Building a Web of Alliances: Brian Heidik of ‘Survivor: Thailand’

One Survivor winner who did not appear in All-Stars, but who definitely deserves to be called an “All-Star” when it comes to the game of Survivor, is Brian Heidik. Brian played what is widely believed to be one of the best strategic games ever – some say he was second only to The Hall of Fame’s first inductee, Richard Hatch; others say he was even better.

No matter where you might fall in that particular debate, the fact remains that Brian had a Hall of Fame performance in Thailand. Let’s take a look back as we induct him into these hallowed halls.

Within his own tribe, Brian made separate, independent alliances with Ted, Helen, and Clay. He promised each that he would bring them to the end. Outside of these individual alliances, there was an overall Chuay Gahn tribal alliance that held together as they Pagonged the Sook Jai. And that was no accident. The way Brian had set things up, the overall alliance was extremely stable, even when the remaining Sook Jai tried to pull people to their side.

For example, if Jake went to Clay to bring him over to the Sook Jai side, Clay wouldn’t do it because he had a Final 2 agreement with Brian (though he wouldn’t tell Jake that part because, of course, it needs to stay secret from the others). If Jake moved on to Ted, Ted would turn Jake down for the same reason. Same with Helen. Each of them thought they were the real Final 2 alliance, and thus they each felt very secure in their positions. Since they were feeling secure, there was no reason for them to turn on each other. While Rich Hatch created a wheel of allies around him, Brian added spokes to that wheel, and each spoke connected from one member of the overall alliance back to himself.

And that was the key. Not only did Brian need to create alliances, but he needed to make sure each ally felt they were the main ally, and that he was duping all the others. As we saw when he voted off Ted and Helen, they believed Brian all the way until they had their torches snuffed. And what’s even better is that they then ended up voting for Brian to win the game because they were impressed by his game play and not so impressed with his opponent, Clay. People might be tempted to suggest that Brian wouldn’t have won if he had been up against somebody other than Clay – but being against Clay was part of his plan. He could have chosen who to go up against – Ted, Helen, or Clay. But he knew Clay’s reputation at camp was not the best, and that he could make use of that. He made it so he could be considered the lesser of two evils by those who were voting.

Throughout the game, Brian always knew what was going on, who was leaning in what direction, and where the vote would be going. During the fake merge, Brian quickly learned – through Clay and Ted, mostly – that Shii Ann was unhappy with her tribe, and he pounced on the chance to do something about that, drawing her into the Chuay Gahn alliance. He never had a chance to actually act on it, because once it was discovered that the merge was a hoax, her own tribe quickly sent her packing. But if it had been a real merge, he still would have been able to Pagong the Sook Jai, even though the two tribes entered with the same number of people.

Brian also did something that no other strategic gamer has done in Survivor: He won final immunity. Rich Hatch purposely dropped out of final immunity because he knew that was his best move. Tina Wesson, another Hall of Fame inductee, lost final immunity to Colby. Other strategic players that lost include Lex, Rob Cesternino, Jon, and Kathy. Each of them had turned the game around using strategy, but were unable to see it to the finish. Brian, however, easily outlasted Clay and Jan in the final immunity challenge, showing he could win the game both mentally and physically.

Throughout the game, Brian made a number of (perhaps joking) sexist comments – but he kept those for the camera, not in front of those who would be offended. He kept calm under difficult circumstances. He never forgot that it was all a game and he had to ignore the fact that he had friendly relationships with the people he was lying to.

Originally, I thought that Brian’s game plan was one that would not – could not – be repeated. Indeed, when I interviewed him, he didn’t say much. But when I asked him what advice he had for future players, he said, “Don’t be like Brian! You will get caught!” And I agreed with that.

In All-Stars, it does seem like one player, Rob Mariano, tried to be like Brian. But Brian was the pioneer for this type of strategy, and it required a certain type of person to pull it off. That person belongs in the Reality TV Hall of Fame.

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

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