The People's Player
In what should have been Diana's power week, a sudden opportunity sees this most-popular Survivor betrayed by her closest ally. After 32 days in the Ontario wilderness, the 41 year-old New Yorker is voted out 4-1 and becomes the 6th juror.
The Story of Diana
Even as the game began, Diana was a force to be reckoned with. She very quickly made alliances with Jon, Dan and Emmanuel, had a separate alliance with Kelley, and eventually added Michelle and Shane to her list of allies. But her primary alliance was a secret final-two partnership with Rick. Between them they had the entire Paleo tribe covered, and dominated Keyano.
Diana did well in the challenges, but not so well to be a challenge threat. Where Diana did stand out was in popularity: ten days before her elimination, Diana was voted the most-liked Survivor — by a considerable margin. Diana was well-liked by both the Cree and Paleo side of Keyano, and not one person ranked her below the top-two.
For all of her friends, however, Diana did not push for votes. Indeed, Diana was fairly cautious. She had a "devil-may-care" attitude which shielded her true strategy — to cultivate friendships and alliances, hiding her true loyalties. However, as the endgame neared, Diana was not prepared for a trusted friend becoming a sudden enemy.
Why Diana?
Winning the most-liked poll was Diana's kiss-of-death. The Survivors polled would make up seven-eighths of the jury, and made Diana a definite threat for finals. Although Rick had earlier, honestly intended to go to final-two with Diana, this convinced him that doing so would be "a stupid, Colby move."
Diana was also a strategic threat. Although she had been second to Rick in terms of influence — ever since her allies Dan and Eman dropped out of the game — that was reversing itself. Shane's elimination left a final-five where Tabatha's last ally was Rick, Jon's main ally was Diana, and Kelley was leaning toward Diana's side. If anyone had the potential to oust Rick, it was Diana. Rick realized that and wasn't going to take the chance.
Additionally, Diana's mind was straying from the game. In a time when she should have been taking advantage of her influence and covering herself for the endgame, she seemed to be coasting. She had given up a competitive edge in the challenges, and conversed with her tribemates less often. Certainly Diana could have toughed it out for another three days in the wilderness. But this close to the end, such a moment of vulnerability was a powerful temptation for the ambition of her competitors.
The last component to Diana's elimination was plain bad luck. In a bizarre twist, without even participating, Rick won the reward challenge and chose a particularly powerful reward. Rick had always been cautious to stay on the majority side of past votes; with this reward, he had no such worries. Blaming Shane's elimination on Diana, Rick gained Tabatha's vote... and that was all he needed to break his "sacred alliance" and put a knife in Diana's back.
What Could Diana Have Done?
To save herself, Diana could have kept her head in the game. She could have tried to use those friendships to stay aware of what was happening around her. She could have tried harder to win the challenges. Ultimately, though, it was only a matter of time before Rick betrayed Diana. Diana was doomed so long as she relied on his continued loyalty to their partnership.
Although Diana was misguided in placing her trust in Rick, she did have other allies and could and should have taken better advantage of them. Jon and Kelley rated Diana as their number-one ally at the merge. Janei, who had no allies at the merge, was hopeful about getting to know Diana. Miriam felt that Diana deserved final-two. Would they have been any more loyal than Rick in the end? We can only speculate. But instead of betting everything on a single ally, Diana could have spread out the risk.
If Not Diana, Then Who?
Tabatha - Tabatha had two votes cast against her, and was the outsider after Shane's elimination. Had Diana won immunity — or had Rick not held that reward — Tabatha was likely to go in her place.
Kelley - Winning a lot of individual challenges, Kelley might have been seen as a threat to be voted out. (Lucky for her, Kelley held immunity.)
Rick - Without changing the outcome of the challenges, this is actually the most likely alternative. Had Diana learned of Rick's scheme to vote her off, and had enough time, she could have exposed Rick's varied treacheries to the other tribemates. The four of them voting together could have ousted him.
Jon - Jon has consistently kept himself off of everyone's threat radar. Although he is Diana's next-best ally, he'd be an unlikely target.
Conclusion
Diana played an excellent game (aside from choosing the wrong ally). It may be that she played too well, becoming an obvious jury threat... and as such few could risk her getting to finals.
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