And the Angel Was Expelled from Paradise, or Why Gabriel Should Not Have Been Voted Out

Happy Passover/Easter/Spring.

I have to admit I am a sucker for Survivor Spoilers, but I should not do it. It's like eating cheese pizza when you are lactose intolerant or getting really drunk. It might be fun, but you regret it later. It's better not to know.

I read that Gabriel was going to be voted out tonight, right before my yearly physical. It made my blood pressure was so high my doctor put me on medication. Seriously. I just kept thinking, "No, Get rid of that guy with STUPID written across his forehead."

I could not believe it, our sweet little goldilocks? Our resident server of Love Potion number 9? Out of the game pre-merger? Why it's "Hunter booted" insane!

And as I watched and saw it come together, I was left thinking that John just made the most brilliant strategic move since Richard Hatch manipulated the Kelly/Susan alliance in S1.

If Gabriel continued to bond with the former Maraamu tribe then it was a fair possibility that he could pull another Rotu in with them, given time. Or come merger time, he could get the other Rotu turned Maraamu into his alliance, since the John/Tammy/Zoe/Rob alliance would be firmly set.

So, we can look at David's column, “Why Gabriel Lost,” to find out exactly what mistakes Gabriel made that got him voted off the island, but should he have been tossed?

No. Even though it was a brilliant strategic move, it was one done to fix a problem that John created, and was completely unnecessary.

At one point in the game John went to Sean and basically blackmailed him into voting out Gabe by saying if it he did not go along with it, he would be voted out next. John should have given this same courtesy to Gabriel. He did try to find out where Gabe was at mentally, but why ask a stupid question like, "Would you lie to win this game?" Duhh, if he says "No" you think he is lying already. If he says "Yes" you think he is a liar, period. Gabriel not answering the question should not have freaked out John so much.

When John and Tammy asked him if Gabriel was still with the original Rotu plan they did not make it clear that the wrong answer would have him booted. They told Sean that, but they did not tell Gabe that. They pretty much told Rob that, too. John never once said to Gabriel "If you do not vote with us, we will vote you out next."

Gabriel should have taken the right or left side of the road. Instead he continued down the middle and voted the way he thought the tribe of the day before would have voted. He voted for Rob to get the boot. He did not betray his tribe. He remained a loyal Rotu to the end and was really surprised when they voted him out. I think Gabriel did want the old love tribe back and it could have worked had John not been so paranoid.

Gabriel was a great guy to have in camp, as long as you shut your ears when he rapped. Sorry Gabe, honey, but I was cringing for the both of us watching you rap. Mike Shinoda you aint.

So, no, Gabriel did not commit any great sin that made him deserve the boot. John should have kept the tribe intact at least until post-merge.

And so now comes the time to look at who should have been voted out instead. Last week a very amusing thing happened. I wrote an article that was very hard on Sarah and Rob. I chose Rob over Sarah to be voted out because I was more offended by Rob.

I got quite a few letters of people who were livid. Not that I was "mean" to Sarah or implied horrible things about Rob, nearly everyone agreed with that. However, the most letters I got were shocked that I did not think Sean needed to go. I started looking at message boards and hung out in chat rooms and found out that Sean is not a well-liked guy. In fact he scored 19% on the CBS popularity poll, the lowest of all the Survivors. Sarah was the next least liked which gives me hope for humanity in general.

I do think Sean should have been voted off this week. Without Sean, Vecepia is going to be easily pliable into whoever you want her to be. With Sean gone, the Rotu tribe would still have Gabriel and Vecepia and would ditch Rob like a month old weave. Rob would be 100% completely on his own.

Sean, you should have been booted and I don't believe the rumors anymore about you and Gabe being aligned prior to the show. If that were the case, a John-Gabe Tie breaker would have happened tonight. You would have made it happen.

I have to write that I am really offended of some of the comments regarding Sean I am seeing across message boards. People are saying things, "Sean, this is not a welfare state," and immediately referring to him in racial tones. This made me realize why Sean has a chip on his shoulder. This is what he deals with on a daily basis. When people insult him, they pull his race into it and that is really hitting below the belt.

I know Sean put that race card out on the table right away in S4, but maybe in real life that is what he goes through. I saw no racial overtones on Survivor, but if this is this guy's reality then it is likely to come out on a reality show.

That said, I never saw you as black Sean, I saw you as orange shorts Sean – until you reminded me you were African American. I guess it's a what-came-first situation. Do people see you as an angry black man because that is what you are? Or, are you angry black man because that is how people always see you?

Peggy Keller is Mother and Behavior Therapist to her two autistic sons and teenage daughter. Sean, Gabe or anyone else who is interested in commenting can click here to e-mail her.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site and be registered for giveaways and special offers! You can find all of our articles about this show at the Survivor: Marquesas Page, and take a look at our sections on Reality TV Interviews and Combat Missions. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For even more news about reality TV, be sure to check out RealityTVFans.com, SirLinksALot and the Manly Man!