I don’t actually watch a lot of TV, but Survivor has been with me since Season 1 and I must confess I doubt I will stop watching it any time soon. Way back in the previous season, I wrote about Erik’s bonehead move and again, I think what I find fascinating are the group dynamics of the show and how they make decisions that I find surprising.
Let’s take for example the first episode of the current season. Tiny little Michelle seems physically able while Gillian is not. Michelle clearly is unhappy to be on this tribe and is negative and a little rough with others. Gillian is clearly super positive and also grating on others’ nerves. They both don’t know how to shut their mouths, and the team ends up voting Michelle off first.
My thoughts on Survivor has always been – vote off the physically weak first. ALL the challenges in the beginning are physical, and having a weaker tribe will only return you to a vote at night. The challenges at the beginning can have a mental component, but the make it or break it parts are always physical. Have these contestents been watching? You can consider voting others (whether a threat, or grating, etc) only if the teams are well matched, otherwise, your team will never make it to the merge and get out of it intact. The trick of course, is figuring out when that is and I certainly don’t have the answer.
I’m always stunned at how quickly, they vote off the physically fit team-mates, even when they desparately need them to help win team immunity. Perhaps the issue is one of leadership – although you’d rather get rid of Gillian and you’ve stated your case, you really can’t keep harping on it, else you’ll move up the ranks to be the next one out and ticking off your team-mates is a surefire way to get booted.
So, what’s the moral of the story? It’s not about being fit vs being happy or anything else – the way to survive is by getting along with others. DIdn’t we learn that in Kindergarten?
- Daisy
