These Survivors Need More Respect

8 Forgotten Evolutions of Survivor Strategy - Part 1/2

Survivor is a social experiment that captivated us in 2000, and since then there have been 697 castaways that have played the game through 46 seasons. In that time, strategy has evolved from the alphabet voting strategy and the “alliance” in its infancy, to the most recent Q-skirts and an epidemic of idol flushing blindsides. The advancements in survivor strategy over 24 years would have sent pioneer Dr. Sean to the emergency room, needing a neurologist of his own. And just imagine Susan Hawk finding a Knowledge is Power advantage! 

Despite the evolving strategy, there are common throughlines that have held since the beginning, and many of these are built upon the tenets set forth in seasons past. We’ve come to know the big names that make up the Survivor Mount Rushmore – Sandra, Boston Rob, Tony, Parvati. We’re quick to remember the other strategists that have shaped the game – Rob Cesternino, Cirie, Kim, Natalie, Tyson, among others. And we know the games’ biggest moments like Parvati’s double idol play, fall of the Rotu 4, and the 17 times we’ve flashed back to Erik giving individual immunity to Natalie. There are, however, other key moments in Survivor history that have been lost and players that were ahead of their time and these pioneers of the game deserve their flowers too.

This is part one of a two-part series. Here are the first four players that helped evolve Survivor strategy.

Sue Hawk (Borneo) – Hierarchal Alliances

Most people are quick to remember the Tagi 4 and Richard’s role as the mastermind within that alliance. Sue is often remembered as the loud truck driver and larger-than-life persona Queen who delivered the most scathing speech and iconic moment in Survivor history – Snakes and Rats. The legacy of the Tagi 4 was that an alliance is a common voting pattern designed to systematically eliminate the opposition until only the alliance remains, thus increasing the win equity of its members. This concept is an understood core tenet of the game from season 2 onward, but in Borneo this was considered ethically questionable.

What people tend to forget is that Sue – to quote herself – was smarter than she looked, and smarter than people give her credit for. The concept of having a sub-alliance within the alliance to ensure success beyond the final 4 was something that was the first of its kind. Sue articulated this during the season – stating that Richard thinks it’s him and her to the end, but Kelly and Sue are gonna snake him and give him a taste of his own medicine. Sue set up two paths for herself to get to the end within her alliance, making her the most powerful member of the alliance. Richard even said it himself – he had no idea Sue was planning something behind his back, and if things didn’t blow up with Kelly and Sue, he could have been blindsided.

Sue set up a Survivor strategy that was perfected by some of the greatest strategists the game has seen – Brian Heidik, Parvati Shallow, Boston Rob Mariano, and Todd Herzog to name a few. It was later coined the “Onion” by Survivor Gabon’s Dr. Marcus. Sue’s strategic legacy is overshadowed by her big personality, venomous final tribal council, and the unfortunate circumstances of All Stars – but I’m sure this beaver poop drinking queen would appreciate this accolade in a newsletter run by a fellow Chaperan all these years later.

Gervase Peterson (Borneo) – The Social Game

If anyone wants to jump down my throat for branding the social game as a strategy, then you’re the stupidest thing on the planet next to a cow. The social game is a core tenet of Survivor, and to this day I will argue it’s the most important component of the social, strategic, and physical trichotomy.

Gervase was my favourite on Survivor Borneo, because he was so relatable – as someone who is not good in the outdoors, cannot swim (thanks Jonathan), and often wants to do the minimum to just get by – he was a hero. Everyone watching Borneo at the time, including half the Pagong tribe, was perplexed as to why Gervase was able to stick around. Colleen famously said “Gervase, he’s had a free ride, man,” and questioned why she hadn’t voted for him yet. Everyone watching at the time did not understand how he kept slipping by, but he was a fan favourite because you just had to root for him. But the reason Gervase remained in the game was earned via his social game and was not in fact a free ride.

Gervase made his tribemates laugh at every given opportunity. Pagong tribal councils turned into the Gervase stand-up show. The power of Gervase’s social game was he was able to make a terrible comment about women being the stupidest thing on the planet next to cows, and have it blamed on his best friend Joel!!! He articulated his strategy well in the merge episode while playing cards with Richard – and Richard caught onto this, even suggesting Gervase was possibly letting him win and was very charming.

Gervase was ahead of his time with his masterful social game. He played the game too early where the Pagong tribe didn’t want to align and got, well, Pagonged. But the social game is a big reason so many people succeeded and won in years to come, and Gervase was the first to articulate and execute on that. 

Teresa Cooper (Africa) – Working with the Enemy and Rallying Outsiders

The concept of the minority voters getting together to overthrow the majority alliance or power players is Survivor 101 at this point, but this was a concept that was not easy to pull off in the early days of Survivor.

The earliest examples most people cite are the fall of the Rotu 4 or Rob Cesternino rallying the Island of Misfit Toys to vote out Alex Bell. These people are skipping over a key moment in Survivor Africa.

The first two seasons saw the Tagi 4 and Ogakor systematically eliminating the opposition. In Borneo, Gervase, Colleen, and Jenna attempted a coup on Richard but they did not try to do so by rallying the bottom feeders and they failed. In Australia, Elisabeth and Rodger advanced past two members of the majority tribe, Amber and Jerri, by working with the primary power alliance rather than trying to rally Amber and/or Jerri to their side. These were the days when people tried to work together on the basis of friendship or vibes, but it wasn’t really based on strategic positioning; working with adversaries was almost unheard of with the sole exception being tribal unity briefly tying Keith and Jerri together (but we saw how that ended).

Survivor Africa was set to follow a similar course. The early division between the younger and older castaways on Samburu left tremendous animosity, which allowed Boran to take the numbers. But when T-Bird realized that the fate of all the remaining Samburu members relied upon one another, she is the one that forged a summit between her/Frank and Kim Powers/Brandon to come together. She knew the only way for any of them to win was to stick together and pull in someone at the bottom of Boran. And thanks to Lex’s ego, they almost had it – and they would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for that meddling Brandon (justice for Kelly). 

Although her coup failed, she did continue to fight and try to flip people at the bottom of Boran, but the game was not evolved enough for people to take risks like that. This was still the first whiff of a major power shift, and led into the very next season where we saw the Rotu 4 fall.

Kathy Vavrick O’Brien (Marquesas) – Live Tribals

We often remember live tribals being born in Malcolm’s glory and death – first at the three Amigos tribal council where he blindsided Phillip, and later in the combined tribal council where he was blindsided. Live tribals have since caused a visceral shudder in the Survivor community due to the frequency with which they happen and how the show presents them, but they are still a fascinating evolution of the game. Interestingly, people forgot the first instances of live tribals actually centered around Kathy in Marquesas.

Kathy started off the game on a bad foot socially, but grew to understand the game wasn’t about survival of the elements, but survival of the people. Once she learned this, she excelled and her real estate brokering came in handy as she was one of the first people to approach alliances and deals in a business like manner.

Once Kathy made it to the final 4, Vecepia was the target of the vote but won immunity. Since the other two members of the final 4 were an unbreakable bargain bin version of Rodger and Elisabeth, Kathy felt cornered because she knew they would have to vote for her. She earnestly requested to Jeff Probst that she needed a few minutes to talk privately with Vecepia – and that the decisions to vote are made in private on the beach. Jeff retorted “maybe that was the way it used to be, but we’re in a public forum now”. So this led Kathy to have to negotiate with Vecepia at tribal council for Kathy’s life in the game - publicly. Interestingly, these “private chats” would later be permitted by allowing people out of their seats 15 years later.

Although the final 4 was the most obvious example of a live tribal for Kathy, she also had negotiations with Sean the tribal council before, when she had to choose between voting with Sean/Vecepia and Paschal/Neleh. Kathy’s approach to the game invigorated strategy at the time, and since then it has been easy to forget some of this when it pales in comparison to the fall of the Rotu 4.

Thanks for reading this confessional. Which underrated game changers do you think will be included in part 2? Here’s a clue: they’re from Survivor season 9, 13, 35, and 36.

-Omar

Omar Zaheer is known as a strategic mastermind. He was on Survivor 42 where he was taken out in the biggest move of the season. He works as an exotic animal vet in Canada.

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