Nice Girl Finishes Last

It seems like the winners on Survivor are usually broken down to one of three categories, the most scheming, the best all around player, or the one that flew under the radar the most. This season the most scheming category scored another trophy and another million. Todd, the flight attendant and Survivor fan since the age of 14, won Survivor China, beating out his alliance buddies Amanda and Courtney.

Starting with the final tribal council, when the jury was peppering the three finalists with questions of “how could you,” we started to see much of this season fell right into Todd’s master plan. We knew he was a schemer, but some of the time editing made it seemed like he was going with the flow with Amanda and/or Courtney. Now, especially after the reunion show, we see that it was all pre-planned for the most part. He planned to align on the first day with someone he could trust (Amanda), then align with someone that was shorter in stature then him, so that there’d always be another team target other than him (Courtney), and align with someone strong and big that could carry him, yet that he would dump before he walked away with it (James).

The one that didn’t factor anywhere into this before or after was Denise, the school lunch lady with a mullet. She seemed to just be the one he, as well as the others, used for a vote. Denise never seemed to do well in challenges, as she seemed to lack a little speed, but she definitely made up for it where she could with her girth. A big gal, it was obvious she was extremely strong, and on top of it, she’s a second degree black belt in Kenpo Karate. I knew because of that she had more than a fighting chance at the balance and focus challenge that served as their final one. She tried to make a deal with Amanda, but she just wasn’t having it, and Denise finally dropped out, leaving Amanda to win the challenge.

Of course, the reason Amanda wouldn’t make that deal was that she knew she wouldn’t be able to carry it through. She had already promised Courtney and Todd that she would get rid of Denise. Cornered after by her, Amanda still hemmed and hawed and finally promised her she wouldn’t be writing her name down. Denise called her out at the next tribal council, saying Amanda had told her she had her back, but she didn’t know whether she could believe her or not. Amanda tried to do a little CYA, not wanting to look bad in front of the jury, telling Denise she never said that this day, just earlier. Todd faced the jury, popped his head and mouthed, “Burn!”

Amanda was extremely upset with Todd for showing her up to the jury like that, but the truth is, it probably didn’t matter by that point. Those on the jury had already lived with her. They already knew, especially James, Jean Robert, and Frosti, that she wasn’t one to keep her word. And that night, Denise came to learn that as well, as she became the last member of the jury. When others asked Amanda at the final tribal council what she regretted, she regretted lying to James, Jean Robert, and Frosti, but Denise’s name never came up. That should have been a huge flag for her. She filleted both Amanda and Todd during her time to face the final three, then focused on Courtney, as she searched for someone worthy of her vote.

Denise is one of those what you see is what you get people. She’s hardworking and honest, and wasn’t there to scheme, just to win the game. She had a chance in the late going to jump alliances, but the honest Denise just couldn’t do it. Had she jumped off Todd’s ship and onto the one carrying Peih-Gee and Eric, she would have created a tie, and it would have come down to who can build a better fire, Todd or Eric. Had Todd lost, Denise would have been guaranteed final three. She was afraid to take the chance, and decided she’d just needed to rely on herself to win that final immunity, knowing that she was number four, the “bottom of the totem pole” in that alliance. Although, as Jeff Probst polled last night, had she been part of that final three, she still would have lost to Peih-Gee.

Maybe it was better for Denise to stay with her original alliance then. She only would have moved up one spot, and she got to keep her ethics. She wasn’t going to become a millionaire off this game, although she could have certainly used it. She tried to explain to Amanda that they all had lives to go back to, and while she loved her family and enjoyed her job as a lunch lady, that’s all she had to go back to. It turns out, she didn’t even have that, as she was let go from her job, as her bosses saw her new fame as too distracting for the school. She now works as a janitor, but the kids still come up to her and seek her out even though she’s not behind the lunch counter. Executive Producer and softy Mark Burnett heard her tell the story on the live reunion show and told Jeff then and there to tell Denise he personally was giving her $50,000 to help her out.

Next season it’s the diehard Survivor fans against the fan favorites. That will end up being a well-strategized show, or at least it should be, so if everyone is playing for strategy, maybe that will be the “best all around player” win.

Comments about the results? Contact me at LauraBelle@sofachip.com

For more information on Survivor, see SirLinksalot: Survivor.

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