Why Neleh Lost

She admitted that she didn’t really start playing the game until Day 24, but once she did, she helped turn it upside-down. For the first time in Survivor history, a counter-alliance was formed that overthrew the ruling alliance. But in being part of that counter-alliance, did Neleh somehow exclude herself from becoming the winner? Let’s take a look back at my article, What Marquesan Survivors Should Have Learned, and see what Neleh did right, what she did wrong, and why she eventually made it only to second place instead of first.

The first rule, of course, is to scheme and plot. As with Paschal, for a long time, Neleh didn’t have to think about that aspect of the game. She was in original Rotu, who had become a challenge-winning machine. When she got to Maraamu, it was easy to single out Sarah at first, and then, while a bit more difficult to choose in the second vote, it was made easier because Kathy had always been with them and Gina had not. She didn’t so much scheme and plot as she simply made a close friendship with Paschal – a friendship that also functioned as an alliance, because they both vowed never to cast a vote against each other.

After the merge, things got stickier. While we, as viewers, were somewhat left in the dark, we can piece a few things together. Apparently Paschal and Neleh agreed to go along with the other original Rotu in getting rid of Rob, Sean, and Vee. But after the coconut-cutting Immunity Challenge, she and Paschal suddenly saw their future in an up-close-and-personal kind of way. They knew they were due to be voted out before the core group, and they decided they didn’t like the idea of just coming in fifth and sixth. They decided to take matters into their own hands rather than just leave it to fate and hope somebody had a change of heart. So they formed a counter-alliance with Kathy, Sean, and Vee. Now, how much of this was Neleh’s doing and how much was Paschal’s is pretty much impossible to tell. At the final Tribal Council, Kathy asked her whether she made the decision alone or not, and while Neleh didn’t answer that part directly, she did use “we” (meaning her and Paschal) over and over again. So they did it as a team of two, but the point is that they did it.

So, did she scheme too much? Was her alliance with Paschal too open? Did she backstab too early? The answer is “no” on all accounts. She made only one switch in alliances, and it was a necessary one. Who can fault her for wanting to come in at a higher place than sixth? OK, well, apparently several members of the jury could, but they were having vindictive little snits. She couldn’t have waiting any longer to make the jump – to “backstab” the Rotu Four alliance, because then four would have outnumbered whatever she had. And there was little possibility that she could have hidden her friendship/alliance with Paschal, so it was right to be open and honest about it, unlike Sean, who looked silly denying that there was any link between he and Vee.

OK, so far she’s two for two. Next up, pretending to be nice. In this area, I don’t think Neleh had to really worry – I don’t think she was pretending. While many people lambasted her for offering a half-eaten mint after she had gone on the cruise ship reward with Paschal, the fact is that she did it because she was trying to be nice to everybody (incidentally, at the reunion special, she verified that they were not allowed to smuggle food off the ship, as I had suggested in my “Defense of Neleh” article).

Now we get to an area where Neleh skirted the edge of violating one of the rules – don’t let your emotions control you. Her bond with Paschal was such that it controlled her vote. When Kathy and Vee hooked up after the second-to-last immunity challenge, Neleh never even considered the option of joining them to vote against Paschal. As such, she took a 33% chance of getting the boot from a random draw. As it turns out, this went in her favor – well, more in her favor than if she’d have been voted out, anyway. But the overall point is that she didn’t do something that I half-expected her to do. She did not fall on her own sword to save Paschal that risk. She wanted to continue in the game. She didn’t let her bond with Paschal stop her from allowing the random draw to continue. So she did end up following this rule as well.

Finally, we have the rule against being lazy and for providing food. Up until Neleh went on the cruise reward with Paschal, we had absolutely zero indication that she was considered lazy by anybody. Then, when she dared to take a few minutes to revel in the after-effects of a shower and some personal hygiene, Sean – of all people – ripped into her. We were even led to believe it might play a part in the overall jury vote, since Vee kept bringing up how Neleh supposedly rode in on somebody else’s coattails. However, while we can’t be 100% certain as to why John and Tammy voted against Neleh, it doesn’t seem to have had anything to do with a perception that she didn’t work, but rather a perception that she somehow stabbed them in the back and was a horrible, lying, deceitful, evil Rich Hatch clone.

So, what about the final decision that Neleh had – did she make the right choice on who to boot and who to keep? I would say yes, Neleh picked the right person to take to the finals. While she still ended up losing, Vee gave her the best shot with the jury. Well, I think she did anyway – if the Rotu Four felt betrayed by Neleh, perhaps they would have felt the same way about Kathy as well. That’s just one part of the mystery that we have to leave as an unknown for now. But my perception is that the vote would have been even more lopsided for Kathy, and Neleh seemed to share that thought.

Frankly, when it comes right down to it, I’m not entirely sure of the exact reason why Neleh lost. Either something went on that the producers chose not to show us, or 3/4 of the Rotu Four reacted really poorly to Neleh deciding not to settle for sixth place. I suspect it’s a combination of these two items. She outplayed, outwitted, and outlasted 14 other players, but couldn’t quite make it to the end. John indicated that if she had only admitted her deceit, he would have given her his final vote – and thus the million dollars. But it’s unclear what he wanted her to say. She seemed to be quite honest in saying she decided she wanted better than sixth place. Did he want her to bow and scrape and beg for his forgiveness? It seems that way. And Tammy and Robert just looked childish in their vindictiveness, as if they simply could not believe they had been outwitted by this young woman.

Neleh may have said it best herself before the final vote was read. People could not believe that she was a sweet person and also competitive. They thought that she must have been putting on the “sweetheart” bit as a façade, and faking them out. Really, it was the jury’s incorrect perception of her that did her in, and because she didn’t really understand where they were coming from, she couldn’t say what they wanted to hear. In the end, that is why Neleh lost.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline, and can be reached at david.bloomberg@pobox.com.

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