Survivor: David vs. Goliath – Why was _____ voted out in 18th place?

As one Goliath player jumped back from playing too hard, too early, Jeremy Crawford doubled down in Survivor: David vs. Goliath, getting him voted out.

So often in the early parts of Survivor, the game’s not about who’s voted out, but what it means for the people whipping the vote. On rare occasions, though, a player goes out of their way to make themselves a target, overcoming the unstoppable force by being an immovable target. Jeremy Crawford fell into this trap early in David vs. Goliath.

What surprised me the most about Jeremy’s boot episode is that he had really been given a complex, albeit mixed-toned, edit up until the end. He put himself out there by aiding Natalie in a heart-to-heart moment as two people of color sticking out for one another but ended up targeting her due to his frustrations. Natalie was not taking anybody’s word over hers, and nothing stands in the way of Napalm Natalie.

In the first 10 minutes of Survivor: David vs. Goliath episode 4, it seemed as though Jeremy was primed for the classic “journey edit;” one where the player overcomes personal adversity (here, Jeremy living life to the fullest to honor his father). However, that was undercut with a seed of doubt by Mike, Jeremy’s closest ally in the game, saying he didn’t want to get dragged down by him. It undercut his positive push almost immediately in an odd editing moment.

Whenever there was a Goliath tribe moment, Jeremy opened himself up to the opportunity to shove his foot into his mouth. He saw people couple off and talk about Starbucks and interpreted it as the world was out to get him, so he pulled a Garrett Adelstein move and tried to tell everyone to stop strategizing.

Of course, he went against his own words immediately, pointing out to Alison and Alec (and John separately) that Dan has the idol and everyone needs to vote him out. Mike was accurate in pointing out that Jeremy needed to practice what he preached, and any insinuation that he earned himself a target after the Immunity Challenge is clearly a machination of his mind.

It looked like he was in the clear after Natalie volunteered herself to be the Goliath puzzle-solver only to flounder. I mean, she went up against Christian “Algorithms-R-Us” Hubicki, but she begged to do so over Angelina who, as the cameras showed, had the solution before either tribe. That put Alison, Natalia and Mike on “get Natalie out” mode, as her lack of awareness and attitude to others made her a fun suck for a fun Goliath tribe.

This time, Jeremy’s reputation as a schemer and a manipulator got Angelina thinking, putting on her own manipulator face as she whipped the votes for the entire tribe to vote him out as a big threat. He even described himself as a threat earlier, and continuing to act in such a way helped Angelina’s hard push to get the tribe to vote her way. That may have long or short-term consequences for Survivor: David vs. Goliath.

It all came to a head when Natalie requested a conversation with Kara, Dan and John and Jeremy butted in. For all the efforts of Jeremy’s defenders saying Natalie was toxic, Jeremy’s irrational lingering and getting up in others’ business meant they were on equal grounds there but uneven strategically.

Furthermore, Jeremy pushed it beyond Survivor: David vs. Goliath and made it personal with Natalie, stating in front of Tribal Council and America to see his vile behavior. He pretty much alleged everyone on his tribe would visit his funeral and he “couldn’t say the same” for Natalie, but Jeremy’s lack of self-awareness brought it to life.

The Goliath tribe snuffed his torch in a 9-1 unanimous vote, ensuring that each one of them was there to witness the life and death of Jeremy’s game in Survivor: David vs. Goliath. He played way too hard, way too fast, showing us what could have happened with Mike White early on if he didn’t cool things down.