Strategy and Personality As a Winning Combination: Tina Wesson

But then, when it came down to it, he gave up the win. He picked Tina to take to the end instead of Keith. While this move earned him a Reality TV Hall of Shame moment, the credit/blame does not fall solely on him. He didn’t come to this conclusion in a vacuum – Tina managed to convince him that this was a good idea. Although she had picked the game over friendship from early on when she helped vote out Maralyn, she got Colby to pick friendship over the game by voting out Keith at the end. It was a bad move on his part, but a great move on her part.

Once Tina found herself facing the jury, she was ready. At the final Tribal Council, Tina’s opening statement talked about her strategy and encouraged them not to vote for either of them based on hurt feelings. To do so, she said, would only show poor sportsmanship rather than telling who the best player was. Then, during questions, she repeatedly cited strategy again. And she closed with the same theme – strategy. During the questions, she pointed out that in other games – such as Backgammon, which they played frequently – you don’t go in planning to leave a position unguarded. You have to use strategy, and it was never personal.

One other thing she said that deserves mention is that when Amber asked what they would do with the money, she would spend some of it on Elisabeth’s idea of setting up a fund for families in need. Why was this a key? Because in the post-finale reunion when Bryant Gumbel asked those who voted for Tina why they did so, Elisabeth noted that she gave her vote essentially because of that answer.

When it came time to vote, it all paid off. Even Jerri noted when she voted for Tina that Tina was obviously the mastermind behind their strategy and that her greatest move was getting Colby to bring her to the Final 2. And Alicia said something similar in mentioning that she was voting for Tina because Tina really played the game – even though she would probably like Colby more outside the game. By drumming into the jury’s head that she was the strategic mastermind, and then throwing in the one extra comment about donating money to charity, she managed to pull off just enough votes for a 4-3 win over Colby.

Obviously, Tina’s appearance in Survivor: All-Stars did not show us much more about her. But that had nothing to do with Tina as a player and everything to do with the vindictiveness of others, such as Jenna L., and the fact that winners (like Rich Hatch) had huge targets on their backs. However, it should be noted that she must have done something right to be targeted first on All-Stars the way she was.

In looking at Tina’s performance, her own words really sum it up. In the reunion, she told Bryan Gumbel that during her time in the Outback, she was somewhere between a motherly figure and a ruthless player. Indeed, that’s what got her the win – knowing who to be at which times. She played with a great strategy, cut people when she needed to even if she liked them, convinced Colby to take her to the Final 2, and then convinced a majority of the jury that she deserved the million dollars over a guy who had dominated the challenge aspects of the game. For all of these reasons, we are inducting Tina Wesson into the Reality TV Hall of Fame.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Richard Hatch’s Hall of Fame Induction as well.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of the Reality TV Hall of Fame, and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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