Épisode Vingt: Poirot's Final Case

[Hercule Poirot]

Mes amis, I 'ave made eet! I will get to plead my case.

Zis ees ze end of ze road, but you spectateurs can rest assured zat I will be keeping you updated all throughout FTC.

My goals for my final speech are for eet to:

-Not just be a summary of ze game
-Use specific moments in ze game as evidence of larger ideas zat went into my play
-Be relatively bref

I do think and 'ope zat I am going in with ze advantage, but I could see zis FTC going either way depending on 'ow I do. I could definitely lose ze game at FTC.

[Alexandra Cabot]

bonne chance

[Hercule Poirot]

Merci beaucoup, mon ami. I will try my best.

My speech ees too long, as I knew eet would be. I'm not even finished eet, but eet ees way too long. Particularly ze amount zat I'm writing about ze M. Grouch vote ees far, far too much, but zat ees such a turning point and feels important. I just feel zat I'm unable to summarize all of ze thoughts zat I 'ad thinking about zat vote concisely, since I 'ad so many things to consider.

I'm probably just going to try to finish and zen go back and edit down, but I 'ave already rewritten ze M. Grouch section multiple times. I also am focusing too much on why I targeted M. Grouch in particular instead of why I made ze decision to side with SVU/M. Peralta at all, which probably matters more to everyone in ze Jury apart from M. Grouch, but targeting M. Grouch in particular ees ze part I feel I actually need to justify.

I might just scrap what I 'ave written and try again, zis time not going into as much detail about why M. Grouch in particular over M. Morningstar, M. Cohle, and Mlle Garcia and instead wait for zat to come up as a question, as I know eet will. And instead I can just talk about 'ow M. Grouch going 'ome shaped ze season. Zat ees probably what I 'ave to do. Because writing hundreds of words justifying targeting M. Grouch in particular is not going to be interesting to anyone other zan M. Grouch, no matter 'ow much I feel compelled to do so.

I may sleep and work on eet tomorrow.

[Hercule Poirot]

I think I should add just like a betrayal paragraph and use zat to address all of ze people I 'ave betrayed, and zen allow zem to ask more questions about zeir own betrayals which zey will obviously ask. But also trying to mention everyone as many times as I can, because I know 'ow much Jurors appreciate zat.

I can also tell zat zey are going to ask like "I thought we were close. Who were your true loyalties to?", but I'm not sure if I should be pre-empting zat or waiting for eet to be soliciting.

In ze situation where I lose, M. Grouch, Mlle Hopps, and M. Kennedy are permanently against me due to ze way I treated zem and will never vote for me, so zey really are who zis speech ees for. M. Briscoe already confirmed zat I get 'is vote in ze end no matter what, and M. Peralta I should be able to get fairly easily. Mlle Garcia I guess could be swayed as well, but I think she probably will vote for me. I'm actually neglecting 'er a bit though in my current draft, because she was not so much a part of my central alliance structure even though we 'ad a strong individual bond. So I can't take 'er vote for granted either.

M. Grouch and M. Kennedy are ze most at risk votes I think, but I could lose both of zem and still win if I get ze other five. M. McGruff I think if 'e votes for me eet ees pure game. We really 'ad no close social bond. And M. Pikachu I 'ardly know, so I'm not counting on 'is vote, but maybe I can get eet. I need to try anyway.

[Hercule Poirot]

I've reread my speech hundreds of times. I think eet ees okay.

Eet ees still too long, but I think ze spoiler tags make eet seem less daunting. And I think my case ees compelling.

[Hercule Poirot]

I think I'm doing alright? I don't think I'm blowing eet at least. M. Morningstar 'as not really showed up or tried to undermine me in any way though.

I do worry zat I'm wasting too much time and effort on M. Grouch who ees not voting for me no matter what, but I can't 'elp eet. Zis discussion 'as been a long time coming.

[Hercule Poirot]

Mlle Hopps ees at eet again with 'er warped perception of everything. I missed zat lapin. 'Er comments bring a smile to my face.

[Hercule Poirot]

What made your #Bigmoves stand out from the others

I think the F8, F7 and F6 votes changed the entire trajectory of the game. The game was largely divided into the SVU+Jake vs the BAU and losing Grouch was a massive blow to us. It put us clearly on the wrong side of the numbers and with a 5-3 majority set the SVU+Jake group up with a pretty easy path to eliminate us. Being able to take out Jake and two SVU members in the following tribal councils really flipped the game on its head. It was a crucial move for me/Rust/Penelope (Judy obviously played a big role too) and without that my path to the end would've been non-existent or at the very least, much more difficult. Without that sequence of votes, I think the game looks entirely different and it's much more likely that Hercule is here with one of Leon/Lennie/Jake like he wanted and I'm on the jury right now.

Okay not going to be petty in public because I think I'm currently ahead, at least slightly, and I think attacking ze other person when you're ahead ees a gross look, but first of all, none of zose moves are actually moves zat M. Morningstar controlled except for mayyyyyybe F6.

But also, zis ees basically acknowledging zat I was good either way, which to me ees a strength.

[Hercule Poirot]

I think M. Morningstar could beat me. Like, I don't think zat 'e will, but eet ees possible.

I think so many Jurors, no matter what zey are saying now, when zey get into ze voting booth will default to who zey were working with in ze game and who zey 'ad ze most time to build a relationship with.

And zen all eet would take ees a few who are angry about zeir betrayals for me to lose.

I think zat ze 5 votes for M. Morningstar could be M. Pikachu, M. McGruff, M. Grouch, M. Kennedy, and Mlle Garcia. And zen ze 4 votes votes for me would be M. Briscoe, Mlle Hopps, M. Cohle, and M. Peralta.

I need either M. McGruff OR Mlle Garcia OR M. Kennedy. If I lose all three of zem, I probably lose ze game. I don't feel good about M. Pikachu and M. Grouch from zeir messages to me so far. M. McGruff I think knows zat I played better, but might still default to M. Morningstar because zey 'ad a better relationship. Mlle Garcia I do think will vote me, but she liked M. Morningstar a lot as well. And M. Kennedy I 'ave no read on because 'e 'as not yet spoken.

M. Briscoe, Mlle Hopps, M. Cohle and M. Peralta are all votes zat I am confident I will get, 'owever. I know M. Cohle 'as not spoken, but things 'e said to me prior to being eliminated make me think zat 'e wants me to win. I think my FTC 'as overall been decent, but eet ees 'ard to tell if I am actually convincing anyone who wasn't already convinced. My best 'ope ees probably to maintain ze votes zat I 'ave and not do anything to lose any of zem, because I did come in with ze advantage, but eet ees not locked up yet. I probably won't be convinced I won until I see ze votes come in.

Zis ees my first time at FTC feeling like I was ze favorite 'eading in. Eet ees a nice feeling, but eet also ees scary because you feel like if you manage to lose, you really blew eet.

[Hercule Poirot]

Also M. Morningstar calling winning challenges premerge 'is "structural game" ees hilarious to me. I do get what 'e means, but zis ees why structural ees such a strange term. I 'ave never 'eard of someone listing premerge tribal wins as an accomplishment in zeir Jury speech.

[Hercule Poirot]

Overall I don't think M. Morningstar would make a bad winner, but I think my strategic game and social game were both superior to 'is, and 'e doesn't even really seem to disagree with me about zat.

If I lose, other zan 'ave a better FTC I'm not sure what I could 'ave done. I guess ze M. Grouch and M. Kennedy moves are really costing me in zat case, since although zey were impressive, zey were also 'uge betrayals, and since I was already at a disadvantage due to not knowing many of ze Jurors very well from ze premerge, zose betrayals combined with just bad connection votes might be enough to do me in.

[Hercule Poirot]

I'm 'appy to see M. Cohle. I wasn't sure if 'e would contribute 'is thoughts.

[Hercule Poirot]

Addendum to my last post: I don't even know if M. Kennedy knows who 'e was truly loyal to. I love 'im, but 'e was far from a reliable ally zis game.

[Hercule Poirot]

M. Morningstar's FTC 'as been perfectly fine so far, and 'e 'as not made any major erreurs. I do think 'e will get votes.

But eet really feels like 'e should be doing more to undermine my game. I know I would be slinging some mud in 'is position. I slung a leetle mud at 'im, but I realized zat doing zat was likely to provoke 'im, so I 'ad to stop myself. If 'e gets feisty with me and starts challenging me on some things, zen I think eet could open doors for people who 'ave a closer connection with 'im due to being together more, but who think I played a better game. I think M. McGruff ees one of zose people.

Maybe 'e ees saving all of ze mudslinging for 'is final speech, but zat might be too late. Or maybe 'e ees not planning on slinging any mud at all, but zat seems like eet ees setting 'im up for failure. When you are be'ind, you can't act like you are ahead.

Though honestly, people who would seriously vote for 'im over me might not care? Like clearly on paper my game ees more impressive, so in terms of arguing zat 'e 'as ze better game, maybe 'e ees not even trying, and instead ees just selling what 'e does 'ave as best 'e can enough to give people who already want to vote for 'im enough reason to do so. Like M. Grouch ees clearly going to vote for 'im, but even if 'e says zat eet ees because of 'is game, we all know zat me backstabbing M. Grouch and M. Morningstar not ees a 'uge part of why M. Grouch wants a reason to vote for 'im. And zat ees valid, but M. Grouch ees not going to admit zat.

I don't know. I think/'ope zat I'm probably going to win. I won't know for sure until ze votes come in, but eet certainly feels like I should be ze winner based on some of ze comments Jurors 'ave made. Ze post zat M. Briscoe made sounded like 'e was apologizing to me for cutting me, yet 'ere I sit as a finalist and 'ere 'e sits on ze Jury. Eet ees funny 'ow zat worked out.

[Hercule Poirot]

I don't know if my last post was smart, but M. Morningstar still being confused by zis and acting like M. Kennedy just did eet randomly ees most irritant. Maybe ze rest of ze Jury 'as 'eard from M. Kennedy already and knows ze truth, but without 'im being online, I 'ave to assume zat zey 'ave not.