Survivor 43

Survivor 43 is the forty-third season of the CBS competitive reality television series .
Survivor 43 saw its cast strategize around the twists and format established in and . The season saw high levels of strategic gameplay and frequent blindsides, with two players—Cody Assenmacher and Jesse Lopez—taking most of the accountability. After Jesse turned on Cody, he was eliminated in the fire-making challenge by Mike Gabler, whose willingness to take risks won him the jury's respect and the title of Sole Survivor in a 7-1-0 vote over Cassidy Clark and Owen Knight.
==Production==
Following the production of and under COVID-19-mandated restrictions, contestants were also required to be vaccinated as an added precaution. Jeff Probst described his preference for elements and mechanics introduced during the preceding seasons, particularly supporting the continuation of the 26-day game format, the continued implementation of the Shot in the Dark mechanic, and the on-location aftershow following the announcement of the Sole Survivor at the Final Tribal Council.https://ew.com/tv/survivor-42-finale-jeff-probst-winner-interview/
In an interview, Probst confirmed the Hourglass Advantage and , both highly controversial game mechanics from the last two seasons, were retired.https://parade.com/tv/survivor-43-jeff-probst During the coverage of On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast, he admitted that both were his ideas and regretted their implementation following the negative criticism from fans.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op9wO2DhoWs
Continuing from Survivor 42, there were no longer full episodes of "Life at Ponderosa", which depicted the jury members' stays at Ponderosa following their eliminations. Instead, shorter clips were released as part of the "Beyond the Snuff" series, which were posted on official Survivor social media accounts. Unlike the "Life at Ponderosa" episodes, these clips also covered players who were eliminated pre-jury.
==Twists/Changes==
* 26-Day Game
* Tribe Division: The 18 castaways were divided into 3 tribes of 6. No unifying theme was used in dividing the tribes.
* Penalties for Losing Immunity Challenges: The tribe that lost an Immunity Challenge was forced to surrender their flint to Jeff and could only win it back if they won the next Immunity Challenge.
* Beware Advantage/Hidden Immunity Idol: Each camp had one idol that mandated its finder to collect a unique bead from each of their tribemates; once the bracelet is complete with all the special beads, the idol will have power. Until then, the idol remains powerless and their finders without a vote at Tribal Council. Like in 42, the idols would gain full power after the merge when the vote penalty ended, regardless of whether the task was completed.
* Shot in the Dark 
* Journeys: Castaways from different tribes were taken to another island where they were given a choice between protecting or risking their vote on their next visit to Tribal Council. Those who chose to "risk" their vote would play a game of chance, drawing from a bag containing the same number of possible advantages as players who chose to "risk" their vote. One player would receive an advantage, while the others would risk their votes. Those who "protected" their vote would keep their vote.
** Time-Limited Hidden Immunity Idol
** Vote Steal
** Knowledge is Power
* Earn the Merge: The final 13 players were divided into 2 teams of 6 by random draw. The teams competed in an Immunity Challenge where the members of the winning team won individual immunity, a spot on the merge tribe, and the merge feast. Before the challenge, the odd player out predicted which team will win the challenge and if correct, will also receive immunity and the merge feast.
* Knowledge is Power: On Day 14, the Knowledge is Power advantage was re-hidden at the Gaia camp. 
* Double Elimination: On Day 17, the Gaia tribe was subjected to a Double Elimination, where the tribe was divided into two groups of five and two castaways were eliminated through two separate Tribal Councils. Following the Immunity Challenge, one group remained at the Gaia camp, while the other was sequestered at the old Vesi camp for the afternoon.
* Choose Your Champion: At the final seven, an advantage was introduced that allowed its finder to make a prediction as to who would win the upcoming Immunity Challenge; in the case of a correct prediction, all votes against the finder would be nullified. The guess was revealed before the votes were read.
* Simplified Final Four Tribal Council
* Expanded Jury and Final Three: The Final Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing an eight-person jury.
* Reformatted Final Tribal Council: Instead of having each jury member speak individually, an open forum was held to ensure a more insightful rapport between the jury and finalists. The discussion was divided into three portions—"social", "physical", and "strategic".
==Castaways==
Contestant	Contestant 	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation	Finish	VotesAgainst
Contestant	Contestant 	Original Tribe 	Merged Tribe 	Finish	VotesAgainst
 	Morriah Young28, Philadelphia, PATeacher 	 	 	 	5
 	Justine Brennan29, Marina Del Ray, CACyber Security Saleswoman	 	 	 	3
 	Nneka Ejere42, Weatherford, TXPharmacist 	 	 	 	5
 	Lindsay Carmine42, Downingtown, PAPediatric Nurse 	 	 	 	4
 	Geo Bustamante35, Honolulu, HIProject Manager 	 	 	 	4
 	Elie Scott31, Salt Lake City, UTClinical Psychologist 	 	 	 	7
 	Dwight Moore21, Collierville, TNGraduate Student 	 	rowspan="12" 	 	7
 	Jeanine Zheng24, San Francisco, CAUX Designer 	 	 	9 	
 	James Jones36, Philadelphia, PAEvent Planner 	 	 	8 	
 	Ryan Medrano24, El Paso, TXWarehouse Associate 	 	 	9 	
 	Noelle Lambert25, Manchester, NHU.S. Paralympian 	 	 	6 	
 	Sami Layadi19, Las Vegas, NVPet Cremator 	 	 	7 	
 	Cody Assenmacher35, Honolulu, HIElevator Salesman 	 	 	5 	
 	Karla Cruz Godoy28, Newark, DEEducational Project Manager 	 	 	7 	
 	Jesse Lopez30, Durham, NCPolitical Science Ph.D. 	 	 	1 	
 	Owen Knight29, New Orleans, LACollege Admissions Director 	 	SecondRunner-Up 	4 	
 	Cassidy Clark26, Austin, TXDesigner 	 	Runner-Up 	5 	
 	Mike Gabler51, Meridian, IDHeart Valve Specialist 	 	Sole Survivor 	0 	
==Season Summary==
Survivor 43 continued the trend of the last two seasons' shortened, yet accelerated game, but with the castaways now fully knowledgeable of most of the new game mechanics introduced such as the occasional cross-tribe summits, Shot in the Dark and the Knowledge is Power advantage. 
On Baka, Elie and Gabler initially aligned, but later came to be at odds with each other following the latter's personality quirks and possession of a temporary Hidden Immunity Idol. Vesi suffered consecutive challenge losses despite being a generally cohesive tribe. During their tribe's losing streak, Cody and Jesse easily consolidated control of the tribe by being the physically strongest members. Coco, the last tribe to attend Tribal Council, was later ganged up on by the other tribes to reduce their numbers. On Day 13, the tribes formally merged into the Gaia tribe with 4 members each.
The influx of advantages at the merge stirred paranoia, particularly the Knowledge Is Power Advantage, which prompted the castaways to pass their advantages among their allies. This caused a long streak of blindsides: Dwight who passed the Baka idol he received from Jeanine to Jesse; James who expressed overconfidence following his possession of Knowledge Is Power; and Cody, who passed the Vesi idol to Jesse for safekeeping, only to have it used against him. During Cody's elimination, Karla was spooked by Jesse's bold idol play and used the Coco idol to save herself despite not being the target.
At the Day 24 Tribal Council, Jesse, who had become the primary target following his betrayal of Cody, shocked everyone by revealing Jeanine's idol. Declaring his intention to play the idol, the final five started to make last-minute deals, but Karla ultimately took the fall for being the next biggest target. Cassidy won the Final Immunity Challenge and took Owen with her to the Final Three, forcing Gabler and Jesse to compete in the fire-making challenge. Despite suffering health problems during the game's final days, Gabler won, sending Jesse to the jury.
At the Final Tribal Council, Cassidy was lauded for being on the right side of the vote the most frequently of the finalists, but was chided for not actually leading the charge during those votes. Gabler was commended for having the strongest social bonds, but was criticized that his eccentric personality overshadowed his gameplay. Owen was praised for his resilience despite being left out of the vote several times, but was chastised for his lack of agency. In the end, Gabler's effective articulation of his "hiding in plain sight" narrative won over the jury and thus the title of Sole Survivor in a 7-1-0 vote.
==Voting History==
==Trivia==
*Survivor 43 is the first season to include contestants residing outside North America at the time of filming.
*The original cast photo for Survivor 43 was taken before Geo joined the cast as an alternate contestant and thus had to be retaken shortly before the game began with the cast already in their in-game attire.https://www.reddit.com/r/survivor/comments/18x79f5/how_would_you_rank_each_of_the_new_era_casts/kg4zri3/
*Survivor 43 is the first season since to not have a split vote be successfully executed.
*Survivor 43 is the first season that was won by the oldest member of its cast.
*The last three challenges of Survivor 43 were the same as the last three challenges of .
==References==
43
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor 43
Category:Seasons with a reused location