The Strategic Camping Game Show Part 3!

Last time on Survivor...

We headed to the land down under, where nurse Tina Wesson showed the world that good guys can win it all! In the heartlands of Kenya, Ethan Zohn took home the grand prize! In this episode, we'll wrap things up with a march to the Marquesas islands and a trip to Thailand! Fasten your seat belts and hold on, because here we go!

Marquesas

Marquesas is a first for Survivor in many ways! How so? It's simple! It is the first season to: * Take place on an island location since the first one.

* Have the starting tribes win an uneven number of challenges before the merge.

* Have the tribe down in numbers at the merge produce the eventual winner.

Why did I bold the last point? Simple. At this point in Survivor, it was customary for the tribe with more members to vote off members of the other tribe one by one, in a strategy known as "Pagonging" (named after the Pagong tribe of season 1). This season averted that by having the dwindling Maraamu tribe defeat the Rotu tribe.

After a merge of turning the tables, Vecepia Towery came out on top to become the Solve Survivor! Thailand

Thailand certainly had quite a few firsts of its own as well! In short, it: * Was the first season to allow contestants to create the tribes in a "schoolyard pick".

* The first season to feature a late merge. * The first season to see the "goat" strategy used to success.

What exactly is the goat strategy and why is it important? Easy. The goat strategy involves a contestant taking another one to the Final Tribal Council who they know they can easily win against. Ultimately, Chuay Gahn member Brian Heidik used this to success against fellow member Clay Jordan. He didn't quite win in a blowout at only 4 votes to Clay's 3, on account of hesitation from Sook Jai members, but he got the job done.

Conclusion

With the first five seasons covered, the Strategic Camping Game Show has come to a close! What have we learned during this time? * Alliances were formed.

* Eventually, they were tweaked so that "heroic" players could use them to great effect. * Weaker tribes eventually managed to overpower stronger tribes.

* With a bit of maneuvering, players could control who they took to the end and win easily.

I had a lot of fun going through this era and I look forward to beginning the Age of Curiosity with you next week! But before you go, check out this infographic timeline below that shows you how each winner played like a boss!