Palau

Survivor: Palau
Season	40
Filming Location	Koror, Palau
Tribes	Ollei      Imetang      Tobi      Koror      Ualap
Returning Castaways
Extravaganza	Tom
Centennial	Tom
Chronology
Previous Season	Survivor: Outback
Next Season	Survivor: Sahara

Survivor: Palau was the fortieth season of Survivor. 

The season ended when Tom won the title of Sole Survivor, beating Kel and John by a 8-1-0 jury vote at the Final Tribal Council. The season featured 20 contestants dubbed as "castaways" marooned on four separate beaches in Palau. They were divided into four tribes: Ollei in green, Imetang in red, Tobi in black, and Koror in brown. The tribes were named for cities and islands in Palau. On Day 19, the tribes merged into the blue Ualap tribe (Palau spelled backwards).

The hidden idol immunity was featured this season. Five were hidden; one for each original tribe and one at the merge. 

The main twist this season was the return of the four-tribe format last seen in Cook Islands. Following the previous seasons, producers wanted to create a season that would eliminate the idea of tribal reliance. For the second straight season, this failed. 

As with the previous season, only one All-Star made the All-Star list at the finale. Theodore Lansing, one of the most popular Survivors ever, refused to be ever brought back, as he found the experience "enriching, awe-inspiring, lush, but downright miserable. It was simply not for me."

This season was called out by most media for the racism emitting from contestant Niko Neeca. In episode 2, Neeca's judgements were revealed when he wanted to vote off Choice for being "ghetto trash," while citing to fellow tribesmate Theodore that "if she were a Jew," she would be "twice the kill." Theodore and Sabrina, the two practicing Jews of the tribe, reported back to Choice and Amy their concerns with Niko. He was unanimously voted out at the Tobi tribe's first tribal council. Producers stated prior to the premiere of Episode 2: "We want to firstly apologize for the comments made by one of the castaways during tonight's episode. We do not condone any of the contestant's thoughts and the network does not support him in any way." Following the premiere of the episode, the producers were lambasted for casting such a racist character. Producers stated: "We had no idea that he believed what he did. Our extensive background checks revealed nothing. We would never have aired any of the comments had it not pertained to the tribe's dynamic. We had no choice but I think it makes a statement that every place in the world has racism and there is no escape. We apologize to anyone who was offended by last night's episode. Ratings plummeted in the next episode, but returned to its high in Episode 4. Theodore Lansing, the contestant who openly condemned Neeca and his beliefs, won both Player of the Season and Entertainment Award. Neeca, not surprisingly, was awarded Villain of the Season, making him the earliest-to-be-voted-out contestant to win an award at the finale. However, he was booed offstage at the Finale after he refused to make any apologies when asked. 

Contestants

Contestant	Original Tribe	Absorbed Tribes	Merged Tribe	Finish	Total Votes
Andre	Ollei			1st Voted Out Day 3	4
Niko	Tobi			2nd Voted Out Day 6	4
Choice	Tobi			3rd Voted Out Day 8	4
Carol	Ollei			4th Voted Out Day 10	3
Britney	Imetang	Imetang		5th Voted Out Day 12	7
Tony	Ollei	Koror		6th Voted Out Day 14	8
Posy	Koror	Koror		7th Voted Out Day 16	6
Adeline	Koror	Koror		8th Voted Out Day 18	2
Theodore	Tobi	Koror		9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 21	3
Amy	Tobi	Koror		10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 23	6
Kat	Imetang	Imetang	Ualap	11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 26	4
Sabrina	Tobi	Imetang		12th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 29	5
Dakota	Imetang	Imetang		13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 31	5
Chip	Imetang	Imetang		14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 33	5
Court	Imetang	Imetang		15th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 35	5
Mamaw	Ollei	Imetang		16th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 36	4
Zach	Ollei	Imetang		17th Voted Out 9th Jury Member Day 38	3
John	Koror	Koror		Third Place	2
Kel	Koror	Koror		Runner-Up	2
Tom	Koror	Koror		Sole Survivor	12

The Game

Episode #	Immunity	Eliminated	Vote	Finish
1	Koror	Andre	4-1	1st Voted Out Day 3
	Imetang
	Tobi
2	Koror	Niko	4-1	2nd Voted Out Day 6
	Ollei
	Imetang
3	Koror	Choice	3-1	3rd Voted Out Day 8
	Imetang
	Ollei
4	Koror	Carol	2-1-1	4th Voted Out Day 10
	Tobi
	Imetang
5	Koror	Britney	7-1	5th Voted Out Day 12
6	Imetang	Tony	7-1	6th Voted Out Day 14
7	Imetang	Posy	6-1	7th Voted Out Day 16
8	Imetang	Adeline	2-0*	8th Voted Out Day 18
9	Imetang	Theodore	3-2	9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 21
10	Imetang	Amy	3-1	10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 23
11	Chip	Kat	3-0**	11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 26
12	Dakota	Sabrina	5-4	12th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 29
13	Kel	Dakota	5-3	13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 31
14	Mamaw	Chip	5-2	14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 33
15	Kel	Court	5-1	15th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 35
Finale	John	Mamaw	3-2	16th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 36
	John	Zach	3-1	17th Voted Out 9th Jury Member Day 38
	Jury Vote	John	8-1-0	Third Place
		Kel		Runner-Up
		Tom		Sole Survivor

• Theodore played the hidden immunity idol. Therefore, the four votes cast against him were negated. 

• • Tom played the hidden immunity idol. Therefore, the seven votes cast against him were negated. 

Voting History

	Original Tribes				Switched Tribes						Merged Tribe
Episode #:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Finale
Eliminated:	Andre 4/5 votes	Niko 4/5 votes	Choice 3/4 votes	Carol 2/4 votes	Britney 7/8 votes	Tony 7/8 votes	Posy 6/7 votes	Adeline 2/2 votes	Theodore 3/5 votes	Amy 3/4 votes	Kat 3/3 votes	Sabrina 5/9 votes	Dakota 5/8 votes	Chip 5/7 votes	Court 5/6 votes	Mamaw 3/5 votes	Zach 3/4 votes
Tom						Tony	Posy	Theodore	Theodore	Amy	Kat	Sabrina	Dakota	Chip	Court	Mamaw	Zach
Kel						Tony	Posy	Theodore	Thedore	Amy	Kat	Sabrina	Dakota	Chip	Court	Mamaw	Zach
John						Tony	Posy	Theodore	Thedore	Amy	Kat	Sabrina	Dakota	Chip	Court	Mamaw	Zach
Zach	Andre			Carol	Britney						Tom	Sabrina	Dakota	Chip	Court	John	Kel
Mamaw	Andre			Carol	Britney						Tom	Sabrina	Dakota	Chip	Court	John
Court					Britney						Tom	Tom	Tom	Tom	Tom
Chip					Britney						Tom	Tom	Tom	Tom
Dakota					Britney						Tom	Tom	Tom
Sabrina		Niko	Choice		Britney						Tom	Tom
Kat					Britney						Tom
Amy		Niko	Choice			Tony	Posy	Adeline	Tom	Kel
Theodore		Niko	Choice			Tony	Posy	Adeline	Tom
Adeline						Tony	Posy	Theodore
Posy						Tony	Amy
Tony	Andre			Mamaw		Amy
Britney					Kat
Carol	Andre			Tony
Choice		Niko	Amy
Niko		Choice
Andre	Carol

Jury Vote

Jury vote
Finalists:	John 0/9 votes	Kel 1/9 votes	Tom 8/9 votes
Juror	Vote
Zach			Tom
Mamaw			Tom
Court			Tom
Chip			Tom
Dakota			Tom
Sabrina			Tom
Kat			Tom
Amy			Tom
Theodore		Kel