S36: Laurel Johnson

[Whimsy]

Laurel Johnson (Malolo Tribe)

Age: 29
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Current residence: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Occupation: Financial Consultant

Three words to describe you: Driven, focused, and calculated.

Why do you think you'll "survive" Survivor?
I'm a triple threat to win this game—I'm a former college athlete, an Ivy League graduate, and I know the game better than anyone else out there. I'm a superfan who knows better than to let the game pass me by and I will always fight for every single inch.

Laurel Johnson’s Full Bio

[LadyChatts]

There’s several I want to see as a first boot this season, but she definitely tops the list.

[cooksdelight]

Amen to that.

[LanceM]

Here is an interview with Gordon Holmes

https://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2018/02/13/survivor-castaway-laurel-youre-not-willing-lie-help-family-youre-helping-family/

 

Josh Wigler interview

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-ghost-island-laurel-johnson-preseason-interview-1079645

Edited February 15, 2018 by LanceM

[marys1000]

Financial consultants, not much of a fan.  Tend to be good liars though and analytical.  She probably will go far

 

Not sure about the part in the Gordon interview where she says she has tried to be friendly at Ponderosa.  Didn't I read in an interview once that

pre-game they aren't allowed to talk?  

Edited February 16, 2018 by marys1000

[kassandra8286]

I don't think they're allowed to talk but they "vibe each other with their eyes" or something lol. In the last part of Gordon's interviews where he asks what they think of the other cast members their impressions are based on non-verbal communications and observations.

After reading the whole Gordon piece, I like Laurel better than I initially did. I mean, she definitely has a very high opinion of herself but other than that I kinda like the way she thinks. I don't see her lasting too long though.

Edited February 17, 2018 by kassandra8286

[LadyChatts]

See, I can't tell if that's really Laurel, or if she's just desperately playing some character arc up to get attention.  With over confident answers like hers, she's bound to get attention.  So I think it's a mixture of both.  Though she's both a women and a minority, and neither have fared well in the last few seasons when it comes to either doing well or getting airtime (and if they did it wasn't necessarily pretty).  Gotta love Survivor!

I remember last season, the negative impression of Ashley everyone at Ponderosa had, and how that translated here and other boards that she probably wouldn't be long for the game.  So I can see where Laurel might be trying to give a better vibe in hopes people will want to align with her.  Smart thinking if it works.

[kassandra8286]

That's right, I'd forgotten about that - no one like Ashley pre-game, they all thought she was standoffish and unfriendly because she never smiled. So obviously we have to take all those Ponderosa impressions of people's "vibes" with a huge grain of salt. FWIW, I noticed several of the cast are saying similar things about Chelsea. 

[peachmangosteen]

4 hours ago, kikaha said:

Laurel still seems to me to be playing the best.  I don't recall ever hearing her name come up as a serious boot candidate.  Yet she has tons of options, on both sides of the aisle.  She's a much bigger threat than, e.g., Chris was, physically, mentally, strategically and socially.  But no one seems to see it.  If she keeps playing low-key like this, I bet she goes real deep.  Reminds me a bit of Jeremy his second season.

That's kind of the problem though I think. I agree that Laurel is playing very well, but she might have a very hard time at the end making people understand it since no one notices it now. It'll be especially hard if Dom and/or Wendell are in the F3 with her.

[LadyChatts]

I'm actually curious to see what she did to make Wendell feel like she was shaky.  Not sure if it was the smartest move for him telling her about his idol and Dom's, but I can see where he might be going with that.

I'm actually on the fence with how I think Laurel is playing.  Just not getting a good read, other than she may be trying to go the social route and build bonds.

[peachmangosteen]

I thought it was interesting that she was apparently making it obvious to Wendell that she wasn't feeling great about their alliance. And that she was so vocal about not knowing whether she trusted him or not to his face lol. None of it seems like her style. But maybe her and Wendell are just really genuinely close and she felt she could be that honest with him.

3 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

Just not getting a good read, other than she may be trying to go the social route and build bonds.

Honestly, it looks like she has only done this with Dom, Wendell, and Donathan, which is actually bad game play lol. She hasn't really been shown bonding with any of the other players that I can recall.

[Hera]

She seems to be around during most strategy discussions [that we're shown]. I like her a lot, but I think she's going to Sierra Dawn Thomas it: every week, we'll be shown a confessional where it looks like she's going to make a move against Domenick and Wendell, and every week, she will vote with them to get rid of the people who might have helped her make that move. Even if she didn't want to make the jump this week, she could have tried to leave the door open to other alliances (specifically with Michael, Libby, and Jenna, who—like her—are all excluded from Kellyn's "Naviti strong" alliance) by trying to move the target to Kellyn, Desiree, or  Chelsea—people who do not seem amenable to working with her, and with whom she had no pre-merge connection, but who also don't seem particularly close to Domenick or Wendell. But she didn't, which makes me think she's all in with the Domenick/Donathan/Wendell group. If she makes it to the end, I think Domenick and/or Wendell will get all the credit for it (whether that's fair or not) and she will be dismissed as a coat-tail rider.

[kikaha]

4 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

That's kind of the problem though I think. I agree that Laurel is playing very well, but she might have a very hard time at the end making people understand it since no one notices it now. It'll be especially hard if Dom and/or Wendell are in the F3 with her.

Good point, and she faces a bit of dilemma.  Sticking with Dom and Wendell probably increases her chances of making it to the end, but may make it harder for her to win.  (Maybe.  I think she's quite smart, and will deliver an excellent FTC performance.  Problem is, same is true for Wendell and likely Dom, too.) 

Splitting from Dom and Wendell probably makes it harder to reach the end, but increases her chances of winning if she does get there. 

I'm guessing this is why she considered flipping on them this episode. 

[ProfCrash]

The difference is that Sierra was in the majority alliance and could have worked with the minority alliance. Laurel appears to be in the minority alliance. Most people are unaware of the Dom, Wendell, Laurel and Donathon alliance. Kellyn, Chelsea, Sea Bass and Jenna see Laurel and Donathon as easy targets from the other tribe. If Laurel votes out Wendell, she is now allied with Michael, Libby, and Donathon. They are still out numbered by Kellyn, Chelsea, Sea Bass, Jenna, and Dom. Dom is not going to work with Laurel and Donathon after the vote out Wendell. It makes no sense to announce the alliance of four when they are in the minority.

Donathon and Laurel are in a better position to go farther working with Dom and Wendell then they are with their original tribe. Laurel has been holding her own in group challenges. She is playing a solid social game. She is a part of a strong alliance with two large shields in front of her, Dom and Wendell have large targets on their backs. So she is in a good position.

Sierra was always on the bottom of her alliance, Dan treated her like crap all season. She did have a chance to work with Mike and the other alliance in order to strengthen her position but she never took it. She did not have the votes from her original tribe because none of them respected her or her game, you could tell that from how they spoke to her. Laurel is in a totally different spot. She is in a strong four and she is respected by her alliance and others in the game.

Toss in that someone from her original tribe is likely to get votes at the final tribal if they make it to the final because they survived the Pagoning.

Laurel is in a pretty good place.

[Lamb18]

11 hours ago, Hera said:

Even if she didn't want to make the jump this week, she could have tried to leave the door open to other alliances (specifically with Michael, Libby, and Jenna, who—like her—are all excluded from Kellyn's "Naviti strong" alliance) by trying to move the target to Kellyn, Desiree, or  Chelsea—people who do not seem amenable to working with her, and with whom she had no pre-merge connection, but who also don't seem particularly close to Domenick or Wendell.

In a way she did with the last vote - she went with the women to vote for Libby instead of with Domenick and Wendell in voting for Michael. It seemed like she was expanding her base of support there.

[ProfCrash]

More importantly, there is no indication that Libby or Jenna were willing to work with their original tribe. Jenna and Libby voted for Michael. Donathan and Laurel have both discussed voting differently, I suspect that they have both not done so because they cannot trust their original tribe mates to vote with them.

Jenna is probably allied with Sea Bass, we are not seeing much of that but I am sure that alliance exists. They had that whole awkward hair smelling conversation on the beach. I would love to know what Jenna thinks that alliance looks like but if she is aligned with Sea Bass, she probably sees herself as allied with Kellyn, Chelsea and Desiree because they are allied with Sea Bass.

I have no idea why Libby thinks voting with the rest for Michael was a good call. Libby seems to be on her own and clearly knew she was a target. So why she would not work with Michael and try and get someone else out remains a mystery.

The only two who are in a good position are Laurel and Donathon, the rest seem to be playing to survive as far as they can in the game and not to in. Well, Michael is playing to win but is screwed because he never seemed to find an alliance that worked. I don't know if Michael was in a good place in his original tribe, I think he was, but the early swap screwed him over. James set up a good situation for everyone in the first swap but then was screwed over by the second swap. 

The reality is that Dom and Wendell are not willing to target Chelsea, Kellyn or Desiree because Dom and Wendell want to keep their larger alliance in tact. Jenna, Libby and Michael want to target one of the bigger players so they are not aiming for Chelsea, Kellyn or Desiree because they don't control crap. It would look suspicious for Laurel to suggest one of those three and not one of the two biggest targets in the game. Had Libby suggested it, I could see Laurel jumping on it but suggesting anyone other then Wendell or Dom would raise flags for folks. Sea Bass is aligned with the women, so Jenna is not going to want to target hose three because she sees herself as aligned with Sea Bass.

[peachmangosteen]

12 hours ago, kikaha said:

Good point, and she faces a bit of dilemma.  Sticking with Dom and Wendell probably increases her chances of making it to the end, but may make it harder for her to win.  (Maybe.  I think she's quite smart, and will deliver an excellent FTC performance.  Problem is, same is true for Wendell and likely Dom, too.) 

Splitting from Dom and Wendell probably makes it harder to reach the end, but increases her chances of winning if she does get there. 

All of this, yes.

2 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

In a way she did with the last vote - she went with the women to vote for Libby instead of with Domenick and Wendell in voting for Michael. It seemed like she was expanding her base of support there.

Good point. Would've been nice to maybe see some convos between Laurel and the Naviti women, if they are indeed happening. And I think you are probably right that she did talk with them and the fact that we weren't shown that makes me think Laurel probably doesn't win tbh. (ETA: I just realized that it's entirely possible that Laurel didn't have any convos with the Naviti women in particular and that they just all decided as a big group or possibly Dom or Wendell just told her who was voting Libby and who was voting Michael.)

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Donathan and Laurel have both discussed voting differently, I suspect that they have both not done so because they cannot trust their original tribe mates to vote with them.

Yea, I think this might be the biggest reason why they decided not to move against their Dom/Wendell foursome. We already know Donathan doesn't trust Libby/Jenna since he told Dom not to talk to them about last week's vote.

Edited April 20, 2018 by peachmangosteen

[Oscirus]

Laurel is probably in the best place in the game. She knows of all but one of the special powers, the two most powerful players in the game are protecting her, she goes to every tribal council with two votes and nobody's even thinking about her.  Plus as soon as Michael goes down, Wendell will likely become public enemy number one meaning her vote's about to become super valuable in the near future. What she does in that situation will show us how good she really is.

[peachmangosteen]

3 hours ago, Oscirus said:

She knows of all but one of the special powers ...

What special power doesn't she know about? Or, more accurately, which one do I not know about lol because I can only think of Dom and Wendell's idols.

Edited April 20, 2018 by peachmangosteen

[LadyChatts]

For those that watch Big Brother and have since the beginning (or at least season 3) there was a duo on there that had a two person alliance that no one knew about in the house, and they made it all the way to the final 3 together.  That kind of reminds me of the Dom/Wendell/Donathan/Laurel alliance, and I've always wanted to see another secret alliance play out like that.  I think if Laurel or especially Donathan make the final 3, they might be seen as coat tail riders, depending who they are up against.  I think Kellyn especially will be that juror who harps about loyalty and gaming.  I'm intrigued by Laurel after this week.  I don't know if she's set on sticking with Dom/Wendell or going to make a move when she can.  I do agree that her flipping this week in trying to get Wendell out might have seen her own torch snuffed.  She never would have had the votes to pull it off, and even if Michael did play his idol and somehow they got Wendell out that way, it would have only put the target on her next week.  

I don't think there's anything Libby or Michael could have done this week in convincing anyone to save themselves.  It really made no sense for anyone to flip.  

[KimberStormer]

7 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

What special power doesn't she know about? Or, more accurately, which one do I not know about lol because I can only think of Dom and Wendell's idols.

Kellyn's got an extra vote.  I've forgotten if there's anything else out there....

[Oscirus]

1 hour ago, KimberStormer said:

Kellyn's got an extra vote.  I've forgotten if there's anything else out there....

Nope that's it Kellyn's steal a vote which lost its power and became an extra vote.

[Hera]

On 4/20/2018 at 7:24 AM, ProfCrash said:

The difference is that Sierra was in the majority alliance and could have worked with the minority alliance. Laurel appears to be in the minority alliance.

I'm not sure I would describe Laurel as being in "the minority alliance"; I think she's in a tight four alliance that is voting with another alliance of four and won't be discovered until around F8 (I think Kellyn believes that Dom and Wendell are with her, Chelsea, Desiree, and Angela—and so far, she has been given no reason to believe otherwise). However, in my first post in this thread, I wasn't trying to draw an equivalence between her situation and Sierra's, but in their edits.

I don't blame Laurel for her cautious play and would probably have done the same thing in her place. If she and Donathan joined up with the original Malolos to get Wendell out, if the plan is successful, the pay-off is that they lose a close ally who wants to work with them in exchange for being on the wrong side of a 6-5 split, with the other side still having Domenick's idol (and Kellyn's extra vote but I don't think Laurel knows about that, just like I don't think she knew about Michael's idol) and a reason to target her and Donathan. In this hypothetical scenario, her side might be able to convince Sebastian to flip on old Naviti, but there's no guarantee that he would, or that even if he did, that it will matter, given the advantages on the other side. And all that is if the plan is successful. If it isn't—then Wendell plays his idol, stays in the game, now she and Donathan are on the wrong side of a 7-4 split (with the other side still having an idol).

So I totally understand her reasoning for sticking with Domenick and Wendell. However, until we start being shown her actively arranging votes instead of selecting from plans offered by other people, I'm going to continue to believe that she's being set up to get to the end (or F4) but not win.

I think Michael and Jenna are sitting ducks at this point, so it probably won't get interesting for her and Donathan again until around F9 or F8, where the Naviti women alliance, armed with Kellyn's extra vote, take on the Domenick/Wendell/Laurel/Donathan alliance, with its two hidden immunity idols.

[Oscirus]

4 hours ago, Hera said:

I'm not sure I would describe Laurel as being in "the minority alliance"; I think she's in a tight four alliance that is voting with another alliance of four and won't be discovered until around F8 (I think Kellyn believes that Dom and Wendell are with her, Chelsea, Desiree, and Angela—and so far, she has been given no reason to believe otherwise). However, in my first post in this thread, I wasn't trying to draw an equivalence between her situation and Sierra's, but in their edits.

I don't blame Laurel for her cautious play and would probably have done the same thing in her place. If she and Donathan joined up with the original Malolos to get Wendell out, if the plan is successful, the pay-off is that they lose a close ally who wants to work with them in exchange for being on the wrong side of a 6-5 split, with the other side still having Domenick's idol (and Kellyn's extra vote but I don't think Laurel knows about that, just like I don't think she knew about Michael's idol) and a reason to target her and Donathan. In this hypothetical scenario, her side might be able to convince Sebastian to flip on old Naviti, but there's no guarantee that he would, or that even if he did, that it will matter, given the advantages on the other side. And all that is if the plan is successful. If it isn't—then Wendell plays his idol, stays in the game, now she and Donathan are on the wrong side of a 7-4 split (with the other side still having an idol).

So I totally understand her reasoning for sticking with Domenick and Wendell. However, until we start being shown her actively arranging votes instead of selecting from plans offered by other people, I'm going to continue to believe that she's being set up to get to the end (or F4) but not win.

I think Michael and Jenna are sitting ducks at this point, so it probably won't get interesting for her and Donathan again until around F9 or F8, where the Naviti women alliance, armed with Kellyn's extra vote, take on the Domenick/Wendell/Laurel/Donathan alliance, with its two hidden immunity idols.

I actually believe that the danger will happen as soon as Michael goes down.  That's when she'll really have to commit one way or the other. I believe Wendell becomes public enemy no.1 at that point, but even if he doesn't then Laurel is the obvious  target  between the remaining three malolos given her challenge prowess.

[ProfCrash]

Laurel is in a strong alliance of four, but four still the minority. Kellyn, Des, Michael, Sea Bass, Jenna could vote out anyone of the four. Wendell and Dom are attractive targets for folks from either of the original tribes. Laurel’s entire alliance benefits from keeping the alliance a secret because if it was obvious that Dom and Wendell, two strong players, have a tight alliance of four they become more of a target. Until there are seven players remaining, the four is vunerable. 

At this moment, I think Kellyn, Sea Bass and Des see Dom and Wendell as at the bottom of their original tribe alliance of five. Laurel and Donathon are part of the minority tribe and easy targets. Dom and Wendell can continue to target Michael for his challenge prowess, shielding Laurel and Donathon withur revealing anything. I suspect that they can target Jenna arguing that her ties with Sea Bass are dangerous for the original tribe of five alliance. That gets the real hidden alliance of four to the point where they are the majority alliance and can take out Sea Bass, Kellyn, and Des easily enough. 

It is more of a numbers thing then anything. HEr alliance is two votes away from being able to be publicly out and not be in too much danger. Hopefully Laurel finds a way to get Dom and Wendell to burn their idols to give her more room when they d get to 7.

[Lamb18]

On ‎4‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 5:48 PM, LadyChatts said:

I do agree that her flipping this week in trying to get Wendell out might have seen her own torch snuffed.

I don't think Laurel tried to get Wendell out. She voted for Libby. I think her vote was a compromise to both sides (unknowingly to them). She didn't vote against Wendell, showing loyalty to the alliance, but she voted for Libby, which makes her trustworthy to the other women. And she can explain her vote for Libby to Wendell and Dom by saying it was insurance to make sure there were enough votes for Libby in case Michael had an idol.

[ProfCrash]

Wendell and Dom wanted to split the vote in case Michael had an idol so Libby doesn't have to explain her vote to them. If anything there was a discussion about covering Laurel's backside so that is why she voted for Libby and not Michael.

[LadyChatts]

I brought this over from the episode thread:
 

Quote

 

Laurel really thought she would get at least one vote (Donathan), possibly a couple more:

http://ew.com/tv/2018/05/24/survivor-finale-laurel-johnson-tie-ghost-island/

 

I guess Laurel really did have it in her mind that there would be some vote splitting between Dom/Wendell, and she would get what was left over.  So she thought she had Donathan, Angela, and possibly Jenna and Libby voting for her.  Laurel mentioned during FTC last night that she only stuck with Dom/Wendell because she'd end up being on the bottom if she voted either of them off and went with another alliance.  However, in this interview I feel like she kind of contradicts that: https://parade.com/673212/mikebloom/survivor-ghost-island-laurel-johnson-on-being-a-swing-vote-to-the-very-end/

Quote

There is this one moment, though, when Desiree calls you out for telling her plan to Domenick and Wendell. How were you able to recover from being pushed into the spotlight like that?
I told the Malolos that I accidentally spilled the beans to Dom [laughs]. “Oh, he was peppering me with questions, and I accidentally spilled the beans.” It was crazy, though, because that plan wasn’t even a real plan. That whole day was nuts. But I think that was the hardest part for me to play both alliances. For the Malolos, it was the first time for them to [have] numbers in the game. Then I had my allies, who at that point were trying to save Kellyn, and I didn’t want her to go home either. It was tough.

First, what I find funny was that she wanted to save Kellyn, and Kellyn was the one who ended up putting two votes on her at the next vote.  In addition, that might have actually been the time to flip on Dom/Wendell.  It might have given Malolo the numbers going forward, and thrown OG Naviti into disarray. 

At any rate, she did look miserable during the reunion last night, and I'm sure it wasn't easy having to relive that FTC where she was essentially called a coattail rider. 

Edited May 25, 2018 by LadyChatts

[Oscirus]

4 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I brought this over from the episode thread:
 

I guess Laurel really did have it in her mind that there would be some vote splitting between Dom/Wendell, and she would get what was left over.  So she thought she had Donathan, Angela, and possibly Jenna and Libby voting for her.  Laurel mentioned during FTC last night that she only stuck with Dom/Wendell because she'd end up being on the bottom if she voted either of them off and went with another alliance.  However, in this interview I feel like she kind of contradicts that: https://parade.com/673212/mikebloom/survivor-ghost-island-laurel-johnson-on-being-a-swing-vote-to-the-very-end/

First, what I find funny was that she wanted to save Kellyn, and Kellyn was the one who ended up putting two votes on her at the next vote.  In addition, that might have actually been the time to flip on Dom/Wendell.  It might have given Malolo the numbers going forward, and thrown OG Naviti into disarray. 

At any rate, she did look miserable during the reunion last night, and I'm sure it wasn't easy having to relive that FTC where she was essentially called a coattail rider. 

Not really a contradiction if she considers herself  at the bottom of the Malolo tribe, which interviews pretty much confirm.

It is funny that Michael vote wound up burning Kellyn in more ways then one.

[KimberStormer]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, "the winner wouldn't have gotten here if it wasn't for me" has never, is never, and never will be a winning argument.  All it means is "I threw the game at your expense, jury."  The only way you get respect of the jury, if you're aligned with the top dog, is to vote that top dog out before FTC.

[ProfCrash]

11 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I brought this over from the episode thread:
 

I guess Laurel really did have it in her mind that there would be some vote splitting between Dom/Wendell, and she would get what was left over.  So she thought she had Donathan, Angela, and possibly Jenna and Libby voting for her.  Laurel mentioned during FTC last night that she only stuck with Dom/Wendell because she'd end up being on the bottom if she voted either of them off and went with another alliance.  However, in this interview I feel like she kind of contradicts that: https://parade.com/673212/mikebloom/survivor-ghost-island-laurel-johnson-on-being-a-swing-vote-to-the-very-end/

First, what I find funny was that she wanted to save Kellyn, and Kellyn was the one who ended up putting two votes on her at the next vote.  In addition, that might have actually been the time to flip on Dom/Wendell.  It might have given Malolo the numbers going forward, and thrown OG Naviti into disarray. 

At any rate, she did look miserable during the reunion last night, and I'm sure it wasn't easy having to relive that FTC where she was essentially called a coattail rider. 

Her interview with Rob on Rob Has a Podcast is depressing. She is thrilled that she played but I think she is glad that the season is over because she is tired of everyone telling her she played a crap game. She specifically said she wanted to work with Kellyn to take out Dom and Wendell. Laurel told Dom about Des's plan because she wanted to save Kellyn and work with her. Kellyn's votes for Laurel at the next tribal killed Laurel's belief that she could work with anyone from Naviti because she was sure that they would target her next. 

I think she is fine with how she played and her experience on the island. I have not heard her complain about her edit. She is feeling very beat up by folks in social media because people wanted her to make a big move for their entertainment. She wasn't playing for us, she was playing to improve her position. If you are risk accepting enough that you are willing to take 6th or 7th or 8th over 3rd, that is fine for you. I fully understand what Laurel was trying to do. Michael flat out said that Laurel played a good game and made it far based on her play. I actually think her game play was respected by many folks on the jury. Wendell and Dom controlled the game and got the votes but Laurel did just fine. 

I am much more annoyed with the Naviti Strong numbnuts who closed themselves off from workign with anyone else because of their starting tribe. Dom and Wendell won because they were willing to work with Malolo and used those relationships to advance their games. Kellyn, Des, Angela, Sea Bass, and Chelsea all were so stuck on Naviti Strong that they did not look and say "How does this benefit me and advance my game?" All of them knew that Dom and Wendell were huge threats but they did nothing about it. Angela ratted out two plans to take out Wendell and Dom. Kellyn, Bradley and the other Naviti were bragging about how they were ignoring the Malolo attempts to make new alliances at their tribals. 

Had any of the Naviti outside of Dom and Wendell demonstrated that they were willing to work with Malolo's at any point in the game, we would have ahd the big moves that everyone here craves. But they didn't. Des decides it times to flip so everyone from Malolo should totally be 100% in because that would make great TV for us. Except it would be crappy play for Laurel. And why the hell would Laurel believe that Des would allow herself to be at the bottom of the alliance, the Malolo's would out number the Naviti in that alliance? 

Laurel was in a tough position the entire game. She made it to the final three. I thought she did a good job at the final tribal. She should be proud of her game. I hope that she is able to get some breathing room and has some time to reflect on what she did and what she learned.

[peachmangosteen]

This is why you shouldn't try to act like you're gonna be tough shit in your pre-show interviews lol.

[Oscirus]

Dom and especially Wendell spent the whole game grooming her. Making her feel safe, like one of the guys. Sure if you look at it from a non emotional  point of view, it's easy to say she should've been more cutthroat, however, it's probably hard to do so when dealing with emotions. That's what separates the goods from the greats. That being said, her argument wasn't half-bad.

[ProfCrash]

I thought her argument was fine but that the Jury viewed her the way most people here do, why not make the big move. But the reality is neither Dom or Wendell made the big move and they were not held accountable ny the jury. Dom left Wendell in and Wendell left Dom in. Either one of them could have blindside the other and they choose not to. 

Dom and Wendell both had more room to mauneuver then Laurel did. They had numbers with multiple alliance options and idols. IT worked out for Wendell but just barely. 

Donathon was fine with the other three until Sea Bass went to Ghost Island for an advantage and not Donathon. 

And all of Naviti had the oppertunity to get rid of Dom or Wendell. Kellyn, Sea Bass, Angela, Chelsea and Des had the numbers but failed to make any type of meaningful relationship with anyone on Malolo so they couldn't work on a way to get rid of Dom and Wendell. Hell, they could have gotten rid of Laurel or Donathon but instead they played Dom and Wendell's game.

Dom and Wendell played a great game. They made relationships with people from both tribes and did well in immunity challenges. Laurel seems to be taking the brunt of the internets fury while Angela gets an eye rool, even though she busted up two attempts to get rid of Wendell or Dom. Jenna got some snickers when she failed to work with Donathon, hell she even insulted him when he was trying to work with her. 

I guess that is my issue, Laurel played from her position and played well. The entire Naviti tribe had their oppertunities to flush idols and blindside Dom and Wendell but they didn't. But Luarel is the one who didn't play well as she watched the majority alliance ignore the two biggest threats in the game. And then the Jury dismisses her as not playing because she didn't do what they wouldn't do or didn't believe that they would work with her in the game after getting rid of Dom and Wendell. This expectation that Laurel should have made the risky move that would have advanced other peoples game with no clear advantage to her game baffles me. 

THe lesson learned for others is that One Tribe Strong is ridiculous and leads you to the slaughter as soon as one, or two in this case, person on your tribe figures out how to use it to their advantage.  

[LadyChatts]

The one thing about Laurel is she will probably get another chance to play.  I can see this being a season where a lot of the cast returns, but Laurel is the type they seem to like to give a second chance too.  She may have blew it her first time, but that could be her redemption story the second time around. 

I do think she made a good argument about why she stuck with Dom/Wendell.  Not sure if she should have brought up blowing up Des's plan to blindside them, though.  I think she had already lost, but I don't think that helped matters. 

Quote

I am much more annoyed with the Naviti Strong numbnuts who closed themselves off from workign with anyone else because of their starting tribe. Dom and Wendell won because they were willing to work with Malolo and used those relationships to advance their games. Kellyn, Des, Angela, Sea Bass, and Chelsea all were so stuck on Naviti Strong that they did not look and say "How does this benefit me and advance my game?" All of them knew that Dom and Wendell were huge threats but they did nothing about it. Angela ratted out two plans to take out Wendell and Dom. Kellyn, Bradley and the other Naviti were bragging about how they were ignoring the Malolo attempts to make new alliances at their tribals. 

I think Chelsea might have flipped if the opportunity presented itself.  Des was willing, but I guess it was too little, too late.  However, that might have been Laurel's best chance at getting rid of Dom/Wendell and letting Malolo gain a majority.  It might have broken up Naviti strong.  Kellyn seemed to be the one who really hung onto that.

Edited May 25, 2018 by LadyChatts

[Oscirus]

Yea it is ridiculous how much hate Laurel gets when everybody  knew that Wendell and Dom had idols yet continued to work with them. If she would've booted them, she would've gotten hate for turning on her ally same as that gen x dude did. She was doomed as soon as she was put on Malolo

[KimberStormer]

If getting to F3 is a great game, then Russell Hantz is a great Survivor player.  He was just trying to get to the end!  Who cares about winning!  Just advancing your position, that's what counts on Survivor, right?

I can't answer for social media since I don't use any, but I don't think there's anybody out there saying "Wow what a great game Kellyn played, we should appreciate her" so there's nothing to push back against.  Kellyn played a terrible game (in fact probably the worst out of everyone there tbh, since she was all-in on the disastrous Naviti Strong doctrine, and completely failed to capitalize on several chances to take the game in hand), so did everybody else.  IMO, Dom and Wendell included, since they should never have taken each other as far as they did.  Desiree at least tried, and Donathan at least tried.

Social media is stupid.  Being able to tweet at people makes this whole process weird and aggro.  Hassling Laurel directly is not OK, to me.  If I met her IRL I would say nothing but good things to her, because she is a good person and being bad at a game show is nothing to be ashamed of.  But I don't think there's any reason not to call a bad game bad.  It was bad. 

[Nashville]

7 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Her interview with Rob on Rob Has a Podcast is depressing. She is thrilled that she played but I think she is glad that the season is over because she is tired of everyone telling her she played a crap game. She specifically said she wanted to work with Kellyn to take out Dom and Wendell. Laurel told Dom about Des's plan because she wanted to save Kellyn and work with her. Kellyn's votes for Laurel at the next tribal killed Laurel's belief that she could work with anyone from Naviti because she was sure that they would target her next. 

I have no problem with Laurel’s explanation, especially since it confirms a strongly-held personal belief of my own; namely, that Kellyn’s two-vote betrayal of Laurel’s preservation attempt was - strategically speaking - dumber than a sackful of wet mice.

 

7 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I am much more annoyed with the Naviti Strong numbnuts who closed themselves off from workign with anyone else because of their starting tribe. Dom and Wendell won because they were willing to work with Malolo and used those relationships to advance their games. Kellyn, Des, Angela, Sea Bass, and Chelsea all were so stuck on Naviti Strong that they did not look and say "How does this benefit me and advance my game?"

Echo echo ECHO echo echo.  Naviti Numbnuts was the perfect label for this entire bunch of blinders-on bullshit artists.

 

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I thought her argument was fine but that the Jury viewed her the way most people here do, why not make the big move. But the reality is neither Dom or Wendell made the big move and they were not held accountable ny the jury.

With the exception of Dom’s fake idol play - which I thought was kinda masterful - I’d tend to agree.  There’s no denying, though, the effectiveness of that ploy; with it Dom broke 2/3 of a voting bloc which - had it held strong - would definitely have sent him to Jury.

 

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

THe lesson learned for others is that One Tribe Strong is ridiculous and leads you to the slaughter as soon as one, or two in this case, person on your tribe figures out how to use it to their advantage.  

Hopefully this sinks in for future seasons/contestants.

[LanceM]

12 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I am much more annoyed with the Naviti Strong numbnuts who closed themselves off from workign with anyone else because of their starting tribe. Dom and Wendell won because they were willing to work with Malolo and used those relationships to advance their games. Kellyn, Des, Angela, Sea Bass, and Chelsea all were so stuck on Naviti Strong that they did not look and say "How does this benefit me and advance my game?" All of them knew that Dom and Wendell were huge threats but they did nothing about it.

That is not really true though. Kellyn, Chelsea, Angela and Donathon for that matter were already to vote out Wendell but were stopped cold because Laurel wouldn't flip.

 

I also question how much of this "Naviti strong" mentality was real or how much of it was the edit and the narrative that they wanted to create. Probably a combo of both. Things to keep in mind though is Chelsea in her secret scene mentions she was an alliance with Donathon that is why Jenna was the easy vote off that tribal council.  Jenna in her exit interview said that Angela and Chelsea were always hanging out with Donathon.  This might help explain why Donathon was with the Naviti women in the plan to vote out Wendell.  I don't know if Kellyn had any alliances with Malolos or not but it wouldn't shock me.  I didn't listen to her secret scenes because she annoys me.

Edited May 26, 2018 by LanceM

[Oscirus]

Quote

If getting to F3 is a great game, then Russell Hantz is a great Survivor player.  He was just trying to get to the end!  Who cares about winning!  Just advancing your position, that's what counts on Survivor, right?

Can't win if you're not in the finals.

11 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

Desiree at least tried, and Donathan at least tried.

Donathon is worst then the rest of them. He could've forced a tie at the f8 but feared the rock so he hides behind Laura so she can take all the blame. Meh.

Watching the Jury speaks, yea she was done. The only people even pretending to give her a shot was Kellyn, Angela and Michael. One day we'll get another coat tailer other then Sandra. One day

[loki567]

Naviti strong wasn't anything except the usual majority alliance, "I would never turn on you! Ever!" stuff that majority alliances always do. Every member of Naviti who made the merge tried to vote out another member of Naviti over a Malolo at some point. So this wasn't a Redemption Island, Rob's cult-situation. SEA BASS nearly launched his own coup against Wendell and Dom. There was clearly cracks in the armor that a good Survivor player could have exploited, but I think good players realize you have to be willing to risk losing in order to win.   

Laurel wasn't willing. She had that same problem that a lot of players do, paralyzed by indecision. She was so afraid of screwing up final-whatever positioning that she didn't realize that doing nothing? meant you lose. 

[peachmangosteen]

3 hours ago, loki567 said:

... I think good players realize you have to be willing to risk losing in order to win.   

Wow, this is so true.

Quote

Laurel wasn't willing. She had that same problem that a lot of players do, paralyzed by indecision. She was so afraid of screwing up final-whatever positioning that she didn't realize that doing nothing? meant you lose. 

Yep. And honestly I get it. I feel like I too would be paralyzed by indecision if I ever played. And I would regret it forever afterwards lol. I'm sure Laurel is full of regrets now. 

[LadyChatts]

Laurel clearly overestimated her position in the game.  She was obviously caught off guard being called a coat tail rider to Dom and Wendell.  She said she was controlling votes and making moves.  She thought she was going to get possibly 4 votes.  So while she may have made a decent argument why she kept them, clearly she just seemed wishy washy to the people that wanted her to flip.  While it may not have been in her best interest, who knows. It might have gotten her voted off next, it could have thrown the game into chaos.

Edited May 26, 2018 by LadyChatts

[Oscirus]

Laurel's problem is her game's not sexy. It's not "look at me I'm doing what I want" or even " make a big move and flip alliances."  Did she control the majority of the votes post-merge? Sure. Should she have flipped? Obviously. Its not about the move but knowing what to do after the move and that's the quandary.

[KimberStormer]

On ‎5‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 12:08 AM, Oscirus said:

Can't win if you're not in the finals.

You can't win if you go to the end with Dom and Wendell either.  The result is exactly the same, especially in Laurel's case: she made it to F3 but was on the jury anyway!  Except without getting to eat peanut butter and a giant cheeseburger at Ponderosa like everyone else.

I agree Donathan should have gone for it when he had the chance but I don't think that makes him the worst; everyone had their shot at the Dynamic Duo at some point and blew it, and a rock draw is a much riskier proposition than many of the other scenarios (and would guarantee keeping Dom around; the odds of getting rid of Wendell would be very slight!)  As Rob C has pointed out, Kellyn could have taken out Wendell with her double vote instead of wasting them on Laurel.  Angela could have not immediately run to spill the beans.  And so on.

[Special K]

16 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

You can't win if you go to the end with Dom and Wendell either. 

I think Laurel is a good example of what I think probably happens to a lot of players.  She (and Donathan) had a great plan to survivor the Malolo wipeout, but by the time it started to become clear that she couldn't win against her alliance mates, she was boxed in and didn't have any other good options.  I mean, we are told by the editing how the players are faring against each other, but the players likely don't see that well (or see more).  Did she make mistakes, sure.  But she did get to the end.  And frankly, if someone was going to make that high-pressure tie-breaker vote, I'd rather have someone low-drama and not freaking out like Laurel to do it.

Someone on another thread said that Wendell and Dom were each other's "meat shields" which I think is a perfect description of their relationship (and maybe a new strategy paradigm).  I think Laurel thought of them both as her shields, a totally smart and viable strategy, and didn't realize until it was too late that, while they were surely protecting her, they were primarily protecting each other and using her and Donathan for numbers.

Donathan had a completely different response to this realization, and we see where it landed him:  on the jury, in addition to looking like a nut on TeeVee.

Edited May 30, 2018 by Special K

[ProfCrash]

What editing didn't show is how Dom had a tight alliance with Kellyn. Remember, Dom tells Kellyn about Des's attempt to take out Kellyn. Kellyn flat out tells Dom that they are voting for Michael that tribal and then Kellyn votes for Des. 

Every season we all complain that we don't get enough of the complete story and this season is no different, it might even be worse then normal.

There are hints in what we were shown in the season that Dom had an alliance with Kellyn and, by proxy, Kellyn's friends. Des claimed that she could bring Chelsea with her to vote out Kellyn, but Chelsea worked with Dom to throw the comp before the merge and toss Bradley. This indicates that Dom was working with Chelsea as well as Kellyn.

So Laurel was in an alliance with Dom, Wendell, and Donathon. Dom appears to have had a strong alliance with Chelsea and Kellyn. We can't say how strong or what was happening there because we did not see what the heck was happening. Laurel was targeted by Kellyn, which prevented Laurel from wanting to work with Kellyn. 

Dom had multiple paths, Laurel had one. When Laurel was looking for others, those people shut it down. Kellyn voted for Laurel instead of Dom or Wendell at that tribal. She and Michael could have voted for Wendell and blindsided him, nstead Kellyn voted for Laurel and Michael goes home. 

I understand people being frustrated with Laurel's game play, we wanted to see Dom or Wendell or both go. Laurel got the most screen time so people are targeting her but I think there is a better case to put the blame on Kellyn and the other Naviti Strong conformists. They put Dom and Wendell in a position where they were protected. They established an enviroment that made it near impossible for Laurel or Donathon to work with Naviti members who were not Dom and Wendell. 

It is easy to say that 6th or 7th is better then 3rd when we are watching the show hoping for something to happen. I suspect that it is far harder when you are playing the game. Asking someone to take out an alliance member and work with people who have not attempted to show that they would be reliable is out there. Laurel tried to protect Kellyn and was paid back with two votes at the next tribal. Why should she work with Kellyn after that?

[peachmangosteen]

5 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Laurel got the most screen time so people are targeting her but I think there is a better case to put the blame on Kellyn and the other Naviti Strong conformists.

I think they all equally sucked lol. They're all to blame for letting Wendell/Dom control nearly the entire game.

Hell, as @KimberStormer has said, even Dom/Wendell were stupid to keep each other as long as they did. 

A decent cast as people, but way too many players who made stupid decisions.

[ProfCrash]

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

I think they all equally sucked lol. They're all to blame for letting Wendell/Dom control nearly the entire game.

Hell, as @KimberStormer has said, even Dom/Wendell were stupid to keep each other as long as they did. 

A decent cast as people, but way too many players who made stupid decisions.

Or Dom and Wendell did a brilliant job of convincing everyone they were final four and no one wanted to give up those spots. Not to mention, Dom and Wendell had enough good will with different folks that someone always told Dom and Wendell when they were in trouble. I would go with brilliant play on their part. They did a great job of dividing and conquoring. Dom and Wendell both knew that attempts to take otu the other one would leak back to the target. 

[Nashville]

4 hours ago, Special K said:

Someone on another thread said that Wendell and Dom were each other's "meat shields" which I think is a perfect description of their relationship (and maybe a new strategy paradigm).

While I don’t think WenDom was a relationship unparalleled in the annals of Survivor history (it was a simple partnership with F4 appendages), I do think theirs was one of the most unequivocally equitable partnerships we’ve ever seen on the show - and I don’t think it was an arrangement this season’s players were mentally predisposed to consider.  Both Chris’s “who was the mastermind?” and Kellyn’s “who brought you in?” questions illustrate this blind spot in their thinking, and (I’d guess) others by representative extension: an equitable partnership was fair beyond their ken of comprehension, so they kept casting about for some way to put either Dom or Wendell in the driver’s seat.