Final Tribal Council
I am writing this post in part to organise my own thoughts as I decide who to vote for. It is a tough decision! But the other part is so that if any of the finalists want to know my thoughts, then they have the opportunity. In particular, Richie seemed to have a particularly strong reaction to my doubts in his... authenticity? (An imperfect word, but probably the least bad one)
Firstly, in regards to Oracle. I think that he has made up a lot of ground with his FTC performance. I don't think it'll be enough for my vote, but there are so many things I appreciate about him! The gif that he chose for me was my probably my favouite part. :P I also really respect the commitment that he has devoted to the FTC (if it were me there is no way I would have managed it).
Gustave has had a refreshingly humble and honest FTC, and against Oracle and Richie that sort of contrasting approach could be quite successful. I must admit, I was hoping that there was slightly more to Gustave's strategic game than what he has said here. He probably was indeed thinking about how he was approaching each situation, but I guess I still don't have a strong sense of the thought that went into Gustave's game. That said, out of all the finalists, Gustave has been the most receptive to criticism or beliefs that contrast with his approach to the game. From him, I truly get the sense that he wants to grow from this experience. I respect it and want to vote for Gustave for it, but is it truly fitting for Gustave to win here when in fact I believe he can build on this to play a more well-rounded game next time?
I am truly sorry to say this, but Richie's closing speech is... not good. After seeing his response to my (admittedly) deliberately provocative question, I thought I would likely vote for him. Even as I have been writing this post I have been going back and forth in my mind. But I don't know if I can!
Richie probably played the best game prior to FTC. If anything, the FTC has revealed that. But at Final Tribal Council, the game is still on. Every finalist has an agenda. Each juror has an agenda. My agenda was to assess Richie's awareness, and in particular, self-awareness, as well as how well he could tolerate being directly challenged.
(My goal with my jury questions was to explicitly target what I saw as the main weakness in each finalist's game)
I don't think that Richie has been playing the FTC-game especially well.
I liked Richie's explanations of why he would lie or withhold information from allies, as well as his clarification that he did not expect complete honesty from his allies. I also liked his answer to my confusing question about "realness". I am someone that has been accused of being "fake", even in real life, and to some extent I agree. I choose how to present myself to other people and the world around me. It is fabricated in the truest sense of the word. I liked that Richie could express that someone can be agenda-driven and real, because I completely agree.
He has this tendency to invalidate feelings and opinions that he does not agree with though. In his reponse to me he said that I was letting myself fall into an emotional trap, which obviously implies that it's my problem, not his.
Richie is right that he should not have taken me to the end of the game and whilst I saw the F3 with Suzy and Oracle as merely a means to survive F5, I can understand that it would have been of concern to him. I can understand that he didn't necessarily have reason to believe that Suzy would take him to the end (although I think that she may have). But why the big fuss? Why does he need to vindicate himself and prove that he did not betray anyone? Why does he need to so passionately defend his loyal game? I'd rather he just said that there were times where he needed to be disloyal for his own survival rather than prove that someone else commit the greater sin first.
Part of me feels uncomfortable voting for Richie because I can't shake this feeling of being strong-armed into it. I imagine Richie teling me that I am falling into an emotional trap right now. However, I am the one here with the decision to make. I can vote for whichever of the three I like and no vote would be wrong. I need to make sure that if I do vote for Richie, it is not a decision I feel coerced into, and if I do feel coerced into it (whether by implication that I would be wrong not to, or that it is based on emotion or misinterpretation that I do not vote for him), then perhaps I absolutely should not vote for him.
It is still something that I am deciding, and not a decision I want to take lightly.
FTC-vote decision aside, however, I think it is important to mention how much I enjoyed this game, and how much I enjoyed playing with each of the three finalists. My opinion on Richie as a winner-candidate is complicated, but he really was a part of what made the game fantastic, and I hope that if there are any misunderstandings, they can be resolved in due course.
I must admit that I am particularly sad to have not made FTC, because I think I had a really good shot at winning this one with my planned FTC approach, but it is a privilege to be able to vote on the winner nonetheless! The reveal is at 10:30am on a Monday for me, so my chances of being there are not looking too good, but I will do my best to at least check in at some point.
Topic: Final Tribal Council (Read 141 times)
