[Dean Kowalski]

Thank you all for a very entertaining and absolute melodramatic kinda night.

1. Who?
2. What?
3. Why?
4. How?

Thought I'd give it short tonight and give you guys an easy confessional to recover and vent in. Besides I'm sure you all have your own words about the events leading up to last Tribal Council, where Naseer left in a wild 5-3-1-1 vote.

[Mike]

So I kinda sat with how to approach this one for a minute. And this just feels like the right way to do it...maybe it's wrong but I don't know. Feels like the right time to do this. I figured it was coming this season and this seems like the best time to do it.

Hi, my name is Dylan (aka Routy) and I'm the man behind "Mike". My first time playing Stranded was amazing because I really quickly crafted the idea of this character, "Mike", who was just an insane over player who thought he was the fucking best at everything, giving himself the moniker of The Otter (as a play on the idea of being the GOAT), and using EVERYONE like they were his pawns. He had a very closed off heart, didn't give a fuck who he was using and was a textbook terrible player. "Mike" died swiftly but I had a blast and, as members of the server know, "Mike" and I couldn't be more different as people. So coming into Stranded 41 I was so excited - I was going to show my growth and evolution as "Mike". I was going to show how becoming a dad in the middle of last season changed me! I was going to do everyone proud, be a fan favourite, and do great this time around!

Only, I wasn't.

Back when I first got asked back, I started to turn my brain on how I'd play the character this time around. As the season slid back further I got more time to cook up ideas in my head and I basically landed on "would it be fun to come into this game, preach all this evolution, change, and fundamental shift in who I am only to rip that rug out from the viewer as fast as possible?" James posted the picture of he and Morgan in the server and my "Mike" brainer went "yeah that's some PRIME villain shit you could use." and here we are now.

So for this season the idea was that "Mike" as a character never learns and is destined to keep making the same stupid, arrogant, self-serving, and egotistical mistakes over and over and over again, never apologizing for them (contrast my Confessionals from Episode 1 vs 3 - I keep preaching I'm dogmatic and don't want to be dogmatic but then fall back into old habits because a juicy big move is way more important to "Mike" than the slow growth of "Mike"). "Mike" is designed to make you go "this guy is a fucking idiot! what the fuck is he doing!" and "no don't do that again you moron" because, my stupid Dylan brain thought it would be fun and entertaining to go into a new season but play EXACTLY like my old season. Putting the MIKE in MIKEkonos if you will. 

Here's what I'm leading up to here. Tonight is "Mike's Funeral". Kill Mike. Kill the Otter. Let's come out of this and be Dylan/Routy because I LOVE Dylan/Routy but fuck me if I just can't stand "Mike". He's exhausting to be, I'm a whole other person when I'm being him and I don't like that person at all. I think it's time I was more myself and less the character. It just feels like it's the right time. Sometimes you just need nights like tonight to know you need to make a change. It's funny too because today James and I were just floating platitudes back and forth and the two that stick out after this is "failure isn't fatal" and "It's lack of faith that makes people afraid and I believed in myself". Maybe those are good places to start.

I'm terrible at ORGs, my reads are always off and I know it, but I love the social aspect of it. I've learned so much about these people on this cast that I hope are true and if they aren't oh well. Everyone here is awesome and that's what makes this season so hard.

So fuck it - you want to hear about tonight, ask Mike. But he won't tell you much because he's dead and this isn't some comic book death where he'll just be brought back to life when it suits the story the best.

R.I.P Mike "The Otter"
 

[Mike]

So Dylan here, let's look at the right fucking mess Mike made for himself tonight...


Today he thought he had it locked down to just deal with James and finally get him gone. But I think he's got a few glaring blindspots in the game that he needs to take a harsher look at.

1. Paul - Mike and Paul bonded over some really personal things the other day and both these guys keep pushing that their bond is "above the game". Paul says he's with Mike and has his back just a little too much too often as if to reaffirm it to Paul that Mike is valuable to him and it's not the time to do anything. Paul came into the game really strong on day one, had a great bond with Michelle and seemed like the most well liked players super early. Paul won the first immunity challenge, Paul technically gets credit for taking out Morgan because he made the decision and made the right reads to keep Rodney and Voce happy + it injured James' relationship with Mike - someone who Paul saw as being super tight to James. Now James is left without a #1 in this game and Paul can be there to support James as he fights desperately to stay alive. Paul is also the first person to really start pushing Naseer as the option B to James. James went full theatrics at the tribal council and Paul stood up as "the good guy", making him look like he's calling out the big bad when it reality it could all be staged to benefit both men. James has nothing to lose if the vote goes against him while Paul benefits by keeping the appearance of his loyalty to Mike in place. He recognizes James is loyal to him, can be his shield and he picks off a neutral number in Naseer that no one really trusts. He can't kill Hali or Mike yet because taking out either of them would hurt the relationship with the other and potentially drive them back to James who could then make a move against Paul. 

2. Michelle - Doesn't give much in the way of game talk and just kinda coasts, relying of being nice socially. She's tight with Paul even as Paul insists they aren't that tight to Mike just a little too much. 

3. Stephanie - Mike and Stephanie hit it off SO immediately that Mike never really stopped to audit his relationship with her at any point. They insulted each other, shared a similar sense of humour and just generally got along. It grated on Mike a bit that Steph stayed more personally guarded for as long as she did because Mike was ready to start opening up to people and sell the idea he's a changed man when he isn't. Things Mike never stopped to consider is that maybe Steph and James could be working together and putting on a big show. It's a great and compelling narrative to sell that they're frenemies, and, given enough selling, they could convince everyone they want nothing to do with each other while trying to work together. They have history and that's why it's a perfect cover. 

4. Hali - Mike's blindspot is MASSIVE for Hali. He just assumed she's good to go to work with him and never audited this relationship. Hali believes Mike will be blindingly loyal to her after he confessed that all he wants to do in the game is do right by her to atone for putting her in a bad place last time out. He doesn't question that the meek Hali from last time around might want to keep Mike close before making him the final mantlepiece to complete Hali's growth and evolution. It helps her to stay close to Mike but she's still an individual playing her own game and it's stupid of Mike to just assume she doesn't have better individual relationships with certain players than he does. She's not his sidekick, he's hers.

5. Sydney - Sydney offered Mike a F2 deal immediately after the Morgan blindside in the midst of giving the gears to James. Could she be working with James and downplaying it to Mike? Tough to say but Sydney seems like a straight shooter who doesn't fuck with people like James.

Rodney and Voce feel pretty neutral so far and aren't seemingly stepping outside themselves to make moves. It feels like Rodney is along for the ride while Voce's inept social game but good strategic mind make him a good number for anyone who can use him. He's a powerful swing vote as numbers start to dwindle.

Do I think any of this is true? Unsure but these are thoughts that need to be thought through and not just accepted as gospel. Mike can't assume he has Stephanie, Paul, Michelle, and Hali. It's a great group of 5 if he does but one of them might have him as a bounty and the chances of all five of them being on the same page with each other would be unlikely. Someone in that equation of 5 is a much better player than they are letting on and it isn't Mike. 

[Mike]

When you wake up and see your wife dressed your daughter in an otter shirt without knowing the fact that I laid the Otter moniker to rest last night