Survivor Panama: Exile Island - Everybody Loves Courtney
Commentary by Marco Magpayo
May 1, 2006
On Survivor Panama Exile Island, everybody loves Courtney. Everyone wants to take her to the final 2. Well, of course, we all know that they do not actually "love" Courtney. In fact, it's the exact opposite. She is so unlovable that they love to be next to her in the final tribal council. Even insane Shane is confident that he can win against Courtney.
But because they "love" her so much, they can't decide who actually ends up with her. And so they had to cut her loose.
She was shocked, but definitely not in an "awww, you guys!" kind of way. She was blindsided. And on her way out of the tribal council cave, she turned her head and gave them one last look. At first, I thought it would be like Big Tom's frightening post-blindside creepy stare. However, in contrast, Courtney smiled. I think that smile signified that she was leaving with pride, believing that she was the biggest threat, that's why they had to betray her. She actually said this in her exit interview.
But of course, she shouldn't be too self-absorbed as their move has a different rationale. She was not the biggest threat at all. In fact, she was so unthreatening that the others who are actually threatening are fighting over her for the final 2. It's like everyone is saying: "Hey, lay off my annoying poser…she's mine!" Consequently, no one wants anyone to get her; and in the interest of competitive fairness and unity, they just agreed to throw away the winning ticket.
This was brilliant, and was orchestrated by Cirie. She demonstrated the essential disposition every castaway should have - not settling for a runner-up place. She was absolutely right; she can't be in a final 4 or 3 alliance with Courtney. She is the weakest of the six of them challenge-wise. If she and Courtney reach final 3, whoever the other one is, she would be very vulnerable. Most likely, one (Terry, Aras or Danielle) would be immune, and Courtney will be kept. That leaves her in a very bad position.
I was very fascinated by this strategic move by Cirie. It really caused a disarray of votes. Personally, in this game, I think there's nothing more brilliant than tricking people to throw their votes in all directions. Shane thought Courtney is voting against Danielle; Courtney and Terry thought Danielle is voting against Aras. It was nicely messed up! It doesn't always have to be down to 2 voting blocs. You can gain the upper hand even with a small number, if only you can get the others to break up their votes. In this case, it could have been a 3-3 tie had Cirie not made Shane think Danielle is going home. At the end of it all, a meager 3 votes became just enough to send Courtney packing.
As far as I can recall, this is also the first time that the perfect final 2 opponent was voted out. Well except for that legendary "out of this game" move that Colby did when he voted against the perfect final 2 opponent Keith. But apart from that, we've seen it happened several times: Kate (Palau), Stephenie (Guatemala), Clay (Thailand)…they were all brought to and beaten in the final 2.
This week pushes Shane to the outside. I knew there was some sort of bond among Cirie, Danielle and Aras. And of course Terry is Mr. Immunity. So that leaves Shane out of the final 4. This week's vote serves as a wake up call for Shane. He is not the mastermind, and has never been. I think he can only swear on his kid so much; he has nothing else to offer to be kept next week. In any case, I'm glad he has reached this far. He has been a very entertaining character, and I am looking forward to his participation as a jury member. I'm excited for his jury statement or question. Who cares about rats and snakes? I believe Shane can potentially top that.
Why am I not surprised that Shane picked up a piece of flat wood and fantasized it was his Blackberry? Actually, I was disappointed with him. A lunacy of that magnitude that Shane has should be able to come up with something more sophisticated. If I was in the same state of mind as Shane (and God forbid that never happens), I would already have a laptop, a videophone, a yacht…..I wouldn't go as far as a jet plane, 'cause that could look stupid in a "Wonder Woman" kind of way.
No matter how strong Terry is, no matter how many times more he can immunize himself, it seems that he does not get a big chance to win against Aras, Danielle or Cirie. He's got Austin and Sally, but he's alienated the rest of the jury members. Bruce would probably vote in the finals for Danielle or Aras (Bruce expressed in his interviews that he is really close to Danielle). Courtney would probably vote for Danielle or Cirie. Hypothetically, Shane would probably vote for Aras. I don't think Terry is doing the right things to win their votes.
The only way that Terry could win is if the votes take the form of respect votes. I think there are basically 2 types of jury votes: Respect votes and Likability votes. The first one is given to the finalist who has demonstrated prowess either in the challenges or in the strategies. These votes were won by Richard, Tina, Ethan, Brian, Jenna Morasca, Sandra and Tom Westman. The second one is given to the finalist who has offended the jury members less than the other finalist. These votes were won by Vecepia, Amber, Chris and Danni. The only way Terry could win is to get Respect Votes.
Marco Magpayo is a young adult from the Philippines. His day job has nothing to do with writing, but he loves to share his insights nonetheless. He is very opinionated, yet never snarky. He would like to read your comments about his comments. You can contact Marco at cubed_ma@yahoo.com.
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