Day 30 - Final Tribal Council

Welcome Final Three, to your final Tribal Council.

Kim, Lisa, Bobby Jon, you have come as far as you can go in this game.

Now it's up to the jury, 9 people that you had a hand in voting out. The power shifts from you to them.

We will give them the chance now to ask you some questions, but before we do… I will give you 3 the opportunity to address them one last time before they do.

Good luck!

Hello?

While we wait on them to write their bibliographies... Caryn, why don't you go ahead and post your question now.

First of all, I want to say thank you to the hosts for running such a great game. I've given it my all and I've had a lot of fun along the way.

Now to the jury. Some of you clearly hold the perception that I am only here because of my two hidden immunity idols, so I want to address that right off the bat. It's true that those idols saved me twice when I had the majority of the votes cast against me, but I wanted to have the majority of the votes on both occasions so that I could dictate who went home with the second most votes. It is also true that my idol plays benefited Kim just as much as they benefited me. If I had been voted out at the final 7 instead of Chad, Kim and Ibe would have been the next two to go. Similarly, if I had been voted out at the final 5 instead of Ami, Kim would have definitely been the final 4 boot tonight. Even aside from this, I hope that you will see that there was a lot more to my game than just guessing passwords.

As soon as I learned of the leader twist on Day 1 - that the elected tribe leaders would have special perks throughout the game – I decided that I wanted to form a close bond with Tom. This paid off for me in a number of ways. Most obviously, I was selected to stay on the same tribe as Tom in both tribe switches. Thus, I was never without my closest ally. Being Tom’s right-hand-man also meant that I had a lot of influence over the tribe and was able to pull some strings from behind the scenes without having the target on my back that comes with being a leader. This strategy was working well for me until I realized that I was being forgotten and might not be seen as a worthy winner in the eyes of the jury. Hence, I stepped out of the shadows.

At the final 12 Tribal Council when Caryn was booted, I decided to cause some mischief. Nobody knows about this, but I set up Chris’ boot the round before it occurred. I knew that Caryn was going to get a large majority of the votes, so I actually voted for Lisa. My voting comment was "Chris told me I'm going. But you will be next". Everybody assumed that this was Caryn’s vote, and that there were two people who had lied and voted for Jolanda (in reality it was only Gregg who had lied, the other Jolanda vote was from Caryn). More importantly, people were pissed off that Chris had told Caryn she was being voted out. He was seen as untrustworthy, was accused of overplaying, and was the next person sent to the jury. Subtle moves like this kept attention away from me and allowed me to indirectly take out players I was threatened by, like Chris.

When Jolanda was voted out at the final 10, I once again voted for Lisa. I knew that there weren’t enough votes to keep Jolanda in the game, but I wanted to once again cast suspicion on another threatening player. This time, that player was Chad. I was less successful with this move, because I had underestimated how much Tom, Ami, Mia, and Kim trusted what Chad told them. Eventually they realized that I had lied to them and had not voted for Jolanda. In order to prove that I was still with them, I joined them in voting out Gregg. Voting any other way would not have changed that outcome anyway.

However, I knew at this point that I had been playing both sides for one or two rounds too many and I decided to form a counter alliance against the alliance of Tom, Mia, and Ami, all of whom I considered to be big jury threats. I organised for Ibrehem, Chad, Kim, and I to vote for Mia at the final 8. I was expecting a tied vote, and was prepared to put my own survival at risk in order to flip the game on its head and give myself a much better shot at winning. I give credit to Kim and Chad for convincing Tom to vote for Mia also, avoiding a tied vote. I am well aware of how close I was to being voted out at the final 8, but as I said, I saw it as a necessary risk to give myself a better chance of winning. I could have coasted to the end following the status quo, but I didn’t just want to last longer, I wanted to win.

I believe that I am sitting here at the finals because of the social relationships that I made throughout the game, because of my willingness to adapt my strategy when necessary, because of a couple of big moves that turned the game to my advantage, and because of luck.

I trust that you will cast your vote tonight based on whatever criteria you see fit, whether it be loyalty, gameplay, likability, or something else. I promise to answer your questions openly and honestly to allow you to make an informed decision.

Let's give them about 5-10 more Minutes Probst.

Hi Jury! I just want to say that I can't believe I actually made it this far, I never expected this in a million years. Even if I get 3rd place with zero votes this has still been an amazing journey and I've loved it

When I first came into this game I planned to get into a solid majority alliance that I could trust at the start and go with that group til the end and then make moves at the end to sit next to the people in my group that I could beat. It didn't go exactly like I planned.

I wanted to stay out of the drama and stuff and play a UTR game for the first half or so of the game and then emerge but I kinda ended up being more UTR than I originally wanted, to the point where people were considering me a non-entity which obviously wasn't something I wanted.

I gave my word to my group and stuck with them to the very end. I wanted to stay loyal to the people that were loyal to me and get to the end with them. I know my game wasn't really cutthroat and it was really UTR and I just went with my alliance pretty much and people might not like that but I really just wanted to play a loyal game and hope people can respect that but if not then that's okay cause Kim & BJ both def played great games too so it's all good

Thanks for playing this game with me! And thanks to the hosts for a great game!

Give me like 4-5 minutes and I should be done :)

KK.

Probst, do you want to me start whenever after she's done?

Yea, be ready to go immediately after she posts. We're already 30 minutes in and we were supposed to have been through at least 2 jurors by now...

Did you not tell them to prepare speeches? We all have ours done...

Do you want me to post all my questions at once or seperately?

Brenda didn't dig deep enough

Okay I first just wanna say that it's been a blast playing with everyone. From nuChorotega dominating all the challenges pre-merge, to well... calling the post-merge unpredictable would be an understatement. It was so crazy and so much fun the entire time. I just wanna say thank you to whoever had to drop out of the game last second cause if you had not, then I would not be here! I was only an alternate in case some of you guys didn't know. I wanna thank the hosts, Brenda and Helen for always giving me thought-provoking questions in my confessional, and Jeff for showing me some tough love the entire time cause that only helped fuel my fire!

Coming into the game late, I really just had to roll with the punches at the very beginning. I missed the first night and wasn't part of electing Tom our leader, so I thought I was just in a bad spot. But I saw who the more active people on our tribe were and got to work immediately. In hindsight, I don't think coming into the game late was that big of a disadvantage at all but it did force me to kind of have to be in the background for a while.

Post-swap I didn't have to do much because nuChoro kept dominating the challenges. I guess no one can really predict what would've happened had nuChoro lost some of the challenges, but I feel like I was active enough, social enough, likable enough, and strong enough to at least survive a few tribals.

By the time the merge came around, I was in a huge pickle. By that point, I had been on a tribe with everyone. I had conflicting alliances. NuChoro was insistent on getting rid of the Jolanda/Ibrehem/Gregg power trio, but my original alliance from the beginning of the game was with the old Chorotega. When I saw people pairing up, I knew that I had a lot of options and that's when my strategy finally revealed itself to me. I knew I was more towards the bottom in an alliance I would've stuck with permanently, so I knew the only way I had a chance of getting to the end was flip. By this point, Tom and I had established a pretty strong bond, which I knew was great. Even though we were seen as the "flippers" the entire game, Tom was always more aggressive and taking all the bullets. We were making game moves that were benefiting both of us but he was taking all the heat. By this point I also had a side-deal going with Gregg and that was one of the first official "end-game" alliances I made.

So I played with this strategy for a while. Caryn was an easy choice. Chris was getting me really worried because he had always been kind of quiet pre-merge and then once we swapped to nunuGuatuso I saw a whole new strategic and hardcore side to him and it just didn't sit well with us. Tom, Bobby Jon, and I decided that by that point, although he wasn't the hugest threat, getting rid of Chris was a good move because A) it kept the numbers for original Chorotega B) we were getting rid of someone who was close to the then-outcast Chad and C) we could always flip back later if we decided that was for the best.

When it was time to vote out Jolanda, I was probably in the best position in the game. When we flipped, the Chorotegas were way more pissed off at Tom then they were at me. When the 4th Lisa vote came through, the Guatusos got pissed at Bobby Jon because they thought it was him. There were basically two sides of the war and neither side was worried about me.

After Jolanda, I needed to stop thinking so short-term and get down to real business. Tom suggested that since we could no longer trust Bobby Jon, he decided to replace him in our "Flippers Alliance" with Chad, which I was always hesitant about. For me, I couldn't find any reason why Tom would wanna align himself with Chad, unless Chad was close to Ami and Mia. I knew Tom was always close to Ami and Mia too so I assumed there could've been something going on that I wasn't a part of. I reluctantly voted off Gregg but I knew something had to be done immediately.

At Final 8, I knew it was time to commit to a side and ride it out. Ibrehem at this point was essentially powerless when we voted out two of his biggest allies back to back. Bobby Jon's stock had gone down tremendously after the Lisa-vote debacle (which he didn't even do by the way). For the longest time I suspected that either Ami or Mia had an idol, and I just felt this was the prime opportunity to get one of them out. I tried to convince Chad, and he was hesitant to make it a tie. At that point I really needed to get Tom back on my side. By this point, my conversations with Mia and Ami decreased tremendously. I can't be sure, but maybe this is what caused Mia to freak out and post her idol in public? Despite this, Tom was really ready to just lay down and vote Bobby Jon, but after some more campaigning and going through all the options we figured Mia was just bluffing. So at the Final 8, in a major move instigated by me when I picked up free agents Bobby Jon and Ibrehem, got one of the biggest strategic and challenge threats out of the way with an idol in her pocket. And in the back of my mind I always knew that this wasn't really the best move for Chad and Tom since they had to get rid of someone they really liked and trusted.

I continued to keep my options open. Things were looking bleak for Bobby Jon and Ibrehem but I never closed the door on them. I continued to be their friend. In the toughest vote for me yet, I was forced to vote Bobby Jon, who I had spent a lot of time getting to know and we essentially played the entire game together when you look back at everything. Luckily, Bobby Jon had the idol, which sent Chad home, who I was never able to fully trust. In addition to this, even though I flipped too, Bobby Jon and Ibe seemed significantly less pissed at me than they were at Tom, again- all part of my strategy.

At this point, I really had exhausted my "options" strategy. I knew it was time to take a risk. I officially aligned with BJ and Ibrehem, which was a huge risk. I ended up getting votes, but luckily I had enough trust in my allies that they would pick a rock for me (thanks Ibe! ) Even though my atempted plot at getting rid of Ami didn't work, I know we had another shot at 100% getting her out as long as I won immunity, and you guys saw me, I was literally on my computer for like 12 hours to secure that immunity win. We got Ami out, then we got Tom out, and now I'm here.

I just wanted to really outline my strategy since yeah- I have been low key. But I took a lot more risks than Lisa, and was more talkative than her, and I won challenges, and although Bobby Jon won more and overcame more odds- I had a lot more control than him over the course of the game. Essentially I had aligned with everyone post-merge and I pretty much stabbed everyone in the back at some point, but due to my meek personality and generally hidden game, no one ever pinned the blame on me.

COUNCIL.

Jolanda's having a heart attack on us over here. FIX. PLEASE.

Holy fuck.

Caryn just go.

It is also true that my idol plays benefited Kim just as much as they benefited me. If I had been voted out at the final 7 instead of Chad, Kim and Ibe would have been the next two to go.

Well, I just want to give a congrats to not only you 3 making all the way here, but to the rest of the jury for making it to the merge.

All 11 of you Outlasted me, so you must be pretty good damn players.

My first question goes to Kim:
You were closely aligned with Tom most of the game. You made the move against him at the F6, do you think it might have been too late to gain the respect of the jurors?

Okay I first just wanna say that it's been a blast playing with everyone. From nuChorotega dominating all the challenges pre-merge, to well... calling the post-merge unpredictable would be an understatement. It was so crazy and so much fun the entire time. I just wanna say thank you to whoever had to drop out of the game last second cause if you had not, then I would not be here! I was only an alternate in case some of you guys didn't know. I wanna thank the hosts, Brenda and Helen for always giving me thought-provoking questions in my confessional, and Jeff for showing me some tough love the entire time cause that only helped fuel my fire!

Coming into the game late, I really just had to roll with the punches at the very beginning. I missed the first night and wasn't part of electing Tom our leader, so I thought I was just in a bad spot. But I saw who the more active people on our tribe were and got to work immediately. In hindsight, I don't think coming into the game late was that big of a disadvantage at all but it did force me to kind of have to be in the background for a while.

Post-swap I didn't have to do much because nuChoro kept dominating the challenges. I guess no one can really predict what would've happened had nuChoro lost some of the challenges, but I feel like I was active enough, social enough, likable enough, and strong enough to at least survive a few tribals.

By the time the merge came around, I was in a huge pickle. By that point, I had been on a tribe with everyone. I had conflicting alliances. NuChoro was insistent on getting rid of the Jolanda/Ibrehem/Gregg power trio, but my original alliance from the beginning of the game was with the old Chorotega. When I saw people pairing up, I knew that I had a lot of options and that's when my strategy finally revealed itself to me. I knew I was more towards the bottom in an alliance I would've stuck with permanently, so I knew the only way I had a chance of getting to the end was flip. By this point, Tom and I had established a pretty strong bond, which I knew was great. Even though we were seen as the "flippers" the entire game, Tom was always more aggressive and taking all the bullets. We were making game moves that were benefiting both of us but he was taking all the heat. By this point I also had a side-deal going with Gregg and that was one of the first official "end-game" alliances I made.

So I played with this strategy for a while. Caryn was an easy choice. Chris was getting me really worried because he had always been kind of quiet pre-merge and then once we swapped to nunuGuatuso I saw a whole new strategic and hardcore side to him and it just didn't sit well with us. Tom, Bobby Jon, and I decided that by that point, although he wasn't the hugest threat, getting rid of Chris was a good move because A) it kept the numbers for original Chorotega B) we were getting rid of someone who was close to the then-outcast Chad and C) we could always flip back later if we decided that was for the best.

When it was time to vote out Jolanda, I was probably in the best position in the game. When we flipped, the Chorotegas were way more pissed off at Tom then they were at me. When the 4th Lisa vote came through, the Guatusos got pissed at Bobby Jon because they thought it was him. There were basically two sides of the war and neither side was worried about me.

After Jolanda, I needed to stop thinking so short-term and get down to real business. Tom suggested that since we could no longer trust Bobby Jon, he decided to replace him in our "Flippers Alliance" with Chad, which I was always hesitant about. For me, I couldn't find any reason why Tom would wanna align himself with Chad, unless Chad was close to Ami and Mia. I knew Tom was always close to Ami and Mia too so I assumed there could've been something going on that I wasn't a part of. I reluctantly voted off Gregg but I knew something had to be done immediately.

At Final 8, I knew it was time to commit to a side and ride it out. Ibrehem at this point was essentially powerless when we voted out two of his biggest allies back to back. Bobby Jon's stock had gone down tremendously after the Lisa-vote debacle (which he didn't even do by the way). For the longest time I suspected that either Ami or Mia had an idol, and I just felt this was the prime opportunity to get one of them out. I tried to convince Chad, and he was hesitant to make it a tie. At that point I really needed to get Tom back on my side. By this point, my conversations with Mia and Ami decreased tremendously. I can't be sure, but maybe this is what caused Mia to freak out and post her idol in public? Despite this, Tom was really ready to just lay down and vote Bobby Jon, but after some more campaigning and going through all the options we figured Mia was just bluffing. So at the Final 8, in a major move instigated by me when I picked up free agents Bobby Jon and Ibrehem, got one of the biggest strategic and challenge threats out of the way with an idol in her pocket. And in the back of my mind I always knew that this wasn't really the best move for Chad and Tom since they had to get rid of someone they really liked and trusted.

I continued to keep my options open. Things were looking bleak for Bobby Jon and Ibrehem but I never closed the door on them. I continued to be their friend. In the toughest vote for me yet, I was forced to vote Bobby Jon, who I had spent a lot of time getting to know and we essentially played the entire game together when you look back at everything. Luckily, Bobby Jon had the idol, which sent Chad home, who I was never able to fully trust. In addition to this, even though I flipped too, Bobby Jon and Ibe seemed significantly less pissed at me than they were at Tom, again- all part of my strategy.

At this point, I really had exhausted my "options" strategy. I knew it was time to take a risk. I officially aligned with BJ and Ibrehem, which was a huge risk. I ended up getting votes, but luckily I had enough trust in my allies that they would pick a rock for me (thanks Ibe! ) Even though my atempted plot at getting rid of Ami didn't work, I know we had another shot at 100% getting her out as long as I won immunity, and you guys saw me, I was literally on my computer for like 12 hours to secure that immunity win. We got Ami out, then we got Tom out, and now I'm here.

I just wanted to really outline my strategy since yeah- I have been low key. But I took a lot more risks than Lisa, and was more talkative than her, and I won challenges, and although Bobby Jon won more and overcame more odds- I had a lot more control than him over the course of the game. Essentially I had aligned with everyone post-merge and I pretty much stabbed everyone in the back at some point, but due to my meek personality and generally hidden game, no one ever pinned the blame on me.