First off, I think the reason they let him search alone was due to two factors; Mike convincing them it couldn’t be found but more importantly it just didn’t matter. It was (pretty much) a foregone conclusion they were all voting for him anyway. Standing beside him when he found it wouldn’t keep him from having it. And even if they knew he had it, Ashley would have probably went home anyway.
As for playing it before voting, I think was a terrible tactical move. Had it been me, I would have antagonized everyone at tribal to ensure I got all the votes. That way whoever Ben voted for would have gone home. And were it have been me playing I would have sent Devin home. That guy will probably get the million if he makes to final three.
It’s always good to know if someone has an idol or not, and they should have been looking for it, too, to make sure Ben didn’t get it. But there was a good chance they would split the vote, and Ben would not be able to work his magic like he did in the previous TC. By using it early, he ruled out the possibility of them splitting the vote.
I’ve seen several people say this, and I don’t agree at all. If every time Ben goes anywhere, there are two or three people shadowing him, the odds are that *they *will find the idol rather than him finding it.
They had already decided how to vote, and were most likely going to split. Had Ben done that, it would be Mike going home, since the vote would have been split between Ben and Mike.
I think Ben’s playing the HII early was a good move, but his follow-up execution was not. As others have said, it makes sense to try and fracture the group, since he’ll otherwise need to win out on immunities. If he fractures them then he has a chance without immunity in the next two tribals. But picking Mike as his target was a dumb move. I think he would’ve been better off just saying “here’s my Idol, I’m playing it, decide amongst yourselves who to vote for, I’m not telling you my vote.”
Yes, agreed. As soon as he did that, I said, there’s no way the rest of them are going to follow his lead. That was probably too bad for Ashley because if Ben had kept his mouth shut, I’m not sure if she would’ve gone home. The thing is, everyone had been thinking he had become to controlling, Chrissy had even gone to him at one point and told him that was the mindset. They wanted him gone and when that didn’t happen, I think everyone was like, screw you, Ben, you’re not running the show and you sure as hell aren’t controlling our votes. He should’ve stayed quiet.
Am I the only one thinking they were planning to vote for Ashley regardless of whether Ben played that idol or not? There was almost no discussion after Ben pulled it out. Devon was pretty much goading him into playing it knowing it wouldn’t make any difference.
I disagree. You’re assuming Ben was being honest in telling everyone he wanted Mike gone (remember, he didn’t actually vote for him as he claimed he would). From the standpoint of Ben, Ashley going home vs Mike is a good thing as she would probably have a better chance of beating him in the final. IMO, she’s better liked and has played more strategically.
I still think Ben should have played his idol after the voting to insure his pick went home. I also disagree that it was vital to splinter the group. It was going to happen anyway and in the history of Survivor (at least to my recollections) the person with the most votes at tribal rarely gets voted out at next tribal. He had time to scramble.
That’s a good point. I thought Devon’s comment after Ben played it was also telling.
This season more that any the editing is purposely misrepresentative. They very well could have suspected Ben had the idol and made him think they were voting for him with Ashley being the target all along - that conspiratorial footage being left on the cutting room floor (metaphorically speaking).
I’m conflicted on the new Final 4 rule. Was thrilled that it gave Ben a chance after his heartbreaking immunity challenge, but the hallmark of this game is “The tribe has spoken.” You have to decide who to boot and live with the consequences. This new rule takes that power/consequence away from the tribe. However, it also cuts down on the goat strategy, which is a good thing.
This is one of the few seasons I had no problem with any of the final three winning, or the final four for that matter.
The advantage was the foreknowledge of the twist, and Chrissy used that to its maximum effect, giving Devon a chance to prepare and keeping Ben in the dark. Agreed that Devon should have won with that edge and being an experienced fire-starter.
I knew from the moment they showed us Devon easily starting the fire – was it the very first scene? very early anyway – that it would come down to him being in a fire-making duel, and that he would at least look like he was losing for a big chunk of it.
Even though I disliked Ben for most of the series, he really won me over at the end for his sheer determination and drive. He worked at it, day after day. Tons of players talk about how important Survivor is to them, and how they’ll ‘do anything’ to win, but how rare is it for their actions to show it’s true?
I mean, look at Ryan. All that blather on what a fan he is and how much he’s studied all the shows and so forth…and yet he’d NEVER even tried camping? Or practiced making a fire, or any other Survivor-type skill? Or simply building up some physical strength? So what he really meant was,“I’ll spend any number of hours sitting on a couch watching tv, but actually put any physical exertion into it, or challenge myself to develop a skill? Naw.”
I think the biggest knock on the others who were trying to get Ben out is that they were too lazy to follow him around. I said it here, and they basically admitted as much in this episode.