#10: LEANN, SURVIVOR: VANUATU
At the Final 7 in Survivor: Vanuatu, the six-woman alliance led by ice queen Ami had managed to pick off Rory, Sarge, and Chad, leaving Chris as the last man standing. When Ami won immunity, Chris thought he was a goner. But it was not to be. First, the women's alliance decided that Eliza should be voted off before Chris. Chris could have just sat back and bought himself just three more days in the game, but instead he formed an alliance with the target, Eliza, and two lower-ranking members of the women's alliance, Twila and Scout. At Tribal Council, Leann arrogantly stated that she hadn't tried hard at the immunity challenge because she knew she was safe. Because Ami had immunity, Chris, Eliza, Twila, and Scout targeted Leann, the second-in-command of the women's alliance. Not five minutes after she proclaimed her safety, Leann was blindsided with four votes against her. In her final words, she said that she "felt like the world's biggest idiot." Chris went on to win the game.
#9: JAMES, SURVIVOR: CHINA
At the Final 7 in Survivor: China, James thought he was in the perfect position. He was a member of the dominant alliance, was physically strong, and, most importantly, had two hidden immunity idols in his possession. Unfortunately for him, alliance member Amanda recognized that since hidden idols were only good until the Final 5, this would be their last chance to vote James out until after he got a free pass to the Final 4. Amanda cleverly convinced the rest of her alliance, as well as outcasts Erik and Peih-Gee, to vote for James. It worked and James was blindsided while holding two (now useless) immunity idols.
#8: OZZY, SURVIVOR: MICRONESIA
Ozzy was confident of his position at the Final 9 in Survivor: Micronesia. He had the hidden immunity idol. He excelled at challenges. And he was in a dominant five-person alliance along with Amanda, James, Parvati, and Cirie. They had Natalie, Alexis, and Erik as lower-ranking members, and all signs pointed to odd man out Jason as the next to go. Cirie, however, recognized Ozzy as a huge threat and saw a golden opportunity to blindside him. Gathering Parvati, Natalie, Alexis, and Jason as allies, she successfully argued for Ozzy's ouster to them, while keeping it a secret from the remaining members of the tribe. At Tribal Council, Ozzy was blindsided with five of the nine votes against him, and was voted out unused idol in hand.
#7: JASON, SURVIVOR: MICRONESIA
At the Final 9 in Survivor: Micronesia, Jason narrowly dodged a bullet when Ozzy was blindsided with five votes to his four. However, his continued safety was not to be. Jason had already shown the world that he wasn't too bright when he was exiled, found the stick Ozzy made, and thought it was a real hidden immunity idol. Exiled again, he succeeded in finding the real, re-hidden immunity idol this time. Unfortunately for him, a powerful women's alliance set him in their sights. Vixen Natalie convinced Jason that the women were on his side and got him not to use the immunity idol. Learning nothing from Ozzy's error just three days before, Jason was blindsided and voted out.
#6: JAMIE, SURVIVOR: CHINA
Jamie, a perky blonde sorority girl, had alienated many fellow players (and Survivor viewers) when she and ally Peih-Gee threw an immunity challenge to get rid of Aaron and protect ex-tribemates Frosti and Sherea. The plan backfired when Sherea was voted out and Frosti abandoned his loyalty to his old tribe. By the time of the merge, Jamie's alliance was down in numbers, 7 to 3. Jamie set her hopes on the hidden immunity idols, which were discovered by Todd and given to James. Finding a square piece of wood on the ground, Jamie foolishly assumed it was an idol. At the Final 10 tribal council, she presented it to Jeff Probst right before the votes were read, thinking it was real. Jeff informed her that it was not a real idol and threw the piece of wood into the fire, utterly humiliating poor Jamie, who was then promptly voted out with seven of ten votes against her.
#5: RANDY, SURVIVOR: GABON
Grouchy old jerk Randy of Survivor: Gabon knew he was in trouble at the Final 8. His alliance was outnumbered five to three and he was marked as the next to go. He had a plan that he thought would work. Not knowing that Sugar had the real hidden immunity idol, he believed that currently exiled tribemate Bob would find the idol and give it to him as Bob was also outside the main alliance.
Bob, not being able to find the idol as Sugar already had it, made a very convincing-looking fake and planned to use it as a bluff. When he spoke to Sugar about it, however, the conniving witch convinced him to instead use the fake idol to trick and blindside Randy. Bob gave the fake idol to Randy and convinced him it was real. Randy arrogantly proclaimed that he and his allies would use the idol to blindside and get rid of Susie. At tribal council, before the votes were read a smiling Randy handed the fake idol to Jeff Probst as his tribemates, who except for Corinne were in on the trick, snickered. Randy's smile turned into a horrified frown when Jeff informed him that his idol wasn't real. Jeff tossed the idol into the fire and an utterly humiliated Randy was voted out as his opponents laughed at him.
#4: EDGARDO, SURVIVOR: FIJI
At the Final 9 in Survivor: Fiji, Edgardo was in an alliance proclaimed the "Four Horsemen" along with Alex, Mookie, and Dreamz. The four shared among themselves a hidden immunity idol. The traitorous Dreamz informed the other side about the Horsemen's idol. Alex, feeling nervous, asked for the idol to protect himself. Dreamz saw Alex with the idol and told the opposite alliance, who then decided to target Mookie. Stacy, a member of that alliance, decided that Dreamz's double-sided dealings made him untrustworthy and convinced her allies to switch the vote to Edgardo without telling Dreamz of the change. At Tribal Council, Alex played and wasted the immunity idol as no votes were cast against him. Instead, Edgardo was brutally blindsided and voted out. The initial smirks on the faces of Edgardo, Alex, and Mookie slowly changing to horrified frowns will remain one of the most enduring and hilarious memories in Survivor history.
#3: ERIK, SURVIVOR: MICRONESIA
At the Final 5 in Survivor: Micronesia, Erik was in trouble. With James gone due to injury, and a powerful women's alliance having picked off Ozzy and Jason, he was the last man standing. As if that wasn't enough, his two-faced dealings had made all four remaining women upset with him. Luck seemed to get on his side, however, when he won immunity at the Final 6 and again at the Final 5. He held in his palm an open path to the Final 4 and an opportunity to force the women's alliance to eat one of their own.
It was not to be. Natalie, the lowest ranking member in the women's alliance, was convinced she was going home. Cirie suggested that she try to talk Erik into giving up immunity. Natalie laughed at the idea at first, thinking it would never work. After all, who's stupid enough to give up immunity? After deciding to give Cirie's idea a try and pleading with and charming Erik, vixen Natalie discovered the answer to that question. At Tribal Council, Erik, to the shock and disgust of the jury, gave his immunity necklace to Natalie and was promptly voted out, earning him the title of Dumbest Survivor Ever.
#2: JOHN, SURVIVOR: MARQUESAS
At the Final 9, John of Survivor: Marquesas was confident. Very confident. He was the self-proclaimed leader of the "Rotu Four" alliance, consisting of himself, Tammy, The General, and Zoe. The alliance also had two lower-ranking pawns, Paschal and Neleh, who John arrogantly referred to as "two free passes."
It seemed inevitable that Sean, the loudest mouth outside the alliance, would be the next to go. Unfortunately for John, he and his allies forgot two very important things - four is not a majority of nine, and never reveal the pecking order. At the coconut chop immunity challenge, the Rotu Four, in an amazing display of sheer stupidity, did just that, revealing the pecking order for the world to see - first Sean, Vecepia, and Kathy, then Paschal and Neleh. Paschal and Neleh, realizing they would be stuck in fifth and sixth place in their current positions, switched sides like the Irish in Braveheart and joined with Sean, Vecepia, and Kathy to vote out John. In the next three episodes, Zoe, Tammy, and The General were voted out in rapid succession, completing the destruction of the cocky Rotu Four. John, in his final words, showed the world how far he had fallen by crying like a little girl.
#1: SILAS, SURVIVOR: AFRICA
From the beginning, it was obvious that Silas' Samburu tribe in Survivor: Africa was highly dysfunctional. The tribe split almost immediately among generational lines, with oldsters Frank, Carl, Linda, and Teresa pitted against mallrats Silas, Lindsey, Little Kim, and Brandon. Although the tribe managed to win the first two immunity challenges, when they lost the third it was obvious that the vote could be nothing other than a 4-4 tie. Sure enough, the vote ended up tied 4 each for Lindsey and Carl. A tiebreaker quiz was held, which Carl lost.
With his elimination, the mallrats took control of the tribe and disgusted the world with their laziness, cockiness, and immature behavior. Silas, as self-proclaimed leader of the Brat Pack, would display his hubris through actions such as talking down to his tribe like a football coach, and attempting to order Frank, Linda, and Teresa to help one of the mallrats win the game, while offering no incentive to the oldsters. After Linda was voted out, he arrogantly boasted, "You might as well write the million dollar check and hand it to me," and "There's not an event in the future that would alarm me."
The very next episode, he was forced to eat his words when each tribe was instructed to send three players to a location where Jeff Probst would meet them, without giving a reason why. Silas, Frank, and Teresa went for Samburu. At the meeting point, Jeff announced that they were switching tribes and that Silas, Frank, and Teresa were now members of the opposing Boran tribe. A shocked Silas marched off to his doom, while Frank and Teresa smirked, overjoyed at the new life they had been given in the game. The Boran members greeted Silas with hostility and if that wasn't enough, Frank and Teresa told them about all the nasty things Silas and the rest of the Brat Pack had done. While the rest of Boran threw the immunity challenge, a desperate Silas tried and pathetically failed to win the challenge all by himself. At the campfire, the other five Boran members sat around it and laughed at the stupidity of the mallrats, while a humiliated Silas sat all alone in the dark. At Tribal Council, Silas was unanimously voted out. He literally went from being the most powerful player to the least powerful player in the span of a single episode. Never before had any Survivor fallen so far so fast. And it couldn't have happened to a cockier, more irritating player.
You have to ask yourself - what IS it about Africa that makes Burnett need to throw monkey wrenches in the game? I can remember Lindsay’s panicked “Silas is gone! Silas is gone!” when they arrived for the reward challenge. And Kelly signaling and “L” to Tom so taht they’d know Lindsay had received prior votes.
In this edition of Africa, you see Burnett doing not one but TWO switches. Get the feeling he didn’t like the Onion alliance very much either?