Survivor Vanuatu: Episode 9
"Sarge, We Salute You!"
By Alisa
November 15, 2004
In the Beginning
Upon the castaways arrival in Vanuatu, Sarge didn't really impress other than appearing to be a loudmouth who took no prisoners. His ongoing skirmishes with Rory were grating to say the least. However, as it turned out, Rory was the irritant, not Sarge.
There is no question that Sarge seemed to be the leader of the men's tribe for a while but all that changed when the two women, Twila and Julie, came on board. Strangely enough, it was Twila who turned his head, not the better looking and obvious manipulator, Julie.
Sarge seemed to be a man's man and he was good at organizing the guys so that they formed a united front until that fateful day when the women arrived.
He was also good at physical challenges but not so great at strategizing. He trusted the others too much.
His departing words were, "I never had to jeopardize my word, my character, and my name. So good luck to you all" and he played by that credo.
Here's What I Think Happened
The women, despite being divided among themselves, were always more powerful than the men. I have no explanation for this. I really cannot discern a clear leader. Scout has not shown any prowess in the challenges, nor is she any sort of influence on the rest of the women. For some unknown reason, the men believe that Ami has influence over the remaining women, but I fail to see it. I think that they are all attempting to strengthen their individual positions, and even the manipulative Julie has had her day in the sun and has now been relegated to the shade after she was busted by Twila. It's every woman for herself. Julie might have played the clever vixen once upon a time, but the guys were only momentarily sucked into her game. Once the big betrayal made it from Twila's mouth into Sarge's ear, the jig was up.
Suffice it to say that thus far the women have made it by cohesiveness and feminine wiles. In separating these particular tribes by gender, the dynamics were totally different than in the last attempt which took place in the Amazon. Those women were vain and sex-starved and in dire need of male attention. These women are stronger and rely on their own minds and abilities.
The Road Downhill
As every runner knows, running downhill is far more damaging to your leg muscles and tendons than running uphill. I am using this to illustrate what has happened to the men of Lopevi and how they crumbled before the merger into the female dominated Alinta tribe.
The men were suddenly helpless. They watched with horror as they were picked off one by one and none of them was able to fight back. That could be because of their lame strategy-getting rid of the young and healthy males and having no allegiance toward each other.
As much as the women were age divisive, they still managed to stay together and cheer each other on when it came to challenges. And lo and behold they won just about every one of them.
Chris, who said at the very beginning that he believed women were smarter in so many ways, was absolutely correct. So far, they have outplayed, outsmarted and hoodwinked the men. As far as outlasting, time will tell, but I think that they've even managed to do that.
Sarge, the Man
The transformation that took place in our perceptions about Sarge, from blowhard to decent guy, made itself apparent as the show stumbled along.
Unlike Lill, the whining, obnoxious scout leader who said that she played the game with integrity because she couldn't bear to lie, Sarge's word was his bond. Despite trying to stay away from "Estrogen City" which could be construed as a bit of a sexist remark (but what woman hasn't called men much worse names?) he put faith and trust in highway worker and Annie-Get-Your-Gun-type frontier woman, Twila.
Reality TV Calendar will send you the latest casting calls as soon as they are released. Calls are often short notice with short deadlines. You need to make contact immediately. You can't do that unless you have immediate notification of the call. One Time Payment, Only $7.95.
Click For More Information.
