Survivor: David vs. Goliath

Presented byJeff ProbstLocationMamanuca Islands, Fiji

Survivor: David vs. Goliath is the 37th season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The season features 20 new contestants divided into two tribes embodied by two biblical figures: "David", composed of ten underdogs who constantly have to overcome obstacles, and "Goliath", composed of ten overachievers who have used their advantages in life to excel in their fields. The season premiered on September 26, 2018, with an extended 90-minute episode.

This season was the sixth to be filmed in Fiji. Due to Severe Tropical Cyclone Keni striking during the season's filming, the castaways and crew were evacuated for two days, the second such occurrence on Survivor following Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, which had also been filmed in Fiji two years earlier.

Contestants

The 20 new castaways include filmmaker and two-time Amazing Race contestant Mike White and professional wrestler and Tough Enough III co-winner John Hennigan.

List of Survivor: David vs. Goliath contestants

Contestant	Original tribe	Switched tribe	Merged tribe	Finish
Pat Cusack 40, Watervliet, New York	David			Evacuated Day 3
Jessica Peet 19, Lakeland, Florida	David			2nd voted out Day 6
Jeremy Crawford 40, New York City, New York	Goliath			3rd voted out Day 9
Bi Nguyen 28, Houston, Texas	David			Quit due to injury Day 10
Natalia Azoqa 25, Irvine, California	Goliath	Vuku		5th voted out Day 11
Natalie Cole 57, Los Angeles, California	Goliath	Jabeni		6th voted out Day 15
Lyrsa Torres 36, Boston, Massachusetts	David	Jabeni		7th voted out Day 17
Elizabeth Olson 31, Longview, Texas	David	Vuku	Kalokalo	8th voted out 1st jury member Day 20
John Hennigan 38, Los Angeles, California	Goliath	Tiva		9th voted out 2nd jury member Day 22
Dan Rengering 27, Gainesville, Florida	Goliath	Tiva		10th voted out 3rd jury member Day 25
Carl Boudreaux 41, Houston, Texas	David	Vuku
Christian Hubicki 32, Tallahassee, Florida	David	Tiva
Kara Kay 30, San Diego, California	Goliath	Vuku
Angelina Keeley 28, San Clemente, California	Goliath	Jabeni
Alec Merlino 24, San Clemente, California	Goliath	Vuku
Gabby Pascuzzi 25, Denver, Colorado	David	Tiva
Alison Raybould 28, Chapel Hill, North Carolina	Goliath	Tiva
Davie Rickenbacker 30, Atlanta, Georgia	David	Vuku
Mike White 47, Los Angeles, California	Goliath	Jabeni
Nick Wilson 27, Williamsburg, Kentucky	David	Jabeni

Notes

Season summary

Challenge winners and eliminations by episodes

Episode title	Original air date	Challenge winner(s)		Eliminated	Finish
		Reward	Immunity
"Appearances are Deceiving"	September 26, 2018	David		Pat	Evacuated Day 3
		Goliath
"The Chicken Has Flown the Coop"	October 3, 2018	Goliath		Jessica	2nd voted out Day 6
"I Am Goliath Strong"	October 10, 2018	David		Jeremy	3rd voted out Day 9
"Time to Bring About the Charmpocalypse"	October 17, 2018	None		Bi	Quit due to injury Day 10
			Carl	Natalia	5th voted out Day 11
		Tiva
			Jabeni
"Jackets and Eggs"	October 24, 2018	Vuku	Vuku	Natalie	6th voted out Day 15
		Jabeni	Tiva
"Aren’t Brochachos Just Adorable?"	October 31, 2018	Tiva	Tiva	Lyrsa	7th voted out Day 17
		Jabeni	Vuku
"There's Gonna Be Tears Shed"	November 7, 2018	None	Alison	Elizabeth	8th voted out 1st jury member Day 20
"You Get What You Give"	November 14, 2018	Alec, Alison, Christian, Gabby, John, Nick	Dan	John	9th voted out 2nd jury member Day 22
"Breadth-First Search"	November 21, 2018	Alec, Dan, Davie, Kara Mike	Alec	Dan	10th voted out 3rd jury member Day 25
"Tribal Lines Are Blurred"	November 28, 2018
"So Smart They're Dumb"	December 5, 2018
"TBA"	December 12, 2018
"TBA"	December 19, 2018
"Reunion Special"				Jury vote
				TBA	2nd runner-up
				TBA	Runner-up
				TBA	Sole Survivor

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Rating/share (18-49)	Weekly rank	Original release date	US viewers (millions)
541	1	"Appearances are Deceiving"	1.7/7	N/A	September 26, 2018 (2018-09-26)	7.83
Host Jeff Probst explained the theme of the season before asking the Goliath tribe to choose who they perceived to be the weakest man and weakest woman on the David tribe, and to choose their own strongest man and strongest woman. They picked Christian and Lyrsa from the Davids and John and Alison from their tribe to run a reward challenge. The Davids got to choose which tribe completed which task in the challenge. Reward Challenge: One pair from each tribe will have to cross either a balance beam over water, plank bridge, or two person balance beam, then go through a crawl under, net tunnel, or rope tunnel, then transfer 30 sandbags from one platform to another, complete a slide puzzle, or complete a 15 piece puzzle. Once they are done, they will climb out to get a shelter-making kit. The first tribe to get the kit wins it. Christian's quick solving of the slide puzzle led him and Lyrsa to win the kit for the Davids. At their camp, Pat took charge of building the shelter, but his bossy nature got on some of his tribemates' nerves. Nick spent more time making alliances rather than helping at camp, which frustrated Carl. Bonds formed between Christian & Gabby, Elizabeth & Lyrsa, and Carl & Davie. On Goliath, Dan and Kara formed an attraction, while Natalia was put off by Natalie's orders to build the shelter despite not working herself. Everyone searched for an idol, which Dan, Kara, and Natalia eventually found, and Dan kept. Throughout the first few days, heavy rain pounded both tribes. Reward/Immunity Challenge: Castaways will have to sprint through an obstacle to a sand pit where one person from each tribe will have to dig under a log. After getting through the log, the first person will grab a machete and chop rope to release a set of ladders. The second tribe will have to untie knots instead. They will then pole vault on a platform. Once everyone is across the pole vault, they will then need to solve a number puzzle. The first tribe to finish their puzzle wins immunity and flint. Goliath held off David's comeback to win immunity. The boat ride back to the David camp encountered rough waters, and Pat sustained a back injury that required the medical team's attention. Medical decided that Pat's injury was too severe for him to continue, and they evacuated him from the game. Jeff then cancelled Tribal Council and gave David flint. The epilogue at the end of Pat's final words revealed that he received treatment after production for this season concluded, and has since made a full recovery.
542	2	"The Chicken Has Flown the Coop"	1.5/7	N/A	October 3, 2018 (2018-10-03)	7.27
The cyclone continued through the night, and Jeff provided a firemaking kit and tarp to each tribe. At the David camp, Christian and Nick aligned, and Davie found an idol. Carl, wanting to keep the tribe strong, targeted Lyrsa. Elizabeth warned Lyrsa that she was in danger, and she targeted Carl in retaliation. At the Goliath camp, Dan and Kara's connection raised red flags with their tribemates. Jeremy found Dan's idol hidden in his coat and told Mike about it. Still, most of the tribe affirmed their desire to vote out Natalie, but John told her that she was a target, in an attempt to align with her. Jeremy then tried to convince Natalie to change her ways, to no avail. In fact, this only made Jeremy want to target Natalie more. Reward/Immunity Challenge: One member from each tribe will climb a ladder using two rungs to retrieve a key, which will unlock their boat. They will then paddle out to retrieve bags of puzzle pieces and return to shore where five castaways will need to balance a table and complete a block puzzle. The first tribe to finish their puzzle wins immunity and a fishing kit. Goliath won the grueling challenge. Bi and Jessica told Gabby that Lyrsa would go home, but Gabby was paranoid over the lack of further information. Elizabeth suggested targeting Jessica for her social connections to Carl, Bi, and Davie. Christian and Nick were the swing votes; at Tribal Council, they voted against Jessica, sending her out of the game.
543	3	"I Am Goliath Strong"	1.6/7	19	October 10, 2018 (2018-10-10)	7.65
After returning from Tribal Council, Bi blamed Gabby for Jessica’s blindside, and Nick played off of that to keep the heat off him. Christian and Gabby continued to bond. At the Goliath camp, a paranoid Jeremy held a tribal meeting to put an end to the side conversations happening within the tribe, and his feud with Natalie continued. Mike became wary of Jeremy's behavior, and considered turning against him. Reward/Immunity Challenge: One member of each tribe would have to untangle a rope. Then, three members would have to work together to untangle three ropes. Following this, two members of each tribe would attempt to use the ropes to lasso and pull in a platform on which two members will build a four-piece pyramid puzzle. The first tribe to finish their puzzle wins immunity and comfort items. David won the challenge. Bi sprained her MCL, but was cleared by medical to continue. Most of the Goliaths were set to vote out Natalie, but Angelina vehemently campaigned for Jeremy’s elimination, arguing that he would become a bigger threat in the future. At Tribal Council, Angelina got her way, and Jeremy was unanimously voted out.
544	4	"Time to Bring About the Charmpocalypse"	1.4/6	22	October 17, 2018 (2018-10-17)	7.21
When the tribes congregated on day 10, Bi announced her withdrawal from the game due to her MCL sprain, not wanting to risk further damage as an athlete. After Bi left, a tribe swap took place. The David and Goliath tribes were respectively renamed Vuku and Jabeni, while a third tribe, Tiva, was introduced. Vuku consisted of Alec, Davie, Elizabeth, Kara, and Natalia. Jabeni consisted of Angelina, Lyrsa, Mike, Natalie, and Nick. Tiva consisted of Alison, Christian, Dan, Gabby, and John. Carl was exiled after drawing an empty package, and the Goliaths held a 3-2 majority on all three tribes. On Exile Island, Carl followed a clue to a new advantage called an idol nullifier. He would play it against a person he believed would play an idol at any given Tribal Council, and if he was correct, the idol would be voided. If he was wrong, the advantage would be wasted and remain anonymous. At Vuku, Davie tried to get Alec on his side, while Elizabeth bonded with Kara, to Natalia’s chagrin. At Jabeni, Natalie’s bossiness persisted, while Nick and Mike aligned. At Tiva, Christian befriended Dan and John, and Gabby felt like she was on the outs. Reward/Immunity Challenge: One member from each tribe would sit on a barrow, directing two blindfolded members to push them through a series of obstacles: first a set of speed bumps, then a maze, and finally a balance beam. At the end of the beam, the caller would retrieve a ball, then direct the two other blindfolded members to navigate the ball through a table maze and into a slot. The first two tribes to get their ball into the slot would win immunity, but the first tribe to finish would also win a reward of pastries and coffee. Tiva placed first and Jabeni placed second. Elizabeth immediately had Davie help her look for an idol, but unbeknownst to her, he had already found it at that campsite. The Goliaths initially decided to stick together, which prompted Davie to tell them that Elizabeth targeted Natalia, in an effort to save himself. However, this increased Natalia’s paranoia, and Alec considered siding with the Davids to blindside her. At Tribal Council, Alec began whispering to Elizabeth, much to his Goliath allies' surprise. He decided to betray the Goliath alliance, voting with Davie and Elizabeth to eliminate a bitter Natalia. Carl then joined the Vuku tribe, giving the Davids a 3-2 advantage.
545	5	"Jackets and Eggs"	1.5/6	23	October 24, 2018 (2018-10-24)	7.37
The morning after Natalia’s blindside, Kara questioned her place in the game and felt like an outcast. Another cyclone rocked the camps; all the castaways were evacuated to a safe location, putting the game on hold. After the storm subsided, all three camps were completely demolished. Reward Challenge: Two tribe members will use poles to knock out sandbags from an overhanging net. Once they have all their sandbags, they will untie a slingshot used to get the sandbags into two baskets, which will raise a flag. The first tribe to finish wins chickens, and the second tribe to finish wins a dozen eggs. Vuku placed first and Jabeni placed second. At Jabeni, Natalie and Lyrsa argued over when to boil the eggs. At Vuku, Kara threw Alec under the bus to the former Davids, causing Elizabeth to mistrust Kara. At Tiva, Dan, John, and Christian formed an alliance they dubbed the “Brochachos.” Dan searched for an idol at the new camp and found a clue saying the idol was hidden at the challenge. Immunity Challenge: Tribes will have to race over an obstacle. They will then need to raise a ladder, where one person will take a rope, which the remaining members will use to close a bridge. Once they are across the bridge and down a fireman's pole, one person will need to untie a bag containing a ball. They will then use the ball and attempt to navigate it through a vertical snake maze to get the ball into a slot. The first two tribes to complete the maze win immunity. Vuku placed first and Tiva placed second, and Dan was able to snatch the idol without being caught. The Goliaths initially agreed on voting out Lyrsa, but Nick was offended when Angelina and Natalie asked for his or Lyrsa’s jacket in exchange for sparing them; he and Lyrsa then tried to convince Mike to turn against Natalie. At Tribal Council, Mike cast the deciding vote against Natalie, sending her out of the game.
546	6	"Aren’t Brochachos Just Adorable?"	1.3/6	24	October 31, 2018 (2018-10-31)	7.06
The following morning, Angelina revealed her vote against Lyrsa was just a ruse to try and get Natalie’s jacket, turning the tribe against her. At Tiva, Christian tried to catch some fish but came up empty-handed. Reward Challenge: One tribe member from each tribe is strapped to a bag full of coconuts, which is carried by the remaining three members of the tribe. They will race out to the beach, where the person strapped will climb over an obstacle to get four rings on a balance beam, while the other tribe members will need to hold up the coconut bag in order to create slack. They will then toss the rings onto four pegs; the first tribe to do this wins cooking utensils, spices, herbs, and kebabs. The second tribe to finish wins two kebabs. Tiva placed first and Jabeni came from way behind to place second after Vuku blew their massive lead during the tossing stage. At Tiva, Gabby confided in Alison about her fears of being on the bottom, and they bonded. At Vuku, the bamboo on the shelter bed was a strain on Elizabeth’s already sore back, and her attempts to resolve the situation put her at odds with Carl and Davie. Immunity Challenge: Tribes will need to carry a large saucer to a water tower to fill it with water. They will then need to carry it back to fill a well to release puzzle pieces. The first two tribes to finish their puzzle win immunity. Tiva and Vuku blew out Jabeni. Lyrsa showed hesitance to work with Angelina when asked, making Angelina target her in retaliation. Lyrsa tried to turn Mike against Angelina, while Angelina tried to turn Nick against Lyrsa. Mike and Nick weighed their options; at Tribal Council, they voted to eliminate Lyrsa from the game, giving the Goliaths the overall majority.
547	7	"There's Gonna Be Tears Shed"	1.6/7	15	November 7, 2018 (2018-11-07)	7.69
On day 18, the three tribes merged on Tiva’s beach. Carl told Angelina about Alec flipping on Natalia before beginning to rally votes against Elizabeth. Some of the Goliaths (especially Angelina and Dan) wanted to stick to original tribal lines, and Angelina campaigned against Christian as the perceived leader of the Davids. However, Alec had other ideas and established a cross-tribe alliance between himself, Alison and Mike from the Goliaths and Christian, Gabby and Nick from the Davids, which Christian dubbed the "Strike Force". Elizabeth was annoyed by Dan and Kara whispering late into the night and told Alec that she was considering blindsiding Dan, but Alec told Dan, which set him against Elizabeth. Immunity Challenge: Castaways must swing a long pendulum through a frame around a statue while standing on a beam. If at any point their statue tips over, their pendulum stops moving, or they step off the beam, they are eliminated from the challenge. The last person standing wins immunity. Alison outlasted Elizabeth to win immunity. Dan convinced the Goliath alliance to change their target back to Elizabeth; though Angelina continued to rally against Christian, her Goliath tribemates were unwilling to change their minds. Upset about not getting her way and feeling like her allies were undermining her, Angelina told Elizabeth about the other Goliaths targeting her. An angry Elizabeth then went to Gabby, who pitched an idea to blindside Angelina. At Tribal Council, Angelina was accused of jury management when asked about her conversation with Elizabeth, but ultimately, Elizabeth was unanimously sent to the jury.
548	8	"You Get What You Give"	1.4/6	25	November 14, 2018 (2018-11-14)	7.20
After Tribal Council, Angelina lied to her tribemates saying Elizabeth went to her about who the target was, but everyone saw through her ruse. The next morning, Mike questioned Gabby's commitment to the Strike Force due to her comments at the previous Tribal Council, and considered betraying the alliance. Davie and Nick found a clue to an advantage, which Nick found with Carl's help; the advantage gave Nick the ability to steal another player's vote at an upcoming Tribal Council, prohibiting them from voting and allowing him to vote twice. Carl also told Davie and Nick about his idol nullifier, but Davie stayed quiet about his hidden immunity idol. Reward Challenge: Divided into two team of six via schoolyard pick, each castaway has to hold a ten pound sandbag tied to a trough above them. Every fifteen minutes one person must drop out of the challenge, giving their bag to someone else on their team. The team that outlasts the other wins twelve pizzas back at camp. Alec, Alison, Christian, Gabby, John, and Nick won reward. Mike pulled aside the rest of the Goliaths and suggested targeting Christian for his strong gameplay, which Angelina took as sexism due to a man suggesting the same idea she did and getting more people on board with it. Immunity Challenge: Castaways must stand on a small perch while holding a buoy with two handles. The last person left standing wins immunity. Dan won immunity. Angelina was paranoid over the possibility of Christian having an idol, and Alec told Nick that Christian was in danger. Nick and Davie debated playing their advantages to save Christian, but were hesitant to use them so early in the game. At Tribal Council, Nick chose not to use his vote stealer, but Davie played his idol on Christian. Angelina begged Dan to do the same for her, which he did. The Goliaths' seven votes against Christian were nullified. The Davids split their votes between John and Angelina; Carl and Gabby's votes against Angelina were negated, but Christian, Davie and Nick's votes against John sent him to the jury.
549	9	"Breadth-First Search"	TBA	TBA	November 21, 2018 (2018-11-21)	N/A
550	10	"Tribal Lines Are Blurred"	TBA	TBA	November 28, 2018 (2018-11-28)	N/A
551	11	"So Smart They're Dumb"	TBA	TBA	December 5, 2018 (2018-12-05)	N/A

Voting history

			Original tribes				Switched tribes			Merged tribe
Episode #			1	2	3	4		5	6	7	8	9	10		11	12	13
Day #			3	6	9	10	11	15	17	20	22	24
Eliminated			Pat	Jessica	Jeremy	Bi	Natalia	Natalie	Lyrsa	Elizabeth	John	Dan
Votes			None	5–4	9–1	None	3–1–1	3–2	3–1	12–1	3–0–0	6-3-2
Voter			Vote
		Alec			Jeremy		Natalia			Elizabeth	Christian	Angelina
		Alison			Jeremy					Elizabeth	Christian
		Angelina			Jeremy			Lyrsa	Lyrsa	Elizabeth	Christian
		Carl		Lyrsa			Exiled			Elizabeth	Angelina
		Christian		Jessica						Elizabeth	John	Dan	}Kara
		Dan			Jeremy					Elizabeth	Christian
		Davie		Lyrsa			Natalia			Elizabeth	John
		Gabby		Jessica						Elizabeth	Angelina
		Kara			Jeremy		Davie			Elizabeth	Christian
		Mike			Jeremy			Natalie	Lyrsa	Elizabeth	Christian
		Nick		Jessica				Natalie	Lyrsa	Elizabeth	John
		John			Jeremy					Elizabeth	Christian
		Elizabeth		Jessica			Natalia			Angelina
	Lyrsa			Jessica				Natalie	Angelina
	Natalie				Jeremy			Lyrsa
	Natalia				Jeremy		Elizabeth
Bi				Lyrsa
Jeremy					Natalie
Jessica				Lyrsa
Pat

Jury vote
Episode #	14
Day #	39
Finalist	TBA	TBA	TBA
Votes
Juror	Vote
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
Dan
John
Elizabeth

Reception

Survivor: David vs. Goliath has been met with an overwhelmingly positive reception. Josh Wigler of The Hollywood Reporter called it "one of the most consistently exhilarating seasons in recent memory", adding "Years from now, when Survivor fans look back on the events of David vs. Goliath, a slew of memories are likely to come to mind: the season-opening medical evacuation, Natalie Napalm and 'Jacketgate,' just to name a few." In an article published two thirds into the season, Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly claimed that while "[not] every episode this season has been A+++", "every episode has had something. Every episode has earned its keep. Every episode has felt like it is moving the story forward. Yes, the cast is better, but the editing and the storytelling have been better as well."

The tribal council in the eighth episode, "You Get What You Give", during which John was unexpectedly voted out after the former David, Davie used a hidden immunity idol to save Christian while also tricking Dan into wasting his own hidden immunity idol on Angelina, received notable praise as an impressive, unexpected and smartly-executed blindside. Entertainment Weekly called the council featuring the blindside (which on-air Hennigan and viewers referred to colloquially as the Brochacho Blindside) "an awesome game of cat and mouse", noting that John himself was "laughing at the absurdity of what had just happened as he had his torch snuffed". The Hollywood Reporter stated that the council was "iconic", "the biggest move of the season thus far, marking a huge power shift in the game", and "nothing short of the fulfillment of the season's promise, [...] beautifully executed both strategically and thematically [...] it's simply a testament to the riveting roller coaster ride of Survivor". Chris Chase of USA Today suggested that it might be the best tribal council in the history of the show, calling it "a glorious Tribal moment, as brash as it was unpredictable" and stating "I’ve been watching Survivor for years and don’t think I’ve ever been so shocked. There have been big surprises and stupid moves and head-shaking moments of unpredictability, but I can’t remember anything as out-of-nowhere as this". He also praised John for being "true to everything we’ve seen from him this season, [and] a class act after his shock defeat". Writing for People, former Survivor contestant Stephen Fishbach highlighted that "in a tribal council that was meant to take out the Davidest David, it was really the Goliath of the Goliaths who fell. How perfectly Biblical."

In an interview in November 2018, Jeff Probst acknowledged the cast of David vs. Goliath as "one of the best groups we’ve ever had."

Controversy

After filming ended for the season, contestant Alec Merlino posted a picture with fellow contestant Kara Kay onto his Instagram account with the caption "F*** it". While Inside Survivor had already reported that both Kay and Merlino had been highly speculated to have been contestants on the show, many fans saw Merlino's actions as a flagrant violation to the non-disclosure agreement that cast members must sign prior to the official reveal.

External links

• Official CBS Survivor Website