The time has come for me to offer my opinion of Survivor Vanuatu. Many of you have e-mailed me to ask for my impressions and while it is difficult to write this piece without spoiling the show, this is what I will attempt to do.
If you are a hardcore Survivor fan, I am sure you can admit that the show really did not start off with the bang that the previous premieres did. Something just didn’t feel right. Perhaps it was the lack of celebration when the tribes arrived or the fact that we literally knew nothing about them until the third show into it, but it just seemed like a shoddy production.
Things have since changed and I have learned to appreciate what the producers were going for. I think that as a Survivor fan, we have almost been conditioned into only appreciating seasons where we can label each contestant right from the start.
“I hate her”¦ she’s such a bitch.”
“What an asshole, can you believe he lied already?”
“He doesn’t need the money.”
While we obviously have those same preferences and biases this season, they have taken a longer time to form. This has been more of a slow and enjoyable burn. It’s why Finch wanted to learn tantra instead of just simply wanting to satisfy Stifle’s mom.
The longer the wait, the more satisfying the result.
This has been the bizarro season. The one that has seemed more like a novel than an actual TV show. While everyone has raved about ABC’s Lost and how original it is (myself included), Survivor came up with the idea of ‘stranding’ people on a remote island. Period. This season it has seemed more like Lost (even though it started first) by the way that we have learned about each character as they spend more time in Vanuatu.
As a result, the last two episodes have been much more satisfying than the previous ones. I am hoping that Survivor realized that separating the teams by gender was a fatal error and one that should never be repeated again. Ever.
Now for my real thoughts.
I think Ami played an absolutely masterful game. I also think that her phenomenal gamesmanship has been written about to death.
Instead, I would like to focus on the game’s most underrated player and one that I feel has earned virtually no respect.
Eliza Orlins.
Yes, *that* Eliza.
This is a girl that has been decimated by the game physically. The Calista Flockhart syndrome has eaten her alive and that is what makes her recent reward challenge victories all the more impressive. She has performed very well in both the physical and mental challenges. This however, is only a small facet of her game.
What impresses me even more is that she is a scenario-player. One that sees all. Although she is being portrayed on television as being an innocent victim and a pawn in everyone else’s game, this is simply not the case.
In the beginning, she aligned with the older women when they went to make a power move (in the Dolly eviction). Then when she realized that the alliance was not as strong as she thought it was, she went back over to the younger crew. While many perceived her being on the wrong end of the Mia vote as being a critical error, I certainly did not at the time. She wasn’t aware of Lisa’s deceit and still thought that she had the majority. This was a smart play. Not every plan will work in the game, and as long as you are actively trying to work a numbers advantage, you are playing well. Eliza was and is.
I am sure that some of you reading this will have the opinion that she is loud and whiny. An annoying kid that you want to see removed from the playground. You are also probably over 60 and are rooting for Twila and Scout. Just kidding.
I understand the criticism. The Jenna Lewis editing. Or the JLE. What happens with the JLE is that someone is selected to be the token crier. The one that flips out when the family members visit. The one that mouths ‘oh my god’ whenever Jeff Probst presents a food item as the reward, and the one that is seen as not having a chance to win the game (or even a challenge for that matter). The JLE also mandates that the victim (in our case, Eliza) is shown to do no work around camp, is seen only talking or complaining, and usually makes the littlest thing seem like the most important.
The thing is that we are not seeing the deeper game that Eliza is playing.
– She aligned herself with the game’s strongest player
– She has made herself appear to be incapable of winning anything, even though she has won back-to-back reward challenges
– She is likely to be chosen to partake in any reward challenge that is won, because of her slender frame
– Scout referred to her as the game’s smartest player in the ‘chopping challenge’
– She is not afraid to make bold moves to ensure that she gets deeper into the game
The last point needs elaboration. In Thursday’s episode of the show, Eliza recognized that even though Ami and Julie voted for her to leave, there was a still a role for them in her plan. She knew that if she went with them, she could finish as high as third (assuming the tie vote would work out in their favor against Chris/Scout/Twila).
Later in the show, she also said that she realized that Scout and Twila did not plan on her making it past the Final 4 and she wasn’t afraid to shake things up once again if it helped her move forward. Although she voted Ami out, she did so in a gracious manner which could help her a lot if she makes it to the Final 2. Again, the mark of a thinking player.
When Chris told Eliza that they could basically write the checks in their names right now (with regard to being in a F4 with Twila and Scout), I think that this was a brief bit of foreshadowing. It’s clear that Scout/Twila will not vote against each other and that Eliza and Chris would be a deadly combination in any of the remaining immunities against them. I am sure Eliza recognizes that too and while she may have given Chris the chance to ‘expose’ her to it, I am pretty positive that her penchant for scenarios led her to see it a long time ago. While she may have wanted to save Ami out of a sense of duty, remember that the show has be to manipulated to make it interesting. We all knew that Ami was a dead duck.
I have heard the argument that there aren’t many ‘players’ this season. There isn’t the mastery of Richard Hatch or the pure deception of Jonny Fairplay. I completely disagree with this assessment.
Ami and Chris are phenomenal contestants.
Eliza however is the one that stands out to me. I think she has been a stellar player and clearly her interest in the show (before being cast on it) has taught her how to be successful at this game.
The problem is that I cannot see her winning against anyone at this point. While she has Ami and Leann’s votes against anybody, I cannot see her being able to win any others over the remaining players. However, in watching the show she has surprised me a few times and I am hoping that she can again.
Eliza brings her bag to tribal council every week because she thinks she is being voted out. I think that this is partly the truth and partly fiction to give the others the impression that she is in danger so that she isn’t perceived as a threat.
I know that she has been very close to being voted out in this game, but as of me writing this, she is still in it. That means something for someone who is apparently a target every week. I am hoping she remains in it until the bitter end. Am I giving her too much credit? Perhaps. But as a guy who has covered Survivor since its inception in almost every capacity (except for actually being on it!), I am giving her my vote of confidence.
Never bet against a lawyer (or a law student).
