Épisode Vingt: Poirot's Final Case

[Hercule Poirot]

Yeahhhhh zis interaction with M. Morningstar was not good for me. If I 'ad just stuck to selling my own game instead of trying to blame M. Morningstar for eet, zat probably would 'ave been better. Though I'm not necessarily sure zat I lost any votes 'ere? M. Pikachu and M. Grouch probably aren't voting for me, but I don't think zey would vote for me regardless.

[Hercule Poirot]

I'm glad zat M. Kennedy showed up finally. I think even if 'e does not vote for me, 'is clarifications 'ere will 'elp others see 'ow much zat vote was my doing.

I do see ze vote narrowing though. Maitenant, if I 'ad to guess, I would say zat eet ees...

M. Morningstar- M. Grouch, M. Pikachu, M. McGruff, M. Kennedy
Me- M. Briscoe, M. Peralta, Mlle Garcia, Mlle Hopps, M. Cohle

I think Mlle Garcia ees ze swing vote, and I feel really good about ze work zat I put in with 'er and ze way zat I treated 'er in ze game, but eet ees always possible zat she decides to go for M. Morningstar instead.

[Hercule Poirot]

Eet ees kind of strange to me zat M. Pikachu ees offended on M. Kennedy's be'alf but I understand eet. I felt kind of disgusted with myself during zat round as well.

But I don't think M. Pikachu was ever voting for me 'ere if I'm honest. Even just from 'is opening post, I could tell zat 'e was looking for reasons to vote M. Morningstar.

If I lose ze game, my treatment of M. Grouch and M. Kennedy will be why, but also I definitely think eet ees worth noting zat I 'ad considerably less time with many of zese people zan M. Morningstar. Like Mlle Garcia, M. Cohle, M. Pikachu, M. McGruff, M. Grouch, and M. Peralta all spent more time with M. Morningstar zan I did, so ze fact zat I am competitive with many of zese votes ees in and of eetself impressive.

But eet also ees ze case zat ze people who support me ze most solidly (M. Briscoe, M. Peralta, and Mlle Hopps) 'ave all been mostly absent recently, so I think eet feels like ze Jury ees more against me zan eet actually ees.

I don't know. I know zat I played 'ard and zat can rub some people ze wrong way. But I don't think I was ever unnecessarily cruel.

[Hercule Poirot]

Like I do understand why people would 'ave a problem with emotional manipulation, and maybe I should not 'ave gone zere and should 'ave just counted on beating M. Kennedy in ze firemaking challenge. But I just couldn't. I couldn't leave eet up to chance.

[Hercule Poirot]

Like do you all think zat I crossed lines? I don't think zat I did.

M. Pikachu's comment just makes me sad, though. I really don't want my story to be about ze fact zat I went too far. Zat ees not what Hercule Poirot deserves to be known for.

[Scully and Hitchcock]

SCULLY: Lines are, uhh, subjective, if you think about it.
HITCHCOCK: I'm lactose intolerant.  I think milk is way over the line.
SCULLY: Me too, buddy.  Me too.

[Hercule Poirot]

<3

I laughed, mes amis. Thank you for bringing some levity to a grueling TC. Going for zis long ees difficile! And I'm soon going to 'ave to write a closing speech.

I think my response to M. Peralta was strong. I think I 'ave an excellent chance at 'is vote, though we will see what M. Morningstar says. And I zat think M. Briscoe, Mlle Hopps, and M. Cohle are all strongly leaning in my direction at zis point. So I only need one more, assuming zat I get zose four, which I really really should.

I doubt I get M. Kennedy, M. Grouch or M. Pikachu. So eet all comes down to M. McGruff, who I 'ardly know but who may respect my game, and Mlle Garcia, who I 'ad a fantastique relationship with, but who may be put off by some of ze more sneaky aspects of my game. I think zat Mlle Garcia will vote for me, but I truly do not know. I will not be confident about zat until ze votes come in.

And if eet ees 5-4, I know zat you are going to save 'er vote for last.

[Hercule Poirot]

Not sure what M. Grouch means when 'e says zat where 'e ended up was not where 'e expected to. Was 'e initially leaning towards me and zen became swayed to vote ze other way? Eet seemed like 'e was wanting to vote M. Morningstar from ze beginning on my end and was just looking for a reason to do so.

I think 'is advice about my closing speech ees good, because I do get ze sense zat I am almost so good at selling myself and making everything I do look as good as possible zat eet comes across as inauthentic. I 'ave tried to own some of my mistakes, and part of ze problem may be zat I do 'ave a bit of an ego, and maybe I buy into my own hype a leetle to much.

I'll try to be earnest as I can. I'll try to be 'umble. I'll try to 'ighlight what I think ees my biggest strength and maybe also my biggest flaw, ze amount of effort I put into everything. Because I do think if I lose, eet will be because I tried too 'ard, strangely enough.

[Hercule Poirot]

M. Cohle's final post ees so fantastique. Eet ees time for me to begin my speech, mes amis. I do 'ave an idea for eet. Maybe a leetle outside of my comfort zone, but I think zat ees what I need to do to win over ze votes I don't already 'ave.

[Hercule Poirot]

D'accord, I'm 'appy with my speech, or at least 'appy enough. Maybe I should 'ave been more specific and more clearly laid out my game for zem again, but I 'ave been doing zat ze whole TC. I think zis ees more earnest.

I don't know if I will win over Mlle Garcia or M. McGruff with zis speech. I need at least one of zem if I am going to win. I think M. Grouch will like eet, but as much as M. Grouch will want to claim to be zis unbiased, impartial person, I think 'e came in looking for reasons to vote for M. Morningstar, and 'e ees seeing what 'e wants to see. Which makes sense. I don't blame 'im. Zat was never a vote zat I entirely expected.

But I think Mlle Hopps, M. Peralta, M. Briscoe, and M. Cohle are all solidly in my corner, so I only need one more. Zose were ze votes zat I came in with, so if I failed to convince anyone else, zen so be eet. Eet ees possible zat ze fact zat I 'ad so much less time with ze Jurors compared to M. Morningstar ees what will do me in. I always knew zat zis was a BAU dominated Jury, and if I 'ad eet my way, I was not taking a BAU person to ze end, but 'ere we are.

I do wish zat zey 'ad come for M. Morningstar a bit more? I kind of was 'oping zat M. Briscoe would give me more assists. 'E did some in ze beginning, but not enough. But I appreciate zat 'e wanted to take a less active approach.

If I 'ave any regrets, zey are my treatment of M. Grouch and M. Kennedy, because zey were two tight relationships zat could 'ave been votes for me, but after ze way I treated zem, I don't think zat zey are. But zose are also ze moves zat impress people like M. Peralta, so eet ees a double-edged sword. And zey are ze moves zat propelled me to ze end, for zat matter.

If people wanted me to make fire at 4 instead of manipulating M. Kennedy, zen I think zat ees an unreasonable expectation and a really 'igh and mighty position to take. You should just willingly take a chance of going 'ome instead of doing everything zat you could to avoid eet? Absolument non. Maybe if you are confident zat you can win challenges zat ees ze right call. I wasn't leaving anything up to challenges.

But ze Jury did claim to not be bitter and I think by a traditional metric, my game ees ze flashier one and ze one more of ze strategically minded Jurors are likely to respect. So zat ees what I am 'oping for. Plus I really did treat Mlle Garcia well zis game, so if I managed any Juror, eet ees 'er.

I was against ze wrong person to get M. Grouch, and I don't think I could 'ave ever gotten M. Pikachu. M. Pikachu still bothers me. 'E doesn't know me. Eet ees easy to judge someone when you weren't in zat position, but when your back ees up against ze wall, you do what you 'ave to do.

[Hercule Poirot]

M. Morningstar's speech ees not bad. I think zat 'e may win.

But also eet comes across as a leetle cowardly to me to say zose things about me be'ind my back when I can't respond, especially when I was nothing but respectful to 'im in my speech. Maybe I should 'ave worked more to make a more direct contrast between our games, but I don't think zat I needed to. I think zat ze people who are inclined to a vote for a game like mine inherently value my type of play more.

[Hercule Poirot]

I actually think zat I may 'ave pre-empted some of 'is arguments in my speech, so zat ees a good thing. I maybe could 'ave emphasized zat feeling emotionally bad and still feeling zat you made ze correct move ees possible more, though I did touch on eet. I don't think zose are contradictory things.

I don't know if I'm going to win. I could see eet going either way. I think eet ees close. I think ze vote will probably be 5-4, if I 'ad to guess.

[Hercule Poirot]

If I had to guess...

M. Poirot- M. Cohle, M. Briscoe, M. Peralta, Mlle Hopps
M. Morningstar- M. Grouch, M. McGruff, M. Pikachu, M. Kennedy

Mlle Garcia-

I am relatively confident in my four votes though. And I think I'm relatively confident in ze four votes against me.

[Hercule Poirot]

Also we like 'ow M. Morningstar simultaneously claims zat 'e knew 'e 'ad to sit next to someone from ze opposing alliance in order to win and acts all 'igh and mighty about betraying people. Like voting out M. Grouch, no one should be condescending to me about.

M. Kennedy I do understand ze complaints. I think I probably made an erreur selling zat as a move as 'ard as I did, when I should 'ave stuck to saying zat eet was something I wasn't proud of, but I did what I 'ad to do in order to survive.

[Hercule Poirot]

I don't think my FTC was fantastique, and if I lose, zere are things I could 'ave done better. But I did try my best. I really, other zan Mlle Garcia, I don't think most of zese votes were ever leaning in my direction. If I lose Mlle Garcia, zat ees my fault, 'owever.