“I Certainly Didn’t Feel Like I Had Control of the Game” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exlusive Interview with Survivor: Gabon’s Marcus

Everybody thought they were headed to a merge, but surprisingly ended up with two new tribes. Marcus seemed lucky to be with one of his best friend’s cousins as well as having a majority of the new tribe in his alliance. So what does he think about the circumstances that led to his departure? He tells all, right here!

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Marcus, and thanks for taking the time to talk to RealityNewsOnline! Starting at the beginning, what was your strategy coming into the game?

Marcus: Maybe this is where the arrogant thing came from. My strategy coming into the game was, I was trying to be contained – I didn’t want to come in and be a flash in the pan and impress everybody with my background. I was trying to keep my background to myself, and to get interested in everybody’s life, be restrained emotionally and not wear my heart on my sleeve. I truly felt if you get good relationships on the show, you can avoid the catty, crappy stuff that doesn’t really do anybody any good.

RNO: Speaking of “the arrogant thing,” several times, Jeff Probst made comments indicating he felt you thought you were in control of the game. Did you feel that way?

Marcus: It was actually pretty funny, because every time he would ask a question like that, I was like, “What is this guy talking about?” I was thinking to myself, “I don’t remember ever saying that at all. I’m not sure what this guy thinks I think.” I definitely tried to think about what was coming in the future. In Kota, we were trying to anticipate what was going on and be strategic. I certainly didn’t feel like I had control of the game. I was very very humble and aware of the fact that anybody could go at any time. And talking $#!t about controlling the game is not really the ideal move in this case.

When you look at our actions, that was what dictated whether we controlled the game. For most of the show when I was on it, I would argue that was the case. Maybe he took actions as speaking louder than words.

RNO: Now that you’ve seen the episode, do you better understand why Susie jumped ship?

Marcus: I sort of always knew that about Susie. She spent days making promises and then saying promises don’t count because it’s just a game. I sort of knew she was unreliable, which was why I was so excited to find out about Crystal. Her cousin Kenny – I called him Kenneth on the show to avoid confusion – is like family to me and family comes first. If you can’t trust that, I’d rather go home than be around people like that. I was more disappointed in that aspect of the game than in Susie doing what she did.

In the show, I don’t think anyone ever trusted Susie. That was nothing new and not unexpected. I don’t think she ever got the concept that we were trying to promote at the Kota six situation. And that’s why I was frustrated in the previous episode – you had these weak links that were not able to jump on the bandwagon and own it.

RNO: Speaking of that, when I spoke to Dan last week, he said you repeatedly talked to the tribe about being concerned that the original Fang members would rejoin with their former tribemates at a merge. But when Dan asked for reassurance from you that he’d be safe, you brushed him off. He said if you had addressed his concerns, he would have been loyal to you. Obviously, he never had a chance to do anything about it, but we saw what looked like something similar when it came to your dealing with Susie early in the episode. Do you think you needed to do more to reach out to those who were not part of the inner circle of your alliance?

Marcus: I’ll make two comments. I’m not sure why everybody’s looking to me to make the promises. I care about everybody who wants to jump on board. We talked about letting the relationships develop, participate, and we make decisions like a hydra – we all have brains. We did a lot of that. Dan and I talked a lot and I was in his corner for many of the first days. I really liked that he had taken the time to find himself and I was really proud of him.

Susie, the same thing; she and I had a sit-down chat and she made some promises to stick to the plan. She wanted more and more guarantees while at the same time saying she couldn’t be held accountable for any of her promises she made in the game. It didn’t make sense. Unfortunately, Dan got four votes, not just mine. I wish him the best because he’s a great guy, I hope he finds what he’s looking for. I think he’ll get there.

RNO: Did you really expect Susie to believe you’d take her to the final three?

Marcus: Originally the whole point was just stick together and we’ll figure out the final six stuff at the end. There was so much that could have happened in the game that the answer would become clear. Susie was saying one thing and then something else to me. You’re almost like trading fake money at that point. You might as well be, like you’re saying things that nobody believes anything. That was what we were trying to avoid in the previous Kota tribe.

What ended up happening and you didn’t see – I said, “Crystal, if you can’t vote against Kenny, tell me, just tell me and we’ll talk about it.” She chose not to talk about it. You get to the point where you can’t do anything more than do what I did. I tried to get Susie a way to see that she could make the final three with us. I’m one vote, I don’t see how people miss that concept and didn’t realize other people have to vote for you too. If you jump in the bandwagon with us and contribute, you have a better shot.

I think Susie saw that people liked me and was intimidated by that and made her choice. Crystal the same way, but that hurts the most because that hurts my relationships outside the game. It’s a TV show but it affects things outside the game, and you hope people consider that.

I worry that some of the things kids and other people are going to see on this TV show will make them question their choices. I don’t care whether it was me or anybody going through the situation, it’s more about the principals. I wanted everybody that I cared about on the show to do well, so I’m glad they’re still in it.