Last week we talked about Jem having fun and bringing good vibes to the season. And like Charlie said this week, “The thing about vibes is they can go from good to bad.” That just happened to Siga, where their first tribal council made the salsa dancing stop.
The vote came down to two people having fun in Fiji, Ben and Jem. Ben is the one who rolls with the punches, who is chill no matter what, and who people could see was just jamming out there. Jem, meanwhile, was secretly having maybe even more fun, running around hiding fake Beware advantages and giggling about it.
Where did she go wrong? For one, not showing enough of that fun side to her tribe. People are emotional beings. They make decisions based on how they feel about someone – and if Jem showed the rest of her tribe how much of a good time she was having, they might have rationalized keeping her longer.
Caught in the middle of Siga (CBS)
Part of the reason why Charlie and Maria sided with Ben was because he is such a good time. This not only makes a good merge ally who can ingratiate himself with the other castaways, but it also creates a fun-shield. People recognize how much fun Ben is and they might not let him get to the end because of it. Charlie and Maria obviously found value in that.
Or maybe not – ready for why?
It might be the reason that Ben makes a run. If people feel good about Ben, it reduces his threat level. Their laughter will force their emotional brains to justify why they want to keep this guy around and they’ll find a logical reason (e.g. Ben as a fun-shield). The truth is that Ben just rocks and people like him.
Being fun is an underrated strategy in Survivor. If people don’t think you’re taking the game too seriously, you’re the kind of person they’ll want to drag to the end. And if they just simply like you, they’ll find a reason to keep you around.
The episode opened with Kenzie crying and saying that Yanu just had to have fun. She was onto something.
Player of the Episode: Q
Fun is a man who may or may not want to quit weaponizing that urge to throw off his number two ally in a tribe of three that just assumes they’re going to tribal council
Fun is a man who has never gotten over fumbling in high school football
Fun is a slow motion hero shot of a guy who might have just taken his group of three to a merge where they have far more experience voting people out than any other players in the game
Look Out For: Venus. She told us early on she was going to flip at the merge. Let’s see how it goes.
In Danger: Hunter. This man is a superhero. He carried his tribe safely through the premerge. Everyone sees him as a golden boy, even though he is trying to play it down. He has no vote when votes matter more than ever. Do I think he’s gone this week? Probably not? Do I think Venus will be his downfall? Absolutely. If it’s clear to everyone that they can’t let you get to the end, you’re in big trouble.
Until Next Time,
Kevin 🐍
PS Share the link with anyone you think might enjoy this: https://thisweekinbs.beehiiv.com/
PPS If you have any thoughts on this season or the newsletter, I’d love to hear them. Just respond to this email and it’ll go straight to me.