Survivor: The Amazon – Why Did Rob Vote Out Deena?

Now we’ll add in what Michelle said:

I can think of a reason why he chose to join the others in taking out Deena. In a word: Matthew. Rob has repeatedly told him that the core alliance is himself, Matt and Alex. Rob was afraid that if Alex was targeted, Matt would find out he's being strung along and turn against him. Matt might have formed a WoE [Wretched of the Earth] alliance with Butch and Christy, then by adding Jenna & Heidi, Alex would follow and Deena would then be forced to turn on her secret ally. By instead sticking with his story that Deena was going, Rob proves his "loyalty" to Matt, and in following the rule, backstabs Deena at the very last moment. Even if Rob didn't suspect the possibility of a Matt instigated coup; he still expected to be the "last man standing." He was destined for no better than 4th place – behind Deena, Heidi and Jenna. He mistakenly, but honestly, thought he'd have better odds in securing Matt's trust and in turn, Butch. Figuring he could win the jury vote against either of them, though he'd later have to cross the hurdle of voting out Alex before Butch or Matt.

As far as Rob expecting to be the last man standing, I don’t think he expected that at all. Remember, he had a “to the end” secret alliance with Deena. And if Jenna and Heidi were going to team up against him in the scenario with Deena, I don’t see how it would be any better for him without her.

Michelle and Alex were not the only two readers who e-mailed in, but their comments were representative of those I got, and I didn’t want to duplicate too much.

Looking at the entire situation, I think that perhaps the reasons discussed here do, in fact, explain why Rob voted against Deena. “But wait!” I hear you cry. “You just said he could have done it in other ways!” Yes, I did. I still maintain that he could have gotten out of his predicament if he had just put a little effort into it. As I mentioned above, he could have told Matt that Alex had turned on them. He could have pulled Matt and Butch into the group with Deena and Christy to get rid of Alex, and then also gotten rid of Heidi and Jenna after that. But for whatever reason, he decided against it. Was it because, his protests to the contrary, he doesn’t always think with the head on top of his neck as opposed to the other one? Perhaps. But in the end, I think he just figured it was less work.

When Rob could have sided with Daniel, Ryan, and Matt in the first vote to get rid of Roger, he chose to sit back and let Ryan get booted. This time, he made the same choice. In both cases he could have done a little work and changed the outcome, but he didn’t. Call it flying under the radar. Call it strategy. Or call it laziness. Right now, I’m leaning towards the latter.

Rob talks a good game. Rob even plans a good game. He has positioned himself well. But when he had a chance to better that position or accept the status quo, he went with the status quo. He lost a close alliance-partner and put himself into a situation where I simply cannot see him making the final three, let alone the final two.

So why did Rob vote out Deena? Because it was easier. And I still maintain that it wasn’t very smart.

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

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