Surviving the Jury on Survivor

In Guatemala, Bobby Jon asked Stephenie and Danni if they were proud of the way they’d played. Stephenie told Bobby Jon that she was “very proud” of the way she played, though she “sort of backstabbed” some of the other players. Sort of? Those players in question felt a lot more strongly about it than that. Stephenie shouldn’t have downplayed the situation. She should have either apologized or just pointed to “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast” and moved on. Danni, on the other hand, had a much better point to make. She was the last of her tribe, was outnumbered, yet still made it to the final two. She was proud of her strategy. That answer undoubtedly resonated with the jurors.

Then Jamie vowed to be tough on Stephenie. He said that she’d pretend to be someone’s best friend, then vote them out- how did she think the jurors would feel about that? > Jamie’s question went right to Stephenie’s weakness. Many of them felt she’d screwed them over to get to the final two. She hedged a bit at first, saying they were group decisions, but then said she hoped that the jurors would ultimately respect the way she’d played. It was the best answer she could have given, and if the jurors hadn’t been too angry with her, it might have worked.

Rafe accussed Danni not of going up against the “most deserving” (presumably him), but instead choosing the person she thought she could beat. Danni made the argument that Stephenie was the most deserving- she came into the game with a target on her back, yet continued to survive tribal councils. Plus, in the final immunity challenge, she struggled mightily to win, earning Danni’s respect. Judd accused Danni of “skating by,” then asked when in the game she’d lied. He was even more angry with Stephenie, saying that she crossed the line by lying to his wife and saying that her strongest alliance was with him. Danni ignored Judd’s suggestion that she “skated by,” as well she should have, since she beat some impressive odds to make it to the final two. She listed two specific times that she lied and the reasons why. It was a simple, honest answer and the best she could have given. She says that she asks for forgiveness every day.

Stephenie, on the other hand, also answered honestly, but was in a much tougher position. She told Judd the truth, which was that at the time she’d talked to his wife, it was the truth. She also said that voting Judd out wasn’t her idea. She tried to play the politician, and I don’t think Judd appreciated it. Though to be honest, he was mad enough sucht hat whatever she said probably wouldn’t have mattered.

Questions from angry jurors: Survivor has seen more than its share of players who were not happy to be sitting on the jury. There have been plenty of angry confrontations at the final Tribal Council. A smart player simply does his best to weather them.

The most famous angry juror was, of course, Sue Hawk. In her famous “snakes and rats” speech, she ripped into Kelly, called her two-faced, promised to let her die of thirst, and said that Rich deserved to win. Kelly listened to the speech stoically, saying simply that she was sorry Sue felt that way. There was nothing she could do to change Sue’s mind at that point, but she did end up influencing other jurors. Colleen said that she had planned to vote for Rich, but that Kelly’s grace in front of Sue changed her mind.

The jury in Marquesas was one of the most bitter ones ever. Tammy told Neleh and Vecepia that they were hypocrites and liars. And John, in asking his question about why he should vote for either of them, called them both liars. There wasn’t much either of them could say in response to such vitriol. Both of them defended their actions, but John and Tammy had likely made up their minds long before Tribal Council to vote against Neleh.

Clay and Brian also faced angry jurors in Thailand. Ted told used car salesman Brian that his word and his friendship were lemons and accused Clay of riding coattails to get where he was. Ted then accused Clay of having made racist comments in the past. Clay had no way of defending himself, except to say that it wasn’t true. Brian said that he did what he had to do to get to the final two. Helen was also angry, because neither of them told her when she was about to be voted out. Helen demanded that Brian explain to her why he didn’t warn her beforehand. Brian claimed that Helen had planned to work with Ted against him. He then apologized to her and took responsibility for his actions. Helen next turned her ire on Clay, asking him for examples of how he contributed at camp. Clay eventually told Helen that no answer he could give would satisfy her. Brian got the votes of both Helen and Ted. Ted was convinced that Clay was a racist, and nothing Clay could have said would have convinced him otherwise. Likewise, Helen thought Clay was lazy, and he could not have changed her mind if he tried. Brian apologized to Helen, which probably went a long way in securing her vote.

In the Amazon, Jenna and Matthew also had to deal with some angry jurors. Deena asked Matthew about his “may the best man win” comment at a previous Tribal Council and accused him of being sexist. Matthew apologized and claimed that he didn’t mean it so literally. Then, Christy asked Jenna about the time that she referred to her beauty as a handicap, and asked her how she could say such a thing in front of Christy, whose Deafness is a much more challenging handicap. Jenna tried unsuccessfully to deny having made such a statement, and then wound up apologizing, saying that she has often been prejudged by people who think she’s just a pretty face. Jenna and Matthew handled these angry jurors as best they could, but in the end it probably didn’t matter—Deena and Christy both voted for Jenna because they considered her the stronger player.

Lill was the target of a great deal of bitterness from the jurors. Rupert asked Lill if she had ever been honest with him. She sputtered and claimed that she had been honest with him up until the point that Burton convinced her to vote off Rupert. Rupert was having none of it, and pointed out that she was blaming Burton for her own actions. Lill finally said that she had been honest with him in their discussions about their families. She probably shouldn’t have tried so hard to answer that question and instead just said she was sorry he felt that way, since Sandra likely had Rupert’s vote sewn up. Christa accused Lill of apologizing for all of her actions and of hiding behind the Scout oath of truthfulness. Lill gave a fairly decent answer, saying that she had nothing else to wear besides her uniform, and that she had to lie to stay in the game. I will talk more about Lill’s discussion of her Scout uniform later.