Day 28 - Final Tribal Council

[Jeff Probst]

Welcome everyone to the Final Tribal Council of Stranded in Portugal.

It has been a crazy, unpredictable season. What started out as a game of friends and enemies, returning and new players has boiled down to this:

Cochran and Ibrehem, you have both come as far as you can in this game on your own. Your power now shifts to the nine players you had a hand in voting out. We'll now bring in the complete jury:

Caryn, Becky, Rachel, Ralph, Coby, Marissa, Semhar, Vytas, and Shawn.

Jury, in just a few minutes you will ask your questions to the final two. After hearing their answers, you will cast your vote for whom you want to WIN Stranded in Portugal.

But before we hand it over to you, we'll give the final two the chance to set the tone for tonight.

Ibrehem and Cochran, please post your opening statements now.

[Cochran]

Hey everyone.

First, I just want to thank all of you guys for being a part of this experience with me. You all played such a big part in this game for me and I wouldn't have wanted to play this with anyone else. I understand that I did lie and hurt a lot of you guys, but I think Todd Herzog sums up my mindset really well.

The main thing I can ask for tonight is that you can see the difference between my strategic game and the relations I actually built with you. Because the relations on a personal level; honest and real. The game level, the strategic level, is what I came here to do. I knew coming into the game that I wasn’t the most physical, but I knew that I could be the most strategic. And if I did that, I could get here.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to be the best at the challenges and that I would have to rely on strategy to get me to where I am now. And that did mean going back on my word, but like Todd says, my relationships with you guys were 100% true and real. I just knew that I had to set them aside for me to achieve the ultimate goal of this whole thing, winning the game.

My strategy coming into this game was to get in with as many people as I could, assess the situation, and then make a decision on which way was my best path. Last time I played stranded I was a follower, I didn't connect with everyone, and was an easy first boot come merge time. I could not have that happen again. So this time I wanted to pave my own way to the end, gun for threats when they became apparent, and try to set myself up so that at Final Tribal I would walk away with the win. I think I did a pretty good job of doing exactly that.

Limici

In Stranded in Namibia®, we had 4 or 5 inactives in the game. So I had a few freebee rounds to get my footing. Here in Portugal everyone was here to play, so my game had to start right away. After the first weekend, I was in both of the majority alliances on Limici, in addition to being in the Namibian Threesome of Semhar, Ralph, and I. (good job Coby for picking up on that one ) The namibian three was my strongest alliance going into the swap.

The Swap + NuBracari

I wasn't too worried about the swap because me and my loved one, Vytas, had been working with my partner Katie and her loved one Coby, in addition to Ralph and his loved one John. I felt like I was in a good position no madder where I ended up.

As soon as we hit the Bracari beach, Kim talked to me about voting peter off. If she could drop him that quick why couldn't she do the same to me? Her making that decision got her booted the next tribal, and also started an alliance between Vytas, Marissa, and Myself. The next vote out was on peter, and I was given the option to go with him and John to vote out Vytas. I chose to stay strong and with a little help from Ibe the three of us rode Bracari out to the merge.

Narbasi

Once the merge hit I rekindled old flames and again found myself in the middle of the two power alliances (Tapoli+marissa and NuLimici). The caryn boot was my best option because it wouldn't stir up too much between the alliances, because even though Caryn was from Tapoli, it didn't seem like she was a part of there crew. That vote was when the threats really started to show themselves, and the game really picked up pace. The next vote I voted for Becky for two main reasons. One, She was the leader of the Limici Crew, and an overall huge threat. And Two, Skinny Ryan warned me that if someone had crossed Becky, she had a way about gathering the troops to get you right back for doing so. I knew that if I went against Becky it had to be on her boot. Then comes the one vote all game that I wasn't on the right side of, Ralphs boot. I was told that ralph was the boot literally 5 minutes before tribal, and even though I tried to get it back onto shawn/rachel it was just too late. That was when I realized that marissa was the most powerful person left in the game. Not only did she have Ibe and Rachel pretty much wrapped around her finger, she had close ties to me and Vytas, and ALREADY a very compelling case to give her the win. Thats why she had to be targeted next. She did have the amulet, and played it, so Rachel went home. The game was back in my court again. I could've chosen to try and target Marissa the next tribal, but Coby's friends on the Jury were starting to add up, and he also was the first person to (openly) figure out the game that I was playing. I didn't need more targets on myself, so I was fine with giving him the boot.

The Home Stretch

It was F6 and Marissa had to go next, She was still an extremely powerful force and it was getting to close to the end of the game. You can tell how good her game was by the fact that she got Semhar, A person who I was in an alliance since Old Limici, to vote against me. Luckily for me, Vytas and I had talked about if one of us won immunity, he would play the Idol he found on whoever wasn't immune. I don't think either of us thought we would get enough votes, but Thank you Vytas all the same. With Marissa gone, the next biggest threat was Semhar. Semhar didn't make anyone mad, and had a good amount of friends on the Jury. Also, even though we were close, she did vote for me the round previous, and I was pretty sure she would do it again. Now that she was gone, The Curse of Men losing Stranded was finally broken. I honestly was completely set on booting shawn at the F4 Tribal, but of course Shawn won immunity. Me and Vytas had talked about Ibe being a boot option tribals and tribals ago, but like my voting comment said, I couldn't just sit back and let him go on and still tell myself that I did everything I could to win. I knew I had a better chance against Ibe and Shawn than Vytas and shawn. Also, by saving Ibe I figured I was in his good graces JUST INCASE we had a Final 2 (Thank you Coby for planting that seed in my brain). I knew Ibe would take me, so once I saw immunity I knew that I was set for the F2.

And here we are. I think I played the game to the best of my ability. Always giving myself options, and choosing the path that I thought would bring me to the Final Tribal with the best chance to win the game. I played aggressive when I had to, sat back when i had to, and played my fucking heart out. I'm really excited to answer your guys questions, and try and back up my game during the wring outs I know I deserve from a few of you guys. No madder what happens, Just know that I had a blast playing with all of you guys, and I do hope that most of you are willing to still be my friends at the end of all of this

And to Ibe, May the best man win!

[Ibrehem]

Hello everybody! First, a big thanks to everyone for being so dedicated to this game: players and hosts. It's been a whole lot of fun to be a part of. When Jeff asked me to return to Stranded (a true act of Allah) it was a big YES because I knew it'd be more than worth it and it really was. Thanks to all of you. No matter what, it's been an honor playing with such talented people. My fate is in your hands tonight, and I hope my performance is worthy of winning your vote. (And I hope you read all of this but I bolded some parts)

Stranded in Costa Rica

Some of you may or may not be familiar with the season I was originally on. I'll take a second to tell you about that, because it has a major impact on me as a Stranded player. Stranded in Costa Rica was Season 17 (5 seasons ago) and it was my first ORG game. The cast was filled with All-Stars and it was a cut-throat competition the whole way through. There were a lot of ups and downs for me, but mostly downs. Things started looking up for me when I won back-to-back immunity challenges at the Final 8 and Final 7, guaranteeing myself a spot in the Final 6. The Final 6 vote tied 3-3. Because of my strict loyalty, I made the grave mistake of not flipping on an ally, Kim. I ended up drawing the first ever purple rock in Stranded history. Kim went on to win the game and it wasn't until the game was over that I realized if I had flipped -- I actually had a great chance at winning. Sometimes I think about the game and my decision and I can't help but feel massive regret. It's truly haunting, wishing you could take it back.

This is what second chances are all about.


Stranded in Portugal

PRE-MERGE

I actually had something going on the day the game started and I was the last one to arrive on Limici. I was really ecstatic to see Caryn here, because we played together last time. I was glad to be able to talk to Becky and Coby, who I knew a bit prior to this game. The newer favorites (Semhar, Ralph) wanted to get to know me personally, which was super enjoyable for me and I take those personal bonds more seriously than anything. When it comes to friendships, you would be hard-pressed to find someone more genuine and sacrificial than me (as evidenced by my last time playing).

This time around I had to make the distinction between my friendships and winning the game. This is a huge growth and shift in my personality and my character, which shows how much I've learned from my past mistakes.

We all had great chemistry on Limici and it showed in our challenge performances. My objective was to make sure that I was positioned well on the tribe and I found myself easily in a majority of 6. That majority alliance was very temporary because of the early swap and with Kim's elimination I knew it had fallen to shambles.

TAPOLI

All of a sudden we swapped and there was the introduction of a new, third tribe. I was the first person chosen in the swap, and I was lucky enough to be on the new tribe. Positioning myself again became my main objective, and I did great here. I formed bonds with my new tribe and wanted to connect with everyone on an individual level. I had Caryn on that tribe, as well as my friend in the game, Rachel (who I picked in the swap). I jumped into a leader role, which is something I normally don't do and we won first a few times in the challenges. Just keeping it real: myself and Semhar did a lot of the work in challenges, it was just how things worked out with Rachel on mobile and puzzles frequently being used in challenges -- which are Caryn's kryptonite. The first time we lost, I actively pushed the vote onto Hayden because the other target was Rachel and I got my way. Two important things happened during my time on Tapoli.

#1: For winning first in one of the challenges I was brought over to Bracari tribe to break the tie between Vytas and P-P-Peter.

#2: I discovered the Tapoli Hidden Immunity Idol.

Cochran voted in the wrong thread, so the vote tied and it left his friend in the game in a WHOLE lot of trouble. When I broke the tie, I had to think about a few things: Helping out my BvW partner, Marissa <3, and saving the necks of the Bracari majority due to Cochran's fuck up in order to have more allies in the merge. It was a solid opportunity for me. Also Vytas promised to get me the next clue to the idol, so strategically there were more pros keeping Vytas. And I did find the idol, which I smartly used to gain trust. Tapoli tribe lost one final time before the merge and I wanted to vote out Laura, not Semhar.

POST-MERGE

The merge was the culmination of all of the dynamics in this game: Partners, friends, early alliances, new alliances, idols, talismans and more. Plus all of us were together for the first time, and it started with a bang. Katie was sadly removed from the game. The popular opinion of the tribe was that Caryn was digging herself a hole deeper and deeper. Personally, she had lied to me on more than one occasion about who her friend was, even though I had been honest with Caryn. It was still really heartbreaking for me to witness her being the merge boot for a second time.

Going into the game I had no plan for what I would do with a hidden immunity idol if I got one. Admittedly, this was a strategy that formed during the game. I decided to simply throw away the idol, it was more of a hindrance to my game and I stand by that statement. Also, I just don't like idols in general. I prefer to play more evenly with trust. The knowledge I 100% didn't have an idol anymore made me appear to be less threatening and less of a priority to be voted for. It was a risk getting rid of the idol, definitely, but I felt confident about it. I was a little worried at the vote, but really everybody was.

It was clear at this point the NuLimici side was voting together as a strong foursome. This is exactly where my relationship with Marissa, Vytas, Cochran + Rachel, Semhar comes into play. I didn't want to vote out Ralph or Shawn yet to prolong the talisman use. Becky had a great social standing, and is a player I like a lot, but at this point in the game that was worrying to my own chances of winning and I believed my chances were best elsewhere.

After Becky's elimination the sides were out in the open for everyone to see. Like I said, my conversations with Ralph were always personal and a lot of fun, so to vote against him made things unfortunately awkward. Coby won the next immunity, leaving 2 choices for me: Ralph and Shawn. Voting either one would secure talismans for myself and Marissa. At this time I was very cautious that Shawn was being highly underestimated as a player (foreshadowing), but Ralph was the decided target. I received a talisman for being a part of the last in tact Blood vs. Water pair.

I won individual immunity at the Final 8. Which was very needed, as I got to hold on to my talisman for another round. I was really sad for Rachel, and sad that I didn't use my talisman on her like she wanted me to. My gut said to keep it to use for next round, so I did. Rachel's elimination was the first and only time in the game I didn't vote for who was eliminated that round. I voted for Coby. Cochran voted with Vytas here, and Vytas chose to eliminate Rachel and not Coby ... which wasn't smart in the least bit. I'm glad Vytas admitted that. So, at this time I was forced to adapt to playing without my friend in the game.

Coby was so hot this game and I felt that he was my biggest endgame threat left in the game at Final 7: physically in challenges and socially at camp + his friendships on the Jury. Although I have a ton of love for Coby, the way sides worked in this game didn't work for us, which was extremely sad and I mean that tenfold. I played my talisman at this Tribal Council like I said I would.

The Final 6 was one of my weirdest rounds. Because of the weekend off there weren't a lot of meaningful conversations going on. Prior to the vote, I had been told Shawn was definitely voting for me and that Cochran and Vytas were as well. I had also heard something about Marissa voting for me. Semhar wasn't really around to talk much, and wasn't talking to me. I was paranoid because from my perspective I had no reason to think it wouldn't be me, and partially due to the fact this was the time in the game I was eliminated the last time I played. Marissa is a great player and our partnership since the very beginning meant a lot to me, but all this and her being a goddess in general made her an endgame threat for me as well. Vytas' idol play negated the votes Cochran was going to get anyway and Marissa left.

The Final 5 vote was messy. The whole idea of "female Stranded winners" was at the center point around this time and I honestly agreed, almost every girl in this game delivered wonderfully. Shawn and Semhar voted 2 different ways for Cochran and for Vytas, so even if I had voted with them the vote would have tied 2-2-1... Semhar I love and is extremely likable and like Marissa, was an endgame threat. This vote was hard to make. I want to stress that though I broke promises, I did not do so with any sort of malicious intent.

I was very confident heading into the Final 4 challenge, but unfortunately I forgot a number and that set me back. Cochran scored 163 in this challenge. Even though I was set back to 1412, I had counted up to 2815, about double what my final score ended up being. That's a difference of 2500+ to what Cochran scored in 4 hours. I had managed to never receive a single vote until the Final 4 Tribal Council where I received 2 votes, the only votes I received all game. I'd been convincing Cochran we were on bottom together for the past few rounds even though I don't believe that I am, so that he would keep me if the situation to vote me out ever arose. He actually flipped on Vytas, his friend in the game, the guy who did all the strategic work for him -- and that tied the vote, allowing me a crucial chance to stay. I fought hard and won the tie-breaker, then when we were told this game would have a Final 2, I dominated the final immunity challenge and won, showcasing my all-around challenge abilities. I chose to eliminate Shawn because his under the radar game was one of the best I've ever seen. He was voted as a goat in the survey challenge and I completely disagree. Would Shawn have taken me to the end if he won the last challenge? No, of course not.

IN CONCLUSION

I had a clear, precise path that was well-coordinated and I followed that path the best I could staying cool and confident the whole time. It wasn't an easy road getting here. When something didn't go my way (which was rare) I adapted to position myself in a safe spot. I balanced all of the crazy dynamics this game had to offer, achieved so much and seriously brought it in every phase of this game. It's up to you all if I'm worthy of being the winner of this game, but I'm hoping I get your votes tonight. I'll respect your decision, whatever you decide.

Thank you.

[Semhar]

[Jeff Probst]

Thank you, Ibrehem and Cochran.

We'll now give the jury their chance to speak after weeks of sitting on the side lines... this should be interesting.

Becky, why don't you open for us.

[Becky]

Hello, boys! First of all, congratulations on making it to the final 2 of this game which is no easy feat. There are plenty of times I was wondering WHY you were giving newbies advantages here, but it seemed to work itself out in the end. So, good job.

IBREHEM

Ibe, I came into this game, looked at the Vets and singled you out night #1. I said this is going to be my #1 ally. Why? Because I knew your reputation. You really are a nice guy, one of the nicest I have ever come across and loyal to a fault. I think it's much harder to play a loyal game in the end than it is to backstab at every turn, so I commend the type of game you play often. It's admirable. I also had a conversation with Caryn the very first night and said "We should work with Ibe! He's great." and she agreed, citing the reason you never win is because you're too nice. Yet, here you are. I told you my friend/partner the very first night and told you EVERYTHING. I really can't believe you had such a pathetic excuse when you voted that round. I'm sorry, it was shitty Ibrehem. I would have much rather preferred you just be more of a man and straight up tell me. I have been pretty harsh on you in the jury house about your strategic gameplay because I didn't understand some of the moves you made. But again, you're sitting in the finals so any criticisms I had for you can pretty much be dismissed. When other jurors pointed out how shitty you were socially, I was kind of shocked because you were always great with me. In short, I am a huge fan of yours and I'm happy you made it to where you are. Don't fuck this up. But Ibe, you really are such a nice guy and so I am going to make you Becky Lee this right now by asking you to say something mean. I want you to go through every single juror and in just a few words or sentence (nothing too long) each, point out one negative flaw that each juror had when it came to this game. So for example...

Semhar: inability to use logic
Vytas: shitty personality

COCHRAN

Oh, Cochran. Having any sort of respect for you is just....not even remotely possible, yknow? Ironically, you and Ibe were pretty much the same to me when I left. You both were skirting around the issue at hand and I have no respect for that. I laid everything out to you and told you what I was doing well in advance. You would talk in circles and never really commit to anything. And this isn't just in the merge...but it goes back to Limici. For example, there were sort of two talked about major alliances on Limici and when I told you I preferred the Ralph/Coby/Ryan/Semhar group, you would say "No Becky, we should stick to the Kim and Peter one." But then you were telling the other alliance you were with them. Playing a shady rat in the early game isn't great game play Cochran and when I called you out on that at the merge, you were like "Oh yeah I wanted to vote Kim off the entire time." To me, an outsider looking in, your game play was both transparent and all over the map, culminating in a very stupid decision to take Vytas out. If your goal was to earn respect by doing that, you should have done it long ago.

Another major issue I have with you is your relationship with Vytas. Cochran, I never asked you to target Vytas. I wouldn't ask that of you because he WAS your friend and I'm not stupid lol. That is illogical. I wouldn't ask you to give him up for our alliance and I told you I would try and smooth things over with him to make things work for us, but he was just such an irrational crybaby that it wasn't going to work. You came to me badmouthing him and saying he had to go and we needed to flush his idol and then you don't even care to do that? Pathetic, considering that was your plan, not mine. And then you continued to enable his behavior in this game all the way up and through last night. Now, this idiot comes into the jury house last night and says something to the degree of: "I was playing to be a goat the entire time. I hate social interactions, so I never tried with them." Cochran, as someone who came back into this game to play because you WANTED to, what is your take on that...because you know, this entire game IS social. Your friends and allies on Limici and Bracari, independent of Vytas, signed up to play this game and then you have this tard saying he ignored the social....lol I can't with that. That is only one of the most delusional things he's said in a sea of delusional Vytas quotes in this game. So I'm curious how you feel about enabling that type of behavior, because you ARE guilty by association here?


Again, congratulations, and may the best man win.

[Cochran]

Another major issue I have with you is your relationship with Vytas. Cochran, I never asked you to target Vytas. I wouldn't ask that of you because he WAS your friend and I'm not stupid lol. That is illogical. I wouldn't ask you to give him up for our alliance and I told you I would try and smooth things over with him to make things work for us, but he was just such an irrational crybaby that it wasn't going to work. You came to me badmouthing him and saying he had to go and we needed to flush his idol and then you don't even care to do that? Pathetic, considering that was your plan, not mine. And then you continued to enable his behavior in this game all the way up and through last night. Now, this idiot comes into the jury house last night and says something to the degree of: "I was playing to be a goat the entire time. I hate social interactions, so I never tried with them." Cochran, as someone who came back into this game to play because you WANTED to, what is your take on that...because you know, this entire game IS social. Your friends and allies on Limici and Bracari, independent of Vytas, signed up to play this game and then you have this tard saying he ignored the social....lol I can't with that. That is only one of the most delusional things he's said in a sea of delusional Vytas quotes in this game. So I'm curious how you feel about enabling that type of behavior, because you ARE guilty by association here?


Again, congratulations, and may the best man win.[/center]

I did try to vote him out Becky. I brought it up quite a bit in the vote where you we're eventually booted. I didn't get the numbers to do so so I just stuck with him. I Didn't see Vytas the way you do apparently. I honestly thought he was a bigger threat than I was because he did vote right but didnt have the social ties being cut the way that I did.

There is no way he was playing to be a goat. I dont care if he says that but that dude plays to win. He is probably upset with me and is aiming to try and get that response. I was his enabler but I was not asked ONCE after that vote to try and boot vytas so I thought he had enough pull in the game to keep people on his side. I am guilty by association but I would never say that he was completely my fault. And again, if I thought for a second he was trying to be a goat then he wouldn't have gotten my vote last night.

[Becky]

Well then how out of the loop were you, because I'm pretty sure everyone, including both Rachel and Marissa, expressed sentiments saying that Vytas had issues while IN the game. I heard Vytas sucked before I even met him. Are you telling me you had NO idea that anyone else disliked him? lol

[Cochran]

Also, This is a perfect time to fix my voting comment from last night. I missed a comma and it changed the whole meaning. I said "you should be at the end with me winning" and I meant, "you should be with me at the end, winning"

Meaning I thought he had it if I didnt boot him that vote.

[Cochran]

Well then how out of the loop were you, because I'm pretty sure everyone, including both Rachel and Marissa, expressed sentiments saying that Vytas had issues while IN the game. I heard Vytas sucked before I even met him. Are you telling me you had NO idea that anyone else disliked him? lol

I Knew people didnt like him but I figured that because he was on top of most of the game and didnt have the social connections that I did people would find him as a more palatable alternative to me.

[Ibrehem]

Hi Becky,

That means a lot hearing that. I know you singled me out as a #1 and I did the same to you and I was completely honest with you as well, but after the swap we were separated and the newer allies I had seemed more beneficial to me in the long run. Voting for you certainly made me feel terrible and I don't see why I couldn't just tell you to your face, probably because I did feel so genuinely bad. If I was shitty socially it's news to me unless we're talking about Shawn and I, who I almost never spoke to unfortunately, but I did reach out to him now and again. The last weekend of the game in particular was mysteriously quiet and I did reach out and ask everyone how they were enjoying the weekend, lol. I wanted to talk to players who were on the other side of the game, but I suppose yes that was quiet at times.

Caryn: Lied and come off too untrustworthy.
Becky: I guess you were a little too trusting, I don't mean that to sound like a cop out, but it's true.
Ralph: Too closed off strategically (at least, with me).
Rachel: Too confrontational.
Coby: Very emotional.
Marissa: Too OTT.
Semhar: Poor positioning.
Vytas: Too arrogant.
Shawn: Too absent.

[Becky]

Cochran, that really makes no sense to me. Whatever.

I'm satisfied. Congrats again, boys.

[Jeff Probst]

Thanks beckygoddess.

Caryn, you're up.

[Caryn]

Finally, I get to talk again, my favorite thing in the world.

Anyways, hello fellow returnees. I guess I'll just start by saying that I don't think there's a single soul on the jury that likes any of you. I just wanted to get that off my chest, first and foremost.

So, let's talk about you folks individually shall we?




Gingerbread Boy- Let's start off with you, Cock Face, oops, I meant Cochran. You're a shithead. You have this thing where you say things yet it doesn't come off as you're making moves. Like I remember I was asking you who we should vote for back in the merge round and you were all like "Oh well uh that's your call cause I don't know that much about some people, y'know?" and you just completely threw it back on me, and that's what you've been doing the entire game. You're the biggest pussy of all time and every time we talked you were so vague in your answers cause you didn't want to say too much so you wouldn't get thrown under the bus or get caught lying or show your cards or anything like that, that's what pussies like you do. You hid behind Vytas the entire game hoping for him to make the moves and make himself the big threat and you don't have to do anything which is just coward gameplay, and I can't respect someone who plays like that. And don't even fucking get me started on the F4 vote. You thought the Jury would respect you if you voted out Vytas, but nobody, and I mean NOBODY, would've voted for Vytas at the end. If you here with Vytas, I would've 100% voted for you to win, but now it's up in the air since you decided to vote him out. So good job Cochran, you're a great player.




Niggatello- One minor thing. I lied to you about one minor thing in this game and that was who my partner was, and I did it twice, on 2 occasions. And that was back in the early parts of the game. I should've told you truth but I didn't. But I felt guilty throughout the rest of the game because of it. But even though I lied to you, I put a lot of trust in you. You were my #1, I was the one who told you everything I've been hearing, and you were the only one I told my true intentions to. Hell, we even shared Idol clues and tried to figure out the password together. And then what you do? Turn around and stick a knife in my back. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not mad that you voted with the rest of the players to benefit your game, but after everything we've been through, you didn't even have the audacity to tell me I was getting voted out, and that's what stings. Oh, and by the way, in case you haven't figured it out yet, this isn't Caryn talking to Ibrehem, this is me talking to you, this is us. This isn't just a game thing, it has moved outside of the game because I consider you a friend outside of this game and this has become a personal issue. I've known you for over a year and a half, I played in my first game with you, Stranded in Costa Rica, and I'm pretty sure it was your first game as well. I played in your game you host, and we've talked outside of this game multiple times. I don't consider you a close friend since we don't talk that much, but I still consider you a friend and it hurts to know that you just stabbed me in the back and didn't even tell me. However, I still think you played a better game than Cochran, to be honest.






So this is what I'm struggling with, do I vote with my heart and vote for the person who didn't brutally stab me in the back? Or do I vote with my brain and vote for the person who I think played the best game?

So my question to you two is very simple: Is it smarter to vote with my heart or my brain? And give me an explanation.

I already know the answer to this question, but I want to hear what you two have to say about this, because I want an honest answer from you both. Because if you answer this question wrong then you're 100% not getting my vote. Oh, and if you both get it wrong then I'm not voting for either of you to win, and that's a statement.

And your answer better be long. None of that short answer shit.

[Cochran]

Gingerbread Boy- Let's start off with you, Cock Face, oops, I meant Cochran. You're a shithead. You have this thing where you say things yet it doesn't come off as you're making moves. Like I remember I was asking you who we should vote for back in the merge round and you were all like "Oh well uh that's your call cause I don't know that much about some people, y'know?" and you just completely threw it back on me, and that's what you've been doing the entire game. You're the biggest pussy of all time and every time we talked you were so vague in your answers cause you didn't want to say too much so you wouldn't get thrown under the bus or get caught lying or show your cards or anything like that, that's what pussies like you do. You hid behind Vytas the entire game hoping for him to make the moves and make himself the big threat and you don't have to do anything which is just coward gameplay, and I can't respect someone who plays like that. And don't even fucking get me started on the F4 vote. You thought the Jury would respect you if you voted out Vytas, but nobody, and I mean NOBODY, would've voted for Vytas at the end. If you here with Vytas, I would've 100% voted for you to win, but now it's up in the air since you decided to vote him out. So good job Cochran, you're a great player.

So my question to you two is very simple: Is it smarter to vote with my heart or my brain? And give me an explanation.

Caryn I didn't trust you for a second, so I couldn't tell you anything without the fear of you going off and ratting me out. That convorsation with you is the only one i can remember where I didnt agree with what the other person said, OR voiced my own opinion and got the vote that way. You call it playing like a pussy but honestly I thought It was smart playing.

I dont think I had behind Vytas. I get it our games we're similar and the two of us definitely did strategize, but I did the socializing pretty much for the two of us. And well thats two of you already who think that so I'll just admit that I didn't see it that way and I made a huge blunder in not taking vytas. I thought this was my best path because I thought I had all the blood on ym hands and that Vytas was getting the credit even though my moves we're made using EVERYONE not just vytas. I thought I was saving myself from getting shut out, not just trying to earn some favor with you guys.

As for the last question. It's smarter to vote with your brain. I will preach that 100% of the time even though I know it means you'd be voting for Ibe because you think he played a better game. This game is Strategic, I get that people get there feelings hurt because this is a social experiment but ultimately the person who played the best game should ultimately win.

[Ibrehem]

Niggatello- One minor thing. I lied to you about one minor thing in this game and that was who my partner was, and I did it twice, on 2 occasions. And that was back in the early parts of the game. I should've told you truth but I didn't. But I felt guilty throughout the rest of the game because of it. But even though I lied to you, I put a lot of trust in you. You were my #1, I was the one who told you everything I've been hearing, and you were the only one I told my true intentions to. Hell, we even shared Idol clues and tried to figure out the password together. And then what you do? Turn around and stick a knife in my back. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not mad that you voted with the rest of the players to benefit your game, but after everything we've been through, you didn't even have the audacity to tell me I was getting voted out, and that's what stings. Oh, and by the way, in case you haven't figured it out yet, this isn't Caryn talking to Ibrehem, this is me talking to you, this is us. This isn't just a game thing, it has moved outside of the game because I consider you a friend outside of this game and this has become a personal issue. I've known you for over a year and a half, I played in my first game with you, Stranded in Costa Rica, and I'm pretty sure it was your first game as well. I played in your game you host, and we've talked outside of this game multiple times. I don't consider you a close friend since we don't talk that much, but I still consider you a friend and it hurts to know that you just stabbed me in the back and didn't even tell me. However, I still think you played a better game than Cochran, to be honest.

So this is what I'm struggling with, do I vote with my heart and vote for the person who didn't brutally stab me in the back? Or do I vote with my brain and vote for the person who I think played the best game?

So my question to you two is very simple: Is it smarter to vote with my heart or my brain? And give me an explanation.

Thanks, Caryn it means a lot to hear you say that you're sorry for lying. I just didn't see why you HAD to... As someone I've had a relationship to prior to the game, you're 100% right, this is about US. And you lying to me twice isn't so different from me not telling you I was voting for you. So, I apologize deeply for avoiding telling you. Thank you for not holding the decision against me for how it benefited me strategically, that's the reaction I'd like to get. I never, ever meant anything malicious by voting for you or any other player that I consider a good friend. This is a game that began with 20 people. Now down to just 2. There had to be times in the game where I made decisions that I didn't necessarily want to in my heart and with partners and friends being a part of the strategy this season it was unavoidable and abundant throughout. Unfortunately for me, someone who really values friendship.

I think you should vote with your brain for whoever played the best game. If your heart is broken now because of what I did, I promise I'll do everything I can to fix it later.

[Jeff Probst]

Satisfied Caryn? (or erm... as much as caryn can be?)

[Caryn]

I'm satisfied.

[Ashley Underwood]

Okay Ralph, time to say your piece! :)

[Ralph]

This is the third time I re wrote my speech and I went from neutral to negative to back to neutral again and at the moment I'm leaning towards positive.

I was really tight with you in the game Cochran but That doesn't mean you get my vote. Honestly my vote all boils down to all who gives a better speech. A lot of the jury seems to dislike you cochran but Your fine by me. You made it to the end so you must've done something right.

Ibe we were never tight in the game So if I were to vote with straight social actions with me Cochran would get my vote. But with that being said The jury definitely seems to be leaning towards you over Cochran, but that's still not saying much.

So anyway I'll stop beating around the bush and just ask my question.
It's A standard one but I need it to be answered. Why should the person sitting next to you not WIN? don't tell me why your so great just tell me why the other person is total shit. If I'm still unsure on who to vote for the cruelest of you two get's my vote
Your answer can be on sentence long just as long as you get your point across I'm happy.