The curse of the Survivor Final Three

WhenSurvivorfirst started, the game lasted until we were down to the last two players standing. Then, in a competition against each other, the tables turned and the members of the jury—who our finalists helped vote out—had to decide which one got their $1 million vote.

But in season 13 (Survivor: Cook Islands), everything changed after production switched up the ending on us and madeFinal Tribal Councila battle between the lastthreeplayers standing. This pattern continued on-and-off for the next 15 seasons—with the majority leaning towards three player Final Tribal Councils—until season 29 (Survivor: San Juan del Sur) where the Final Three was solidified as the official ending number.

As soon as the concept of a Final Three was established, however, we started seeing a different pattern unfold: a third place player who doesn’t receive any jury votes. In fact, of the 35 seasons with three players sitting at Final Tribal Council, 30 of those seasons (85%) had third place finalists who didn’t receive any votes. Only 7 times in Final Three history has a third place player receivedanyvotes, and even then, no third place player has ever received more than one vote.

Who are these superstar third-place finishers who received votes at Final Tribal Council?

• Amanda Kimmel (Survivor: China), 1 vote from Erik Huffman
• Missy Payne (Survivor: San Juan del Sur), 1 vote from Baylor Wilson
• Ryan Ulrich (Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers), 1 vote from Devon Pinto
• Joe Hunter (Survivor 48), 1 vote from Cedrek McFadden
• Sage Ahren-Nichols (Survivor 49), 1 vote from Jawan Pitts

Yes, you’re reading that correctly. Eight of the ten new era seasons featured third place players who didn’t receive any votes.

So, why? Why is this a thing? Why is it so uncommon for a player who made it to the end to not receive any jury votes?

And the honest answer is that it’s the curse of the third wheel…

In Final Two seasons, players are head-to-head. Members of the jurymustpick a side. And while both players usually get praise as well as criticism, there are two specific games that were played that the jury must choose between.

But in the era of Final Threes, we still see these two key contenders who the jury pit against each other. Which means, someone gets left out. This is usually reflected in jury questioning and speeches where one player is either completely ignored or gets horribly bashed as a terrible player and coattail rider that they aren’t even seen as someone worthy of sitting at the end. It’s really harsh and awkward.

And as a fan at home, after watching the entire season unfold, we always know who this is going to be before we even get to Final Tribal Council. Because the fear of the jurors is that if they vote for the person who is clearly not one of the top two contenders in the majority’s eyes, they’re wasting their vote on a third party that might result in a player they don’t want winning, winning.

Just this last season inSurvivor 50,Rizo Velovic spoke outabout the fact that he was going to throw a vote to Joe Hunter at the end because he wanted to make sure Joe knew he played well and was rewarded for getting to the end. But after the jury’s line of questioning made the vote seem so up-in-the-air between Aubry Bracco and Jonathan Young, he worried his vote to Joe would be the reason Aubry lost and didn’t want to risk that.

So, is there a fix to resolve this Final Three curse? Definitely part of it would be reverting back to the original format of Final Tribal Council: two players and one statement per jury member. While a Final Two will force a one-or-the-other decision, the previous singular statement structure of the jury could also help eliminate the isolation of a third place player slightly by removing the open forum opportunity for people to share why they don’t deserve to win.

But at the end of the day, getting third place isn’t a curse at all. To outlast inSurvivoris an incredible feat and every third place player can say that they’ve done it. But in the eyes of the jury, third place is the absolute farthest position a player could be from Sole Survivor.

In the end,itisa structural flaw in modernSurvivor. The Final Three was implemented to create closer, more exciting finishes, but it ultimately just created a regularly forgotten finalist.

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