LogFAQs > #875845202

30. Michele Fitzgerald (Survivor: Kaôh Rong)

My bottom tier of winners is really a group of five, but I feel it’s important to separate my bottom 3 (4+ immunity wins at times when there were far more competitors to potentially outlast them) from the other two in the bottom group. Both Michele and my number 29 also fall under the category of “needed multiple immunity wins at the end of the game to reach the finals”, but it’s not QUITE the same as the story behind Bob, Fabio, and Mike’s wins. Those three guys, in addition to their extended immunity streaks, had little to no agency in the strategy of their seasons. This cannot be said about Michele and my number 29, both of whom were involved in strategy and played decent games…but they just happened to be outmaneuvered by stronger players.

In Michele’s case, the thing I will ultimately knock her for is the fact that she lucked out with Joe’s medevac. Much like Fabio lucking out with the Na Onka/Kelly S. quits, I don’t know if I can say with 100% certainty that Michele makes the finals and wins the season if Joe doesn’t leave early. She made it to the final five with a target on her back as a threat, but up to that point, she was in a solid enough position. She had been in the core alliance up until the Scot boot, and even then it was just her being left out of a blindside on someone outside of her own alliance. So I’m not gonna trash Michele for being in the minority. She did a decent job, but Cydney/Aubry were just playing super hard.

But yeah. Joe gets medevaced at the final 5 and saves Michele directly. I say this because the next challenge is one Aubry won, and Michele had no idol to protect her at that point. Now is it a guarantee this challenge would’ve been for immunity? No, but given the layout of the rest of the season, it’s a very strong possibility. If Joe doesn’t go out here, Michele more than likely gets eliminated and isn’t even on this list. Then she wins the final immunity challenge (and the jury challenge), which puts her in the finals with a jury that’s very much in her favor.

I’m not gonna bash her for call it a bitter jury. How they vote is their decision. I’m just saying that Michele, by virtue of not calling the shots that got Debbie, Scot, Julia, Jason and Cydney voted out, gets their five jury votes. And that’s fine. I liked Aubry more as a character, but Michele deserved to win for getting those five votes. I just think Michele lucked out in making it that far in the first place. Also, she benefitted from the whole “jury removal” twist which took away one of Aubry’s strongest advocates (AND prevented a final two, which might’ve worked in Tai’s favor.)
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