Survivor Edge of Extinction: David Wright’s contribution to the season
David Wright didn’t last as long as he wanted to in Survivor: Edge of Extinction, but that didn’t stop him from having a major influence on the season.
It’s not an understatement to say that the returning players in Survivor: Edge of Extinction got obliterated by the first-timers. Three of them were outright blindsided, and none of them finished past tenth place. That said, they still played an important part in this season.
In my opinion, the one returnee that wasn’t blindsided had the most significant impact on season 38. David Wright didn’t make any mind-blowing moves and was on shaky footing as soon as the merge hit, but he still got the chance to leave his mark on the season.
The power of analogies
As Jeff alluded to in the 10-minute reunion show, David’s trademark on Survivor: Edge of Extinction was his creative analogies. The most influential one of them all was the pilot and the passenger. When players are talking about this analogy long after David’s torch is snuffed, you know it’s effective.
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The impact of his awesome analogy began at the second Tribal Council following the merge. Julia decided to pull off a dangerous move by blindsiding Eric, and it just snowballed after that. It was funny to see castaways really get into it, as calling someone a passenger became the insult of the season.
This metaphor also impacted the jury. Several jury members including Ron Clark mentioned in post-game comments how they were looking for active gameplay. Devens even talked about how David’s analogy directly influenced the cast. Although Gavin survived the full 39 days, was he a pilot or a passenger? When you ask that same question for Chris, you can see why the jurors may have favored Chris’ active, big-play style.
Besides his performance at Tribal Council, David also played a key role in Devens’ game. Rick got expert advice from David about creating fake Hidden Immunity Idols. Remember that David pulled off one of best fakes back in Millennials vs. Gen X. His partner in crime doubled David’s efforts in Edge of Extinction, leading to an insane Tribal Council.
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We didn’t get too much of David Wright in Edge of Extinction, but it was enough to understand why he was brought back. He showed viewers his knowledge of the game in a subtle way, being able to hide his threat level for as long as he could. Fortunately, in his interview on RHAP, David said that he would definitely be willing to play again!