A mixture of paranoia, hubris, miscalculation and wanting to make a big move saw Natalia Azoqa leave Survivor: David vs. Goliath in 16th place.
The moments leading up to a tribe swap are rarely great for any player with a modicum of power in Survivor. Despite a 9-8 lean (that would quickly turn to a 9-7 lean) for the Goliath players, you never want to get away from your alliance partners and start anew with the possibility of being down in the numbers. It looked like Natalia Azoqa was in a good position in David vs. Goliath, but hubris got the best of her.
In episode 2, there was a moment where Kara Kay pivoted from her one-sided showmance with Dan Rengering to focus on working with Natalia and Angelina. The latter pitched a plan to hold a Goliath majority due to Kara being close to Dan, Angelina being close to John and Natalia being close to Alec. That way, the three would work together controlling six votes, thus controlling the vote.
That seemed to make things look bring for Natalia as the two tribes swapped into three in episode 4, as she, Alec and Kara would look to be a commanding trio engineered to take out Elizabeth and Davie, both of which were on opposite sides of their last vote. However, one thing that Elizabeth and Davie had on the Goliaths was their individual social games, as the two got to work on gelling with their tribe.
Elizabeth seemed to get along with Kara, as the two bonded over faith and horses rather quickly. This made Natalia extremely worried, voicing her concerns to Kara that the two were getting close rather quickly. Kara noted this to Alec, saying Natalia is extremely paranoid early on, and it would become the ongoing theme. However, the numbers game is important, so there was no swaying from the plan.
After losing the Immunity Challenge, it was time for Devilish Davie to emerge and start playing the game the way he wanted to. Knowing that Elizabeth wanted to target Natalia when they were searching for an idol he knew was in his pocket, Davie turned around to the Goliath women and pitched saving himself and getting Elizabeth out.
This should have been the nail in the coffin for Elizabeth, and Natalia should have had no doubt in her minds at all. However, Elizabeth did what she had to do for survival, pitching Davie to Alec due to him being a bigger threat. At this point, she did not know what Davie had done, and Alec was basically stonewalled when discussing with Natalia which player to vote out.
From there, Natalia started to snowball into a downward spiral, constantly asking Alec if she’s voting with her and showing she doesn’t trust him. Then she started to push around everyone in her supposed alliance, telling Davie he has no future in the game if he doesn’t vote with them. She then followed that up by telling Davie and Alec to go back to sleep and to shut up, showing the social grace of a YouTube vlogger.
The rest of Natalia’s downfall was in the hands of Davie and Elizabeth, teaming up on Alec at different times to tell him what he needed to hear. Davie saw the fracture and distrust of Natalia in Alec, saying he had his back and asking if he trusted the girls (“No” was Alec’s answer). At Tribal Council, Elizabeth leaned in on making a big move and not letting it pass you by en route to the end of the game.
This is where Alec stepped up and whispered into Elizabeth’s ear, cementing Natalia’s fate. It was at that moment where Alec decided he was jumping ship, abandoning what would have been the absolute right time to follow tribal voting lines with at least two more eliminations away from the merge. He couldn’t trust Kara (hilariously) and Natalia, voting the latter out with the David players.
Natalia’s overbearing, paranoid, personality at this swap made Alec uneasy to the point of flipping over to an alliance that he’s not even in control of anymore. Now the Vuku tribe consists of a 3-2 David majority after Carl joined them following Tribal Council, and Alec could be voted out as early as the upcoming episode.
Alec’s betrayal here is emblematic of the reason why big moves are not necessarily smart moves, and when even Jeff Probst can tease his acknowledgment of that truth at Tribal Council, you know you messed up.