Survivor: Why Rodger Lost

Well, it’s that time again – time once again to take a look at the person voted off of Survivor today and figure out what went wrong. With Rodger, as I always do, I’ll base my analysis on my earlier article, What Future Survivors Need to Learn.

The first and foremost rule of Survivor is to scheme and plot. How did Rodger do in that regard? Well, it’s kind of hard to tell. He certainly was no Rich Hatch or Jerri Manthey. He didn’t go around stabbing people in the back and lying to them and the like. But he did have his own alliance. He stuck by the Kuchans, even after it was obvious that they were going to, in his words, “go extinct.” He certainly forged a strong alliance with Elisabeth, though that was one of friendship, not strategy. From what we saw, Elisabeth did most of the plotting in trying to get Tina and Keith over to their side, but Rodger did also help in his own ways, such as by bonding with Tina. So I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he did a decent job of alliance-building in order to get him this far. He just had the misfortune of being on the losing end and was never able to convince the Ogakorans to completely do away with old tribal loyalties.

Whenever the opportunity presented itself, he followed the third rule – voting off the weak, then the strong, then the weak. He went along with the other Kuchans in getting rid of Debb and Kimmi, both of whom were weak links in terms of tribal morale. And then he helped strike at Jerri and Amber when they were weak. Unfortunately, it was his turn to be voted off as the weakest link (whoops! Sorry. Wrong show). He was not part of the alliance, and he was probably too nice for Colby to want to keep him around in case he made it to the final two. So it was time for Rodger to go.

Rules five and six go hand-in-hand when it comes to Rodger. First, they should pretend to be nice. Rodger didn’t need to pretend. He even had kind words for Jerri the couple times he voted against her! But he definitely did form emotional bonds – especially with Elisabeth. Heck, he volunteered to be the target this time so she wouldn’t be! While this is all well and good as a humanitarian, it’s not how you win Survivor. So, as much as I liked the gesture, I’ve got to say it went against the whole point of the game.

Finally, Rodger had no problem when it came to providing food and avoiding the appearance of laziness. As Colby even said in this very episode, Rodger was the oldest guy there and had more energy than anybody else. He collected firewood, caught fish, and generally did more than just about anybody else. That probably helped keep him around this long, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the Ogakor alliance. By this point, they can all see the light at the end of the tunnel, and know that if they can make it just a few more days, they’ll be fine. So his hard work isn’t as important anymore.

It has been said that nice guys finish last. Rodger showed that this doesn’t have to be true. He was the “nice guy” of the group, Elisabeth’s “Outback Daddy,” the hardest worker, and all that. But he just couldn’t break the alliance. Indeed, his attempts to be nice by volunteering for the vote this time may have made it just easy enough for Colby to stick with his plan rather than going after Keith. Maybe – just maybe – if Rodger and Elisabeth had pushed the issue with Colby, they might have swung him against Keith. But Rodger was probably too nice to do that. When it comes right down to it, the fact that he was so well-liked almost certainly played a part in the Ogakorans wanting to make sure he wasn’t in the final two with them. Rodger was just such a darned-nice guy. And in the end, that is why Rodger lost.

Remember to take a look around the site. Check out the main Home page for other Survivor, Boot Camp and The Mole articles, as well as book reviews. Here are some of the most recent articles:

Surviving the Outback, Episode 12: Who Makes the Final Four?
A Survivor Photo Spoiler?
Why Amber Lost
Stacey Files Motion to Strike Survivor Counter-Suit
Episode 11: Water, Water Everywhere
What Future Survivors Need to Learn
The Unbelievable Bloombergini Takes the Manly Man’s Survivor II Challenge

For more news about Survivor, be sure to check out SurvivorNews, SirLinksALot, and Survivor Fever! Also check out the Manly Man's column as he takes a look at each Survivor episode.