This Has Never Happened Before! is the season premiere of Survivor: Palau.
Story[]
Day 1[]
After the introductions, the show starts with 20 castaways paddling to the designated beach with only the clothes on their back. Host Jeff Probst pulls up to the castaways' boat in a speedboat and reveals that two Immunity Necklaces are present on the beach, awaiting the first male and first female castaway to arrive on shore. This sparks internal competition within the castaways, who try to get the advantage as they near the shore such as to secure immunity.
Jonathan Libby and Stephenie LaGrossa decide to abandon ship as the boat approaches the beach and swim the rest of the distance to shore, assuming that this would give them an advantage over the castaways who remained paddling. This proves to be a detriment as they are left trailing behind the boat. On the boat, Wanda Shirk begins singing, much to the chagrin of the other castaways.
Ian Rosenberger ultimately becomes the first man and the first person overall to arrive on the shore, thus granting him individual immunity. Jolanda Jones narrowly beats out Jenn Lyon to claim the females' immunity.
The 20 castaways begin building shelter and finding their water source, awaiting further information on what to do next. Some begin forming alliances, while others question how the tribes will be formed. Angie Jakusz and Coby Archa find themselves to be the "outcasts" in the group of 20 and think about forming a two-person alliance.
Day 2[]
On Day 2, Jeff Probst arrives at camp and announces that two tribes of nine will be chosen by means of a Schoolyard Pick. It is made clear that the man and woman who remain without a tribe will be automatically eliminated. For winning the previous day's Immunity Challenge, Ian and Jolanda would be the first to pick for their respective tribes. The second person picked will pick the third tribe member, third member will pick the fourth, so on. The tribes were formed in the following order.
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Jonathan and Wanda were not chosen and immediately eliminated from the game; Wanda took her elimination well and sang one final song to the castaways in the game while the boat slowly departed from the beach. Ian's tribe, Koror, is given brown buff, while Jolanda's tribe, Ulong, is given blue buffs. Jeff informs the castaways that despite having been divided into tribes already, they will continue to live together until further notice.
Angie finds herself to be the odd man out in Ulong. Koror begins strategizing on how to cripple Ulong as much as possible.
The first tribal Immunity Challenge takes place. Both tribes begin with Koror owning a narrow lead over Ulong. This lead is further extended when they decide to carry only their firemaking resources along with them, and abandoning the water carriers and food supplies. Ulong falls further behind when Jolanda makes the decision to attempt to carry as much as possible. Ultimately, they abandon only the firemaking resources after they realize that Koror has already moved far ahead of them. Koror's ability to communicate and work as a team, and Ulong's inability to cooperate and strategize, handily wins Koror immunity.
After the challenge, Probst gives the victorious Koror tribe to keep living on the beach the two tribes have been living on, or to move to a new beach entirely. Tom Westman encourages Koror to move to the unknown beach to seek an adventure, and the rest of the tribe agrees. Ulong returns to their landing beach.
During Koror's paddle to their new beach, they lose their flint after their canoe capsizes.
Day 3[]
Jolanda's strong personality is questioned. Angie's physical weakness puts her on the chopping block as well. Stephenie campaigns for Jolanda's elimination. Jolanda's place on the chopping block is increased even further when she is perceived to be dictating the actions of the tribe - her request for the tribe to take a one-hour break after every two hours of work puts her in further jeopardy.
During Ulong's first Tribal Council, Jolanda's personality, which caused Ulong to lose the first Immunity Challenge, is seen to outweigh her physical strength and she became the first person officially voted out from Palau.
Challenges[]
Challenge: Race to Shore
The newly marooned castaways must jump off their boat, swim across the sea, and reach the drop-off beach where two individual Immunity Necklaces (one for each gender) are waiting. The first male and first female to wear the necklaces would win immunity.
Additional Stipulation: The first male and first female to wear the necklaces get the chance to initiate the tribe selection process (through Schoolyard Pick) the next day wherein the last male and female that is not picked by a tribe will automatically be eliminated (hence, the wearers of the Immunity Necklaces are immune from being eliminated for automatically being the first members of their tribes).
Winners: Ian Rosenberger and Jolanda Jones
Challenge: Supply Dump
Tribes must traverse an obstacle course involving a jungle race, a cargo net crawl, and a tire run. The tribe members would then arrive at a supply dump, where they would gather valuable supplies. The tribes would choose which items they want to race with. The next obstacle was a ten-foot wall that the contestants would need to get themselves and their supplies over. They would then wade through a waist-deep swamp before dropping the supplies on beach mats. The final leg would be an outrigger race on the water to retrieve their tribe flag. The first tribe to cross the finish line with their tribe flag would win. The tribes have to keep in mind that whatever items they pick at the supply dump are the only items they will obtain if they win the challenge.
Reward: The items that the winning tribe picked at the supply dump, as well as the right to choose between staying at their original camp or moving to a new camp.
Winner: Koror
Tribal Council[]
| Tribal Council 1: Ulong | |
|---|---|
| Voted Against |
Voter |
 Jolanda (6 votes) |
      Angie, Ashlee, James, Jeff, Kim, Stephenie |
Angie (3 votes) |
  Bobby Jon, Ibrehem, Jolanda |
VOTED OUT: Jolanda Jones | |
Voting Confessionals[]
Jolanda |
“ | (voting against Angie) Um, Angie, I just don't think that we can be happy with losses. We've got to evaluate and move forward. | ” |
Angie |
“ | (voting against Jolanda) It's nothing personal, but it's either you or I, and I don't want it to be me. | ” |
Final Words[]
Jolanda |
“ | I played this game and I don't think that I would do anything differently. I mean, I am the oldest and I think differently than my tribe. They are a lot more happy-go-lucky than I am, but that's fine, because this was a great adventure and it's an experience I think everyone should try and I don't regret anything that happened out here. | ” |
Still in the Running[]
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Trivia[]
- This is the first episode of Survivor to eliminate three contestants, excluding eliminations at the Final Tribal Council.
- This is the first episode to start with 20 contestants.
- Ian Rosenberger and Jolanda Jones were both immune from being eliminated in the Schoolyard Pick; ironically, Jolanda was the first person voted out, while Ian was the last.
References[]
| Survivor: Palau Episodes |
|---|
| "This Has Never Happened Before!" · "Love Is in the Air, Rats Are Everywhere" · "Dangerous Creatures and Horrible Setbacks" · "Sumo at Sea" · "The Best and Worst Reward Ever" · "Jellyfish 'n Chips" · "The Great White Shark Hunter" · "Neanderthal Man" · "I Will Not Give Up" · "Exile Island" · "I'll Show You How Threatening I Am" · "We'll Make You Pay" · "It Could All Backfire" · "The Ultimate Shock" · "Reunion" |