Who just comes short of making the Top 10?
Boston Rob is one of Survivor's most polarising contestants and his gameplay reflects this. There are groups which find him a horrible strategist and there are groups who think he is one of the most robbed contestants of all time. Personally I'm about as close to indifferent to Rob as one can really get, but I've always considered him a fantastic player who came up short in a FTC that really could've gone either way.
In Marquesas Rob is notable for being the most visible player out of the seasons that had occured. I'm not talking about his airtime (although his constant CPN4s is impressive) but the fact that Rob made no real attempts to hide what he was doing. Everybody recognised he was playing the game and everybody was wary of him for this exact reason. He would finish in 10th place here but layed the groundwork for the Rotu 4 to be dethroned in his absence. Rob made enough of an impression that he would be selected for the All Stars season.
I'm going to go slightly off track here and discuss the All Stars tribe distribution. The producers really messed it up in several ways.
-They cast Jenna M, Amber and Jenna L, all of whom had dated Ethan at some point. It was Jenna L who he had the most friction with, so of course they ended up on the same tribe. Tina and Jerri were enemies in Australia, so they also got placed on Saboga. Add in the oldest male and the unknown quality to give a tribe which was doomed from the start.
- Rob ended up on Chapera, which had no winners and a significantly less placement average. With the exception of Amber the entire tribe were known for causing friction in some way.
- Mogo Mogo had two winners, two third placers, a runner up and Shii Ann. It had the edge early on and probably would've maintained it had Saboga stayed intact.
On Chapera Rob took an early leadership role and this is what allowed him to control how the season went. He formed an early alliance with Amber while convining everybody else that they were the third member of this duo. Because of the romantic element that developed Rob and Amber really couldn't make plans that didn't include the other, and really had to take each other to the Final 2. Aside from taking out a huge threat in Rob C (more on him later) Rob's pre Merge gameplay consisted of forming endgame partnerships with Rupert/Jenna L, Big Tom and Alicia.
Rob's involvement in the pre show alliances of All Stars is unclear to a degree, but it can't be argued he wasn't aware they existed even if he wasn't a member of them. The contestants involved in this were Lex/Tom/Kathy and most likely Rob himself. This connection was the basis of Rob's sucessful plea towards Lex regarding Amber at the Final 10. It's also the cause of all the bitterness All Stars is known for.
Once Mogo Mogo were done with Romber should've been targets for the rest of Chapera, but this was avioded through the numerous alliances the two made with each member of the greater alliance. Romber also avoided being huge targets at the Final 5 by ensuring another pair was with them at that time. At that round Rupert came close to suggesting that he/Jenna/Tom team up against Romber yet a clever lie by Rob lead to a feud between Rupert and Tom. At the Final 4 Jenna was swayed against Rupert courtesy of Rob's pitch to her, where he argued that Rupert was clearly a bigger threat.
The Romber relationship was so sucessful because they were both thought their strategy would give them the edge over the other, and they both knew this was occuring somewhat. Unlike Russell, Rob knew what Amber's approach was thus included her in every deal he made. Rob was expecting the jury would be be bitter, but what actually happened clearly went beyond this. Rob managed to give a passable performance despite being clearly overwhelmed by the jury's agression. He lost by a single vote, which was decided by Shii Ann.
Boston Rob was at his time the most visible strategist the show ever had, but he managed to convince everybody he was working to their best interest. The Final Vote could've gone either way IMO. Rob may not be the most likable contestant but there's no denying he managed to completely dictate the outcome of a season. Rob Mariano is the 11th best player who did not win.
Up next: A Heroes Vs Villians contestant.
11. Rob Mariano
Boston Rob is one of Survivor's most polarising contestants and his gameplay reflects this. There are groups which find him a horrible strategist and there are groups who think he is one of the most robbed contestants of all time. Personally I'm about as close to indifferent to Rob as one can really get, but I've always considered him a fantastic player who came up short in a FTC that really could've gone either way.
In Marquesas Rob is notable for being the most visible player out of the seasons that had occured. I'm not talking about his airtime (although his constant CPN4s is impressive) but the fact that Rob made no real attempts to hide what he was doing. Everybody recognised he was playing the game and everybody was wary of him for this exact reason. He would finish in 10th place here but layed the groundwork for the Rotu 4 to be dethroned in his absence. Rob made enough of an impression that he would be selected for the All Stars season.
I'm going to go slightly off track here and discuss the All Stars tribe distribution. The producers really messed it up in several ways.
-They cast Jenna M, Amber and Jenna L, all of whom had dated Ethan at some point. It was Jenna L who he had the most friction with, so of course they ended up on the same tribe. Tina and Jerri were enemies in Australia, so they also got placed on Saboga. Add in the oldest male and the unknown quality to give a tribe which was doomed from the start.
- Rob ended up on Chapera, which had no winners and a significantly less placement average. With the exception of Amber the entire tribe were known for causing friction in some way.
- Mogo Mogo had two winners, two third placers, a runner up and Shii Ann. It had the edge early on and probably would've maintained it had Saboga stayed intact.
On Chapera Rob took an early leadership role and this is what allowed him to control how the season went. He formed an early alliance with Amber while convining everybody else that they were the third member of this duo. Because of the romantic element that developed Rob and Amber really couldn't make plans that didn't include the other, and really had to take each other to the Final 2. Aside from taking out a huge threat in Rob C (more on him later) Rob's pre Merge gameplay consisted of forming endgame partnerships with Rupert/Jenna L, Big Tom and Alicia.
Rob's involvement in the pre show alliances of All Stars is unclear to a degree, but it can't be argued he wasn't aware they existed even if he wasn't a member of them. The contestants involved in this were Lex/Tom/Kathy and most likely Rob himself. This connection was the basis of Rob's sucessful plea towards Lex regarding Amber at the Final 10. It's also the cause of all the bitterness All Stars is known for.
Once Mogo Mogo were done with Romber should've been targets for the rest of Chapera, but this was avioded through the numerous alliances the two made with each member of the greater alliance. Romber also avoided being huge targets at the Final 5 by ensuring another pair was with them at that time. At that round Rupert came close to suggesting that he/Jenna/Tom team up against Romber yet a clever lie by Rob lead to a feud between Rupert and Tom. At the Final 4 Jenna was swayed against Rupert courtesy of Rob's pitch to her, where he argued that Rupert was clearly a bigger threat.
The Romber relationship was so sucessful because they were both thought their strategy would give them the edge over the other, and they both knew this was occuring somewhat. Unlike Russell, Rob knew what Amber's approach was thus included her in every deal he made. Rob was expecting the jury would be be bitter, but what actually happened clearly went beyond this. Rob managed to give a passable performance despite being clearly overwhelmed by the jury's agression. He lost by a single vote, which was decided by Shii Ann.
Boston Rob was at his time the most visible strategist the show ever had, but he managed to convince everybody he was working to their best interest. The Final Vote could've gone either way IMO. Rob may not be the most likable contestant but there's no denying he managed to completely dictate the outcome of a season. Rob Mariano is the 11th best player who did not win.
Up next: A Heroes Vs Villians contestant.
