[1] The season premiered on September 21, 2016, with a 90-minute episode and ended on December 14, 2016, when Adam Klein was unanimously awarded the title of Sole Survivor over Ken McNickle and Hannah Shapiro by a jury vote of 10–0–0.

This season featured the first full cast evacuation, where all contestants were removed on the second day of competition due to Severe Tropical Cyclone Zena; the castaways were returned to their camps the next morning and no additional time was needed to complete the game.

[2] The cast is composed of 20 new players, initially split into two tribes containing ten members each: Takali ("Gen X") and Vanua ("Millennials").

Notable castaways this season include David Wright, a writer on the FOX animated sitcom Family Guy, and Smosh Games YouTuber Mari Takahashi.

After the storm was upgraded to a cyclone, both tribes were evacuated to a safe location for the night, and returned to their camps the following morning.

Back at camp, an alliance of Bret, Chris, Jessica, Lucy, Paul, and Sunday formed, and—following an impassioned plea of loyalty from David—they decided to target Rachel.

Paul fell ill from heat exhaustion but, following a visit from the medical team, was cleared to remain in the game.

After switching her vote to eliminate Mari, Hannah apologized to Adam and Zeke and expressed a desire to still work with them, but they were frustrated with her for refusing to leave them alone after betraying them.

While his Millennials tribemates hunted for food, Adam looked for the hidden immunity idol and found a clue to its location.

David considered playing his idol on Jessica to secure her as an ally, which would put his alliance with CeCe and Ken in the majority.

At Ikabula, Gen X-ers Bret and Sunday struggled to integrate with the Millennial majority, and Michaela made fire for the tribe.

As the tribes assembled for the reward challenge, Figgy expressed joy upon discovering that her ally Michelle had not been voted out.

Michaela's leadership led Ikabula to victory; she then coached Zeke and Michelle, which allowed them to win the challenge for Vanua.

Ultimately, at Tribal Council, Adam cast the deciding vote against Figgy, sending her out of the game.

At Vanua, David told Zeke that he trusts him more than Chris and showed him his hidden immunity idol in order to secure his loyalty.

At Ikabula, Bret continued to lie about his occupation—claiming he was a funeral director instead of a police officer—but Hannah and Jay were suspicious, correctly deducing that he was a cop.

However, Michaela's long-term plans alarmed Jay and Will, who worried about her impressive strategic mind and challenge performances, and considered voting her out to eliminate a major threat to win.

Back at camp, the majority alliance decided to split their votes between Jay and Taylor in case of a hidden immunity idol.

On the reward trip, Bret and Zeke bonded; at camp, David rallied Ken and Jessica against Chris.

Back at camp, both alliances tried courting Hannah and Zeke, though neither told Jay about their plans in order to goad him into playing his hidden immunity idol.

At Tribal Council, Jay chose not to play his idol; he voted against Jessica, but the other Millennials sided with David's alliance to send Chris to the jury.

After Tribal Council, Bret—having lost his closest ally in Chris—tried aligning with Zeke, who suggested they eliminate David for being a strategic threat.

Jessica drew the black rock and was sent to the jury; after her elimination, she privately chose to give her legacy advantage to Ken.

Adam told his tribemates that he would not use his reward stealing advantage to deprive the challenge winner of time with their loved one.

Ken won the challenge after Adam gave him advice on the puzzle to prevent David and Jay from winning.

Before Tribal Council, Hannah tried to convince Adam to vote against Sunday in order to keep their alliance strong.

At Tribal Council, Jay played his hidden immunity idol but only received one vote, while Adam and Hannah stayed loyal to David and Ken and sent Sunday to the jury.

In the middle of the night, David crafted a fake hidden immunity idol, and hid it in a marked coconut; the next morning, Jay spotted and retrieved it, believing it to be real.

At Tribal Council, Adam played the idol on himself, but Hannah, David and Ken voted against Bret to send him to the jury.

In his final answer of the night, Adam emotionally revealed his mom's cancer diagnosis and how it motivated him to play.