Why Mookie Lost
Survivor: Fiji – Why Mookie Lost by David Bloomberg -- 05/03/2007 Mookie did a lot of things right – such as recognizing when it was time to drop his ally, Rocky, and move on. But he also did some things wrong, like trusting Dreamz. Which wrong moves ended up overpowering the right ones? Why did Mookie lose? Early in the game, Mookie didn’t look like a likely winner – indeed, nobody on Ravu did. However, he stuck around while player after player from that tribe (in both its old and new incarnations) was voted off. He made it to the merge with what seemed to be a prime opportunity to play both sides and possession of the hidden immunity idol. But within just two votes, he was gone. What happened? Why did Mookie lose? Once Edgardo was voted out, Mookie’s demise seemed like just a matter of time. But how did he end up in that position, and was there any way out of it? We’ll look back at What Fiji Survivors Should Have Learned to see what we can figure out. The first rule, of course, is to scheme and plot. Mookie seemed to have a good handle on the necessity of doing this. In old Ravu, he had moved himself into a position of power. He was aligned with Rocky and had some control of the others. For example, I was told weeks ago by Anthony that although he had the opportunity to join with some of the other weaker tribe members to vote out Mookie, he didn’t want to because he believed he could go further with Mookie. Indications were also that Yau-Man (at the time) felt similarly. So even the people whom Mookie plotted against wouldn’t vote against him! That takes talent. On new Ravu, Mookie quickly saw the writing on the wall and aligned himself with Alex, Edgardo, and Dreamz. He sacrificed his alliance with Rocky to move forward in the game. Even so, Mookie knew he would be odd man out at some point, so he thought ahead to how to handle the end-game. This is what led him to trust Dreamz, letting him in on the immunity idol secret, and eventually leading to his own demise. While we can certainly sit here and talk about how wrong Mookie was to trust Dreamz, he did have the right idea. Alex and Edgardo were not going to turn on each other, and it looked likely that they would try to bring Stacy or another ally (perhaps Boo) along with them, meaning Mookie would forever be the hanger-on until they were ready to dispose of him. The only flaw I can really see is that perhaps Mookie should have realized just how close Dreamz is to Cassandra and used that for himself. They did talk briefly to several Earlliance members, including his old pal Yau-Man. If he and Dreamz together had come over and made it clear they were with the Earlliance, then that group would not have needed Stacy and Boo, and Dreamz would not have had to turn on him. Plus, Mookie would not have needed to rely on such a complicated plan (the way they planned to use the immunity idol) to be in the majority. But at the same time, it could be suggested that Mookie schemed and plotted a bit too much, thus violating the second rule. After all, he did sort of try to see where Yau-Man and company were situated, but nobody bought off on him supposedly coming to join them. They felt he was just playing the game. Perhaps if he had been more sincere or showed his willingness to join them, it would have come off better. But instead, he ensured that they would not trust him. Of course, after Edgardo left, nobody would ever trust him. He didn’t do himself any favors by going through Yau-Man’s bag and finding the idol, then trying to use that information to stir things up. He obviously felt it was a last-ditch attempt, but it was one that was doomed to failure, as there was no way anybody would trust him after that. The third rule tells players to be flexible, and throughout most of the competition, Mookie followed it. As already discussed, when new Ravu formed, he recognized the way the winds were blowing and abandoned Rocky in favor of an alliance that looked to have better prospects. Even then, he tried to keep some options open. So overall, I’d say he did a good job here. I could criticize him for sticking with Alex at the end even when he knew he was doomed, but I don’t really think he could have done anything to change his fate at that point anyway. Mookie also did a good job in following the fourth rule and not allowing his emotions to control him. For example, while he was friends with Rocky, he sacrificed him to the game when it became necessary. And while he was getting along fine with Edgardo and Alex, he planned ahead to turn on them with the help of Dreamz (even if it didn’t work out that way). Fifth is to pretend to be nice. For most of the game, Mookie was fine here. However, at the end, in an attempt to stir things up, he became a somewhat villainous character and a number of his tribemates were upset with him. Rather than turning them against Yau-Man for his secrecy, he and Alex ensured they would not be able to weasel their way into anybody’s good graces. As it turned out, people seemed to pin the blame more on Alex than him, and Alex was indeed the real target. So his violation of this rule at the end didn’t affect things. Another item that didn’t affect anything was the sixth rule. Yes, Mookie and Alex looked like guys who would be threats, but it never turned out that way. The only real threat Mookie represented was that, given the chance, he might change the way alliances lined up, and nobody wanted that. Well, actually I guess there was one more threat that contributed to Mookie’s game demise – the threat that he or Alex might have found the rehidden immunity idol. That threat was nothing more than a figment of Boo’s paranoid imagination, but he somehow managed to convince his teammates to split their vote. This allowed Alex’s vote against Mookie to carry the day, when Alex should have been the real target. In moving to the seventh rule, we once again find that it played no real role, as Mookie was not viewed as lazy and it wouldn’t have mattered anyway! So did the rest of the tribe do the right thing in voting off Mookie? Frankly, no, I don’t think so. Those in the Earlliance who said Alex was a bigger threat were right. Boo’s idea to split the vote was stupid. I don’t know if Alex knew about it ahead of time or not, but he was able to take advantage of it, sending Mookie home earlier than he should have gone when he wasn’t even the real target. We could therefore say that Mookie went home because Boo and others were just plain stupid. But that doesn’t really tell us anything. Mookie got himself into a situation where he had essentially a 50/50 chance of being voted off, and it was that set-up that really explains his situation. Mookie had the right idea in trying to plan ahead and remain flexible. But he made a few key mistakes. He trusted Dreamz when perhaps he shouldn’t have, but also didn’t make the leap with Dreamz that perhaps he should have. If he was going to pair up with Dreamz for the future, he needed to make a full commitment and let Dreamz know where they both stood. Instead, he seemed to want to stay in his Alex-Edgardo alliance, but keep Dreamz as his insurance for later. That was obviously not the best plan, because it let Dreamz maneuver on his own. So while Mookie did a fair amount of scheming and plotting, he didn’t do enough in the proper direction. That is why Mookie lost.
Survivor: Fiji – Why Mookie Lost by David Bloomberg -- 05/03/2007 Mookie did a lot of things right – such as recognizing when it was time to drop his ally, Rocky, and move on. But he also did some things wrong, like trusting Dreamz. Which wrong moves ended up overpowering the right ones? Why did Mookie lose? Early in the game, Mookie didn’t look like a likely winner – indeed, nobody on Ravu did. However, he stuck around while player after player from that tribe (in both its old and new incarnations) was voted off. He made it to the merge with what seemed to be a prime opportunity to play both sides and possession of the hidden immunity idol. But within just two votes, he was gone. What happened? Why did Mookie lose? Once Edgardo was voted out, Mookie’s demise seemed like just a matter of time. But how did he end up in that position, and was there any way out of it? We’ll look back at What Fiji Survivors Should Have Learned to see what we can figure out. The first rule, of course, is to scheme and plot. Mookie seemed to have a good handle on the necessity of doing this. In old Ravu, he had moved himself into a position of power. He was aligned with Rocky and had some control of the others. For example, I was told weeks ago by Anthony that although he had the opportunity to join with some of the other weaker tribe members to vote out Mookie, he didn’t want to because he believed he could go further with Mookie. Indications were also that Yau-Man (at the time) felt similarly. So even the people whom Mookie plotted against wouldn’t vote against him! That takes talent. On new Ravu, Mookie quickly saw the writing on the wall and aligned himself with Alex, Edgardo, and Dreamz. He sacrificed his alliance with Rocky to move forward in the game. Even so, Mookie knew he would be odd man out at some point, so he thought ahead to how to handle the end-game. This is what led him to trust Dreamz, letting him in on the immunity idol secret, and eventually leading to his own demise. While we can certainly sit here and talk about how wrong Mookie was to trust Dreamz, he did have the right idea. Alex and Edgardo were not going to turn on each other, and it looked likely that they would try to bring Stacy or another ally (perhaps Boo) along with them, meaning Mookie would forever be the hanger-on until they were ready to dispose of him. The only flaw I can really see is that perhaps Mookie should have realized just how close Dreamz is to Cassandra and used that for himself. They did talk briefly to several Earlliance members, including his old pal Yau-Man. If he and Dreamz together had come over and made it clear they were with the Earlliance, then that group would not have needed Stacy and Boo, and Dreamz would not have had to turn on him. Plus, Mookie would not have needed to rely on such a complicated plan (the way they planned to use the immunity idol) to be in the majority. But at the same time, it could be suggested that Mookie schemed and plotted a bit too much, thus violating the second rule. After all, he did sort of try to see where Yau-Man and company were situated, but nobody bought off on him supposedly coming to join them. They felt he was just playing the game. Perhaps if he had been more sincere or showed his willingness to join them, it would have come off better. But instead, he ensured that they would not trust him. Of course, after Edgardo left, nobody would ever trust him. He didn’t do himself any favors by going through Yau-Man’s bag and finding the idol, then trying to use that information to stir things up. He obviously felt it was a last-ditch attempt, but it was one that was doomed to failure, as there was no way anybody would trust him after that. The third rule tells players to be flexible, and throughout most of the competition, Mookie followed it. As already discussed, when new Ravu formed, he recognized the way the winds were blowing and abandoned Rocky in favor of an alliance that looked to have better prospects. Even then, he tried to keep some options open. So overall, I’d say he did a good job here. I could criticize him for sticking with Alex at the end even when he knew he was doomed, but I don’t really think he could have done anything to change his fate at that point anyway. Mookie also did a good job in following the fourth rule and not allowing his emotions to control him. For example, while he was friends with Rocky, he sacrificed him to the game when it became necessary. And while he was getting along fine with Edgardo and Alex, he planned ahead to turn on them with the help of Dreamz (even if it didn’t work out that way). Fifth is to pretend to be nice. For most of the game, Mookie was fine here. However, at the end, in an attempt to stir things up, he became a somewhat villainous character and a number of his tribemates were upset with him. Rather than turning them against Yau-Man for his secrecy, he and Alex ensured they would not be able to weasel their way into anybody’s good graces. As it turned out, people seemed to pin the blame more on Alex than him, and Alex was indeed the real target. So his violation of this rule at the end didn’t affect things. Another item that didn’t affect anything was the sixth rule. Yes, Mookie and Alex looked like guys who would be threats, but it never turned out that way. The only real threat Mookie represented was that, given the chance, he might change the way alliances lined up, and nobody wanted that. Well, actually I guess there was one more threat that contributed to Mookie’s game demise – the threat that he or Alex might have found the rehidden immunity idol. That threat was nothing more than a figment of Boo’s paranoid imagination, but he somehow managed to convince his teammates to split their vote. This allowed Alex’s vote against Mookie to carry the day, when Alex should have been the real target. In moving to the seventh rule, we once again find that it played no real role, as Mookie was not viewed as lazy and it wouldn’t have mattered anyway! So did the rest of the tribe do the right thing in voting off Mookie? Frankly, no, I don’t think so. Those in the Earlliance who said Alex was a bigger threat were right. Boo’s idea to split the vote was stupid. I don’t know if Alex knew about it ahead of time or not, but he was able to take advantage of it, sending Mookie home earlier than he should have gone when he wasn’t even the real target. We could therefore say that Mookie went home because Boo and others were just plain stupid. But that doesn’t really tell us anything. Mookie got himself into a situation where he had essentially a 50/50 chance of being voted off, and it was that set-up that really explains his situation. Mookie had the right idea in trying to plan ahead and remain flexible. But he made a few key mistakes. He trusted Dreamz when perhaps he shouldn’t have, but also didn’t make the leap with Dreamz that perhaps he should have. If he was going to pair up with Dreamz for the future, he needed to make a full commitment and let Dreamz know where they both stood. Instead, he seemed to want to stay in his Alex-Edgardo alliance, but keep Dreamz as his insurance for later. That was obviously not the best plan, because it let Dreamz maneuver on his own. So while Mookie did a fair amount of scheming and plotting, he didn’t do enough in the proper direction. That is why Mookie lost.