Survivor: Borneo

## Cast

***Survivor: Borneo*** is the first season of *AI Survivor (U.S.)*. It was originally broadcast under the name *Survivor*, but its official title has been changed to *Survivor: Borneo* to distinguish it from its future seasons. Prior to the change to *Survivor: Borneo*, the season was retroactively known as *Survivor: Pulau Tiga*. The change of name became official in *Survivor: All-Stars*.

Seema became the very first Sole Survivor, defeating Erika in a 5-2 vote.

The season was filmed on Saturday, February 12th, 2022.

## Production

Due to overwhelming interest in the show's format, more than 6,000 people applied for it. Eight hundred of them were interviewed in 16 cities. Forty-eight made it to the shortlist, which was whittled down to the final 16 players and 2 replacements.

## Format

* **Tribe Composition:** The sixteen castaways were divided into two tribes of eight.
* **Summit:** On Day 19, both tribes were tasked with selecting an ambassador to attend a summit. The ambassadors would have to choose which camp the merged tribe would live at, along with giving it a name.
* **Merged Tribe Composition:** The merged tribe was composed of ten members.
* **Final Tribal Council Format:** Two finalists faced a jury of seven. The jurors individually addressed the finalists.

## Season Summary

The series premiere began with sixteen people divided into two tribes, Pagong and Tagi. After 18 days of competition, the tribes found themselves alternating visits to Tribal Council. Initially, voting targets were chosen when tribe members established themselves as weak links or unable to fit in. However, alliances quickly formed, with Tribal Councils orchestrated by The League on the Tagi tribe and The Four on Pagong.

By Day 20, the ten remaining castaways were merged into one tribe, Rattana, and began competing as individuals. Despite facing a Pagong majority, *The Four* was quickly placed into the minority, losing one of their members at the first merge Tribal Council. This was the start of the "Pagonging", or systematic elimination of the remaining Pagong members, with only Erika making the Final three.

Heading into the Finale, two Tagi members (Seema and Iskra), and two Pagong members (Gabrielle and Erika) remained. Seema had proven herself to maintain strong social connections on the tribe, balancing alliances with Viktor and Iskra, while maintaining a Final Two alliance with Erika. Despite Erika winning the majority of individual immunity challenges, at the Final Immunity Challenge on Day 38, Seema won. securing her spot at Final Tribal Council. After Seema won immunity, she betrayed her former Tagi ally, opting to take Erika instead, making Iskra the seventh and final member of the jury.

At the Final Tribal Council, Seema attempted to convince the Jury that she had played the best strategic and social game, referencing her ability to survive the early stages of the game and remedying her gameplay in the merge phase, by consistently maintaining her tribemates allegiances, even when she didn't reciprocate. Although the majority of the Jury was comprised of former Pagong members, it overall found Seema's speech to be more convincing than Erika's, bitter about Erika's betrayal of the original six. As a result, Seema won the season by a vote of 5-2, gaining the votes of Gabrielle, Julienne, Anne, Stephan & Michael, and becoming the first Sole Survivor in the series' history.

## Trivia

* This was the first season in which the entire final jury votes were revealed immediately after being cast, rather than months later in front of a live television studio audience. This was done again in *Survivor 41*.
* This season is tied with ? for the record of the fewest eliminations by a unanimous vote, with one.
* This season has the record for the most tie-votes in a single season with a total of three.
	+ By extension, this season has the record for the most contestants eliminated in a re-vote in one season, with Frank, Stephan and Julienne eliminated in re-votes.

## References

1. ↑ http://www.eonline.com/news/39549/cbs-survivor-welcome-to-the-jungle
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.spottedratings.com/2011/12/spotvault-survivor-cbs-summer-2000.html