Survivor: Why Season 10 Palau Is One Of the Best Classic Seasons

Season 10 of Survivor, Survivor: Palau, is one of the greatest classic seasons of the show. It contains a strong cast, some fun twists and some parts of the game that occurred naturally and are unlikely to be repeated. The show also delivered a convincing winner and the final season before the hidden immunity idol was introduced.

Palau is most unique for the fact that it is the only season without a merge. One hapless tribe, Ulong, lost all its members but one, and fan favorite Stephenie LaGrossa was absorbed by the dominant Koror tribe. The season began with a schoolyard pick after all 20 contestants were marooned on an island together. Jonathan Libby hadn’t meshed well with the other tribemates and went unpicked despite being young and appearing athletic. Wanda Shirk, a jubilant songstress, was also eliminated. Koror, the older tribe, decimated the younger Ulong in the challenges, sending them to tribal council until Stephenie was forced to face the lone other remaining Ulong member, Bobby Jon Drinkard, in a fire-making challenge.

The edit of Palau didn’t hide the fact that its eventual winner, Tom Westman, was highly respected by his tribemates. It seemed a foregone conclusion he would make it to the end and garner enough jury votes, and yet the season still remained entertaining from start to finish. The season culminated in what many Survivor fans recount as the most iconic moment in the show’s history: Ian Rosenberger stepped down from the final immunity challenge to repair his friendship with Tom, and in return he would be voted out of the game.

Tom played a masterful game, but this season was also carried by its fun characters. Koror, though a cohesive unit in the challenges, was not able to avoid bickering and in-fighting as the game neared its end. James Miller, a member of Ulong, provided comic relief at every turn, becoming one of the most memorable one-time pre-merge contestants of the first 10 seasons. Steph and Bobby Jon were such hits with the fans that they both returned the very next season to compete among an all-new cast in Survivor: Guatemala.

There is something gratifying about witnessing a season that was crazy and different not due to any manufactured twists but rather due to one tribe’s ineptitude. The major storylines that emerged came from the contestants’ ability — or inability — to connect and proved just how powerful the relationships made within the game can be. While the hidden immunity idol has proven to be the show’s greatest twist, the last season without it reminds fans why too many twists can be a bad thing.

Survivor42 premieres March 9 at 8pm EST on CBS.

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Justin Fedich
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Justin Fedich is a reality TV editor based in Washington, D.C. He has reported on the need for increased representation in the Survivor franchise and has interviewed stars from Netflix hit shows The Circle, Too Hot To Handle and Love Is Blind.

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