Chase ~ I think this one is pretty straight-forward. The first half of the game, it’s no secret that Salchicha dominated the challenges. Salchicha would go on to be a strong alliance, and the dominating force in the game. Bayonaca was doing horribly, and would go on to lose a great deal of players, but only the strong would survive based on their own personal connections that they had built on original Bayonaca. And then you had Chorizo, which was fast becoming their own alliance. Chase, you were widely perceived as the leader of this alliance, whether it be because you were the captain that actually picked the team or because in reality you were connected with all the Chorizo players; I’d bet on both. I know first hand by speaking to you myself that you had a way with words.
Either way, this led to your eventual downfall in the game. One of my ways into getting to know what was working in the dynamics of Chorizo, was my connection to Bobby Jon. Bobby Jon never spilled anything to me because he and I weren’t aligned like that, however, the round that Stephenie left the game, I had emotionally manipulated Bobby Jon into telling me who the target was. He had told me Tom, and I had verified his vote. The reason I gave the idol to Tom was because of that. I had a hunch that you all would change your votes, because you could without BJ’s vote, and had shared this with my other allies. However, we stuck to our guns and went for it. When the plan failed, it just went to show what I was dealing with and showed me that you guys were the real deal and were some solid competition. When the first round of the merge came around, you guys were down in numbers, and no one from my alliance would
not take the opportunity to take out who they thought was the leader of the Power Rangers, and for that, you were taken out.
Semhar ~ I’m going to go back to NuBayonaca for this one. Semhar, I’ve told you this, but I actually liked you. When we first started talking, I didn’t even know who you were. But we spoke often on NuBayonaca when we got on that tribe. However after Penner left, people got comfortable and things got quiet. When it came time to move into the next round, I was told that you were gunning for me. I was confused and a little upset over it because I thought I had really made an effort to know you. Once it was brought up who you could have been outside the game, I had wondered if this was a personal move against me, since you’re one of the people who really has an idea of how I play these games. Knowledge is power, and you have a great deal when it comes to seeing how I play and how I operate. However, it made sense as to why I was being targeted. I was perceived as the “leader” of Salchicha as many had told me throughout the game. After I had found out that you did want me out, you were someone that I wanted out of the game. It’s just like the Jay vote. When I found out that he was saying he wanted me gone – I wanted him out. I didn’t want to keep people in that were coming after me.
When we spoke the round you left, I really do feel like we cleared the air. I opened up to you about how Bobby Jon had come to me with this information about you wanting to take me out. Bobby Jon was trouble in this game for me, and was one of the main reasons that my journey was so much harder in getting here to the end. He was a huge obstacle. The reason you aren’t a finalist is because while you were in the minority alliance, the Power Rangers, you had also voiced your want to take me out. I wouldn’t want to keep in someone that once mentioned they wanted me out, and nor would I want to keep someone in that would have voiced their want to take out say, Matt, or Sydney .. which is why I think they were fine in taking you out aswell. In addition, you were not the intended target the round that you did leave. The physical force of Shawna captured Immunity to stay safe, and you were deemed the third most threatening.
Sekou~ Lmao. Um. Sekou had no social game. He never came online to campaign to stay in the game and never made any effort whatsoever. Actually he came on once at the start of the game and basically said “sekou” repeatedly. I don’t know if that was code for “keep me in the game” .. but yeah. The only reason he lasted as long as he did was because he was pretty much just
there. Salchicha vs. Chorizo was the name of the game, and Sekou was just a bystander. I can’t even say he floated to his spot in the game. That’s not even an accurate statement. He got to the Jury because of the way the game played out. He got voted out, because it was an easy vote and he was no threat. Taking Sekou out was an easy vote and allowed everyone that was still in to move forwards into the game. Truth be told, Sekou should have gone a lot sooner, but with the competition in this game being intense, and the amount of twists that Lex and Brett threw at us, any opportune time to take out a bigger player needed to be taken. Sekou’s fail was just being a fail and not talking to anyone. He was heavily benefited from the Salchicha/Chorizo rivalry.
Shawna ~ I feel like I really need to address this one. The main thing for me was the communication, and I think that Sydney and maybe one or two other people didn’t talk much to Shawna which is what led to her dismissal from the game. But honestly, that was only a small reason. If anything, that was one of the more smaller reasons. Shawna was a huge competition threat, like seriously. I thought that she would be the one to win to stay alive round after round. She definitely had the ability to do that, but everyone in the alliance just kept the known fact in their head that she would have to slip up at some point. Throughout the early portion of the game, Shawna was seen as second in command to Chase. I know that I personally saw it this way. The rounds where Sandra was alone with the majority of Chorizo, even though she was aggressive and snappy, it still showed how close everyone in the Power Rangers was. When people mentally ranked who they thought had a lot of pull in that alliance, Shawna was second. She was the most intimidating after Chase. After Chase left, she became the
most intimidating opposition left.
I believe the reason Shawna was not a finalist, is because like Chase and Semhar, she was in the minority alliance. When you’re backed against a wall the way Shawna is, your instincts kick in and you have to fight tooth and nail to stay alive. Physically, Shawna did that. She did and tried her hardest to survive each round. A lot of the reason that I had never spoken to Shawna was because I had her screenname added incorrectly the entire season up until a round or so before she was evicted; Semhar had pointed this out to me. It’s no excuse as PMs could have been exchanged, however with the lines drawn in the sand and Shawna being targeted round after round, me approaching her would have been seen as all kinds of fake. I had no interest in leading her astray or giving her false hope that she would stay, when I just wanted her out, as did my allies. Her physical ability and big odds at winning challenges, not being as social with some of the core people in my alliance, and being a core member of the Power Rangers are what prevented her from being a finalist in the game.
Jay ~ The reason Jay isn’t here right now, is simple. He didn’t have the same strong pre-existing relationships the rest of the other had in the alliance. He wasn’t aware of how interconnected a lot of the people were. He thought he had numbers in players like Matt and Tom, when in reality Matt was my number and Tom was Sydney’s. Throughout the game, I was aware of how Jay was coming to me last with whatever information he gathered. I knew I wasn’t high on his list. But, he was growing very close to one of the people I was very close to: Matt. I had good insight onto what Jay was doing each round, what he wanted to happen, etc. The second that Matt learned about Jay wanting to take out a “big player”, Matt finally got Jay to imply that the person would be me. The second I heard this, it was done. I wanted Jay out. I got the ball rolling on the Jay move, because of Matt telling me first. The course of action after that was to let Sydney know of the ongoings. Sydney jumped on board and got Tom to vote along with her. As you can see, Tom’s pre-existing relationship trumped his newly made bond with Jay. That’s how the entire game was.
However with just four votes, that wasn’t enough to take Jay out. We needed atleast one more to seal the deal. This was the round that Stephanie was pegged to leave the game, and I wasn’t wanting that to happen. I needed any excuse I could to make sure that she stayed in. Jay wanting me out? The perfect reason to flip the votes an hour before the deadline. However, with only four votes, that wasn’t going to happen. Mike was already throwing his vote on Jay, so that made it five, but we needed atleast one more. I had said if we couldn’t get the numbers in time, then we need to hold off on this so Jay doesn’t stay and then knows what we tried to do. But then, Stephanie had signed online. I confronted her. I said, if you want to stay in this game, then you need to vote out Jay. It’s the only way. When Stephanie casted her vote for Jay, it was done. Jay was gone that round; the numbers were set. Jay’s downfall was revealing his intentions too soon and putting his trust in the wrong people.
Stephanie~ Stephanie was targeted because of “floating between sides”. I personally liked Stephanie, and had a good relationship with her. I had told her most of everything that was going on in terms of who was with who. I had even gone out of my way to tell her that my alliance was coming after her. When she was with a majority of Salchicha’s in the swap, and my alliance had told me they were growing tired of her and the way she was trying to control challenges, etc .. I went and told her. I had her best interest in mind because I wanted her to stick around as long as possible, because in a way she did benefit my game. The round she left, I wasn’t thrilled about it, but it was a move that made sense in a way. There was no doubt that Stephanie was almost like the Kiss of Death in this game. As some of the Power rangers were picked off, Stephanie had left a good taste in their mouths as they walked off to Ponderosa.
In addition to that, she did have the ability to do well in certain competitions. She had the ability to slay endurance competitions if she needed to. She was a threat in her own way. I think that the underlying reason to all of it was because of Jury perception. Stephanie was clearly fighting for her life in the game, she had good relationships with the people that kept getting voted out, and she always casted her vote for Sekou, which allowed her to keep her hands clean. For these reasons, she was being targeted before anyone else. Do I wish she would have stayed a little longer? Yeah. But too long? That wouldn’t have been smart.
Savage ~ The thing about Savage is that he came across very quiet. There was a point in the game where both he and I spoke after we left NuBayonaca, and he had mentioned to me that he felt in trouble. I asked him why, and he told me because he wasn’t social and felt very shy and nervous when he spoke to people in the game. I thought that was cute, LOL. However, it definitely showed me that Savage wasn’t really a threat in terms of social game. He was going to be someone that would tagalong to whatever plan just to stay alive. He was a big reason as to why Stephanie was such a good ally to have. Stephanie would relay plans to him and he would vote according to the plan. It was helpful. But when it came down to it, and having to vote out someone, between both him and Mike, Savage had the upperhand in challenges. Savage was evicted for being the strongest outsider at the time, and he didn’t really have the same social bonds to stick around that Mike had working for him.
Mike~ Mike’s error in this game comes down to him flipping from Salchicha. He could have had it made, but in a way, he kind of lucked out given that everyone in the alliance that he flipped to was a bigger threat than he was. Mike was close to Sydney and then worked with me on NuBayonaca. We spoke several times about sticking together, but the second the swap came, he switched sides on us, making it a real backstab. I honestly didn’t see it coming, but after he did that, I was pretty angry. I think we all were; everyone in our alliance was. However, as the game progressed, his new alliance began to be picked off, and it was going to be sooner or later that his name would come up to go. Mike was social, but he wasn’t convincing. I mean, he spoke to people about votes, showed face, and etc. He was the last person to go from the outsiders, in terms of being outside of the stronger pre-existing relationships in the game. Him not being in the finals comes from his flipping and his inability to channel his inner-Shawna to gain Immunity.
Matt ~ He was one of the biggest threats left in the game. It was him and I together, completely. Sydney knew this. What really bugs me is just the way it was handled. I had stressed so many times to Sydney that I think this game deserved the best of the best in the end, and to me, when it reached the ending stages of the game .. the best of the best was Matt, myself, and her. I wanted the challenge. I wanted to go head to head with the two people who had a lot of control in the game, knew what was going on. Can you even imagine what the finale would be like right now if Matt were here instead of Tom? It would be one of the greatest F3’s ever. However, I knew Matt was a threat to win. His reasoning for being targeted by the others was because of his “ability to lie”. That’s bullshit. Matt was entirely loyal to the Careers and the F3 of myself, Sydney, and him. Them taking him out was out of fear because he had this game completely wrapped. What I was told at the time of his voting out, was because he was a good liar and couldn’t be trusted after all the blindsides her participated in. Lies. It was because Sydney pegged him to win.
Sandra ~ Oh god. Where do I even start? Sandra had so many flaws in this game. She was aggressive, annoying, and snappy. She had no filter. She was like Sandra in that sense. If someone went against her, she went off on them. It amuses me how people have always said that she and I are twins, because in that way we are. I do go off on people impulsively, and I did to her when she was in the game in the last two rounds. I had enough of everything going on and I wasn’t going to keep my mouth shut after Matt left the game. I felt like I had nothing to lose and could say whatever I wanted at that point, because I wasn’t going to keep myself bottled up anymore. Sandra had/has a good relationship with Sydney and I. We were the
Mean Girls. Now, the second Sandra went to Matt and dropped to him that Sydney and I “were like BFFs” that kind of changed. Sydney was pissed by her as was I. What is Sandra had gone and said that to someone else? Luckily, Matt was a number of mine and I knew about it right away. The subtle dropping of hints about past game victories, her mentioning my relationship with Sydney, her attitude in general, etc, is what led to her getting voted out at fifth. That’s it.
Mick ~ Mick didn’t really have a downfall that led to him not getting to the end. Mick played for Sydney all game. Mick’s purpose in this game changed to
just playing for Sydney. The reason he lasted so long was because of her. The plan always seemed to be him getting cut at the Final Four, because he didn’t want to answer jury questions because he wasn’t going to have the time. And in addition, what would he say? “I played for Sydney all game.” He gave his idol to her. I mean, that’s pretty much it. He left on his own accord because he didn’t have the time. It just kind of upsets me that someone who wanted to be here and actually wanted to make the end like Matt, got taken out so that someone who was just strictly playing for someone else could just take up space at the end. It sucks and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It’s really annoying to me, but again, guys! Say it with me:
pre-existing relationships!
