Michelle Shock
This one kills me a bit. Michelle is the first player originally from Paleo to be voted out at a Tribal Council, and she was voted out by her Paleo Pride allies for conspiring to possibly vote one of them in the future — allegedly. The production didn't have enough cameras to cover everything, and the relevant conversation never made it to editing, so I can't report on the veracity of the accusations. At some points what I received was along the lines of: Rick telling Diana what Shane said Miriam had told Michelle. That's so very removed, and these people have plenty of reasons to lie to each other, so I can't lend much credence to the rumours. And yet, this drama going on behind Michelle's back is the bulk of what I have for this episode. I can only report what I have, and leave it to the readers to decide for themselves what is true. History is written by the victors, at least for this round. I deeply regret it being so one-sided, without really hearing Michelle's view except through her final words. I hope my comparative objectivity here can help make up for repeating the accusations.
The Story of Michelle
A strong player in challenges and alliances, Michelle fit in somewhere between Rick and Kelley in terms of activity. She didn't attend every challenge, but when she did Michelle made a strong showing, such as when she won the first individual challenge. Michelle initially built "working together" arrangements with her Paleo tribemates, and formalized an alliance of herself, Rick, Shane and Tabatha within the Paleo Pride alliance.
Michelle deservedly made it to the merge, when she applied some of her own strategic ideas. As part of an alliance of four within Paleo Pride, the only numbers vulnerability was if the other three from Paleo Pride sided with the former-Cree. As a precaution, it would appear, Michelle asked Miriam to become a fifth with them so they would have a true majority. From her confessionals, Michelle thought that Miriam should be the last Cree standing though "that will probably only be for one more week." It does not seem that Michelle intended for Miriam to stay longer than any Paleo's, only that Janei go before Miriam, and to use Miriam's vote while she remained in the game.
Why Michelle?
The problem, it seems, is that the offer to bring Miriam into Michelle's alliance with Rick, Shane and Tabatha was made unilaterally — without the approval of her allies. This irked some of them, and you only need one person angry at you to start the ball rolling. Shane appears to be that person. Most of the others were more than willing to do anything which would guarantee them one spot closer to finals. Tabatha and Shane were the solid-two in their alliance of four; Rick and Diana had the safety of multiple secret alliances; and the undecided went along with the majority because they were not presented with another clear course of action.
"Betrayal" was the most stated voting reason. However, making voting reasons public during the game politicizes them, and brings their honesty into question. This "reason" seems far more likely to be self-justifying propaganda, permitting Paleo Pride to vote out one of their own while maintaining an illusion of group loyalty. To some effect, Michelle's elimination was a warning to the rest of Paleo Pride to toe the line.
Michelle's Last Stand
In the previous Tribal Council, Michelle received two votes which were heads-up to be more alert. However, one of the votes against her stated that she was not a "team player." Although this came from Miriam rather than one of her actual "teammates" it had a cautioning effect and Michelle actually backed away from strategy just when others were plotting against her.
Had Michelle kept her head in the game and learned of what was going on, she might have been able to make a play to save herself. Janei was willing to go with her. Jon and Kelley were out-of-touch and vulnerable enough that they might have done so (if told the right thing), and when there was a verified voting block Miriam would be the swing vote to sign on. The problem is that Michelle would have likely asked Diana as well, and Diana would go straight to Rick, Shane and Tabatha who would collectively bully Jon and Kelley into submission.
Michelle's final chance was immunity, which she lost to Rick in a tie breaker.
Who Else Could Have Gone?
Miriam - Miriam was likely to go if Michelle had won immunity. If Paleo Pride was truly loyal to their alliance they should have voted off Miriam over Michelle. But Miriam ran some clever misdirection and fueled the movement against Michelle, once again saving herself and buying at least another three days.
Janei - The only other remaining player originally from Cree, Janei has been playing a more subtle game and allowed Miriam to be at the centre of the all the drama. But if Miriam had signed-on with Michelle and Michelle's allies had agreed, it would have been Janei going this time.
Conclusion
Michelle executed a strategy of her own device, initiating a clash of egos. She did not betray anyone but she did irritate the power-players in control of her alliances and that is a far more dangerous prospect. Her move was seen as arrogant and was easily twisted to provide ammunition for her elimination. Lacking a solid final-two ally who might have helped her, Michelle was blind-sided at Tribal Council. With a 7-0 vote Michelle became the second jury member, and the one and only member of Paleo Pride to have been true to their pact.
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