Survivor: The Australian Outback

***Survivor: The Australian Outback***, also called ***Survivor: Australia*** in later seasons, is the second season of the United States reality show *Survivor*. Filming took place at Goshen Station in northern Queensland between late October and early December 2000, and aired from January 28 to May 3, 2001 on CBS. The location used was within a three-hour drive off the coastal city of Cairns and located in a wet, tropical area. It was the top-rated show of 2001, according to Nielsen Ratings, ranging at 30 million viewers watching weekly.

Fourteen weekly episodes were aired, the premiere airing immediately after Super Bowl XXXV. The winner, Abby Griffin, was announced on May 3, 2001, when she defeated Marcus Kane by a 4-3 vote.

## Production

Filming was known to have commenced during the *Survivor: Borneo* reunion show which was hosted by Bryant Gumbel. Gumbel had Jeff Probst via phone patch where Probst revealed that they started filming.

In the middle of filming, Steve Rogers, who won a trip to the Great Barrier Reef as part of a reward win, broke off coral which he intended to keep as a souvenir. During the same trip, a production helicopter flew over restricted sea rookeries. Both of these events led to the show being fined $100,000 Australian dollars. Executive Producer Mark Burnett apologized, as id Steve and the production staff after the episode aired.

The season was released in DVD format on April 26, 2005.

## Twist/Changes

* **Longer Game:** The game lasted 42 days, three days longer than the previous season. After this season, the game reverted to the standard 39 day format.
* **Tiebreaker:** In an event of a tie vote, a revote would take place. If a stalemate occurs, the votes cast against the players in question from previous Tribal Councils will be taken into account. The castaway that had more votes would be eliminated from the game.

## Season Summary

The sixteen castaways were divided into two tribes, Kucha ("kangaroo") and Ogakor ("crocodile"). While Ogakor began the game strong, Kucha quickly decimated them to five members. Ogakor broke their losing streak by winning the Day 15 Immunity Challenge, sending Kucha back to Tribal Council; and after a medical evacuation, Kucha lost their third member, forcing the tribes to merge both with five members each. The tribe named themselves Barramundi.

The 5-5 stalemate caused the tribes to be deadlocked the first time they went to Tribal Council, but Luke Ward from Kucha had past votes, bounding the former Kuchas to extinction. Three of the five ex-Ogakors, Steve Rogers, Marcus Kane, and Abby Griffin, however, stayed a strong trio and voted off two of the remaining Kuchas, while also removing their own, Jerri Manthey for her negative behaviour. As the game progressed further, the Barramundi tribe suffered harsh weather conditions, and with a depleted food supply, they were forced to barter their creature comforts for a tin of rice. The alliance of Steve, Marcus and Abby stood strong however the latter two percieved Steve as a physical threat and opted to take Rebecca Brown to the final three. Marcus won the Final Immunity Challenge and took Tina to the end, with Becca completing the jury

At the Final Tribal Council, the jury was torn between Marcus' challenge prowess and Abby's quiet control over the game. In the end, with four votes to three, Abby's strategy won her the title of Sole Survivor.

## Trivia

* The Tribal Council set was located on the rock cliffs beside the Herbert River Falls.
* This is the first season to feature a live finale, as opposed to the previous season, which had the winner revealed on set. Each season thereafter followed this format.
* This season is the longest season in terms of filming, lasting 42 days instead of the standard 39.
* This season saw the first time a contestant was medically evacuated, when Michael Skupin fell into a fire and burned his hands.
* This is the only season to have an episode where there were only three people left.
* This season is tied with *Survivor: Africa* for the most deadlocked tie votes, with two.
* Along with *Survivor (franchise)*, this season has the fewest pre-merge Tribal Councils, with only five.

## References

1. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20020221074716/http://www.wndu.com/entertainment/052001/entertainment\_7900.php
2. ↑ http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,104571~3~0~survivorheadapologizesfor,00.html
3. ↑ http://www.spottedratings.com/2011/12/spotvault-survivor-cbs-spring-2001.html