Survivor: Gabon – Why GC Lost

GC was in a surprisingly good strategic position. He was part of a majority alliance in a tribe that had already booted out a member of the minority. All he had to do was sit back and cast another vote, and he was good to stick around. But instead, GC gave up and called it quits. Was that the only reason he was voted out, or was there more to it? Why did GC lose?

While GC suggested in his final words that while other people could call it quitting, he really didn’t, I managed to get him to admit, in my interview with him, that indeed it was quitting. So with that in mind, you might wonder why we would bother with this column. The answer is twofold. First, he didn’t actually quit and walk out of the game – he was voted out. Second, this is what we do! We look at the person who was voted off and page back through What Gabon Survivors Should Have Learned to figure out why. You never know – we might encounter a surprise or two. Then again, we might not. Let’s see what happens.

The first rule, of course, is to scheme and plot. In this regard, we have a confusing picture of GC. On the one hand, he told me, “me, Matty, Susie, Kenny, and Crystal had an alliance on the second day. We were supposed to all be together to the merge.” So he knew of the importance of the part of this rule that says, “From the very beginning, you have to start making alliances and cementing relationships.”

But on the other hand, when I asked him how he could come to play Survivor while being against backstabbing and making alliances, he said, “I knew that was part of the game, but I know there’s also different ways you can play it.” He then alluded to Earl, saying he liked the way Earl played while being as honest as possible. What GC doesn’t seem to realize, though, is that Earl didn’t have an aversion to making alliances or backstabbing when he needed to do so! He was just better than most at putting a friendly face on it.

GC quickly grew tired of having to lie to people and scheme to stick around. But really, that’s what he signed up for. And on top of it, he was in a situation where he didn’t particularly have to worry about it right away! He was in an alliance with Crystal, Ken, and Matty – along with Kelly on the side. They had a majority. The biggest thing they had to worry about was sniffing out the hidden immunity idol so it wouldn’t backfire on them. They had the numbers and GC didn’t really need to do much scheming or backstabbing at this point.

Even beyond that, GC had the opportunity to help his allies get rid of the idol once word got out that he was looking to leave. That was the perfect opportunity to blindside Sugar. But when his allies talked to him about it, he didn’t say, “That’s a great idea! Let’s do it!” No, instead, he told them, “It’s up to you guys. You can do whatever you want. I’m just telling you this is how I’m feeling.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Given that GC obviously didn’t do a very good job of scheming and plotting, it’s clear he was okay in terms of the second rule – he didn’t scheme and plot too much. So we can move on to the third rule.

That rule tells players to be flexible. Unfortunately, from what we saw, if you had to define “anti-flexible,” the easiest way would be to simply say, “GC.” We didn’t seem him exhibit flexibility at all. He wouldn’t listen to his tribemates, he wouldn’t alter his behavior, he wouldn’t alter his food intake. And most of all, he wouldn’t change his view of how things should be in the game. He apparently came in thinking it would all be a bed of roses and he could be Mr. Friendly like Earl. When things didn’t work out that way, he grew tired of the game.

And once he got to that point, he had problems with the fourth rule, which says not to let your emotions control you. That was clearly what happened with GC. As he told me, he realized “that I wasn’t happy with the way I was playing it.” Beyond that, he was also irritable and got to the point where he thought every suggestion or question was somebody attacking him, and he felt the need to defend himself. All of these were emotional responses, not logical or strategic ones. And of course, the most emotional was voicing his thoughts of leaving the game because of everything that had built up inside of him.

We’ve seen at some points in previous Survivor seasons where contestants might voice their desire to leave but their allies don’t let them – they keep them around for strategic reasons or to push them past their low point. Why didn’t that happen here?

I think one reason is the fifth rule, which advises players to pretend to be nice. As already noted, GC was irritable and defensive. He threw little tantrums that put off even his allies, as Crystal noted in the fifth episode. GC says that wasn’t really him, it was what he turned into within the game. You know what? I believe him. But the problem is that the game is where he was, and that’s how the other players judged him. They didn’t particularly like being around him. While it was strategically correct to keep him, they allowed their own emotions to control them – but GC pushed them to that point.

The sixth rule might not seem to be an issue, but I think it played a role. It says not to be too much of a threat. GC was certainly not a threat in terms we might normally think about. However, because of his quitting and his desire not to be there anymore, his tribemates certainly would be correct to consider him a threat to their ability to win future challenges. He had already shown that when his heart was not in something, he gave it up (such as his short stint as tribal leader). So they had no reason to believe he would exert any effort at the coming challenges. This, of course, made him a threat to their continued survival in the game.

So we’ve seen reasons his tribmates should have voted him off and other reasons why they should not have done so. The seventh rule addresses the question of whether they made the right decision. Did they?

I would say, on balance, no. Scheming and plotting is the first rule for a reason – it outweighs all the others. Crystal, Ken, Kelly, and Matty may find themselves in serious trouble now that they gave up their chance to get rid of Sugar and the idol. It is likely that their alliance will now fracture, which may eventually cause the game to end for all of them earlier than it otherwise would have.

Sure, GC would have been a drag around camp. Yes, he might have caused another loss in the next immunity challenge. So what? If they had voted out Sugar this time, they could have gotten rid of Ace the next time – eliminating a tough competitor for later in the game. Then they could have targeted GC in the following vote if they still wanted to.

GC obviously brought his expulsion from the game upon himself. He exhibited negative behaviors while rejecting the main tenet of Survivor game play. But his allies deserve some of the blame as well. GC pushed them to make this decision, but as I noted above, they had their own failures in playing emotionally rather than strategically. That is why GC lost.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Survivor: Gabon articles here on RealityNewsOnline:

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

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