Editor's note: As the action heats up on the CBS series "Survivor: Samoa," we thought it would be interesting to ask former contestant Erinn Lobdell, the third-place finisher on last season's "Survivor: Tocantins," for her insights on the competition. Erinn, who grew up in Waukesha and now lives and works Downtown, will provide analysis following each episode through the end of the series.
The rules of "Survivor" state that in the event of a tie at tribal council, a second vote will be cast, not including the people who are tied. If there is still a tie after the second vote, the remaining voters will draw rocks and the person drawing the colored rock goes home.
Many people were surprised last week when I mentioned that there was a rule book for the game of "Survivor." It is a game, and for every game there are rules. Last night's episode was a clear example of why they exist. Remember playing kickball in gym class? The game had to stop when the bell rang regardless of the score, which almost always was tied. If there is one thing that physical education taught me, it was that ties suck. Nobody wants to see a tie.
The same is true for "Survivor." They won't send home both people and to keep recasting the vote without consequences is futile, so the smarties that came up with this game launched this little zinger of an insurance policy. Pay close attention to the part about how the remaining voters draw rocks. It's brilliant. Someone will be sent home, completely at random, HOWEVER, that someone will not be one of the people the tribe intended to send home. Pretty darn genius.
Early in the episode, it looked as though the votes would be split. Shambo tells two of her former tribemates that she will surely be voting for Laura; meanwhile Mick and Jaison are busy trying to find a sixth vote. In order to sway Monica to their side, the boys mention that another Galu will be voting with them as well.
I really have to hand it to Monica here. She came up with a pretty great plan -- convince Foa Foa to vote for John, the rocket scientist, while Galu votes for Natalie, and Shambo has made it clear to everyone the only name she will write down is Laura.
It is really a good idea. Unfortunately, Monica didn't count on Foa Foa being suspicious of her or that John would not be elated that he was the goat in her crackpot scheme, or that he wasn't even informed of it until after it was put in place. The human element is the best part of this game. Even the best laid plans can fall apart when there is no real way to predict how people will react to them.
Could Monica and her former tribe really have believed that the sneaky idol monger and his tiny swashbuckling army would just go along with her plan? Or, that they hadn't given every member of Galu the same deal they had given her? Foa Foa is clearly in control and they play aggressively, extending invitations to at every tribal council to join them. If I was playing on team purple, I would assume that the Foa Foans had tried to make a deal with each and every person on my tribe. I would also be very careful of people I had ostracized in any way from here on out, knowing just how much power is held in a swing vote.
Galu was so smug as the first votes were read, one for Nat, one for Laura, expecting the third to be one for John. They truly believed that they were finally in control. It was disheartening to then watch the realization wash over them, as a second vote for Laura was read, that their plan had fallen apart at its seams.
As the final votes were read and Jeff announced the rules for a tie-breaker, everyone seemed pretty happy to let their time in Samoa be determined by the colored rock. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the only way to save yourself would be to sacrifice someone else in the recasting of the vote. Apparently, it does.
