Addison's Survivor Grades -  SEASON THREE: AFRICA
  Name Grade Comments

Diane Ogden ? Sick boot.  I suppose I could grade her on her handling of Beangate, but the facts of the incident remain shrouded in mystery.
Jessie Camacho ? Sick boot.
Carl Bilancione D As the apparent leader of the Samburu Elders, he was as guilty as the Mall Rats for the absurd division that doomed the entire tribe in the long run.  Extra minus for flogging the damned BB strategy.
Linda Spencer D+ Not as bad at Carl, but hardly a bridge-builder either.  The "put me on the team!" whine was especially alienating - this is not the way to handle a solid alliance of four in whose hands rests your fate...
Silas Gaither C- Clearly was thrown for a loop by the tribal swap, and I won’t completely hold his achingly bad moves right after that against him.  But, really, where was the Mall Rat alliance going to go anyway?  Allowing, then perpetuating, a completely divided pre-merge tribe couldn’t have paid off even without a tribal swap, because barring a general wave of stupidity (Pagong), an alliance of four in a group of ten post-merge can’t succeed.  Especially if it’s very actively driven away at least one player willing to spill the beans (which is precisely what happened).  Bad moves!
Lindsey Richter D See Silas's entry and add extra minus points for continuously annoying her tribe at a time when it was especially crucial that she seem as inoffensive as possible.
Clarence Black C Clarence was marked for death early by Beangate, which brought on him the patronizing disapproval of the pupal Boran Alliance.  Kind of a shame, since he conducted himself well from there on out.  I remain surprised that he made apparently no effort to align with Kelly (who was sympathetic to his position) and the remaining Samburus to turn the tide of the game.  
Kelly Goldsmith C- A mysteriously overrated player, Kelly pretty much just stuck with her alliance until Lex started his witch hunt against her.  That she was unable to successfully organize a counter to this move is perhaps more a testament to Brandon's foolish overambitiousness than Kelly's mediocrity, but either way, she got sunk and didn't do anything spectacular before that point to justify the praise she receives.  Of course I found her attitude refreshing (until her snotty jury question) but that's not enough to score bonus points with me. 
Brandon Quinton C+ What can I say about dear old Brandon?  It’s easy to put the blame on Kim Powers for rebuffing him as a traitor (and I do: see her entry), but it’s been observed more than once that Brandon’s strategy of going temporarily rogue would leave anybody disinclined to trust him, especially since he failed to tell them about it beforehand.  In this light, his alliance-hop looks less like “brilliant strategy” and more like “desperation, hastily rationalized.”  Points for creativity, and for his gutsiness in trying to play vote-sponge.  He’d have made it a lot higher if the strategic move that defined his game hadn’t been so clumsily executed.
Frank Garrison    
Teresa Cooper B+ A real never-say-die player whose initiative not only advanced herself several places in a seemingly hopeless situation but actually brought her within a couple immunity wins of victory (in my opinion).  Of course, she was up against unstoppable immunity threats, but so it goes.  Realized the moment it happened the way the first tribal switch in Survivor history could make her a power player, and earned Boran’s trust quickly by a full and convincing disclosure of information of use to them.  This guaranteed her survival until the merge; no doubt she hoped that once the worst of the MallRats were gone, something could be arranged with Brandon, Kim Powers, and a rogue Boran member.  In this she was outplayed by Lex, who zapped the rogue Boran option – but losing to a Survivor genius ain’t bad.
Kim Powers D Kim P. represents some sort of evolution of the Pagong spirit: she was definitely aware that she was playing the game of Survivor, but she seemed very unclear on what the rules of that game were and how they operated, particularly with regard to voting.  Her perception of “betrayal” represented a real void of strategic thinking and blinded her to the options she had available.
Tom Buchanan C+ Screwed even worse than Lex by the F4 challenge messup, but up till then had managed to somehow keep himself in a position of power and well-liked-ness in his tribe throughout the game.  Quite a feat for an outspoken, often patronizing, and frankly (ha!  Frank-ly!) obnoxious fellow.  Like many players in this season, made his share of pointless moves (what was the point of alienating Clarence, again?), but he almost made up for those with his last-minute attempts to plot against Lex, though they ultimately backfired.
Lex Van Den Burghe A+ Paranoid?  Intense?  Able to nearly dominate in challenges until gastrointestinal parasites did him in? All this…but so much more!  Lex has never gotten proper credit for playing the game like a goddamn fiddle: he managed to worm his tribe (later alliance) in and out of some very tight corners in order to skim off its biggest liabilities: challenge threat Clarence and scheming Kelly.  Lex may have made some risky moves, but he understood the competition, and saw how Frank's wannabe Gretchen game, Brandon's wannabe Richard game, and Kim P's wannabe Jenna Lewis game could all play into his hands.  Lex was so good at this game that it took a CBS screwup to take him out of it.  Best Survivor ever.
Kim Johnson C More coat-tail-riding, albeit done with skill.  Would have been out a lot earlier if not for a couple of highly unexpected challenge wins and the continual presence of other, bigger threats – the latter of which is an essential element of under-the-radar play, so I’ll let her have that.  She also pulled off some sneaky stuff way early in the game (communicating priceless intel on past Samburu votes), so she gets a better score than Neleh.  A tribe loyalist and Lex henchperson – somehow it got her to the F2; I’ll say it was a decent play.
Ethan Zohn C Agreeable chap, surprisingly mediocre in challenges, may not have reached out to all the members of his tribe as well as he might have.  Of course he won, but the Fallen Comrades scandal makes it very questionable whether he got there by any real merit of his own.  The best he can claim is coat-tailing better players than himself, which makes him the strategic equivalent of, I don’t know, Sean Kenniff plus more luck.
Grading System  x  Pulau Tiga  x  Outback  x  Africa  x  Marquesas  x  Thailand  x  Amazon  x  Pearl Islands

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