Guess What? It's A Critic!

Ah, a loaded question. I was planning to cover a lot of this during my closing speech, but you have allowed me to mention this now, I thank you.

I had NO long term plans. Full stop. None. I started making some in Round 2, paused during the mess of Round 3, and then as soon as Round 4 hit I knew that the structure of the game would continue to morph. At that point I decided that I needed a different strategy. In a standard format of Survivor, you want an alliance, or alliances to pull you through the game, moving through them as you make sure you are never the next person to go. And this is doable because you can predict the format of the rounds, and apart from a swap here and there, and the eventual merge, the only stickler in your plan is who wins immunity in any given round, as well as any items that find their way into the game.

Not this game. In this game, trying to get to the end through riding alliances is fighting the format as the format continues to test and try the bonds of the alliance. Take Round 4 for example (Tiny Voting Rooms). You could be in a nice little majority alliance. And then all of a sudden you are stuck in a room of 3 with 2 of the minority group and suddenly you are out of the game. Alliance or no. And there were many times where this was the case, voting chains in round 5, and the challenge round 9. Every round you are fighting to have your alliance make it through unscathed so that you can gain control of the game again. This game had no way to get control of it. Nobody knew what was happening next. Isobel was in a perfectly viable position one day and the next she was gone to circumstances completely out of her control.

So what is the plan? My plan was simple, ride through each round safely. Instead of building alliances, I built relationships. I built a relationship with Scrooge. I built a relationship with Croco. I built a relationship with Shawcroft. I built a relationship with Margaret. I built a relationship with Diana. I built a relationship with Joe. I built a relationship with Wimblegate. I built a relationship with Camille. I even touched into building a relationship with you, but the opportunity to commit to that never arrived. In a standard survivor game, this would never work, you'd have to betray too many of them, and the lack of a formal alliance to coordinate votes would fail. How many consecutive rounds were decided by the same alliance? I would argue Herod's Harem +- a few other overlapping alliances was the only one that did. And that is only vaguely the case, it is more a lot of interests at the time happened to overlap.

In every case however, having people who thought you would work with them, and had every reason to believe that, that is what kept someone in the game. It kept me in the game at Final 5, when my relationships with Scrooge, Diana and Camille all let me slide through one more round. It kept me alive back in Round 4 where the relationships I'd build with Joe and Margaret allowed me to choose who was going in our room of 4. Perhaps my lack of commitment to forming an alliance kept me out of the other alliances that were made. But in the end, those alliances were not needed. And that is due to this format. And I believe I played to this format exceedingly well.

I will answer your specific question about Round 11 simply. Wimblegate was 100% keen on working with me. And I'd seen Diana and Scrooge agree to save whoever revealed themselves to them, which Suchet, Camille and I all took that offer for. So it was either you or Wimblegate. And I knew you were much closer to others than you were to me. Remember I wasn't interested in a common alliance. I wanted people who were working with me. Hence why I was always keen to get a vote on Suchet, but as he rightly identified, he was immune for quite a while in this game.

Oh my dearest Prince Pirate Chris as Prince Richard above all else, I need to address the first part of your statement and question for me.

Diana, we had a good run together, and from the Gym onwards, I really was loyal to you. I’m not too sure how much that loyalty was truly reciprocated, but it is no matter as I do respect your game very much.

I *KNOW* you were really loyal to me, my beautiful Prince, and I was very loyal to you too, dear. I don't want you to leave this game thinking that any loyalty you had for me was not reciprocated, it pains me truly to hear you say that. Game aside, you were someone I cared for here deeply, trusted, confided in and was always keen to continue playing with for as long as I could. Your elimination was not by design in such a way where I wanted you out, Richard. It was unfortunate you were in a spoon fight with your equally gorgeous twin, but that wasn't a situation where I choose to see you go. You were quite absent during the mixing of the drinks and such, but even then, that duel and the events behind the scenes were not as cut and dry as you may think or obviously feel. With the word limit, Vanessa did ask me if there was a chance we could save you. I told her I doubted it, not because I didn't want to or wouldn't have liked to. But she and I were quite early in the order and had less points to offer you.

However, my first thought was that Herod's Harem would work to dupe you on their moves.. mostly David and Robert who were furthest in the order, and then when I asked David about the plan he told me he had told you his true move. So I planned on doing the same, I even told Vanessa and David that I felt like shite if I had to choose, and thus I would just tell you both I chose Stove and move on. Enter Scrooge, who sent me a missive asking ME to lie to you about my move. This infuriated me, and David and Scrooge can attest to this, I was pissed. Because I KNEW I was your truest ride or die, and I was being asked to dupe you of all fucking people, it was maddening. I told Scrooge why would I need to do that when David told the truth? And Scrooge told me that if I threw you off, you'd think David did too and he was present and we used all 12 to 1 word, meanwhile you still hadn't said anything to me at all for the better part of that entire round. Finally, I just had to consider what was happening going into the next round. You'd more than likely die there since Suchet was near the higher points and Robert told me that he didn't tell you shite about his move. And thinking about Scrooge and his help to me during the mixing of the toilet liquors, I figured and his persistence (Plus, no for nothing and no offence truly because I did trust and love you all) but that was Sophie's fucking choice for me, truly. I say this not to kiss your ass or Scrooge's, but it's true. It was painful, and I had to go so I put this in my speech, I worded things to you that boy was the move, meaning I chose Stove if you read it correctly or could grasp it, I also made the comment about how Suchet might lie, and that was just because truly Scrooge was on my ass to help him, and I was tortured, literally with that decision and unfortunately you were not there and he was. But I owed Scrooge a lot for the ID guess round too, and it just was one of, if not the toughest and most emotionally stressful rounds for me in this entire fucking game. 

I know this explanation doesn't make up for hurting you, but at the very least I appreciate the venue to explain what happened with that and why it worked that way. But I am deeply and truly sorry, if I regret anything in this game it was not just telling you I chose Stove and logging out that day, seriously. 

That done, onto your actual question, love...

One thing I’ve heard a few times from both jurors and from your own summary of your game was the idea that you helped those you felt were deserving to keep playing. My question for you is, what was the criteria you used to determine who deserved to stay? And adding onto that, how much did this thought process dictate your decisions vs pure strategic decision-making to get yourself to the end.

Okay, this is not exactly true at all. I did not run with the theme of who was "deserving" I mentioned many a time this cast was stacked in my confessionals, the lot of us were active and dedicated and how brutal it was having to cut some people, especially when a game had been running for so long. And with the mechanics of rounds, working so closely to achieve safety it becomes a burden on trying to decide who to cut and such. But axing anyone for not being "deserving" to stay on is a grave misconception to make regarding my decisions.

To better understand what I mean, those who I wished to see out or who left by my hand in some way or another were taken out because it was better for my game first and foremost.

Examples.. Voting Trevor over you, who I had every intention of working with was because you were to be an ally and better for my game as a relationship and ally I could trust and depend on and vice versa with me to you.

The vote for Plate was a no-brainer, he was literally up against THREE people I loved and trusted with every ounce of my being. That vote would have never gone anywhere else, and not because Plate wasn't deserving to stay, but how pray tell would he benefit my game over those three? He would not.

When it came to Joe, that was also the correct move. Yes, it was also "saving" Vanessa whether she'd been immune or not. But that's because I had a very intimate and transparent rapport about the game, allies and futures with Vanessa. Where as with Joe it was surface level and not much more. That was a pragmatic game move that was made for my benefit and the rest of us who did it, not because Joe did not deserve to go on. (Though he did fuck off the entire weekend.) and even then, I was very clear in my speech even with my relationship with him no being insanely close or trusted as an ally, I still felt like shite having to lie to him, he didn't "deserve" that nor was his boot because he was less deserving to survive over Vanessa besides my personal bond with her from the Lodge and our missives that round were filled with futures, plans and real and raw thoughts. Letting her die there would have been a mistake and you and I even agreed on that.

Dennis as Deer Head was not even by MY design, I can't even take credit for that in any way. Nor did I think he should leave for being less deserving. Dennis actually made motions for an alliance of four for himself, Sandra, Robert and I before the Lodge. And I had NO clue people were upset with his survival or wished to see him die, and even then I fully admit I didn't want him dead because I cared for him and I didn't throw the challenge and I felt like proper shite not telling him the truth that entire round, it was horrible honestly because he was so good with me. And then Shawcroft, I tried my best to repair our relationship when he was married to Vanessa, and I did want him out if it was possible but that was game wise as well, one of the people who stood between Robert and I was Shawcroft, with him gone it moved me up the ladder with Robert again, since those two spent a week together. But I will admit once he'd gone AWOL for 2 days, he did deserve to die. THAT one I will use that term and I'm pretty sure we all agreed with that, killing anyone else was shitty and wouldn't have been fair.

Gabriel didn't "deserve" to die, we just didn't have the same strategic or close relationship in that round.  He didn't "Deserve" to die, I just liked you better and like Wise Man I promised to vote to keep you and told you I would.

Wimblegate dying the next round wasn't that she didn't deserve to live on either, it's because she was closer to Scrooge and Robert, and wanted my arse in the Critics box that round, that was a full on game move I needed. Plus, it saved you. But she was a threat to me and my safety, I even remarked that if we kept her for the Prison round it would have been foolish, she could gotten further and taken me out. That one was strictly a move *I* needed to make most of all, I agree David and Vanessa also benefitted from it, but it was because she was dangerous, not undeserving. 

I explained your elimination, so I won't drivel on about that.

I think using the term deserving isn't quite apt here, what I will say is some of the actual way I played this game (And MANY of us did and were blunt about it) was repaying favours and loyalty. When you work on formats so much for hours and days, you have a bond and breaking it after going through so much and sending someone out after work they put in with you (And this goes for all incarnations of my various alliances and personal relationships.) even despite the "game" aspect, on a human level it just didn't feel right to have someone help you, or do things for/with you and then just slice their throat. I admit I played a game where I kept my best interests intact, but I also played with a GROUP of loyal, trusted allies who I felt secure with and had trouble betraying or paying it forward to, it's just how it went in so many cases.

And my ultimate goal was to end the game in a group where I had my best chance to make the end. Which is why Vanessa going felt better than Robert for me, but because of his challenge prowess. David wanted him out because he could win the challenge, while both Scrooge and I advocated to keep him with hopes/dreams/trust he would stick with us. It made sense game wise, plus as I said Vanessa never replied to me in like a 15/16 hour window or more that round after I sent her a missive to work things out, but Scrooge said she was plotting to kill me but I still don't know if that was real, or I would have tried to go for Scrooge so David would need to take me to the end, or at the very least would rather do it over Scrooge. 

That all said, I know I'm long winded and it could be annoying. But I just want to say I feel like saying I was some scumbag who deemed players less deserving feels shitty to hear, because that honestly wasn't the case for me. The people I had a hand in removing who were not in my inner core relationships I needed out because they weren't with me, plain and simple. They were threats to me, not underserving plays by any means. 

Anyays, sorry for the essay. Just wanted to clear that up. Thank you for the question and again, I apologise how you left the game and for sleeping through the duel and not being able to give you a proper goodbye. I love you dearly, Richard and nothing changed that, but I had to play the game that round and I wish it wasn't like that, but I can't take it back now, love.