The Best Way to Persuade

There is a fundamental rule of persuasion:

An idea is more powerful if someone thinks they came up with it on their own. People are more likely to trust their own thoughts than someone else’s. The same is true on Survivor.

This week we get a good segment of Tevin rallying everyone for a potential Soda vote. Let’s unpack how Hunter and then how Tevin approach these conversations.

Soda tells us that her, Hunter, and Tevin are a solid three that will determine the vote. Tevin, Hunter, and Liz immediately undermine her by saying they want her gone. Tevin takes a direct approach, building an argument and getting people involved.

Hunter agrees with Tevin and has a confessional to tell us that he has wanted Soda out for a while. This is the point here. Instead of throwing out her name and putting himself in danger, Hunter has been biding his time until someone else would take the charge. When Tevin approaches, seemingly out of his own volition, Hunter can get his way while looking like a more passive player by simply agreeing, even though Tevin is “convincing” Hunter of something he already wants.

Tevin wants Soda out because she is playing hard. It’s not that Hunter isn’t. it’s that he has a more subtle approach and no one is onto his game yet. When Tevin suggests voting Soda, Tevin thinks it is his idea - and it might well be - but it’s one that Hunter has been thinking about too. By waiting for this moment, Hunter gets what he wants and manages his threat level at the same time.

Tevin’s timing has its own merit too. When trying to persuade other self-interested players of a move, it’s reasonable to assume that they’ve considered the same move and may not have vocalized it. Liz is another player who voices that she is worried about Soda too. Tevin might have sensed this in Liz and Hunter and used that moment to get aligned. From Tevin’s perspective, if Liz and Hunter came to the conclusion that “Soda gotta go-da” on their own, that makes the move easier to pull off. They just might not have said anything yet. After all, the moment you say a name out loud, that becomes ammunition for others to use later to get you in trouble. Being the one to say a name first isn’t a bad idea if you suspect others are thinking it already.

It’s a lot easier to direct a group when everyone thinks they’re the one who came up with the idea. If you can put your ego aside and let others think they’re in charge, it’s only good for the perception of you as a non-threatening player. For those reasons, I’d argue that Hunter, not Soda, is the most dangerous player on Nami right now.

Player of the Episode: Kenzie

• She doesn’t know how much danger she was in if Yanu went to tribal council last round but she was still able to capitalize on Bhanu’s errors and get back in with Q and Tiff

• Give me real people every time: we see her lose her cool, we see her apologize, and we see her drink a coconut during Bhanu’s breakdown

• If Yanu can make it to a merge unharmed, I actually think Bhanu made her a lesser target than Q and Tiff. A duo is much scarier than a so-called mastermind, especially when an unreliable narrator is the one calling her that

Look Out For: Jem. I LOVE WHEN CASTAWAYS ENJOY THEMSELVES. It’s endearing and it’s fun to watch for us too!!! Jem is chilling with her advantage while her tribe is on their own Holes-like pointless journey of hopeless digging and she is giggling the (w)hole way through. Give me more Jem.

In Danger: Liz. That whole Nami segment with Soda felt like a bit of a set up for this week. I’m not convinced Soda is who is going just yet and I’m still anxious to see the results of a Nami tribal council. Liz’s place in the season is a little confusing: we’ve got tidbits here and there but almost always from the perspective of other people or to accentuate others’ stories (e.g. Bhanu on the journey). If we see a mid-episode Liz-centric backstory this week, that would spell doom.

Sidebar: Look, I’m in the minority: I thought the whole Bhanu of it all was ridiculous and camp and provided something different than what we’ve seen before. HOWEVER, it has been talked about more than enough so that’s why I gave a take on something else that happened this episode. And yes, other things did happen this episode.

Until Next Time,

Kevin 🐍

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