Survivor: Palau – Why Wanda Lost

Wanda and Jonathan, the first two people sent packing from Survivor: Palau, were not actually voted off – but they were not picked to stay on either. Both of them had the opportunity to stick around, but neither was picked. Normally we more to go on when we’re looking back at What Palau Survivors Should Have Learned. But we’ll take what we’ve got and see if we can figure out why Wanda lost.

The first rule, of course, is to scheme and plot. As far as we could see, Wanda did none of it. She had come to Survivor to sing her songs about Survivor, but none of them apparently included a song about making alliances. Or if they did, nobody could talk to her about the topic because they couldn’t get her to stop singing.

On a more serious note, Wanda seemed to be having fun, but others were following this first rule and “making alliances and cementing relationships” right off the bat. People didn’t even know what tribe they would be on – or if there would be separate tribes – but they made whatever plans they could. We didn’t see Wanda doing any of that.

Obviously, the second rule – scheming and plotting too much – didn’t come into play. The third rule is to pretend to be nice. Wanda didn’t seem to have to pretend, as she seems to be a genuinely nice person. All we need to do is look back at the other contestants’ reaction when she left after only one day. Jolanda and several others were crying, and several called out that they loved her as she boarded the boat.

However, those feelings for her didn’t keep her around. Also, some first impressions of her were not the greatest. As Willard said of her in the boat, “Then this lunatic jumps up and starts singing a song.” He wanted to knock her off with an oar and Coby noted that while the singing was cute at first, it just went on and on. Since she continued to sing once they got ashore, I’m sure some people continued to be annoyed.

Hmmm. Sonja was the first person ever voted out of Survivor, and she sang songs to her tribe. Wanda was the first person voted out of the tenth edition and she sang songs to her tribe. Perhaps we’ll have to add a “No Singing” rule next season.

The fourth rule says not to let emotions control you. Wanda seemed to have her emotions permanently set on “Positive.” She said she wanted to make it one big party while it lasted. That’s all well and good, but if a person doesn’t think at least a little strategically, the party won’t last long – as we saw.

The fifth rule, about being too much of a threat, did not apply. The sixth is about not being lazy, and we have no reason to believe that was an issue either. The seventh says to be flexible – again, Wanda was more intent on having fun than anything else, which is not a terribly flexible way to go into the game.

What about those who failed to “vote her on” to the tribe? Well, Wanda was the oldest woman there, and the two eldest people overall were in the last four to be picked. The other two were the “outcast” Angie and the target Jonathan. Willard, the other elder, was picked strategically instead of Jonathan. But Wanda was not so lucky. Both tribes likely saw her as a weak link and knew that the weak had to be sacrificed first. In this case, Wanda was sacrificed by not even getting to join a tribe. When it came down to the final pick, Angie may look like an outcast, but it was likely clear that she would still be stronger than Wanda.

Wanda had several strikes against her going into the game. She was the oldest woman and she annoyed some people with her singing, and likely her perpetually positive attitude as well. Still, she could have employed some strategy and made some alliances that might have kept her around. From what we saw, she did not really make any significant attempt to do so. That was the final pitch, right down the center of the plate, and Wanda was caught with the bat still on her shoulder. Strike three. That is why Wanda lost.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other Survivor: Palau Episode 1 articles:

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

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find all of our recaps and other info on this show at the Survivor page, and take a look at our The Simple Life page and our Average Joe page. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about Survivor, be sure to check out SirLinksALot: Survivor and Survivor Fever!