The fake merge penalized the only player who was trying to actually play the game hard. Shii Ann was the only player from Thailand who recognized that she wasn’t in a position to win and changed her game to try to improve her position. By the time the tribes finally merged, the damage was done. Nobody was going to rock the boat because that’s what cost Shii Ann the game. And the remaining players basically just accepted that they were all going to play losing passive games and lose to Bryan. Twists should reward active gameplay. And the only way to “win” the fake merge was to shut down and not try to work with the other tribe.
It always surprised me how in the first dozen or so seasons of Survivor, the less powerful members of dominant alliances within merged tribes (which were usually the remnants of the stronger tribe) often seemed to accept their fate, content to ride others' coattails until the other alliance is gone, and with their first individual immunity loss, they are likely gone too. Sure, maybe some can cling to the hope that it is their weakness that will make people keep them around (and that has worked...to a point - it can get you to the final 2/3, but it won't normally win you the game). But why not exploit others' perceptions of them as weak, and make a deal with someone originally from the other tribe? Now, this was attempted by a couple people, most notably Jonathan, who in his first season (Cook Islands) recognized that he was not in a position of strength, and flipped to vote with his original tribe (which he foolishly left alongside Candice) to flip the script and pave the way for an improbable demolition of the stronger alliance. And even though it didn't work out for him, he was still right to make this move (his problem was that NOBODY trusted him, so he kind of had to live with the choices he'd made) - he knew that Yul's threat to him was legitimate (that if he didn't align with them, the idol would be played, and it would be him going home). He was also the perfect person to target with this scheme, precisely because he wasn't a threat - Yul knew that none of his own alliance (which would become the dominant one eventually) would risk aligning themselves with Jonathan, as he wasn't trustworthy. He could be voted out at their leisure...and he was. Still, as later seasons proved, flipping to make a weak alliance the dominant one is a viable strategy - Shii Ann was ahead of her time, even if she was screwed out of the benefits thereof by the merge being strongly-implied, but not confirmed.
@@VoIcanoman I mean the first time it happened was in Marquesas when the people on the bottom of their tribal realized they were on the bottom and did something about it. Rob C in Amazon was the next time people flipped it when they realized they were on the bottom. I think in Thailand everyone on Chuay Gahn fully believed they were going to the final 3 with Bryan. Not counting Borneo but if you look back on Australia there was a point where Amber realized she was on the bottom when Jerri got voted out, there was 3 Kucha members left she could have easily got them and they would have had the numbers over Keith, Colby and Tina
@@DdumbaStyle I think during this time a lot of people thought of the game a lot more honorably. She didn't lie to Ken because Ken was genuinely nice to her and she would've felt bad.
@@charlestoti2252 They would still bring her back. If it was a merge it would be a big move and the producers would like it and then bring her back again
It was definitely a big twist because of the time it was in survivor history, it still screwed over Shii Ann and caused a Pagonging. (Well there would still be a Pagonging without the twist)
I wonder how this twist would be on a modern season of the show. Back then the gameplay was so rigid, that Sook Jai had no shot to recover from this. But nowadays i think something like this, especially on a season with 3 tribes could be really interesting.
I hate this twist. It would be a fine twist if the two tribes moved to one camp, but knew it wasn't a merge. We could've gotten a lite version of what was to come in One World. But instead, a player willing to make a big move and flip gets punished for a misleading twist just so the castaways could gasp and feel stupid for a moment.
This twist was dumb and pretty much ruined the whole season by causing one of the better players of the season who made a good strategic move to go home, and then resulting in a pangonging due to an uneven split between the tribes.
didn’t gabon have something similar where the two tribes had a feast together and everyone assumed it was a merge, but it turned out to be a tribe swap?
I wish you do "Darrah Johnson" of Pearl Islands. She would have won the season had she not been in competition with well-fed and well-rested jury members, who the final four had to compete with for immunity. It's so dumb.
Sometimes Survivor "twists" the game into being less interesting than it otherwise would have. Instead of seeing a real flip and the drama that would have come from that, all we got was an old fashioned pagonging and a forgettable season :(
I was wonder if the producers came up with the fake merge twist as a way to help the core 4 Sook Jai's since they were probably pretty sure Shii-Ann was going to flip, in either scenario they get pagonged with Shii-Ann making the jury instead of Penny being the only difference.
With a Fake merge or not there was a high chance Chuay Gahn people would have still made it to the end. Even if they lose the last two tribal immunities they probably would have locked 4 vs 4 against Sook Jai because Shiann would have still flipped to their side.
@once upon an island sooo if i join ur patreon, and let’s say i want u to do a story about ted, would that happen or would others have to support my idea
Everyone in the $5 patron tier picks the players they want. Then there is a vote held by the that tier. They get to pick 2 players for each season. They picked Christy Smith and Rob Cesternino for The Amazon.
Maybe the idea was not that terrible but man it went really bad... And it should be a marge right after Shi-Ann was voted out, because keeping it like that was soooo unnatural. Great job man!
Have to call it like I see it. Everyone blames the cast. And yes they are to blame. But the Fake Merge Twist is a major reason why this season ranks so low on most everyone's list.
They definetly made this twist wrong and misleading the tribes, especially when flipping, was frowned upon and the very real possibility that one team will be heavily down in players was gonna happen. It works better in modern survivor cause people aremuch more willing to make big moves and disrupt the hierarchy/take out a player with winner credentials by flipping and formering a post merge alliance. But here in the more honest days of Survivor is basically ended any chance of one tribe having a chance and Brian kinda just got to the end off his good charisma.
Next week is the story of Brian Heidik! It is over 46 minutes long. The longest story video for any winner so far.
How could his video be the longest thus far, he is nowadays considered very, very obscure.
yessss the best old school winner with Tom westman.
@@soccerstar0743 Find out next week!
I will have my skates on :)
@@calculatingdork548 You got to have good skating skills. Throw'em a nice slider.
The fake merge penalized the only player who was trying to actually play the game hard. Shii Ann was the only player from Thailand who recognized that she wasn’t in a position to win and changed her game to try to improve her position. By the time the tribes finally merged, the damage was done. Nobody was going to rock the boat because that’s what cost Shii Ann the game. And the remaining players basically just accepted that they were all going to play losing passive games and lose to Bryan. Twists should reward active gameplay. And the only way to “win” the fake merge was to shut down and not try to work with the other tribe.
It always surprised me how in the first dozen or so seasons of Survivor, the less powerful members of dominant alliances within merged tribes (which were usually the remnants of the stronger tribe) often seemed to accept their fate, content to ride others' coattails until the other alliance is gone, and with their first individual immunity loss, they are likely gone too. Sure, maybe some can cling to the hope that it is their weakness that will make people keep them around (and that has worked...to a point - it can get you to the final 2/3, but it won't normally win you the game). But why not exploit others' perceptions of them as weak, and make a deal with someone originally from the other tribe? Now, this was attempted by a couple people, most notably Jonathan, who in his first season (Cook Islands) recognized that he was not in a position of strength, and flipped to vote with his original tribe (which he foolishly left alongside Candice) to flip the script and pave the way for an improbable demolition of the stronger alliance. And even though it didn't work out for him, he was still right to make this move (his problem was that NOBODY trusted him, so he kind of had to live with the choices he'd made) - he knew that Yul's threat to him was legitimate (that if he didn't align with them, the idol would be played, and it would be him going home). He was also the perfect person to target with this scheme, precisely because he wasn't a threat - Yul knew that none of his own alliance (which would become the dominant one eventually) would risk aligning themselves with Jonathan, as he wasn't trustworthy. He could be voted out at their leisure...and he was. Still, as later seasons proved, flipping to make a weak alliance the dominant one is a viable strategy - Shii Ann was ahead of her time, even if she was screwed out of the benefits thereof by the merge being strongly-implied, but not confirmed.
@@VoIcanoman I mean the first time it happened was in Marquesas when the people on the bottom of their tribal realized they were on the bottom and did something about it. Rob C in Amazon was the next time people flipped it when they realized they were on the bottom.
I think in Thailand everyone on Chuay Gahn fully believed they were going to the final 3 with Bryan. Not counting Borneo but if you look back on Australia there was a point where Amber realized she was on the bottom when Jerri got voted out, there was 3 Kucha members left she could have easily got them and they would have had the numbers over Keith, Colby and Tina
Shii-Ann could've done much better if they didn't trick her like that
SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN 6th instead and maybe not brought back for all stars
I agree. She would of been at least 6th if not for this twist.
@@DdumbaStyle I think during this time a lot of people thought of the game a lot more honorably. She didn't lie to Ken because Ken was genuinely nice to her and she would've felt bad.
@@DdumbaStyle She was so confident they merged and I think she really respected Ken.
@@charlestoti2252 They would still bring her back. If it was a merge it would be a big move and the producers would like it and then bring her back again
It was definitely a big twist because of the time it was in survivor history, it still screwed over Shii Ann and caused a Pagonging. (Well there would still be a Pagonging without the twist)
I don't think they thought it would end up 5-3 at the real merge. I am sure they were hoping for a 4-4 tie.
They even try to fool the viewers by showing people's names in blue when they speak to the camera instead of the still-existing tribe colors.
Yes. They really do.
I wonder how this twist would be on a modern season of the show. Back then the gameplay was so rigid, that Sook Jai had no shot to recover from this. But nowadays i think something like this, especially on a season with 3 tribes could be really interesting.
I think they wouldn't of gotten away with it on Winners at War. But maybe on an all newbie season it would be interesting.
You said merge? ...I certainly didn’t say anything to give you that impression, did I?
Oh boy I’ve been waiting for this. Can’t wait, and keep it up.
Thanks!
Jeff's smug sneering as he acts like everyone else is stupid when he just starts misleading people and fucking up the game is really insufferable imo
Jan's head shake at thinking the merge wasn't really happening @ 8:22 killed me inside 😭😭😭
I hate this twist. It would be a fine twist if the two tribes moved to one camp, but knew it wasn't a merge. We could've gotten a lite version of what was to come in One World. But instead, a player willing to make a big move and flip gets punished for a misleading twist just so the castaways could gasp and feel stupid for a moment.
This fake merge is such a middle finger
HAHA you thought you merged? PSYCHE!
This twist was dumb and pretty much ruined the whole season by causing one of the better players of the season who made a good strategic move to go home, and then resulting in a pangonging due to an uneven split between the tribes.
Had the twist been pulled earlier, it would have been better because they have to work around it for longer
What did you think about the fake merge of Survivor: Thailand?
I think it was a smart twist.
Short answer: Stupid.
Long answer: Very stupid.
didn’t gabon have something similar where the two tribes had a feast together and everyone assumed it was a merge, but it turned out to be a tribe swap?
Yes, it was a delayed merge but not a fake out like this one.
I enjoyed this twist because it brought a unknown factor into the game and prevents castaways from getting complacent.
Great vid keep up the work
Okay but WHY did the guy at 4:55 eat the APPLE CORE LIKE THAT.
IMO, this is one of my favorite seasons to watch
8:57 you mean One World?
Keep it up! I love your videos!!!
Thank you!
I wish you do "Darrah Johnson" of Pearl Islands. She would have won the season had she not been in competition with well-fed and well-rested jury members, who the final four had to compete with for immunity. It's so dumb.
She has a unique story. The patrons pick what stories I make 😊
Sometimes Survivor "twists" the game into being less interesting than it otherwise would have. Instead of seeing a real flip and the drama that would have come from that, all we got was an old fashioned pagonging and a forgettable season :(
I was wonder if the producers came up with the fake merge twist as a way to help the core 4 Sook Jai's since they were probably pretty sure Shii-Ann was going to flip, in either scenario they get pagonged with Shii-Ann making the jury instead of Penny being the only difference.
These twists are determined before the game starts.
With a Fake merge or not there was a high chance Chuay Gahn people would have still made it to the end.
Even if they lose the last two tribal immunities they probably would have locked 4 vs 4 against Sook Jai because Shiann would have still flipped to their side.
Sooooo is Shi Ann the OG swap screwed? Or is it Gina (Marquesas) or Silas (Africa)?
Silas for sure
@once upon an island what about in africa where u did lex ethan and teresa will there ever be three people again
The Amazon has 3 stories :)
@once upon an island sooo if i join ur patreon, and let’s say i want u to do a story about ted, would that happen or would others have to support my idea
Everyone in the $5 patron tier picks the players they want. Then there is a vote held by the that tier. They get to pick 2 players for each season. They picked Christy Smith and Rob Cesternino for The Amazon.
@once upon an island ok thx, i will consider joining
The "fake merge" equals the first go at doing One World.
This is why I love Jeff Probst
Maybe the idea was not that terrible but man it went really bad... And it should be a marge right after Shi-Ann was voted out, because keeping it like that was soooo unnatural.
Great job man!
How Brian Heidik's wife is an Adult Film Star and how he hurts dogs!
Probst didn’t really trick them probst clearly said that the two tribes will camp on one beach he never said merge
Jeff saying "Something very different is about to happen" should have been a massive red flag (no pun intended) that it wasn't a merge.
Have to call it like I see it. Everyone blames the cast. And yes they are to blame. But the Fake Merge Twist is a major reason why this season ranks so low on most everyone's list.
I loved this because it got shii ann out
🌹🌹
I was rooting for Shi Ann from the start until she got voted out and came back to all stars where she still doesn't have the number
They definetly made this twist wrong and misleading the tribes, especially when flipping, was frowned upon and the very real possibility that one team will be heavily down in players was gonna happen. It works better in modern survivor cause people aremuch more willing to make big moves and disrupt the hierarchy/take out a player with winner credentials by flipping and formering a post merge alliance. But here in the more honest days of Survivor is basically ended any chance of one tribe having a chance and Brian kinda just got to the end off his good charisma.
At least it was in Thailand and not a good season.