Hall of Fame Moment: Cirie’s Triple-Play Sends Courtney Packing on Survivor: Exile Island

While it hasn’t perhaps been as obvious as the scheming and plotting done by previous game masters on Survivor, Cirie has steadily been playing the game while not letting on to what she’s been doing. For example, did you know on the very first day she made separate alliances with both Ruth-Marie and Melinda? It sure wasn’t evident on the show, but both women told me about it interviews after they were voted out.

Unfortunately for Cirie, the game was shuffled up and she found herself in what seemed to be a losing position. That didn’t stop her, though. While viewers continued to be led to believe she was perhaps outside the core alliance, Cirie worked her way into the good graces of several of her tribemates, to the point that Shane was actually upset that Cirie chose to take Danielle instead of him on a recent reward trip.

However, all of her work to this point paled in comparison to the absolutely outstanding maneuver she made in the eleventh episode. In fact, I believe this is the most complex strategic move in 12 seasons to actually work the way it was supposed to!

I am, of course, talking about the plan I’ve labeled as the Triple-Play. This name seems appropriate since she had three different groups voting three different ways, thus putting her three-person alliance in control. Many people have already compared this move to the Six-Finger Plan enacted by Nakomis/Jennifer in Big Brother 5. And there are some similarities, in that either plan could have been destroyed if just one person had talked when they shouldn’t have or one person had done something unexpected.

But Cirie’s Triple-Play surpasses the Six Fingers. In Nakomis’ plan, almost everybody in the house was in on it. And the peer pressure (and threat of being voted out) kept them in line. Cirie didn’t have that luxury. Instead, she had to rely on her wits alone.

Cirie saw the threat represented by Courtney, who had made it obvious she intended to play the role of jury-bait. By doing so, both Shane and Terry might take her to the end, thus depriving Cirie of that chance. So Cirie hatched a complex plan that, if it worked, would propel her at least to the final three.

To do so, Cirie had to convince three different groups that she was really with them. Of course, she was only telling the truth to one of them. But she got Terry and Courtney to target Aras while Shane went after Danielle. Meanwhile, Cirie, Danielle, and Aras took aim at the true target, Courtney.

All too many times on Survivor and other strategic shows, we have seen complex plans attempted, only to fail because somebody talks to somebody else, who puts two and two together. However, Cirie told the other players that she’d be pretending to make deals with their cohorts even though she was really with them (“them” being whoever she was talking to at the time) and further encouraged everybody to keep their mouths shut, lest they reveal the secret vote. And they all did it! So the plan actually worked.

There are some who say Cirie’s plan will ultimately fail because she can’t get to the final two anyway. They may be right. But without enacting the Triple-Play, Cirie likely would never have made it past the final four. If nothing else, it gets her at least one more position. And then, who knows?

On Survivor, it’s difficult enough to get people to vote for a single target. All too often, the schemer ends up going home, shocked. But Cirie managed to get people to vote exactly as she needed them to in order to turn her three-person alliance into a majority. For this complex maneuver, Cirie has earned a well-deserved Hall of Fame Moment.

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

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