Survivor Edge of Extinction: Should Ron Clark return?

Once a Survivor: Edge of Extinction puppet master who lost and regained power over and over again, should Ron Clark return in a future season?

If there’s anything that Survivor has taught us, it’s that you can bring on a dozen waiters, a dozen cops, a dozen firefighters and a dozen teachers to the show and each will play the game drastically different from one another. Ron Clark showed us in Edge of Extinction that not all teachers are going to get the heroic leader edit quite like Brendan did on Ghost Island.

Despite being on Kama for weeks and not going to Tribal Council until the merge, Ron Clark’s story started early. He was the one who found the Advantage Menu, allowing him to either save himself or provide it to someone later in the game as a sign of trust. Little did we know months after the premiere he would give it to Rick Devens in an attempt to fool him!

Ron Clark was always a trickster in Survivor, using the vulnerability of the tribe swap to take Joe aside and assure his safety while Julia searched his bag for a Hidden Immunity Idol. He knew he wouldn’t leave it behind in a possible swap, and kept Joe safe and comfortable until the first possibility he couldn’t ensure tribal safety, in which he was voted out.

It was there at the merge that Ron started to become overconfident after getting his first taste of Tribal Council. He and Eric saw themselves as puppet masters, dangling the loved ones’ visit over the Kama majority of the Vata tribe to keep them loyal while using Rick and David later as voting loyalists.

Of course, you never get everything you want in the game of Survivor. His closest ally, Eric, was voted off afterward and Ron slid back into a puppet role, promising loyalty among whatever voting party would keep him safe. He voted with the majority at the Julia, David, Kelley and Wardog votes before Rick played an idol to save himself, with Ron going to the Edge as the backup vote.

Ron Clark played in the middle of mustache-twirling villain and proud teacher who made new friends along the journey. Vote here in our straw poll and let us know if he should return in a future Survivor season.