[Jeff Probst]

This is Mike's Final Tribal Council Thread.

All other Jurors should remain in their own threads. 

Mike, you have until Saturday at 8c/9e AM to post your statements/questions to the Final 2. Remember not to take up too much of their time as they have 8 other jurors to get to. Please no listing or questions requiring novels for answers. You should post all of your statements/questions in your opening post in this thread.

[Mike]

First and foremost!

Congratulations to both of you, Stephanie and Voce, for being the last two standing in a season jam-packed with plenty of fantastic, talented players. The fact that both of you are still here standing at the end against a cast like this is a testament to your abilities to survive in a tough, tough game like Stranded. On to questions...


Stephanie

Early in this game you came off as harsh and abrasive to talk to, not only to myself but to other players as well. I felt as though it hurt your standings in the social hierarchy of this game yet here you stand at Final Two in a game of social collusion.

Can you highlight and explain the depths of your social game to me and help illustrate the lengths of how and when you manipulated players to YOUR advantage in this game? When were you putting your foot down on the gas pedal and when were you cutting the rest of our brake lines so our games speed out of control?


Voce

I’d like to talk to you specifically about my boot and the perception I have around your role in it. This is an answer that could sway how I understand your game so please, give me more than a one sentence answer like the ones I’ve seen from you constantly at all the tribals this season.

You misplayed your idol while Sydney correctly played hers to protect you. Your brief reaction gave the impression to myself and other members of the jury that you weren’t expecting to catch votes there in the way you did and, as a result, you came off as fairly socially unaware. I’d like to give you the chance here to explain your social awareness at that tribal, your understanding of the social dynamics going into that tribal that resulted in the vote breakdown/idol plays we got, and just generally your grasp on the game in a way that either supports or disproves this perception we currently have. If you made a mistake here - own it. And if we’re misunderstanding what we saw, hit us with the mic drop that proves us wrong please!

Again, congratulations to the both of you for making it this far! I’m excited to hear your answers and cast my vote after gaining insights from both of your answers!

[Voce]

Hi Mike and thanks for the question. I really did want to answer this one, and I will answer it honestly.  

After the Rodney tribal council, I got a mystery box.  It was an immunity idol, and I was given 2 tribal councils in which I could use it before it expired.  If I felt in danger I would have used it at the first tribal that day, but you kept me in the loop about Paul's plan to go for Sydney at the first tribal, and only go for me at the second.  I felt safe enough to keep it for the second tribal council, and I was always going to use it on myself and punch my ticket to the final 5.

After Michelle won immunity and her name was off the table, everyone told me they were voting for Sydney.  I know this might sound hard to believe but I really did find it suspicious.  The move just didn't make sense to me and I didn't get why You or Hali or especially Stephanie didn't want to make a bigger move than me at the time.  The honest truth is that you got me hook, line, and sinker with your performance at tribal council and I did misplay my Idol on Sydney instead of myself.  You did tell me me Michelle had an idol before tribal council, and I actually waited a little over a minute to see if she was gonna play it for Sydney first.  Then I would have played my idol for myself and looked like a genius, but that really wasn't the case.  You got me and I got lucky that Sydney also had Michelle's idol that she played on me.  

The only thing I would like to add is, although I did misplay my idol.  I was against Sydney going home that night and I was willing to use my idol on her rather than myself just to make sure that didn't happen.  It proved to Sydney that I never did vote for her or ever want to put her name out.  After that  tribal, and because of the events of it, I was pretty safe going forward, because Michelle and Sydney trusted me, and Hali and Stephanie also needed me. 

I hope i answered the whole question

[Mike]

Hi Mike and thanks for the question. I really did want to answer this one, and I will answer it honestly.  

After the Rodney tribal council, I got a mystery box.  It was an immunity idol, and I was given 2 tribal councils in which I could use it before it expired.  If I felt in danger I would have used it at the first tribal that day, but you kept me in the loop about Paul's plan to go for Sydney at the first tribal, and only go for me at the second.  I felt safe enough to keep it for the second tribal council, and I was always going to use it on myself and punch my ticket to the final 5.

After Michelle won immunity and her name was off the table, everyone told me they were voting for Sydney.  I know this might sound hard to believe but I really did find it suspicious.  The move just didn't make sense to me and I didn't get why You or Hali or especially Stephanie didn't want to make a bigger move than me at the time.  The honest truth is that you got me hook, line, and sinker with your performance at tribal council and I did misplay my Idol on Sydney instead of myself.  You did tell me me Michelle had an idol before tribal council, and I actually waited a little over a minute to see if she was gonna play it for Sydney first.  Then I would have played my idol for myself and looked like a genius, but that really wasn't the case.  You got me and I got lucky that Sydney also had Michelle's idol that she played on me.  

The only thing I would like to add is, although I did misplay my idol.  I was against Sydney going home that night and I was willing to use my idol on her rather than myself just to make sure that didn't happen.  It proved to Sydney that I never did vote for her or ever want to put her name out.  After that  tribal, and because of the events of it, I was pretty safe going forward, because Michelle and Sydney trusted me, and Hali and Stephanie also needed me. 

I hope i answered the whole question

Voce! I appreciate you taking the time to give a detailed answer here and I'm glad you got the chance to answer a question you were hoping to address!

Just to answer back a bit - I don't find it hard to believe you found me suggesting to vote for Sydney suspicious at all. You made the correct read AND correct move in calling it out at tribal (which I was hoping you'd do) so I could play the tribal as an open hand and *sell* the idea of Sydney being the vote out of desperation to survive. I do appreciate you acknowledging you got tricked but what I appreciate even more in your answer (and I BELIEVE you when you say this) is your stance on why you played your idol for Sydney. You have to stick your neck out for players in this game to make them trust you, it's what I did by telling you that you were the planned 2nd boot for Paul/Michelle and it made you trust me enough for me to flip the script on you and try to get you there. Sydney trusted you and you trusted Sydney because you two backed each other through actions, not words. You acknowledged the double idol play had some luck (and every good Stranded player strikes a balance between lucky and skillful) there for you but don't sell yourself short because your social play with Sydney is what opened the door for both of you to use your idols with confidence on each other as opposed to yourselves. It takes a lot of confidence in another person to play YOUR idol for them instead of yourself and then for them to do it back to you as well.

Excellent answer here Voce, very satisfied with how you approached it and the answer you gave! Congratulations on playing a fantastic game and best of luck with the rest of your questions to the other jurors!

[Stephanie]

HI MIKE! I MISSED YOU!

Early in this game, you came off as harsh and abrasive to talk to, not only to myself but to other players as well. I felt as though it hurt your standings in the social hierarchy of this game yet here you stand at Final Two in a game of social collusion. 

Can you highlight and explain the depths of your social game to me and help illustrate the lengths of how and when you manipulated players to YOUR advantage in this game? When were you putting your foot down on the gas pedal and when were you cutting the rest of our brake lines so our games sped out of control?

To address your first statement, yes I was a bit harsh and abrasive to talk to. However, I know for a fact that I was not like that with everyone. I was mostly just trying to be playful and shady, but if I came across as harsh and abrasive to talk to, then I really do apologize as that was not my intention. If I recall correctly, the only people I was having playful and shady conversations with were you, Paul, Michelle, James, Hali, Rodney, and Voce. While it definitely hurt my relationships with James and Morgan, I personally don’t think it affected my relationships with the others that much. They knew when I was being playfully shady and even played along sometimes too. I do get how it can rub people the wrong way and if that’s what happened, then again, I really do apologize.  

To address your question, I came into this game relying on my social skills to carry me through. I formed strong relationships with a lot of people. You and I hit it off immediately. I knew right then and there that I wanted you to be my #1 moving forward. Hali was close to you so she stuck around and worked with me as well. I also formed close bonds with Paul, Michelle, Voce, and Naseer. By doing this, I had tons of information going my way from all different directions. This allowed me to work everything out and figure out what was best for my game.  

One time that sticks out to me as putting my foot down on the gas pedal was the Paul vote. By this time, we had pretty much become best friends. You told me that you were willing to throw away your game for Hali and I and that you’re okay with losing to us at the end if it came to it. We were each other’s #1. You also told me that if I doubled down and put my foot down on a plan, you would join in with no hesitation. I thought about how I could possibly use what you told me to help my game. That’s when targeting Paul and Michelle came to mind. I know you wanted both of them at the F5 with Hali and I, but I did not want that at all. I just did what you wanted last tribal (Rodney) and I was not about to be down for another plan from you. So I convinced you pretty easily, got Hali and Voce on board and that was it for Paul.  

Another instance of me putting my foot down was at the Final 4. My target was Michelle and I told Sydney and Voce that that’s where my vote is going and if they want a better chance of making it to the end, they better follow me.  

Something else that I did pretty well was painting targets on other people’s backs. I first did it with James and Morgan which resulted in both of them going soon after the other. I also did it with Paul and Michelle. Putting a target on these people helped keep eyes off of me and put more eyes on them which resulted in all of them leaving (something that I had a hand in). 

[Mike]

HI MIKE! I MISSED YOU!

Early in this game, you came off as harsh and abrasive to talk to, not only to myself but to other players as well. I felt as though it hurt your standings in the social hierarchy of this game yet here you stand at Final Two in a game of social collusion. 

Can you highlight and explain the depths of your social game to me and help illustrate the lengths of how and when you manipulated players to YOUR advantage in this game? When were you putting your foot down on the gas pedal and when were you cutting the rest of our brake lines so our games sped out of control?

To address your first statement, yes I was a bit harsh and abrasive to talk to. However, I know for a fact that I was not like that with everyone. I was mostly just trying to be playful and shady, but if I came across as harsh and abrasive to talk to, then I really do apologize as that was not my intention. If I recall correctly, the only people I was having playful and shady conversations with were you, Paul, Michelle, James, Hali, Rodney, and Voce. While it definitely hurt my relationships with James and Morgan, I personally don’t think it affected my relationships with the others that much. They knew when I was being playfully shady and even played along sometimes too. I do get how it can rub people the wrong way and if that’s what happened, then again, I really do apologize.  

To address your question, I came into this game relying on my social skills to carry me through. I formed strong relationships with a lot of people. You and I hit it off immediately. I knew right then and there that I wanted you to be my #1 moving forward. Hali was close to you so she stuck around and worked with me as well. I also formed close bonds with Paul, Michelle, Voce, and Naseer. By doing this, I had tons of information going my way from all different directions. This allowed me to work everything out and figure out what was best for my game.  

One time that sticks out to me as putting my foot down on the gas pedal was the Paul vote. By this time, we had pretty much become best friends. You told me that you were willing to throw away your game for Hali and I and that you’re okay with losing to us at the end if it came to it. We were each other’s #1. You also told me that if I doubled down and put my foot down on a plan, you would join in with no hesitation. I thought about how I could possibly use what you told me to help my game. That’s when targeting Paul and Michelle came to mind. I know you wanted both of them at the F5 with Hali and I, but I did not want that at all. I just did what you wanted last tribal (Rodney) and I was not about to be down for another plan from you. So I convinced you pretty easily, got Hali and Voce on board and that was it for Paul.  

Another instance of me putting my foot down was at the Final 4. My target was Michelle and I told Sydney and Voce that that’s where my vote is going and if they want a better chance of making it to the end, they better follow me.  

Something else that I did pretty well was painting targets on other people’s backs. I first did it with James and Morgan which resulted in both of them going soon after the other. I also did it with Paul and Michelle. Putting a target on these people helped keep eyes off of me and put more eyes on them which resulted in all of them leaving (something that I had a hand in). 

Missed you too!

I'm gonna get roasted again in Ponderosa for leaving you a long reply back like I did Voce so I'll keep it short for you. Loved your answer as well and I think you helped highlight your position in some really pivotal points of the season.

To the both of you, overjoyed with the answers you both brought here and it gets me excited as a juror to see two worthy competitors! Best of luck with the rest of the jurors!