Chris Wins It All!!
by Rich Glanzer
You see it in sports all the time. A team wins despite their manager. Chris Daugherty is Survivor Vanuatu champion despite being one of the worst players ever to play the game. While Chris did a few things right in the game, the main reason he won, was because he was so weak physically.
When the older members on his all male tribe saw how weak he was, they immediately decided he was invaluable to their tribe. I don’t blame Chris one bit for joining the weakest alliance ever in the history of Survivor, because had there been a strong male alliance, Chris would have been voted off first. When the merge hit, the girls never thought of Chris as a threat, which is why they kept him over Sarge and Chad.
What’s even more insulting for Chris is they found him so little of a threat, they wanted to get rid of Eliza first! But his weak physical play didn’t make him one of the worst players ever. His decision making did. How he agreed to get rid of John K. instead of Julie, was a mistake that proved fatal to Chad and Sarge. It should have proved fatal to Chris as well, had it not been for the stupidity of the onetime powerful women alliance. Chris survived that mistake on pure luck.
When the door opened for him to make a move, he didn’t see it. Twila had to practically slap it into him. She was the one who told Chris he had to speak to Eliza to join the four person alliance. So again, Chris got lucky, or else his game would have been over right after Eliza’s.
Once Chris saw he was in power, he did a good job not to lose power. He made sure his alliance of four trusted him, and he kept Eliza on the same page with him. However he made two unbelievable mistakes while he was in power, which he simply didn’t have need to make. He lied.
When a player lies in Survivor, you often hear them say soon afterwards, “I’m just playin’ the game.” Well what game is that? Survivor isn’t about lying. Lying is a part of the game, and much like in real life, it should be used only when necessary. There was absolutely no reason to lie to Julie. When Julie took him to the reward dinner, he should have told her straight up that he wasn’t going to change his vote. He should have looked her in the eye, told her he loved her, but he doesn’t want to break his alliance. She would have been disappointed, but respected him for the move. He would have had no worries about her vote, no matter who he faced in the finals, including Eliza.
The next mistake he made was lying to Eliza! What exactly did that gain him? Had he remained true to Eliza, he would have been in the final three with Eliza and Scout. Once the 30 seconds it took Scout to lose the immunity challenge, he would have been in the final two. Obviously the two guys would have voted for him, as would have Scout, and probably Julie and Twila. He would have had to backstabbed Twila and Scout, to get this far, but it would have been an understandable backstab. Since he had immunity, he could have just went to the pair and told them the truth. That he was with Eliza, since it was obvious they were with each other. They would have argued, been angry, but when it came down to write either Chris’ name on the parchment or Eliza’s, they would have written down Chris. Chris is very lucky Eliza and Julie were very forgiving. Many former jury members weren’t.
But Chris’ bad play didn’t end at the final four. He continued it to the last minute. His answers were phony and obvious, while Twila’s were honest and sincere. That’s why Amy voted for Twila. She probably had no intention of doing so beforehand. In the final tribal council, it’s important to be honest, and show almost all of your cards to the jury. The jurors are upset because they’ve been eliminated; the last thing they want to hear is how much they’re loved by the two people who are trying to get a million dollars. The, “I love you strategy” cost Neleh the title during Survivor Marquesas. Chris is lucky that didn’t cost him the title here.
However credit is due to Chris on a few fronts. First of all, he did what the women couldn’t….shut up. He let them fight between themselves, and in the end was rewarded because he was likable.
He also eventually woke up for the physical challenges. He won the last two immunities, and possibly needed to, in order to stay alive in the game. He was weak when it benefited him, and strong when he needed it most.
However in the end, the two main reasons Chris Daugherty is the Sole Survivor is because of luck and stupidity. But he is a champion.
While I felt this was one of the weaker seasons in Survivor, the show proved why it’s still the best reality TV show around. The final tribal council was great television. It’s just a shame the meek always seem to prosper on Survivor.
There was no way Sarge was voting for Twila. No way. However I know one person with the same last name as myself that believed it. His name should not be Jack Glanzer, it should be Jack Gullible.
The two best players this season were Eliza and Twila. Twila’s two major mistakes were her attitude and her truthfulness. You have to treat people nicely, or else if you make it to the final two you lose something like 5-2. And much like Chris did later, there was no reason to lie about her son! She had the #’s already. She didn’t have to trick Amy, Leanne, and Julie. She just had to backstab them. However outside of those two mistakes, she knew when to come into an alliance, and leave one. She was a very good player.
As was Eliza. Though Eliza was too trusting, she too knew when to join and leave an alliance. However looking back, she should have joined Amy and Julie and then taken Chris along with her. Had she told Chris, she would never change her vote, Chris would not have wanted to pick the purple rock, and he would have voted out Scout.
But she played the game honorably, and had a great chance to make it to the final two. Had she made it to the finals against Amy, she may have won.
Sarge is probably the worst player ever to play the game. He was the leader of the weakest alliance ever, when he could have been a key cog in a dominating alliance. That type of play, will get you knocked out first after a merge. Had he not won immunity, that’s where he would have finished.
Rory was great, but he couldn’t control his temper. Had he pretended to love Amy (not just like), she would have kicked off Chad instead of him.
Speaking of Chad, he played with more legs than brain cells. How did he let John K. get voted off? And had he outlast Twila, then he may have won it all instead of Chris.
As for next season, I’m already looking forward to it. 20 people instead of 18, and I have a feeling there maybe no teams to start off.
