Day 32: Best Blindside

Survivor 39-Day Challenge

Wow, this category is a toughie. In a good way. Because in 20 years of Survivor, there are a lot of amazing blindsides which are exciting and entertaining all the same.

I have already discussed in length the best blindside ever on a previous category: Erik’s blindside in Micronesia (2008).

But let me once again discuss this TV gold.

You know when Parvati said this in one of her confessionals:

We’re spinning the guys as much as we can, and spinning them and spinning them until they don’t know which way’s up. And we’re devouring them, one at a time.

That’s exactly what happened. Ozzy. Jason. Even James. And when Erik was the last man standing, surrounded by the Black Widow Brigade™, boy, it was brutal.

After Alexis was blindsided at the Final 6, Amanda was a bit disappointed in Erik. She claimed she wanted him to vote with her after saving him from imminent elimination pre-merge, but it wasn’t reciprocated. She almost got voted out, but thanks to a hidden immunity idol found in the right place and played at the right time, she’s saved.

Erik also had a side deal going on with Natalie. Being the only fans left at this point, they had to. Erik was making sure, if he wins that cycle’s reward, he’d take Natalie to the reward. This was the same thing he promised Amanda. Conflict would soon ensue.

Of course, the Survivor gods let Erik won the reward, and now he had to decide who to take to the reward and who to send to exile island. He chose Amanda and Parvati, respectively. A furious Natalie went back to camp, telling Cirie that Erik made a confusing move. He should’ve at least sent her to exile, she said, for a chance to look for the idol. And I agree; either take Natalie to reward or make her hunt for idol. Another disappointed Black Widow eyeing Erik right there.

Erik tried to fix everything when he got back, but I don’t think he could’ve done anything well after. The women desperately wanted him out, but alas, the Survivor gods said let’s make this a little more interesting and have Erik win immunity. Now what?

It’s the genius named Cirie that made this ball rolling. Knowing the dynamics between Amanda and Erik, and between Natalie and Erik, she made a proposition that would be the catalyst to the final Black Widow Brigade™ demolition:

I wonder if he would give Nat his necklace. […] Nat, tell him that if he were to give you the necklace, that would redeem him, and we would vote for Amanda.

At first, of course, Natalie was adamant. Who would fall for that? She asked. The three Favorites convinced her to try and talk to him, as there’s a possibility it might work. The dynamics of the game at that point was such a bleak for Erik, and the Black Widow Brigade could just made a show in front of the jury that Erik was nothing but disappointing.

Natalie made the first move, of course, by convincing that she and Erik would vote for Amanda along with Cirie. The caveat, however, was that Cirie would only vote for Amanda if he saved Natalie aka give her up the immunity necklace. Erik said no right away. He’s still in good state. He asked what would be the difference to just vote Amanda out without giving up safety, and Natalie calmly suggested that this would be a big move that would earn him jury votes.

Erik went to Cirie. The subtle move on Cirie’s part was that telling Erik that he’s a bit untrustworthy and sketchy, which might have been noticeable to the jury and everyone else. Cirie just laid the move as cuing her into voting out Amanda. After all, she voted with them at the last tribal council, yes?

Cirie also had to brief Amanda into what should transpire at tribal, since Natalie and Cirie had already done their part. Amanda exploited her disappointment of Erik at tribal council, for the jury to witness. Parvati piled on to that saying nobody respected him anymore because of how wishy-washy he was the past couple of days. Erik went into that tribal thinking he would need some kind of gesture of an apology to make amends with the people he’s playing with, and to show the jury that he’s not bad at all, and what happened at tribal solidify what’s on his head.

I think the nail in the coffin was when Erik said he said game aside, he hoped for some sense of forgiveness which Parvati immediately shut down saying he couldn’t say game aside as they were in the game. That’s it, Erik needed to do something drastic to get what’s on his head: forgiveness. So, when Jeff Probst prompted, Erik gave up the necklace.

And the plan worked. Everybody, even the jury, and most probably even Probst, but Erik knew he was going to be voted out. I mean, the whole voting confessional was shown, because even the viewers knew what was coming.

What makes this the best blindside is how intricate the move was; the details were properly laid out and everyone played their role perfectly. Cirie’s idea started this and was able to get everyone in line to execute this ballsy move to perfection. I would say even that perfection is an understatement. I don’t really know how to describe this move; it’s divine.

Unfortunately for Erik, this blindside is forever etched in the minds of Survivor casuals and aficionados alike. Almost every season after Season 16, there’d be a clip of this moment; it’s already a running joke on Twitter to place your bet on how long it would take for the new season to show Erik’s blunder.

I mean, if being the poster Survivor blindside does not count as being the best blindside, I don’t know what will. It’s a combination of Cirie’s brilliant psychological maneuver, Amanda, Natalie, and Parvati’s perfect showmanship, and Erik’s apparent naivete. From gameplay’s to entertainment’s perspective, this is just simply the best.

Runner-up: Edgardo’s blindside in Fiji (2007)