What’s J.T.’s Survivor Legacy After Game Changers?

J.T. Thomas is a winner who has now played three times, but after his elimination from Survivor: Game Changers, what impact has he left on the game?

Yours truly wanted to believe in J.T. Thomas as he played Survivor for the third time. In my cast assessment written prior to the season, I noted both his enormous strengths … and his enormous weaknesses. J.T. owned Survivor: Tocantins. He played the first perfect game in the show’s history, and the fact that it took until season 18 to accomplish that says everything about how difficult it truly is. Just two other players have swept the jury vote at the end, and only one other has done the full perfect game: John Cochran.

But it’s hard to call J.T. one of the best players to play the game anymore, not after Heroes vs. Villains and Game Changers.

After episode 4, one could see the logic in his attempt to betray the new version of Nuku at the group Tribal Council, although Malcolm Freberg dubbed it the “stupidest move in Survivor history.” We argued otherwise. In fact, as one of my fellow writers has noted, even giving Russell Hantz a hidden immunity idol made some modicum of sense. It is possible to defend both of those moves.

Granted, you have to acknowledge that both were massive risks and, to some degree, unnecessary ones. In Heroes vs. Villains, J.T. and his fellow Heroes were trying to flip Russell to their side in anticipation of the merge, without ever having spoken to him. Besides, Sandra Diaz-Twine, also on the Villains, would have made the better connection, because she knew and had worked with Rupert Boneham on Pearl Islands. As for Game Changers, J.T. and Nuku had the numbers. They could have picked off a Mana member of their choosing, but he seemed too fixated on trying to knock out Sandra.

Then we get to episode 5 of Game Changers.

This is where it becomes difficult to defend J.T.’s play at Tribal Council. In our breakdown of his elimination, we pointed out that he effectively eliminated himself by not bringing his immunity idol. The numbers suggested he would be a target, and even though the chatter at Tribal Council may have lulled him into security, it would have behooved him (obviously) to play the idol anyway.

But he didn’t, believing he was safe, and that seems to suggest that he simply didn’t see it coming. The episode dropping a #Blindside as the votes were read certainly supports that reading. So, does that mean that J.T. needs Stephen Fishbach to win and provide the strategic acumen and, shall we say, negative concerns to balance out his confidence?

Without Stephen, J.T. hasn’t come close to the finals. Making the jury phase in Heroes vs. Villains seems diminished by the fact that the Villains picked off the Heroes with a little help from J.T.’s own idol.

Perhaps it’s more that J.T. needs someone who fills Stephen’s general type and not Stephen himself. However, it looks like the partnership from Tocantins may have contributed to getting J.T. to the end. Then his likability and Final Tribal helped him win the game over Stephen.

A conversation about J.T.’s contribution to the game has to include the fact that his successive games have taken a nosedive. He proved it was possible to go through the game without taking a single vote. That cannot be ignored. At the same time, though, it seems as though that game might have been more of a collaborative effort than the collective memory of the Survivor fanbase may see it as.

Next: 5 Possibilities for the Returning Player in Game Changers

Will J.T. try and return for a fourth try, or is his Survivor journey done? That, we just don’t know.