Survivor season 35: JP Hilsabeck has some hidden depths
JP Hilsabeck is part of the Hero tribe, but he doesn’t seem like he’s there to play the dominant role — or at least not consistently.
John “JP” Hilsabeck has a dog named Thor. Actually, Thor’s a rescue dog, according to his human, and said human is a firefighter. JP himself, though, seems like he’s going to play a fairly laid-back social game in Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. Why? He says so in his cast video, and you can also see it in his demeanor.
With Cook Islands still fairly fresh in this writer’s mind, it seems safe to guess that this JP will do better than the other man who went by that name. The word that comes to mind when it comes to this Hero is humble.
Whether or not this is an affect is a question we’ll likely get the answer to in the season. However, his talking about his sister (and how he wants to help her with the money he would win if he became the sole Survivor), his dog, and how he views his work all seems to jive together and make him seem like he’s showing up to the island without an overinflated ego. Stepping into the alpha male role just doesn’t seem like his style, and it could earn him a lot of points on any tribe he finds himself in.
He also seems to know that it’s not wise to just fade into the background, though, pointing out that “there’s a time” for being in the forefront. Will he be able to find that time? Again, he’s a firefighter, which makes the obvious answer “challenges with physical elements” like the premiere one with its cart-pulling element.
But he still doesn’t seem that one-dimensional. In his cast bio, he also has quite the interesting choice of words to sum himself up: “romantic,” right after “outgoing, adventurous,” which seem a bit more expected. Could we see him build alliances based on that last aspect of his personality? It does open up some avenues for him, and he says he has some analytic skills, drawing on his work, so he might see that as well.
Next: Season 35 cast assessment: Lauren Rimmer
Whether or not he’ll end up being as funny and compelling as Millennials vs. Gen X’s Jay, the former player he thinks he’s most like, is up in the air, but it seems like JP has the potential to play a steady game.