Surviving the Jury on Survivor

Teresa, in season three, gave the final two the chance to take back something they’d said to a juror. Kim and Ethan had the same response to Teresa’s question about taking something back they said or did to a juror. Both of them regretted voting out Kelly, who had been part of their alliance. They thought she cast a vote against their ally Lex at Tribal Council, so they eliminated her. It turned out that she didn’t vote against Lex (Teresa did). They both regretted not investigating their suspicions before they acted on them. Ethan and Kim’s answers to this question did not affect Kelly’s vote, which I’ll discuss later.

In Marquesas, Robert asked which decision or action might most hurt their chances with the jury, then John accused them both of being liars and asked why he should vote for either of them. Neleh and Vecepia had to answer two questions about regrets. To Robert, Vecepia said that backstabbing Kathy to keep her out of the final two might hurt her. Neleh thought voting out her former tribe mates Zoë and Robert before Vecepia and Sean might affect her ability to win. Both were, of course, correct answers. Vecepia did promise Kathy a spot in the final two—she even made that deal in front of the jury, but then opted to stick with Neleh instead. And Neleh was certainly right in her assessment that the other former Rotus would hold her alliance with the other tribe against her. In the end, it wasn’t the way the women answered those questions that influenced the vote so much as the actions they described. Vecepia’s reaction kept just one person away from the finals, but Neleh’s cost all four members of the core Rotu alliance from winning. Unfortunately for Neleh, the other Rotus held a grudge. Their answers to John’s question probably yielded similar results. Neleh told him that she had planned to stick with their alliance, but when it became so obvious that she’d lose, she felt she had no choice but to switch. Vecepia simply said that she had a strategy and she stuck to it, so she deserved to win. John probably had his mind made up before he asked this question—he felt betrayed by Neleh, so he voted for Vecepia.

In the Amazon, Alex asked the final two what their biggest regret was. Jenna said that she regretted putting too much trust in untrustworthy people. She was obviously referring to her alliance with Rob, a known plotter and backstabber. Matthew said that he regretted being naïve at the beginning of the game. Jenna’s answer was a better one. She cited her alliance with Rob as a regret; had she not trusted Rob, Alex might have been in the game for longer. And Matthew made the error of pointing out once again that he had not been playing the game from the beginning.

On All-Stars, Kathy asked Rob how people would perceive him since he exploited friendships to get ahead in the game. Rob tried his best to smooth things over. He said that he got caught up in strategy, and that he never set out to ruin friendships. His answer must have soothed her feelings somewhat. Kathy said that she was disappointed in him, but ultimately wound up voting for him out of respect for their friendship.

On Vanuatu, several jurors asked about regrets and integrity. Chad asked the two players how they changed personally over the course of the game. Sarge asked Twila if the price for swearing on her son’s name and lying was, in fact, a million dollars. Then he told Chris he was voting for Twila, and if that would affect their friendship. Finally, Scout made a statement about integrity. She said that Twila tells the truth even if it hurts, but that in contrast, Chris was “up to your ears” in BS. In response to Chad’s question about how they changed, Twila and Chris had very different answers. Twila said that she realized that she needs to watch how she comes across, and to not be so quick to judge others. Chris, on the other hand, said that he realized he was willing to compromise a lot to win a million dollars. Other players looked past the money,but he never did. He said that he hoped he could become a better person. I actually liked Twila’s answer better – it showed some personal growth. However, Chris’s answer was more what the jury wanted to hear, and it served him well. Faced with Sarge’s question about lying on her son’s name, Twila really didn’t have much to say. At that point, Twila was probably finding that hard to defend. Plus, Sarge had told her that he was planning to vote for her because she needed the money, so maybe she didn’t think it mattered. She was wrong, though. When Chris told Sarge that no matter what, they’d be friends and would hang out when the game was over, that was all Sarge needed to hear. Chris passed his test and won his vote.

Palau juror Gregg was angry with Tom for voting him out and asked how he could have broken his alliance. His question to Katie was even more pointed- she was “pathetic” around camp and made fun of almost anyone. How did she figure that strategy would get her farther than second place? All Tom could tell Gregg was the truth- that he betrayed Gregg before Gregg could betray him. He said he regretted it, an answer that Gregg seemed to accept. Katie, on the other hand, didn’t have much to say to Gregg. She said she was sorry she was considered pathetic, and that aligning herself with strong people was a valid strategy. It was- but Gregg’s point hung in the air: it was only good enough for second place. Stephenie asked Tom if he truly did take her as far as he could. Tom gave Stephenie a great answer. He couldn’t go against a five person alliance- he’d have lost his alliance and Steph still would have been voted out.Janu asked Tom how, as a man of honor, he was able to reconcile the way he played. Tom said that he did his best not to cross any of the lines that he drew.