by Troy Rogers
The latest episode of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
saw the Heroes tribe attempt to regain strength
while battling the Villains but found themselves
on the downside of Survivor alliances within their
own camp. Throughout the all-star season of Survivor,
the Villains have been the dominant Survivor force.
However, for the Heroes, Tom Westman and Colby
Donaldson quickly got on the wrong side of the
Survivor numbers and had to rally J.T. over to
their side in order to continue their Survivor
journey ahead of the impending merge.
Although Tom and Colby managed to sway J.T. a week earlier, J.T. became the swing vote once again but couldn't break away from his original Heroes alliance for his own sake even though James became a potential Survivor liability with a leg injury. As a result, Tom Westman, winner of Survivor Palau, became the latest to have his torch extinguished on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.
The day after Tom was voted out of Survivor and the Heroes tribe, we got the chance to pick Tom's brain about why the Heroes kept James in the tribe, why Tom and Colby couldn't get J.T. onside for a second time, and what surprised him most about the Villains.
THE DEADBOLT: When James went down, why weren't you guys allowed to sub in Colby?
TOM
WESTMAN: Yeah. You know what? It's not my
rules, not my game, we just get to play in it.
I guess because you could have an unfair advantage.
Deeper bench strength would be able to keep
replenishing guys and that would be an unfair
advantage, which maybe is an earned unfair advantage
because you didn't go to tribal and vote people
out. That's their call so we just play the way
we call it.
THE DEADBOLT: Since everyone focuses on strength for the challenges but it all came down to puzzles for you guys, why do you think they kept James?
TOM: They kept James because they got the number strategy going. If he had broken his back, they would've carried him there on a gurney to have him cast his vote the way Amanda tells him to vote. So it never came down to strength or what kind of challenges we were up against. J.T. had a choice there to flip into a foursome of Tom, Colby, Candice or to stay with the foursome of Amanda, James, and Rupert. At the end of the day, the Amanda - James contingent, they have friends on the villains side. So they're just looking to make it to the merge and join up with their friends with Parvati and Courtney and that crowd.
So it really isn't J.T.'s choice. It really wasn't this four or that four, it was our four or their four and a possible six or a seven when you get to a merge. It's a little different than normally a tribe plays it to decimate the other tribe and go in strong to the merge with more numbers and then pick off the people one by one. But there's some different dynamics at work being an all-star season.
THE DEADBOLT: Well, you got J.T. to flip to get rid of Cirie. Why couldn't you guys get J.T. to stay onside?
TOM:
You know what? I don't know. [laughs] He was
back and forth so many times, I just got him
on the wrong night I guess. He was on their
side and he was playing for them that night.
You know, I tried to get Rupert over, too. I
was kind of like, "Do you understand the light
here?" I almost felt bad for him and called
him out on it. I said, "You know the way you're
going to be portrayed, or do you not get it?
Do you not realize that you're spending the
game just being led around by Amanda? Is that
okay for your legacy?" But yeah, he was just
adamant about sticking with that group in spite
of the injuries and trying to make it to the
merge with the numbers. J.T., I don't know.
I mean he's a young man and I can certainly
see how Amanda has got some influence over him
that I don't, but that's for him to answer I
guess.
THE DEADBOLT: What do you think Colby has to do to break up alliances?
TOM:
Colby is in a tough spot. I was actually thinking,
"Boy, that had to be a long lonely dark walk
home from tribal council for him that night."
I don't know what his chances are with the group
that they've got and the way that they're playing
it. I would say that the only shot he's got
in the immediate future is that maybe one of
the future challenges doesn't have a puzzle
at the end of it and maybe we actually get to
win it.
THE DEADBOLT: Watching the episodes on TV, what surprised you the most about the Villains tribe?
TOM: I don't know. I guess the animosity of Russell towards Rob. That should be the guy he's aligning with but his ego won't allow him to do it. It's like, "God forbid it's not The Russell Show." So he's going to go after Rob when the two of them could be natural allies, I think. They both play this game well together. Not that Rob isn't playing as villainous a game as he has in the past, but if you do have a bit of the villain role, you want another villain across from you at a final vote. So I would say Russell is a perfect guy to jump on and play the game with because you'll beat him in the end. I think that may be my surprise, how wrapped up Russell is in the image of Russell rather than the strategy of Russell.
