Survivor David vs. Goliath: Should Gabby Pascuzzi return?

Never afraid to wear her emotions on her sleeve, Gabby Pascuzzi fought for her right to thrive in Survivor: David vs. Goliath. Should she return?

The best seasons of Survivor bring people from all walks of life together, even when employing casting themes. The David tribe in David vs. Goliath managed to do just that, bringing a social media manager, a robotics engineer, a waitress, a professional MMA fighter, a truck driver and even a technical writer together. Gabby Pascuzzi took no time in aligning with a fellow geek in Christian Hubicki, and the two would drive the strategic talks on the David tribe.

She would find herself stretching out her strategic prowess early, spotting that Bi and Jessica weren’t giving her the full story ahead of the first vote against Lyrsa. It was then when she assessed her options and pushed Christian to vote in her and Lyrsa/Elizabeth interests against Jessica, leaning on his eagerness to please (and play in the sand) to convince him and Nick to flip.

She got her way, but unfortunately Nick and Christian were willing to throw her name out in consolation after Tribal Council, putting a target on her back. The one time she felt she had power in Survivor, it came at the expense of being a pariah; one that she had no idea she was becoming.

Thankfully, she swapped into the Tiva tribe where their victory was expected (and earned), although she had a harder time integrating with the bro-heavy tribe that featured John and Dan. It was there where Gabby opened up to Christian, once again reassuring their connection despite her likelihood in being the vote target should Tiva go to Tribal Council.

With the Brochahos bro-ing it up, it was there that Gabby pitched Alison the idea of blindsiding Dan while still holding onto his idols. That plan never came around, but at the merge, her connections with Christian and Alison got her in that six-person alliance with Nick, Alec and Mike. However, as the Goliaths maintained their exclusive club status and targeted Elizabeth, Gabby’s assertiveness gave the Goliaths in the Strike Force pause.

She remained loyal to Christian throughout, even taking out Carl, the Godfather, in helping the two establish control of the game. However, once she was reaffirmed in Christian’s status as a supporter and nurturer, she knew that it was time to take him out, as she couldn’t beat that in the end. Unfortunately, Davie tipped Christian off that he had to play his Hidden Immunity Idol, and the split vote of Alison became redirected to Gabby.

Gabby Pascuzzi played the game as well as she could; a lot better than most give her credit for. Vote here in our straw poll and let us know if you think she should return in a future Survivor season.