S31: Vytas Baskauskas

[Whimsy]

Meet Vytas Baskauskas from Survivor: Blood vs. Water (Season 27), who returns to play on Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance.

 

Playing alongside his little brother, Aras, on Survivor: Blood vs. Water, Vytas, a yoga instructor, placed 10th in his season. Aras previously had won the coveted title of Sole Survivor on Survivor: Panama.

 

 

Here is your Vytas topic.

[rose711]

Vytas Is distrusted because he continually had confessional s of how he was manipulating people to get his way.

But, worse, he was manipulating the audience because he knew he had a solid pre game alliance that kept him safe through the merge. At no time did he have to worry about being voted out. LaurA B . was not in the alliance and had no idea what she was doing when she claimed Vytas was a target, after the tribe switch.

I'm not a fan of his game.

I think these straight up, nice guys won't want him around.

[JudyObscure]

I go back and forth between thinking Vytas is a really cool, unique guy and thinking he's a sociopath.

[Guest]

All I really remember about him is his repeated allusions to his past of crime and drug addiction.  It turns me off when someone drags their past misfortunes around to trot out in any conversation.  Shirin included.  

[ProfCrash]

I lean more towards sociopath.

 

OK, not really but his on screen character was manipulative and willing to use his addiction to worm his way intot he good graces of others. I was pretty impressed that someone could turn time in jail and awful life choices into a tool to manipulate folks. And that scared me. For all the kevetching that we do about people playing the race card the gender card and looking for the pity card very few people seem to object that I Vytas was able to turn addiction and crime into a storyline that would gain him favor with people.

 

That is scary shit.

 

I think it is great that he has overcome some massive and very real issues in his life. Addiction is awful and destructive. He is a strong individual to be able to face his illness, move past it, and be successful. Serious kudos for that accomplishment. I sure hope that he is a different person then the one that we saw onscreen because I was not impressed with what I saw in his season. His ability to manipulate people is scary good. Emphasis on the scary.

 

Shirin's domestic abuse was something that came up at tribal council and then the following episode and was something much larger in the aftermath of the fight with Will airing then it was on the show itself. You can tell that the entire cast was caught off guard by how that fight took on al ife of its own.

 

Vytas spent a good amount of time on the show discussing his past issues and using them to his benefit. I found that to be far more unsavory then anything we saw last season. If he uses his ability to manipulate folks for good then all is well but he is one of those people who I fear because he is far too effective in his manipulation. And he is very open to using whatever he needs to use to succeed.

 

At least in the game of Survivor.

[fishcakes]

I lean toward "sociopath" too, or at the very least selfish and manipulative. Despite all his talk about how he'd been a bad brother and wanted to make it up to Aras, the most telling moment for me was when Jeff asked him and Aras if being on Survivor together had helped to mend their relationship. Aras was nodding and tearful and looked over at Vytas, who was like, "eh" and still obviously pissed off because he thought Aras ruined his game. He quickly saw how that was going over and immediately put his loving brother face on.

[ProfCrash]

I try to seperate the character we see on TV and the real person but it is hard with Vytas. I can buy that Dan said a bunch of boneheaded things and doesn't see himself as a sexist and was pissed off to see all those things air on TV that depicted a picture of himself that he didn't agree with. Most of Dan's cast seemed to agree with Dan and said he lacked a filter and said what he felt all the time but that he was not awful. So we didn't see the less boneheaded stuff and maybe he is a sexist but doesn't really know it.

 

Vytas owned his behavior on the show, his reuinion behavior was swarmy, and the way he interacts on podcasts seem to point to the same person I watched on TV.

 

I just hope he uses his manipulative powers for good. I have a feeling that those same abilities enabled his addiction and the crimes that he commited to fuel that addiction. Now he has a chance to use them to help himself, his family, and other people.

 

But god he is swamry and mainuplative and I so didn't vote for him.

[LadyChatts]

Hoping he's an early boot.  Preferably first, but as long as he's gone before the merge, it's all good.  I don't like him.  I threw some votes his way, but that was more because I had to vote for 10 and the only people left were the likes of Max, Troyzan, Mike (who I suspected was winning), and Jim.  Somehow Troy and Jim don't seem so bad now.  I also lean towards sociopath when it comes to Vytas.  He likely got away with his manipulative ways because he was on a season with a semi noobs who likely didn't know his story (and maybe even the returning players).  I remember reading somewhere people likened him to a sleazier Jonny Fairplay, who used the dead gramma card to get sympathy and a reward.  Fairplay was harmless and playing an obvious character.  Vytas is something else.  I'm all for using advantages in this game, but I don't like when people use their sob story as a way for manipulation and sympathy.  Shirin only brought up her past because of the fight with Will.  Day one Rodney was talking about his sister and bragging he used that card to get the ladies on his side because they were likely to feel the most sorry for him.  That's Vytas to me.  Reading his pre-game interviews, I think he's got the same game as last time.  Only difference is he may not be able to get away with the same shenanigans.  Solid pre-game alliance that stays in tact will probably be the only thing that saves him.

[ProfCrash]

Fairplay was obnoxious and annoying but dead Grandma was brilliant. What a way to get some sympathy and manipulate folks. No one was harmed by his action.

 

Vytas's drug addiction and criminal behavior had a very real effect on people. His loved ones were probably torn up watching him battle his addiction. The people he victimized through his criminal acts were harmed. I never saw him apologze for that or express regret for what he did to others. I saw him using his past as a way to garner sympathy and act the victim instead of accept responsibility for his behavior.

 

That bothered me. I have not had to deal with addiction, Thank god, but I have a few friends who have. Like Vytas, they have worked hard to battle their demons and gain and maintain their sobriety. Unlike Vytas, I have heard all of them discuss how their addiction adversally affected their family and friends. I have heard them say how sorry they are they hurt the people who loved them. I just don't remember hearing Vytas say that.

 

I guess that is what bothers me. He went to jail because of crimes he committed. I understand that his addiction sent him down that path and that addiction is insanely hard to deal with but his actions hurt people in a very real way. But that didn't seem to phase him.

 

I want to believe that it did and it does bother him but it would be nice to hear him actually say it. Instead we get the smug attitude and the manipulation. It sits poorly with me.

 

And I am well aware that I am going to hell for being judgemental....

[ProfCrash]

Bwwwwaaahhhhaaaaaaa

[LadyChatts]

Not at all sorry to see him go. Or to see him be at a loss in his final words. Can't wait for his exit interviews! He dug himself that hole.

[ByaNose]

Yeah, he played the yoga card too hard. LOL!!! He might be in good shape but his mind was playing way too fast & comfortable. I still wouldn't mind be in the shape he is but he really was more smarmy this time. Now, Terry has lost a wingman & Ciera will have to readjust her gameplay which probably included Vytas. She'll be shocked next week when she sees he's gone.

Edited September 24, 2015 by ByaNose

[Donny Ketchum]

It's always fun when a tribe jettisons a big, strong man early on rather than the expected, predictable woman.  So this one did it for me.

 

Shirin was right.  He was smarmy.

[LadyChatts]

Vytas's Day After video is up.  He wasn't as bitter as I thought he'd be.  He did acknowledge that maybe he does suck at the game and that the only reason he did well the first time was because of Aras.  Of course, he says it's embarrassing and hurts his ego/manhood to be the first person voted off a season like this.

[cooksdelight]

If he's so worried about his manhood, he shouldn't wear flowery boxer shorts... or whatever that was he had on.

[Tryangle]

He really was all over the women in his tribe wasn't he? I thought he was channeling that fella from the Couples Retreat movie, getting all handsy and whatnot.

 

And naturally, it backfired miserably as everyone seemed wise to that scheme. I think even Spencer voted him out.

[ProfCrash]

He was Vince on steroids. Forget long hugs, lets do hands on yoga!

[CletusMusashi]

Dear Vytas:

 

Please put on some damned pants. That skintight abomination you are wearing is a affront to the dignity of this game.

You disgust me.

 

Sincerely,

Richard Hatch

[ProfCrash]

http://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2015/09/24/survivor-castaway-vytas-i-should-put-more-of-abis-stuff-in-peih-gees-bag/

 

His interview with Vytas is up. Some good stuff there. He blames Shirin for his exit.

Edited September 24, 2015 by ProfCrash

[Cthulhudrew]

So I guess this means no Competitive Yoga challenge between the teams? I really thought that was what they were building towards with the Joega and Vyga clips.

 

:'(

[fishcakes]

I thought he was sounding pretty reasonable in the Gordon Holmes interview until he got to the part about Shirin: "I think she’s just jealous I wasn’t flirting with her, I don’t know." Get over yourself, dude.

[ProfCrash]

Yeah, that sounded like bitter cakes. The men last season treated SHirin badly so she is targeting men. Nevermind that she has publicly said Mike was the first man to ever stand up for her and that she has a great relationship with Joe and Max and seems to get along just fine with Tyler. Will, Dan, and Joaquin were jackasses so Shirin hates all men on Survivor.

 

uuggghhh

[LadyChatts]

Vytas also mentioned in his day after video (which I didn't catch the first time) but that he would have rather not come back than come back and be the first one to be voted off.  Dalton Ross asked Jeff what he thought about that, and Jeff naturally said he should be grateful for the opportunity, and someone had to be first.  Vytas dug his own hole.  He has no one to blame for his exit but himself.  I really wish we could have seen what went down at TC (Varner asking if the original target was still the target).  If anything, Vytas could blame Varner for his exit.  Either way, good riddance.  Glad he's gone and hope we never see him again.

[ProfCrash]

It sounds like Vytas is upset with Spenser and I am not thrilled with his Shirin analysis

 

http://parade.com/425526/joshwigler/survivor-premiere-vytas-baskauskas-says-namaste-to-second-chance/

 

 

“I misplaced my trust in Spencer,” he says. “We would go talk every night at the end of each day: ‘Here’s what I know, here’s what you know.’ We shared information every night.”

Vytas tells me that before the game, he and Spencer were friends, even before the Second Chance season started coming together: “We played chess all the time. I helped him with his school project. We spent a couple hours on the phone one day talking about his thing for school. He spent the night at my house one night. I thought we had a pretty good friendship, and I thought when the game started, we would be friends and share information, and nobody really knew we were friends — that’s something I thought I could use. But Spencer used that against me. He took everything I was saying, and went and told it to everybody else.”

 

Vytas identifies Shirin Oskooi as the person who wanted him gone the most, and he says he would have tried to put the target on her, but “I didn’t want to turn it back on Shirin because I thought it would be a tougher battle than someone we could all get behind, like Abi-Maria.”

“I should have seen it coming from what happened to Shirin on her last season,” he says. “She got treated pretty poorly by the guys out there, she’s still resentful, she has some trauma around it, and she has some old family issues with male authority figures, and all the sudden she’s going to get on the beach and say, ‘Who are the strong guys? I want to get them out.’ To her credit, she was able to wield her Survivor prowess and rally the troops.”

 

He was counting on Spenser voting with him and seems hurt that Spenser did not alling with him. I actually think that Spenser changed his vote after Jeff asked his question at the end of tribal and signled how he was voting. I think Spenser saw a five five vote coming and flipped so the vote was 6-4.  Probst discusses it with Dalton Ross, Wiggler and Holmes mention that Jeff V raised his hands and asked a question to a couple of folks if they were going to vote they way they had said that morning. Terry had no clue what Jeff was asking about so it was a clear signal that Jeff was not voting with Terry and Vytas. Spenser's comment while voting was that he learned that Jeff was crazy, so Spenser might have flipped his vote based on Jeff's question.

 

And I really don't like the Shirin comment. Shiring got along fine with more then half of the men on her season and has a loving relationship with her boyfriend. It appears that she has male friends. So claiming that Shirin came after him because she has been abused in the past and struggled with Dan and Will last season is disgusting. So his argument is that Shirin is taking her anger out on the men playing in second chances?

 

How fucking petty can you get?

 

How about looking at what you already know. You played an insanely manipulative game your first time through. Your podcasts and public discussion of Survivor has done nothing to change the perception that your are a manipulative fuck. The yoga thing, even if you accept his explination that Shirin was having a back problem and someone asked you to help her, was over the top. You admit to intentionally wearing clothing and carrying books to try and convince people you had change, essentially using non-verbal cues to mainpulate people. you were not the only one sending non-verbal cues to folks but when your reputation is one of someone who is a manipulator perhaps trying to manipulate people before the game even begins is a bad idea.

 

Just uggghhhhhh

[jsm1125]

His answer about Spencer reminds me of his ridiculous bitterness at Laura M for helping Tina during the RI challenge. When he tries to manipulate, it's cunning and strategic, but god forbid anyone else do it against him, and it's mean and classless.

[LadyChatts]

Well, we had Lex vs Rob during AS, and Ozzy vs Parvati during FvsF.  I figured someone would get their feelings hurt by their friend voting them out.  I wish they still posted the actual voting confessional videos like they used to, so we could hear everyone's reasons for voting out Vytas.  Jeff and Spencer didn't look thrilled to be doing it.  Shirin either looked torn or ready to kill.  That said, I do not believe Shirin targeted Vytas solely because he was a man.  Her biggest ally last season was Max.  She had no problem aligning with Mike or Joe, however brief.  Vytas?  He's a worm.

[ProfCrash]

http://robhasawebsite.com/survivor-2015-exit-interview-cambodia-vytas-baskauskas-yoga-season-31-voted-out/

 

Just listening now but here is the Rob Has a Podcast interview with Vytas

[TheFinalRose]

Eh, I listened to the podcast. I still like him. He's honest, he was hurt by the vote and the montage that the producers put together of what he now calls "creepy" yoga. I guess if you're disposed not to like Vytas you hear Bad Vytas in the podcast, if you like him you hear Cool Vytas.  

[LadyChatts]

I noticed Vince was at a premiere party Vytas put on last night.  Wonder if they compared notes about how they were edited as the tribe creepers.

[ProfCrash]

He was fine in the Podcast. His other interviews had statements that I find concerning.

[Paws]

Interesting how Shirin calling men out on their terrible behavior equals "Shirin has problems with men".   No, she actually just speaks up when people act like assholes.

[innocuouspuff]

Only angry, joyless lesbian spinsters would ever find anything to criticise, obviously. *sarcasm emoji*

I find it interesting that Vytas is basically spinning the same story he did after Blood vs Water. He had a pre-game friendship/alliance in Gervase/Spencer & Jeff, and Vytas suspected things were unraveling, but other alliance mates in Aras/Terry were insistent that things were fine and in the end this was poor Vytas' undoing.

I probably wouldn't hang with Vytas but he's interesting enough to watch. But his skill in explaining things so that nothing's his fault and he knew it all along, amuses me.

[ByaNose]

It's too bad he's gone. He was looking good in the crazy briefs. The dude is in awesome shape. A lot of the other guys seemed to put on weight either intentionally or not. Vytas looked in perfect shape and I would liked to see how skinny he got. I've always been into dramatic weight loss the contestants go through. Although, some never lose any and sometimes gain weight which I still think is odd. RIP to Vytas men undies! LOL!!!

[Jillibean]

 

Speculation time: it seemed to the jaundiced viewer that the producers really, really wanted Tony the Cop to win, but all of Tony's ridiculous antics (sorry, 'big moves') would be undone simply by Woo doing what Woo knew perfectly well was the smart move.  My speculation at the time was that somebody had a quiet word with Woo and offered him an inducement to take Tony to FTC, namely a guaranteed return invite.

 

On Vytas' last go-round, I thought he came off as sexist and condescending to women, but was narcissistic enough to not realize he was portraying any of those qualities. His one episode here and subsequent interviews just indicate to me that nothing is changed. If Shirin wants him gone, it must be because he is a male "authority figure"--what does that even MEAN, incidentally? That's telling in and of itself, as none of the men on her season had "authority" over Shirin--and not for any other, game-related reason. Gross. 

[ByaNose]

It will be interesting to see/hear next weeks episode for the reason why Vytas was voted out. I'm hoping we'll hear from Varner & Shirin about their votes.

[ProfCrash]

Shirin was pretty clear, Vytas had pre game alliances that connected him to both tribes. She phrased it differently, Vytas had natural connecrions to Ciera, Terry and some other folks. Jeff knew Shirin was right because of all of his pre-game alliances, including one with Terry and Vytas. Jeff choose to ally with the new school players over old school

[Guest]

On Vytas' last go-round, I thought he came off as sexist and condescending to women, but was narcissistic enough to not realize he was portraying any of those qualities. His one episode here and subsequent interviews just indicate to me that nothing is changed. If Shirin wants him gone, it must be because he is a male "authority figure"--what does that even MEAN, incidentally? That's telling in and of itself, as none of the men on her season had "authority" over Shirin--and not for any other, game-related reason. Gross. 

 

Referring to himself as some undisputed "authority figure" rubbed me a bit wrong, too.  Those do emerge but not by day 3 and he wasn't one (clearly).  

 

And I understand his preferring to not go at all over spending the entire time in a Cambodian resort.  But come on.  You're getting paid to spend time in a Cambodian resort.  There are worse things in life.   It's kind of a crybaby attitude.  "If I don't get a chance at the million, I want to (take my toys and) go home."  

[ByaNose]

I doubt there would have much difference than being voted first, second or third. For a returnee, if you don't make the merge or jury it's pretty much a fail & less screen time. He would be away from his baby no matter when he got voted off. He does seem to be whining a bit and I'm sure it is a little embarrising to be voted out first. That said, I'm sure he had a great paid vacation and hopefully had some fun with the pre jury group. I often wish they would show the pre jury at Ponderosa.

[Wings]

I doubt there would have much difference than being voted first, second or third. For a returnee, if you don't make the merge or jury it's pretty much a fail & less screen time. He would be away from his baby no matter when he got voted off. He does seem to be whining a bit and I'm sure it is a little embarrising to be voted out first. That said, I'm sure he had a great paid vacation and hopefully had some fun with the pre jury group. I often wish they would show the pre jury at Ponderosa.

 

 

I do too!  

[LadyChatts]

I doubt there would have much difference than being voted first, second or third. For a returnee, if you don't make the merge or jury it's pretty much a fail & less screen time. He would be away from his baby no matter when he got voted off. He does seem to be whining a bit and I'm sure it is a little embarrising to be voted out first. That said, I'm sure he had a great paid vacation and hopefully had some fun with the pre jury group. I often wish they would show the pre jury at Ponderosa.

 

That has always been one of my greatest wishes!  I wish they would, too.  What makes it more exciting is that, unlike merge Ponderosa, the pre-merge crowd doesn't know who is coming or be able to get tidbits of what's happening in the game.  I really would have loved a pre-jury Ponderosa last season.

 

No one wants to be the first to go-but imagine being someone like So last season.  First she's pulled from SJDS because of a medical issue involving her sister, gets invited back, only to get blindsided on the first vote (and her tribe lost a challenge they had a considerable lead in).  And she took the fall for Joaquin's lie.  What are the odds she'll ever get a return invite?  Maybe if she and Malcolm stay together, they could return for a future BvsW if they have one.  Vytas did well his first time.  He made the merge/jury.  I think he really believed Aras was in his way.  Aras was the more likable brother of the two, he won this game once before.  I believe Vytas had a chip on his shoulder, to carve out his own legacy, and thought he would be some sort of powerful mastermind.  He failed, and it does suck.  However, I'm sure the likes of Shane, Jim, Troyzan, etc, would have been happy to take his place, even if they only lasted 3 days, too.  Not everyone is going to get a second chance, no matter how short it may be.

Edited September 26, 2015 by LadyChatts

[RedheadZombie]

I lean toward "sociopath" too, or at the very least selfish and manipulative. Despite all his talk about how he'd been a bad brother and wanted to make it up to Aras, the most telling moment for me was when Jeff asked him and Aras if being on Survivor together had helped to mend their relationship. Aras was nodding and tearful and looked over at Vytas, who was like, "eh" and still obviously pissed off because he thought Aras ruined his game. He quickly saw how that was going over and immediately put his loving brother face on.

And remember how he played dirty against Aras in that comp? He has some serious hate for his brother.

[Miss Scarlet]

From the Xfinity interview "I went from cool yoga instructor to creepy in 30 seconds." Me:  No, you were never the "cool" yoga instructor.

Edited September 27, 2015 by wudpixie

[ByaNose]

It is interesting to hear from an established Survivor contestant about an unfavorable edit. Last year, it was Dan Foley who lasted a lot longer but he was new to the game and didn't know what he was getting into. Of course, Vytas played before and had a more favorable edit but in just one episode it went poof!

[Miss Scarlet]

I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but I don't think of it as a "bad edit". To me this edit confirmed the way I've always seen Vytas, and Shirin said it perfectly, which is smarmy. I hated the last time how he said "the only thing women love more than a bad boy is a reformed bad boy". Yes, because women are all simplistic and reductive like that. It's like he's taken all his knowledge about women from some book about "what women want" that was actually written by a pick-up artist (or Vince).

 

I loved the pregame interviews where the players totally had Vytas's number. Shirin talked about how his supposed "charms" didn't work on her, Kass compared him to a sociopath and Spencer said that Vytas thinks everyone buys into what he says and does, but people actually don't. That's when I knew this was going to be a good season.

 

If Vytas was smart he would take this opportunity to learn about appropriate behaviour towards women. 

[Donny Ketchum]

If Vytas was smart he would take this opportunity to learn about appropriate behaviour towards women. 

Now, now, .  You're implying that Vytas doesn't like himself the way he is and actually would like to change. ;)

[ProfCrash]

I don't think that Vytas was creepy. I do think that Vytas went a bit overboard with his yoga instruction. I can understand what he was doing, Shirin had back pain. He was helping her stretch it out. Then he was trying to show her other poses that could help her. He failed to read the room and see that people thought that it was a bit much or he failed to read the room and took Shirin's "My back is sore/tight/whatever" as she wants help when she was simply commenting.

 

I don't think it would have been hard to include the Shirin comment that led to the yoga session but I don't feel like he came off as creepy. Vince was creepy, Vytas was overly enthusiastic.

 

I think one of my first posts, after laughing, commented on the difference between Joga and Vytas Yoga was that everyone who was doing yoga wanted to be there, even if it was just to be part of the crowd (I think Stephen was there for the social bonding bit). No one seemed interested in Vytas's yoga session. In some ways it looked more like he was showing off then providing asked for instruction. Kelly running away from him when he did the one move was pretty freaking hilarious though.

[BigRedCheese]

I guess for me, the word I would use to describe Vytas is unctuous.

[Stinamaia]

Vytas unaware has crossed over to the side where young women tend to find him more creepy than alluring. Sad. I think it hurt his feelings to hear their comments.

However, I don't think that was why he was evicted. I think Shirin summarized those reasons succinctly. Vytas was correct when he said she was the author of his demise. Varner decided it was in his best interest to flip for reasons I don't yet fully understand.

I neither like or dislike Vytas. I do think that "sociopath" is a very serious diagnosis and one even a trained psychologist would hesitate to make merely from seeing someone on reality shows.

[CletusMusashi]

I think Vytas himself is creepier than the yoga touching.

He just always has this look on his face that makes my brain scream "Why do you TRUST him?"

He looks like the obvious backstabber guy from every crappy one-season flop on the SyFy channel.

The kind of guy whose betrayal is so obvious, so far in advance, that you have to call it fiveshadowing.

Edited September 28, 2015 by CletusMusashi

[Zuleikha]

I don't think it would have been hard to include the Shirin comment that led to the yoga session but I don't feel like he came off as creepy. Vince was creepy, Vytas was overly enthusiastic.

 

 

His problem was setting and clothing. If he were doing the same moves in board shorts or with a shirt on, I don't think people would have been as uncomfortable. But it makes a difference that he was shirtless and in very tight underwear. It made the degree of closeness he was taking and the specifc poses he was demonstrating look sexually aggressive. (I am not sure that he didn't mean it that way either. But like Abi, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt :)) It would have been a good idea for him to put on different clothes for the length of the yoga session and/or to keep it to just one or two moves that may help Shirin.