Survivor: David vs. Goliath finale: Where’s the bitter jury?

With all the shocking blindsides in Survivor: David vs. Goliath, we got a surprisingly kind and respectful group of jury members.

A trademark of Survivor is when eliminated castaways finally get a chance to address the people who voted them out. This phase of the game has created some iconic moments including Brenda asking Dawn to remove her false teeth, Ozzy confessing his love and heartbreak for Amanda, and of course Sue’s infamous snake and rat speech.

The new format of Final Tribal being a group discussion as opposed to individual speeches does limit the potential of having epic moments. That being said, the overall comments of this jury felt more respectful than any other jury in Survivor history. Six of the ten jurors were blindsided, yet none of them asked that typical question “why did you vote me out?”

None of them were bitter! The only moment that felt a little more serious was when Alison addressed Mike’s aggressive comments to her during the Final Five Tribal Council. However, that was answered nicely by Mike and then that conversation was put to rest.

I was also expecting the jury members to take this opportunity to criticize Angelina’s gameplay. From the unnecessary fake idol to always bringing up the rice and of course jacketgate, there were several controversial moments in Angelina’s game that the jury could have completely picked apart. Yet they were more concerned with determining a winner rather than spending their time ridiculing poor gameplay.

When Angelina mentioned “winning” the rice at Final Tribal, Davie was quick to shut her down. However, his response was more of an act to spare her from further embarrassment as opposed to taking this opportunity to attack her game. Also, instead of accusing her fake idol fiasco of being rooted in evil intent, Alison allowed Angelina to explain for herself why she went through with that plan. Gabby even took the time to complement Angelina’s strong game as a female player.

One of the smartest juries in Survivor history

The performance of this jury at Final Tribal is just another testament to how great this cast was! There’s definitely emotional players on the jury, including Gabby and Alison, but their statements and questions didn’t come out of emotion. They understood that Survivor is a game as they showed deep respect for big moves even if the move sent them packing.

It’s true, bitter jury members are fun to watch and make for memorable moments. However, I rather have a sound jury than a sour one. This group of smart players took their role seriously, they were determined to get important information out of the finalists, and they rewarded the most deserving castaway with the title of Sole Survivor.