Survivor Island of the Idols: Why was _____ voted out in 18th place?

Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer in this game, yet a Survivor: Island of the Idols episode 3 lesson in keeping cool might have been too cold.

This post will discuss the events of Survivor: Island of the Idols through episode 3.

I don’t know what happened to the trio of outsiders we were introduced to in the premiere of Survivor: Island of the Idols, but it’s clear that one of the three has retained that status for Lairo; Vince Moua. For whatever reason, Vince couldn’t find himself fully committed to one group or another, and that on its face was enough to put him on the hot seat.

However, Vince’s game coming to a close due to an up-and-down episode that threw him threw the ringer. With the Lairo women bonding over bathing and water suplexes, Vince was counted on as the fourth of a four-man counter alliance on Lairo, somehow convinced that those four could outvote the five women. Despite agreeing on the face, Vince knew that he’s an alliance member in numbers only, keeping his options open instead.

Before he could get too entrenched in that group, he was randomly selected to go to the Island of the Idols, losing a full day of action before the Immunity Challenge. The uncertainty of him even having an idol (a problem that Elizabeth somehow didn’t face) allowed Dean to suggest splitting the vote. The problems of suggesting that with literally everyone else there aside, it showed that the tribe could openly state Vince was the next to go bearing an idol just seconds after leaving.

Bye, Vince

It's never a good feeling going home with an idol in your pocket. Why do you think Vince didn't use it?

Posted by Survivor on Friday, October 11, 2019

After arriving to meet his Survivor idols (and remember where he’s from), he was given a Herculean task; to steal a piece of the opposing tribe’s fire for an idol worth two tribal councils. Despite Vokai being “dumb-dumbs” and not keeping their fire going, he clearly improvised at nobody’s discretion to collect some ash in his water bottle and bring it back, effectively serving as proof that he can stay calm under pressure.

The problem with Rob and Sandra putting him through boot camp and installing a mentality that you can stare Survivor death in the face and live to tell about it is he didn’t get to tell his mentors just how on the outs he was. He was so far out of the loop that once Lairo lost the Immunity Challenge, he took Missy’s suggestion of voting out Tom to heart despite it being the third-likeliest option.

Primarily, the same trio of men who had counted on Vince’s vote threw that away the moment he could have gained an idol, suggesting the men vote for Karishma and the women vote for Vince. That eventually ended up being the plan, but the women were truthfully discussing Tom as an option to vote him out and effectively ensure their hold on the Lairo tribe.

To illustrate how lowly Vince’s position in the game was, the notion of him being voted out over Tom reinforced the idea that nobody would be rocking the boat. Little to our knowledge, Vince looked sketchy in a Survivor: Island of the Idols episode 3 secret scene, and has been questioned whether or not he’s hunting for idols or for cassava and yams.

Vince took away the wrong lesson from Boston Rob and Sandra, as although he knew to bring his idol with him, he wasn’t paying to what was in front of him. In Vince’s mind, Tom was the vote, yet Karishma couldn’t commit to telling Vince a name. Much like we saw with Wendy not giving Aubry a name ahead of her boot, that should have been a clue to Vince to play his idol.

Even with Karishma getting up at Tribal Council to spread whispers, Vince remained cool, calm, and collected in the face of adversity. He played it too cool, as he received the majority of votes, and he became the 18th-place finisher of Survivor: Island of the Idols.

Vince was on the outs with the Lairo tribe, never getting a solid footing. He then overperformed on a daring Vokai tribe fire-stealing challenge and earning a safety trinket to the point that he felt so confident that he couldn’t see the forest for the trees. He thought the women were as dedicated to him as he was to them, and a poorly-received lesson earned him 18th place in Survivor: Island of the Idols.