I’m glad Shaun didn’t play his idol for Flick, however, his failure to do so highlights how lacking any strategic thinking he is — like all the alpha guys who are carried through until merge without needing to use their brains. George and Shonee in particular, Hayley too, know the value of an idol extends far beyond a one shot personal immunity deal. If you have the ability to think several steps ahead, an idol allows you to set up and control the numbers for days, if not weeks. It’s why so many idols have been swapped and played for other people. Clearly Shaun can’t think that way. He can keep his idol and give himself one extra day in the game when it’s already too late, or walk out with it in his pocket.
I have thought this all along during the early days of Survivor idols. I do believe that most contestants use them wrong.
If I was on Survivor I would use it almost immediately. Most players see idols as their own personal savior & should only be used to save themselves in tribal. I believe this is completely wrong.
An idol will be rehidden to be re-used once it is used at tribal, so in theory you could almost use one at every tribal. Now imagine how that would change the game if you had the power to dictate who goes & who stays each tribal. And the thing is - they do have this power but don't know how to use it.
If you are in a majority alliance that dictates the vote then you could control the voting with an idol each tribal. For example last night - if Hayley had an idol and she knew that everyone was voting Flick without a split vote then she could have approached Flick or one of her alliance (& direct them to either use for Flick or give it to her) under the promise of anonymity and gave them the idol stating "you are the target tonight, use this idol" & tell them to vote for whoever you want them to vote out. Then you vote as you were told but alas, she has an idol and your alliance doesn't suspect you as you secretly passed the idol earlier & you voted how they wanted you to.
If you kept doing this every few days you could easily stack the tribe with whoever you wanted to play with. And the bonus is you tell them all at the end of the game. "Hands up in the jury who I gave an idol to" most of them would raise their hand, so you saved them + you explain it was your plan to stack the tribe how you wanted it to be.
If I was on Survivor I would be hunting for idols each day & using them each tribal - to either save myself or if I knew I wasn't the target - then I would use it to save someone (makes them indebted to you) and vote out the ones you don't want in the game.
This idea of finding an idol then hanging onto it for 10-20 days is stupid.
