Day 30: Best Rivalry
Survivor 39-Day Challenge
This is a no-brainer for me, it’s Colby-Jerri rivalry which spans three seasons. It’s like another character of Survivor, with its own arc.
This storied rivalry began in The Australian Outback (2001), the second season of the series. Colby was painted as the All-American Hero while Jerri as the Femme Fatale Villainess. It was not a surprise when they hit it off right off the bat — two young, good looking people flirting, what’s not to like.
What seemed to be as a budding romance became the beginning of a decade-long rivalry when each of them had trust issues about the other: Jerri being wary of Colby’s loyalty, and Colby having second thoughts about aligning with Jerri. It was ignited when Colby, after he promised to be allies with Jerri, voted a different way at one tribal council. Jerri’s wariness was confirmed when Colby decided he would not be aligning with her. The relationship was never the same again.
Colby ended up voting out Jerri at the Final 8, which left a sour taste in her mouth for sure. He screwed this one up as Jerri might have been the swing vote in the finals, and she, without a doubt, voted against Colby as a retaliation, maybe.
Being two of the most popular characters in the earlier years of Survivor, they were a lock to be in All Stars (2004). They’re superstars alright, much to Colby’s chagrin, of course. He knew that woman’s trouble.
At first, fortunately for Colby, they were on separate tribes. After all, All Stars started with three, unprecedented at the time. Jerri was being miserable over at Saboga; from the tribe losing early on, to Rupert’s genial shelter, she was done. Over on Mogo Mogo, Colby was having a more strategic game, much to the delight of the fans. He orchestrated the vote-out of Survivor’s first ever winner in Rich, which, at that point, was a huge feat. Colby was setting himself up as a major force and, another way to look at it, a big target. Colby almost won his first season. In modern Survivor, think Aubry Bracco; target would always be similar to that of a winner.
At one point, Saboga lost another challenge and was about to be absorbed by the other tribes. Rupert and Jenna made their way to the Chapera tribe where they were welcomed easily, as evidenced by how far they got with Rob and Amber. On the other hand, Ethan and Jerri was sent to join Mogo-Mogo, consequently Jerri reuniting with Colby.
After making some progress, Colby was suddenly in jeopardy, having a nemesis around camp strategizing to get another revenge at him. Sadly for the all-american heartthrob, not all were smitten like the Shii-Devil. After Mogo-Mogo lost another immunity challenge, there was nowhere to hide for Colby, and he’s too big of a threat, anyway. Between the two, Jerri still had the last laugh.
Of course, Heroes vs. Villains (2010) would not be complete without Colby and Jerri. I mean, many people think the theme was conceptualized because of how Russell behaved in Samoa (2009), but it was a long standing theme in the first 20 seasons of Survivor.
As I have mentioned a while ago:
Colby was painted as the All American Hero while Jerri as the Femme Fatale Villainess.
And it’s not a surprise that they again were this season. I’d be surprised if anyone were. This time, however, the superman persona of Colby was gone, as evidenced by the first reward challenge of the season. As the season progressed, Colby just did not have the same level of competitiveness and enthusiasm when it came to challenges. Maybe that’s what an almost decade of hiatus could do, to think that Colby is one of the winningest challenge competitors in the early days of Survivor, nay in history.
Jerri also had a turnaround this season. For the first two, she didn’t quite grasp the monicker ‘villainess’ which kind of hurt her outside the game. Quite understandable. However, this time around, she fully embraced her villainess tag being grouped with a bunch of other villains. Ironically, Jerri mellowed down this season, being shown as more strategic and more calculating than her previous outings where she was more a character than a player.
Like their first season in Australia, Colby and Jerri once again made the merge, but this time as part of opposing tribes. Rumor has it that they had a big reunion and reconciliation on the island but was left off the editing room because it’s insignificant to Russell’s narrative. I mean, probably the resolution to a three-season, one-decade Survivor feud was not shown to us fans; that’s just sad. We’ll probably be seeing Jerri play a fourth time; I don’t know about Colby, so their story must have ended on Season 20.
But if they’re going back for a fourth time, I’m all for it.
The Colby-Jerri rivalry is one of the most colorful and most storied rivalries in the history of Survivor (this phrase is applicable here; not annoying like when Probst says it). It started with Colby betraying Jerri in Australia and ended with Jerri tearfully voting out Colby in Heroes vs. Villains.
Runners-up: Sandra vs. Fairplay, Survivor: Pearl Islands (2003) & Kass vs. Spencer, Survivor: Cagayan (2014)
