Why Linda Lost

The elder Samburus took another hit this week as Linda was voted out. Once again, it’s time to take a look at What African Survivors Should Have Learned and see how Linda and the others stacked up or, more likely, didn’t.

First, of course, is scheming and plotting. For all her talk of spiritual oneness and avoiding conflict, Linda definitely was part of the first alliance formed on Survivor: Africa. She hooked up with the other older Samburu members – Frank, Carl, and Teresa – and they tried to bring Silas onboard to get a majority. But it became an open alliance – not a very good way to scheme.

As the follow-up to this, we have the rule that you shouldn’t scheme and plot too much. It might be argued that by trying to bring on Silas, the older Samburus did just this. We all know now how that backfired, but what would have happened if they had just left well enough alone? It’s difficult to say, of course, but it is possible that the youngsters might not have formed a cohesive voting unit with the focus to get rid of one of the elders. However, when it became obvious that the elders were going to oust the youngsters, the kids had to fight back. Linda was a part of this backfiring plan.

Third we have the order in which people should be voted off. We are still in the “vote off the weak” phase. Last week, the young Samburus incorrectly voted off Carl, a strong member. This week they did what they should have last time, and got rid of Linda, probably the weakest of the elders. Of course, it may not matter if they end up splitting into three tribes next week, as the rumors say and the promos hint. But they had no way of knowing that.

The rule against backstabbing before you need to doesn’t apply here. As far as pretending to be nice, well, I’m not really sure what to make of Linda’s behavior. Was she nice? Probably. Was she annoying? Definitely. Was she condescending? Absolutely. Was she cracking up? Quite possibly. Throw this all in with the fact that she was the weakest, and you’ve got quite a good reason to get rid of her.

Linda did form some apparent emotional bonds with the other older folks, but they did not really hamper her. On a bit of a tangent, Brandon has indicated that his three fellow youngsters are his “friends.” I can see that coming back to bite him in the ass later.

In the final recommendation, Linda definitely helped to provide for the tribe. She helped with the water runs and was one of the workers. Unfortunately, in this case that actually hurt because the lazy people are in charge. I guess you can’t plan for everything.

In the final analysis, there are a number of factors that came together here. First, of course, is that Carl lost the tie-breaker last week. Had he won, we certainly wouldn’t be talking about why Linda lost, but more likely why Brandon or Kim lost – possibly even why one of the Boran lost, though I doubt Carl would have helped them enough to win the immunity challenge. Also, Linda was the weakest of the elder alliance, and also the most annoying. In the end, it was these two factors that really did her in. That is why Linda lost.

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