Players: As implied by the theme, ten former players returned to compete against ten new castaways.
• Hidden Immunity Idol: Like previous seasons, at least one Hidden Immunity Idol is hidden in each tribe's camp.
• Tribal Council at Challenge Site: Due to Brandon Hantz's rampage at camp, the Bikal tribe decided to forfeit the Immunity Challenge on Day 13. Due to this, a Tribal Council vote was commenced verbally at the challenge site.
• Tribe Switch: On Day 15, three Fans were switched to the new Bikal tribe and four Favorites were switched to the new Gota tribe.
• Merge: This season merged with twelve castaways in the game.
• Expanded Jury and Final Three: The Final Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing an eight-person jury.

Castaways

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation			Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Switched Tribe	Merged Tribe
	Francesca Hogi 38, Brooklyn, NY Redemption Island	Bikal			1st Voted Out Day 3	6
	Allie Pohevitz 24, Oceanside, NY Bartender	Gota			2nd Voted Out Day 5	6
	Hope Driskill 22, Jefferson City, MO Pre-Law Student	Gota			3rd Voted Out Day 7	8
	Shamar Thomas 26, Brooklyn, NY Iraq War Veteran	Gota			Evacuated Day 10	8
	Laura Alexander 22, Washington, DC Administrative Officer	Gota			4th Voted Out Day 10	6
	Brandon Hantz 20, Katy, TX South Pacific	Bikal			5th Voted Out Day 13	8
	Matt Bischoff 38, Cincinnati, OH BMX Bike Salesman	Gota	Bikal		6th Voted Out Day 16	4
	Julia Landauer 20, Stanford, CA Racecar Driver	Gota	Bikal		7th Voted Out Day 19	9
	Corinne Kaplan 33, Los Angeles, CA Gabon	Bikal	Bikal	Enil Edam	8th Voted Out Day 22	7
	Michael Snow 43, New York City, NY Event Planner	Gota	Bikal		9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 25	10
	Phillip Sheppard 54, Santa Monica, CA Redemption Island	Bikal	Bikal		10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 28	5
	Malcolm Freberg 25, Hermosa Beach, CA Philippines	Bikal	Gota		11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	11
	Reynold Toepfer 29, San Francisco, CA Real Estate Salesman	Gota	Gota		12th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 31	9
	Andrea Boehlke 23, New York City, NY Redemption Island	Bikal	Gota		13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 33	13
	Brenda Lowe 29, Miami, FL Nicaragua	Bikal	Gota		14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 36	5
	Erik Reichenbach 26, Santa Clarita, CA Micronesia	Bikal	Gota		Evacuated 7th Jury Member Day 36	2
	Eddie Fox 23, East Brunswick, NJ Fireman/EMT	Gota	Gota		15th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 38	16
	Dawn Meehan 41, South Jordan, UT South Pacific	Bikal	Bikal		Runners-Up	2
	Sherri Biethman 40, Boise, ID Fast Food Franchisee	Gota	Gota			6
	John Cochran 25, Washington, DC South Pacific	Bikal	Bikal		Sole Survivor	0

Season Summary

The two tribes were selected prior to the start of the game: Bikal, composed of ten returning Survivor contestants (the "Favorites"), and Gota, ten new players (the "Fans"). Bikal won nearly all the challenges and was dominated by an alliance led by Phillip, dubbed "Stealth R Us", while Malcolm found the tribe's Hidden Immunity Idol. The Gota tribe was ruled by an alliance of six led by Sherri, opposed by a minority alliance of four led by Reynold. Reynold's alliance was quickly reduced to him and Eddie, who were spared due to the dwindling tribe needing their strength in challenges.

The tribes were shuffled in Day 14, with both new tribes containing four Favorites and three Fans. The significantly weaker new Bikal tribe lost every single challenge, with the Favorite majority sticking together to vote out the new players. Malcolm, now on the Gota tribe, aligned with fellow athletic males Reynold and Eddie to avoid being picked off at the merge.

The tribes merged with eight Favorites and four Fans remaining. The new Enil Edam tribe quickly saw two factions emerge: Malcolm and Corinne rallied the remaining Fans together to try and overthrow Phillip, while the rest of the Favorites regrouped under Stealth R Us. Sherri also decided to join Stealth R Us due to her distrust of Reynold and Eddie. This put Stealth R Us in the majority, leaving only Malcolm, Eddie, and Reynold in the minority. Their eliminations seemed imminent until Reynold won immunity and Malcolm found an additional Idol, which he gave to Eddie. In the hectic Tribal Council that ensued, Malcolm and Eddie played their Idols and Phillip was voted out.

However, their fortune was not to last, and Malcolm and Reynold were subsequently eliminated. While Eddie seemed the likely next target, he was spared when the former members of Stealth R Us decided to turn on one of their own, eliminating strategic threat Andrea with an Idol in her pocket, and Brenda after a kind-hearted gesture at the Loved Ones Challenge put her in a good social position. After Erik was evacuated from the game due to low blood pressure, Eddie was the final player voted out due to his popularity with the jury and having betrayed no one during the game.

Sherri, Cochran, and Dawn ultimately were the final three players. During the Final Tribal Council, Sherri was largely ignored, being perceived as a coattail rider after her original alliance collapsed. While Cochran and Dawn were acknowledged as a pair, Dawn was grilled due to her emotional instability throughout the game while betraying several close allies, whereas Cochran was praised for being able to separate emotions from the game. This led to the jury of eight unanimously voting for Cochran to win.

Episode		Air date	Challenges		Eliminated (Vote)	Finish	Viewership (in millions)	Rating/Share (18-49)
			Reward	Immunity
1	"She Annoys Me Greatly"	February 13, 2013	Bikal	Gota	Francesca (6-4)	1st Voted Out Day 3	8.94	2.4/7
2	"Honey Badger"	February 20, 2013	Bikal1		Allie (6-4)	2nd Voted Out Day 5	9.32	2.4/7
3	"There's Gonna Be Hell to Pay"	February 27, 2013	Bikal1		Hope (3-3-3; 5-1-0)2	3rd Voted Out Day 7	9.17	2.6/8
4	"Kill or Be Killed"	March 6, 2013	Bikal	Bikal	Shamar (no vote)	Evacuated Day 10	9.58	2.6/7
					Laura (6-0)3	4th Voted Out Day 10
5	"Persona Non Grata"	March 13, 2013	Bikal	(Gota)4	Brandon (8-1)	5th Voted Out Day 13	9.89	2.7/8
6	"Operation Thunder Dome"	March 20, 2013	None	Gota	Matt (4-2-1)	6th Voted Out Day 16	9.79	2.6/8
7	"Tubby Lunchbox"	March 27, 2013	Gota	Gota	Julia (3-3; 4-0)2	7th Voted Out Day 19	9.43	2.5/7
8	"Blindside Time"	April 3, 2013	None	Cochran	Corinne (7-5)	8th Voted Out Day 22	9.25	2.5/7
9	"Cut Off the Head of the Snake"	April 10, 2013	Cochran, Eddie, Erik, Michael, Reynold	Brenda	Michael (7-3-1)5	9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 25	9.38	2.6/8
10	"Zipping Over the Cuckoo's Nest"	April 17, 2013	Cochran, Dawn, Erik, Phillip, Reynold	Reynold	Phillip (4-0-0)3	10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 28	9.99	2.7/8
11	"Come Over to the Dark Side"	April 24, 2013	Survivor Auction	Cochran	Malcolm (3-3-3, 6-0-0)2	11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	10.31	2.9/8
12	"The Beginning of the End"	May 1, 2013	Andrea1		Reynold (4-2-1-1)	12th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 31	9.25	2.4/8
			None	Erik	Andrea (3-2-2)	13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 33
13	"Don't Say Anything About My Mom"	May 8, 2013	Brenda [Dawn] (Cochran, Eddie, Erik, Sherri)	Dawn	Brenda (3-2-1)	14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 36	9.51	2.6/8
14	"Last Push"	May 12, 2013	None		Erik (no vote)	Evacuated 7th Jury Member Day 36	10.16	2.7/8
			Cochran	Cochran	Eddie (3-1)	15th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 38
			Jury Vote		Sherri Dawn (8-0-0)	Runners-Up
					Cochran (8-0-0)	Sole Survivor
15	"Reunion"						8.13	2.2/6
Notes: ^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge. ^2 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote would commence. ^3 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^4 Bikal opted to forfeit the Immunity Challenge, allowing Gota to win the challenge by default. ^5 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user.

Voting History

		Original Tribes							Switched Tribes			Merged Tribe
Episode		1	2	3		4		5	6	7		8	9	10	11		12		13	14
Voted Out		Francesca	Allie	Tie	Hope	Shamar	Laura	Brandon	Matt	Tie	Julia	Corinne	Michael	Phillip	Tie	Malcolm	Reynold	Andrea	Brenda	Erik	Eddie	Sherri	Dawn	Cochran
Vote		6-4	6-4	3-3-31	5-1-0	No vote2	6-03	8-1	4-2-1	3-31	4-0	7-5	7-3-14	4-0-03	3-3-31	6-0-0	4-2-1-1	3-2-2	3-2-1	No vote5	3-1	8-0-0
►►	Cochran	Francesca	—	—		—	—	Brandon	Matt	Michael	Julia	Corinne	Michael	Malcolm	Malcolm	Malcolm	Eddie	Eddie	Brenda	—	Eddie	Jury Vote
►►	Dawn	Francesca	—	—		—	—	Brandon	Matt	Julia	Julia	Corinne	Michael	Eddie	Reynold	Malcolm	Reynold	Eddie	Brenda	—	Eddie
►►	Sherri	—	Allie	Hope	Hope	—	Laura	—	—	—		Corinne	Michael	Eddie	Reynold	Malcolm	Reynold	Andrea	Brenda	—	Eddie
►►	Eddie	—	Shamar	Shamar	None	—	Laura	—	—	—		Sherri	Andrea	Phillip	Andrea	Malcolm	Sherri	Brenda	Erik	—	Dawn			Cochran
►►	Erik	Andrea	—	—		—	—	Brandon	—	—		Corinne	Michael	Phillip	Malcolm	Malcolm	Eddie	Andrea	Eddie	Evacuated				Cochran
►►	Brenda	Andrea	—	—		—	—	Brandon	—	—		Corinne	Michael	Eddie	Reynold	Malcolm	Reynold	Andrea	Eddie					Cochran
►►	Andrea	Francesca	—	—		—	—	Brandon	—	—		Corinne	Michael	Eddie	Malcolm	None	Reynold	Brenda						Cochran
►►	Reynold	—	Shamar	Shamar	Shamar	—	Laura	—	—	—		Sherri	Andrea	Phillip	Andrea	None	Erik							Cochran
►►	Malcolm	Francesca	—	—		—	—	Brandon	—	—		Sherri	Reynold	Phillip	Andrea	None								Cochran
►►	Phillip	Francesca	—	—		—	—	Brandon	Matt	Michael	Julia	Corinne	Michael	Malcolm										Cochran
►►	Michael	—	Allie	Eddie	Hope	—	Laura	—	Julia	Julia	None	Sherri	Andrea											Cochran
►►	Corinne	Francesca	—	—		—	—	Brandon	Matt	Julia	Julia	Sherri
►	Julia	—	Allie	Hope	Hope	—	Laura	—	Dawn	Michael	None
►	Matt	—	Allie	Eddie	Hope	—	Laura	—	Julia
	Brandon	Andrea	—	—		—	—	Phillip
	Laura	—	Allie	Hope	Hope	—	Reynold
	Shamar	—	Allie	Eddie	None	Evacuated
	Hope	—	Shamar	Shamar	None
	Allie	—	Shamar
	Francesca	Andrea
Notes: ^1 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote was held where the castaways involved in the tie would not vote and the remaining castaways could only vote for those involved in the tie. ^2 Shamar was evacuated from the game due to a severe eye infection. No vote occurred for his removal. ^3 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user. ^5 Erik was evacuated from the game due to hypotension. No vote occurred for his removal.

Trivia

• The theme of the season is inspired from the Igorot culture, as seen in "Come Over to the Dark Side", where the masks used for the Immunity Challenge are Ifugao dragon masks, while the Hidden Immunity Idols resemble the people's fertility charms.
• This is the eighth season to feature returning players.
  • However, this is the first season since Heroes vs. Villains to feature returning female players.
  • This is the second season in a row to feature a returning player who was eliminated before the merge/jury phase of the game. 
• This is the first and so far only season to feature multiple three way ties.
• This is the first season since Nicaragua to feature 20 castaways.
• Like the original Fans vs. Favorites season, the tribe colors are purple for the Favorites, orange for the Fans, and green for the merged tribe.
• This season marks the first time a Fan makes it to Day 39 under this format.
• Francesca is the first returning castaway to be voted out first from their original season.
• The font used in the Caramoan part of the season logo is an edited version of the font: Pompeia Std Inline.
• This season's Tribal Council set is inspired by the nipa hut, a local traditional dwelling in the Philippines.
• This is the first season to have a tribe win the same challenge twice in a season, although the first win was by default, and the two wins were with different members due to the Tribe Switch.
• This is the first season since Tocantins to have the first eliminated person on the merged tribe not be a member of the jury.
  • However, this was the first season since Panama to have the first person voted out of the merged tribe not be a jury member since Joe Dowdle was evacuated in Tocantins.
• This is the third season in which multiple Hidden Immunity Idols were played at the same Tribal Council, the first two being Heroes vs. Villains and Nicaragua.
  • However, it was the first season in which multiple Hidden Immunity Idols negated votes at the same Tribal Council.
• This season holds the record for the latest medical evacuation day in the show's history with an evacuation on Day 36.
• This season ties with Palau, Kaôh Rōng, and Ghost Island for having the most tie votes, with three.
• This is the only season to feature returning players from Nicaragua.
• This is the only season that the Reunion Show had only members of the jury appear on stage and no pre-jury vote outs, as the live reunion show only featured the contestants who made it on the jury phase. All of the pre-jury vote outs sat in the front row, which caused controversy.
• This is also the first season in which not all of the castaways are present for the reunion, as Brandon Hantz was banned due to his uncle Russell Hantz sending threats to Phillip Sheppard on social media, and Brenda Lowe had to stay at home because she was in the last stages of her pregnancy.
• None of the first-time castaways from Caramoan have ever returned for a second season, making this the earliest season with no returning first-time players.