The more I watch, the more I realize that Judd clearly has no idea what he is doing. He is making every mistake in the book, and like most people royally screwing themselves, he has no self-awareness so that he can stop.
He kind of reminds me of Shakespeare’s Richard II. Richard is a guy who loves to be on the stage, and goes into long-winded speeches about himself, his glory, and his power. He has no political sense, and in the end, he falls from his throne. Richard is very self-absorbed and only sees other people in relation to how they can either help him ascend or hurt him.
The key is to note that Richard II fell from his throne at the end of the play because of the fact that he knew all about the rituals of kingship, but did not know how to rule effectively. Judd seems to know the general idea of the game Survivor with respect to the fact that he knows it’s a cutthroat game that requires tough choices and sacrifices. However, he fails to realize how he comes across to others, when to say what, and what are the best decisions to make in order to get him to the end.
For instance, take the episode’s opening scene. The new Nakum tribe had just returned from voting Brooke out at their first Tribal Council together. In last week’s column, I predicted that Judd was going to have to face an angry firing squad from Margaret and Cindy, and I urged you to watch to see how he responded to it.
Well, as you may have noticed, that didn’t happen. I give Margaret in particular all the credit in the world for the way she handled this. She was angry as hell, but she just sat there and didn’t say a nasty word to Judd at all until he provoked it.
So there was no firing squad to face after all. So what on Earth was Judd doing shooting his mouth off? He was defending himself without anyone ever accusing him of anything! Without any verbal provocation, he said things along the lines of “this is a cutthroat game” and “there are tough choices to be made,” and then, unbelievably, “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me after this is over; as long as my wife and kids still love me, that’s all I need.”
Wow. Did you catch the meaning behind what he said? In laments terms, he said “I am going to do whatever I need to do to win this game, and I don’t care what you say or think.”
You NEVER openly tell people you are willing to stab them in the back! That is, like, rule #1 in the book of Survivor Strategic No-Nos. So, we’ve covered so far that Judd does not understand the concept of time and place when it comes to things you should and should not say. Add that to the fact that he is hot-headed (observe his little outburst after the challenge) and arrogant/self-absorbed (he pounded his fist on his chest like he was King of the Jungle and observed in confessional that someone should “get out of his jungle”) leads to some pretty solid grounds for a comparison to Richard II, which would also hopefully foreshadow that he will lose.
Honestly, if he wins this game, I will be shocked. Unless he undergoes a radical strategic and personal transformation (which is unlikely since I have been observing some of this behavior since day one), he will not win this game.
As I mentioned above, I give Margaret all the credit in the world for how she handled things around the campfire when Judd was making a fool of himself. After every little thing he said, which helped him sound more and more like a spoiled child, she just said “You’re absolutely right.” Notice that not only did she say that to avoid confrontation, which was smart, but it also helped to egg him on! If she did that on purpose, she’s a genius. Stroke the ego a little bit and let him make a fool of himself.
Which reminds me. While I was impressed by Margaret’s play this week, I have to give this week’s MVP award to none other than my standing favorite for the million bucks, Brian. His approach to letting Blake dig himself a hole was BRILLIANT. And, in the end, it paid off.
I have to admit, I was surprised to see Blake go. Why? Because I could see no obvious strategic value in Danni and Bobby Jon turning on him; after all, he was one of their strongest males, and they could use him in the challenges. Bobby Jon said he was willing to turn on people this time when it was necessary, but he felt that this time it wasn’t necessary. What made him change his mind? And what about Danni? She seemed so strategically savvy before when she revealed Gary’s secret, and she quickly became one of my favorite players. What was the value in turning on her tribe? None as far as I can see; she’s lucky she didn’t do it alone.
All of this means, of course, that Blake was voted out mainly because of how annoying he was. Which means, of course, that not only was Blake desperately annoying for two of his original tribe members to turn on him and give up a golden advantage, but that Brian’s plan went off without a hitch.
I loved Brian’s confessional about the shovel and Blake digging a hole for himself. I’m telling you, this kid is smart. He knows what he’s doing…he knows what he wants and he knows how to get there. I truly believe that, even though he cut it close this week, he has what it takes to make it all the way in this game. He gets MVP this week in my book. Keep your eye on him.
So the two notable performances this week came from Brian and Margaret. The worst performance was Judd, but he wasn’t the only failure. Jamie started to redeem himself last week by getting in on the right alliance, but then ruined it with his absolutely pitiful challenge performance. He completely blew it. I told you, he’s too naïve this game, and he’s obviously not very good with ropes, either.
I am really looking forward to tonight’s episode. Fun challenge with a boulder, funny-looking fight between Jamie and Bobby Jon, and my favorite twist, double Tribal Council. You can’t beat it. So, now that we know that both tribes will go to Tribal Council this week, who will each tribe kick off?
Well, Yaxha is in an interesting predicament. Their situation was 4-3 in favor of the original Nakum members, but they blew that, and now the odds are an even 3-3. It’s tough to make a prediction for this one because I don’t know who is still aligned and who isn’t anymore. What deals were made when Blake was ousted, if any?
Nakum could be a little easier to predict. While Judd is well on his way to Dumbest Player of the Century, he still is in an alliance that he may not have to worry about falling apart until Margaret and Cindy are gone, at least. I think the first target is supposed to be Cindy, but he is annoyed with Margaret, so he may voice those opinions and it may help. I would love nothing more than to see his butt sent down the Walk of Shame (it would be well-deserved, indeed) but it may not be in the cards just yet. We’ll have to see.
Enjoy the show! I’ll “see” you next week!
