Gabon

Survivor: Gabon · Season 17

Episode Guide

How Survivor: Gabon unfolded, week by week.

  1. 1“Want to See the Elephant Dung?”Sep 25, 2008Eighteen castaways land in Gabon, billed as Earth's Last Eden, and split into the Kota and Fang tribes. Fang is a disaster almost immediately, bickering and losing, and the dysfunction drags them to the first Tribal Council. Michelle Chase, capable but already reading as bossy to the group, is the one sent home first, 8-1, setting the tone for a season of pure chaos.
  2. 2“She Obviously Is Post-Op!”Oct 2, 2008The personalities start clashing hard, with Corinne's sharp tongue setting the tone for a cast that loves a little cruelty. Out on the beach, the older Gillian Larson struggles to keep pace and find a foothold with the younger crowd. When her tribe drops immunity, Gillian is voted out roughly 7-1, the second one sent home in a messy early game.
  3. 3“It Was Like Christmas Morning!”Oct 9, 2008A schoolyard-style swap reshuffles the tribes, and Sugar ends up the odd one out, banished to Exile Island. It turns out to be the best thing that could have happened to her: out there, she digs up the hidden immunity idol, later gushing that finding it was like Christmas morning. Back in the game, the reshuffled Kota drops immunity and votes out young Paloma.
  4. 4“This Camp Is Cursed”Oct 16, 2008Fang's beach feels genuinely cursed, the tribe losing challenge after challenge and fraying at the seams. Ace, smooth and sure of himself, has built a tight bond with Sugar and starts steering the votes. When Fang lands at Tribal yet again, Jacquie Berg is the one cut loose, another name gone from a tribe that can't catch a break.
  5. 5“He's a Snake, But He's My Snake”Oct 23, 2008Both tribes head to Tribal Council on the same night, doubling the drama. On one beach, shifting alliances catch up with GC Brown, who'd never fully locked into a group, and he's voted out. On the other, all the shaky loyalties and the 'he's a snake, but he's my snake' logic the title winks at send Kelly Czarnecki home. Two torches snuffed in a single episode as the game picks up speed.
  6. 6“It All Depends on the Pin-Up Girl”Oct 30, 2008It's another double-Tribal night, and this one comes down to Sugar, the pin-up girl sitting on a hidden idol and the swing vote everyone's courting. She makes the biggest move of her game, turning on her own ally Ace and orchestrating his blindside. The night's other vote sends Dan Kay packing too, and Sugar's betrayal of Ace flips the whole complexion of the season.
  7. 7“Apple in the Garden of Eden”Nov 6, 2008What looks like a merge feast turns out to be a fake-out, a second swap that splits everyone back into two tribes. An idol clue surfaces, and Marcus, feeling secure as one of the early kingpins, talks the group into tossing it into the ocean rather than chasing it, the apple nobody bites. That confidence proves costly when Crystal and Kenny quietly line up the votes, and Marcus is blindsided as the first member of the jury.
  8. 8“The Brains Behind Everything”Nov 13, 2008The real merge finally arrives and the new tribe takes the name Nobag. Sent off to Exile, Bob, the 57-year-old physics teacher, passes the time by crafting a fake immunity idol convincing enough to fool anyone. At the first merge vote, Kenny pins the season's scheming on Charlie, painting him as the brains behind everything, and Charlie is blindsided 5-4, following his close ally Marcus out the door.
  9. 9“Nothing Tastes Better Than Five Hundred Dollars”Nov 20, 2008The Survivor Auction gives everyone a chance to spend on food and advantages, but the night belongs to one of the great fake-idol moments in the show's history. The grumpy Randy, certain he's safe thanks to a hidden idol Bob had handed him, plays it with total confidence at Tribal, only for Probst to reveal it's a worthless fake. As the real votes are read against him, the tribe can barely hold back its laughter, and Randy is sent to the jury never knowing Bob had played him.
  10. 10“The Good Things in Life Aren't Easy”Dec 4, 2008The loved-ones visit brings a rare soft moment to a cutthroat season. Bob backs up the warm reunion by winning immunity and quietly building yet another fake idol to keep himself covered. With the old man untouchable, the group turns to the biggest remaining threat, and Corinne, the season's sharp-tongued antagonist, is finally voted out to the jury.
  11. 11“The Good Guys Should Win in the End”Dec 11, 2008Bob just keeps winning immunity, the 57-year-old underdog refusing to give the field a clean shot at him. With Bob safe once more, the target lands on Crystal, the Olympic gold-medal sprinter whose struggles in the challenges had become one of the season's running storylines. Crystal is voted out and joins the jury, leaving the endgame to a handful of unlikely finalists.
  12. 12“Say Goodbye to Gabon”FinaleDec 14, 2008Finale night, and the chaos pays off one last time. At the final five, Sugar plays her hidden idol to shield her friend Matty, and with those votes wiped out, it's Kenny, the young gamer behind move after aggressive move, who's sent home instead. Then comes a wild final four: Susie wins the immunity that finally ends Bob's long run, the vote deadlocks between Bob and Matty, and the two are sent to make fire. Bob, of all people, outlasts Matty at the fire to claim the last spot, sending Matty out in fourth. At Final Tribal, the jury weighs Bob's fake-idol wizardry and immunity run against Susie's quiet survival and Sugar's idol-fueled game, and they reward the teacher, crowning Bob Crowley the oldest Sole Survivor yet, 4-3 over Susie with Sugar shut out.