“It’s Like the Perfect Crime” was the perfect example of how lying can destroy someone’s game. Well, “destroying” might be too light of a word. Desiree set off a cataclysmic apocalypse to her game this week on Survivor: Ghost Island. The quiet and strategic player had all the makings of winning the season, but she made one bad move after another to the point that everyone turned against her in a single round. There was no going back or redeeming herself.
Naviti had the majority. They were good and could’ve rested, especially after taking out Libby the week before. Where Desiree went wrong first was placing her trust in the wrong people – the Malolo four obviously needed a miracle to stay, but needing a miracle doesn’t equate to trust. Did Desiree have enough of a strong relationship/loyalty built with the Malolos? We never saw any of this social game being built, so we have to assume that she only banked on the fact that the Malolos would do anything to stick around. Unfortunately for her, Laurel and the others were closer with Dom and Wendell. If Naviti was going to turn against their own, the Malolos would want to be on the winning side.
The second unfortunate move was who Desiree wanted to target. Why Kellyn?! From all the editing and alliances, Kellyn trusted Desiree – she had Kellyn in her back pocket. Why would Desiree give up an alliance number so early? This move made no sense. Once Kellyn realized that her friend had been throwing her name around, she knew she couldn’t trust any of the girls and that friendship was irrevocably broken.
Desiree’s biggest fault was the lying. When she got caught in the lie, she lied again and then lied about her lie. If she had owned up to the fact that she had considered targeting Kellyn, she could’ve found a way to chat with the Navitis and do damage control. However, she instead lied and threw all the Malolos under the bus. What worked against her was the reasoning for the lie. Laurel didn’t need to lie or come up with an excuse to Dom and Wendell; she had built a close enough relationship to them that this “lie” would’ve came from out of nowhere. Desiree had to be the one to do damage control and unfortunately, her reaction by starting arguments and tribe meetings sealed any doubt that she was the one who plotted Kellyn’s demise.
Why didn’t Donathan go to Ghost Island or indulge in a prize? The reward challenge forced him out since he wasn’t picked for any of the teams. It’s a shame when castaways don’t get the chance to compete, and it’s especially rough when they get nothing for being left out. At least throw in a twist or some food for him. He didn’t miss much as the reward challenge was a typical Survivor team challenge that required building upon the success of the previous obstacles. Even the immunity challenge didn’t stand out as wow-worthy; we were treated to another balancing an object game. If the group tribe immunity challenges are known for puzzles, the individual immunity challenges tend to stick a lot to balancing objects. It can feel very repetitive and dull, which it did here.
Even though this sounds harsh, Angela failing at Ghost Island was good to see as a viewer. Most of the castaways won during their visits to Ghost Island, so seeing someone lose their vote added another layer to Tribal Council. Would they tell others about losing the vote? Would they come up with their own power/lie? The “no vote” shook up Angela’s game and she had to react. These are the moments where we see the true fortitude of the player.
Desiree getting voted out at Tribal Council was the culmination of her poor gameplay moves. Once she had lit the spark and stuck to her guns, there was no saving her. Tribal Council was a train wreck that saw Desiree’s chances of staying in the game, let alone winning, be demolished. She lashed out at her fellow tribe members, continuously lied and created a lot of doubt with her closest allies. Suffice it to say, YOU SHOULD NEVER PLAY LIKE THIS! She was desperate to stay and her defensive attitude only made it worse.
Survivor: Ghost Island surprisingly had a light week. Not much happened in the game, except for the fact that a potential underdog got sent home. Things got a bit volatile and we enjoyed an interesting Tribal Council. However, it’s sad when a person blows up their game quickly so close to the end. Oh well! Survivor is a cruel competition.
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