One of the more quiet players of Survivor: David vs. Goliath, Carl knew when to swing with a knockout punch as needed. Should he return in the future?
Even though casting would like to get 20 firebrand players to compete in the game of Survivor, you can’t have that many people mugging for the camera and find a fun balance in the edit between those triumphing and those who are down and out. Carl Boudreaux was one of those quiet, contemplative types in David vs. Goliath who fell early, recovered and thrived.
Early on at the David tribe, Carl was calling the shots. He was the one who put Nick’s name out there as the number one target only for him to remain safe after Pat’s elimination. His targeting of Lyrsa might have meant his early doom had the Davids not needed his strength, so the underdogs on the Davids targeted the link between worlds; Jessica.
Carl took the Jessica blindside hard, vowing to overcome the darkness and shine through. The problem with Carl’s edit, however, is that he was fairly circumstantial, only propping up when it mattered most. For example, he was sent to Exile Island at the tribe swap where he would search for floating coconuts for a specially marked one containing the Idol Nullifier.
It was right before the merge when Carl popped up again, getting into a fight with Elizabeth about splitting the bamboo at camp before the end of the day. That spilled over into the merge where Carl would tell anyone and everyone that she was an easy first target. He got what he wished, even if it meant taking out the Davids’ numbers.
With Christian being stealthily targeted next, the Davids started coming together. Carl helped Nick find his Vote Steal advantage as Davie would go on to play an idol for Christian, helping knock out John. Following that, Carl would finally use his Idol Nullifier, knocking out Dan with the resounding “BING!” of the ringside bell. He was quickly usurping power from the Davids.
Unfortunately, as Alec’s elimination became inevitable, Carl’s thirst for power became evident. He would turn into The Godfather, reigning high from the hammock. This gave Christian and Gabby pause, flipping back to the Goliaths to blindside Carl and completely flip the game’s structure back once more.
Carl was an interestingly quiet character who used the power of telepathy to help us sympathize with his struggle. Vote here in our straw poll to let us know if Carl should return in a future season of Survivor.