Neleh Dennis

Neleh Dennis

Survivor: Marquesas is the fourth season of the United States reality show Survivor. Hosted by Jeff Probst, it aired from February 28 - May 19, 2002 on CBS. Thirteen episodes aired, plus a mid-season recap and live interview with Rosie O'Donnell after the finale. The winner, Vecepia Towery, was revealed on May 19, 2002, where she defeated Neleh Dennis by a vote of 4-3.

The contestants were divided into two tribes: Maraamu and Rotu (Marquesan for 'Wind' and 'Rain' respectively). They later merged into the Soliantu tribe (a word created by competitors Kathy-Vavrick O'Brien and Rob "Boston Rob" Mariano which they intended to mean "Sacred Allegiance to the Sun.")

The Marquesas Islands were initially selected as a backup location for Survivor. The original location, Jordan, was discounted as a result of the September 11 attacks and the political situation in the Middle East.

This was the first season where the contestants were not given any initial supplies, such as food, water, or matches. Also, the rules of the Individual Immunity Necklace were changed so that a contestant who won the necklace in a challenge was able to give it to another contestant. Previous votes against a contestant were discounted in subsequent Tribal Councils. As this was the former method of determining if a contestant was eliminated in case of a tie, a new tiebreaker format was developed. The controversial Purple Rock tiebreaker was used in this season alone, and resulted in the ousting of Paschal English, then with no votes against him. A small increase in the average number of viewers was observed for the season compared to the prior season, Survivor: Africa.

This was also the first of many seasons to be filmed while another was still airing.

Host Jeff Probst was not fond of this season, ranking it his second to least favorite out of the first nineteen. "Dramatically, I just felt like Marquesas never got any momentum, and by the time you got to the final two with Neleh and Vecepia — I'm sleeping." However, Survivor columnist Dalton Ross gave this season a positive review calling it, "an underrated season that saw the first totem pole shake-up: where people on the bottom got together to overthrow those on the top. Yes, it was a weak final two, but it also had a woman peeing on a guy's hand. Plus: Purple rock!!!"

Vavrick-O'Brien and Mariano were selected from this season to compete in Survivor: All-Stars, where they placed 8th and 2nd, respectively. Towery was asked but declined due to her pregnancy. Rob Mariano was invited again to participate in the twentieth season Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, as part of the Villains tribe where he placed 13th. Rob was invited for the fourth time to participate in the twenty-second season Survivor: Redemption Island, which he won.

A DVD release of the season was confirmed on July 28, 2010. It was released on Tuesday, October 5, 2010.