Day 11: Survivor That Should Have Won But Did Not
Survivor 39-Day Challenge
That title is a mouthful.
A week ago, I had a completely different answer to this question. But reviewing each game of my Top 2 in this category, I thought my second choice is a tad superior than my first choice and decided to switch them up.
Cirie Fields’ game in Micronesia would’ve merit a win had it been played out in any other season. Alas, it did not happen.
For this entry, I will only be describing Cirie’s game in Micronesia, the season I thought she had the best chance of winning. It’s not to say that Cirie was not brilliant on the other three (Panama, Heroes vs. Villains, and Game Changers).
Following her incredible run in Panama (2006), Cirie returned as one of the Favorites in Micronesia after two years. Despite being a huge character her first time around (a couch potato who decided to fight the leaves of the jungle), she was able to maintain a low threat level, positioning herself in the middle of a two-faction Favorites tribe. This is a subtle indication of Cirie playing a very good social game.
After Fairplay was voted out, Cirie became the swing vote between Jonathan-led alliance versus Parvati-led couples team. Cirie solidified her position in the tribe when she aligned with Parvati and Amanda, suggesting they should vote Yau-Man out before the strategic force from Fiji got a footing and ran the game for good. However, Ozzy and James wanted Eliza gone, and Jonathan and his alliance wanted Cirie as a number and take Parvati out. Cirie’s thought process was nothing short of brilliant this early in the game, positing a hundred-percent objective vote, thus not getting much heat from the opposing alliance, and solidifying her alliance with the side of her choice. Getting Yau-Man out eliminated a strategic player while keeping Eliza, a perceived weaker player than her — a win-win for Cirie. Talk about meat shield strategy in reverse; that’s Cirie’s home-run swing (see Panama).
Cirie got Ami’s ire for a short while but she was still able to make the relationship work as evidenced by the dynamics brought upon by the tribe switch. Coupled, of course, by the naivete of the Fans, the Favorites was able to control the switched-up Malakal tribe, even though Ami was on the outs. Ozzy, Amanda, and Cirie remained intact; but the control was told through the narration of Ozzy and Amanda.
At the merge, Cirie kicked her gameplay into higher gear letting everyone control the first vote. Parvati and Alexis were so gung-ho into voting out Eliza, and Cirie let them think she was a number for them. Eliza, from my point of view, was pretty much antagonized by Parvati and Alexis after the vote-out. But, at this point, Cirie was pretty much in a secured position and was able to let her reverse-meat shield go.
Cirie and Parvati made the first double-cross of the merger when they decided to blindside Ozzy.
Narrated through Parvati’s point of view, I’d say this was a joint big move between the two of them. From previous tribal council where Eliza played a fake hidden immunity idol aka The F — g Stick™, Cirie actually thought it might not have been a bad idea if it was a real idol. Ozzy would have gone home with an idol in his pocket, the biggest win of them all. And the fact that Cirie was not at all worried that Eliza might have stayed, I think, is a proof that she’s got options, and she could be flexible enough to have Eliza around.
Back to the Ozzy blindside, Cirie and Parvati connived with Alexis and Natalie and used a very desperate Jason to pull off one of the biggest blindsides, not only of the season, but of the entire Survivor franchise. Just look at Eliza’s reaction. Another point for the genius that is Cirie Tiffany Fields.
When I think of the Black Widow Brigade™ (BWB) alliance, the top on my list of the people involved would be Parvati, and then Amanda, and then Natalie. Cirie somehow was able to be a part of the iconic alliance and to separate her game identity from the said alliance (a perception that could have been gold in front of the jury). Cirie’s game could be described with no association to the iconic all-women’s alliance and still could stand on its own. That’s how brilliant it was.
I think one of the reasons was the supposed Amanda vote at the Final 6. Cirie was able to part ways from the alliance when necessary, and was able to justify so objectively, like what she’s shown with the Yau-Man vote. Cirie voting with Amanda would cause a tie between the three remaining Fans and the three remaining Favorites. As such, Cirie would want to avoid drawing rocks because let’s face it, it’s not a very ideal way to go. Admitting this to Amanda was a risk, but because of Cirie’s good connection with her, Cirie was able to do that unscathed. However, this might have played a part to her demise come Final 3. In retrospect, this was a mistake.
Then, during the Final 5 of Micronesia, Cirie’s strategic chops skyrocketed to the universe and beyond. The BWB was eager to get Erik out of the game as the final man standing, and would want to bring an all-female Final 4 to fruition. But Erik was a challenge beast, and the only way to get him out at this point was not letting him win immunity. You know where I’m going with this. Of course, the Survivor gods let him win, are you kidding? What could they do now?
Enter Cirie. She came up with the plan to make poor naive Erik give up immunity by exploiting that time’s tribe dynamics. Erik was playing the game, as he should be. But such game was so wishy-washy that the women got very confused and cracked that baby up, turn it around against Erik. The psychological manipulation, as masterminded by Cirie, was executed to perfection by the entire BWB. Natalie needed to convince Erik that Cirie was willing to vote with them, as evidenced by her vote at the previous tribal council where she voted against Amanda. The caveat was Erik needed to give Natalie the immunity necklace, which would be Cirie’s cue that they were all voting together. “Who would fall for that?” Natalie asked. But she still had to try, and of course, Erik answered with a resounding no to such cockamamie plan.
Erik had the entire afternoon to think about the notion, and Cirie was able to talk to him about (or into) it. Just vote with us, he said to Cirie, and Cirie executed her subtle (almost negligible) move: plant a seed on Erik’s head that he’s not managing his jury very well and this was the move that would redeem him.
Cirie laid the groundwork that day, and at tribal council, it’s the others time to work. The seed planted by Cirie was watered and nurtured at tribal by Amanda, Parvati, and Natalie and as such, it grew so much that Erik truly believed he would not win the game by not giving up immunity. He was visibly confused. And then, as another point to Cirie’s fantastic gameplay, the inevitable happened: Erik handed over his safety to Natalie and was promptly voted out.
This moment is often regarded as the dumbest move in Survivor history (spoiler alert: it is not, but more on that later), which, in my opinion, giving too much focus on Erik. Not that I don’t think it’s dumb; oh, it’s bonehead, alright. But that would not have happened anyway without Cirie coming up with the idea, her audacity to push through with such risky manipulation, and her groundwork for the fireworks that happened at tribal council. For me, this move was a display more of Cirie’s brilliance than of Erik’s dumbness.
Unfortunately, after all of those moves, a surprise Final 2 endgame ruined Cirie’s chances of winning. The only way she could get to the finals was to win the final immunity challenge; alas, she did not. Amanda took Parvati to the Final 2, which could have been the result of Cirie’s decision to avoid a tie at the Final 6 tribal council. Of course, Amanda was closer to Parvati, as established from the beginning of the season because, as we know now, Parvati won. Parvati would’ve taken Amanda as well if she won FIC, but she threw the challenge not wanting to make such decision; point Parvati. It’s more heartbreaking to know that there was no major blunder on Cirie’s part.
In conclusion, Cirie should have won Micronesia. And even if it was a Final 3, and Parvati still took the title, I would be upset all the same that Cirie did not win Season 16.
I’m not saying Parvati isn’t deserving; she’s almost a two-time winner. I’m not saying, furthermore, that Cirie would’ve won straight up if it’s a Final 3; I don’t know that, and we’ll never know that.
My point is Cirie had the best chance of winning in Micronesia and, if she was up there in the finals, would have given Parvati a serious run for her money.
Runner-up: Rob Cesternino, Third Placer, Survivor: The Amazon
