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King Lord wrote:

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11. Denise refuses to vote with Peih-Gee and Erik against Todd (China)



Conventional Wisdom: Denise should have gone for the tie to oust Todd and change the game.

Rebuttal: I've heard people argue that this was the move that cost Denise the game, and it mostly has to do with Denise's statement in the voting booth that episode, saying it was probably her biggest mistake in the game and yet still doing it. But I personally think Denise's biggest blunder was at the previous TC, the one where James was blindsided. Recall that Denise had said that she was closest to James out of everyone else in the game, and that James (for the most part) reciprocated. If Denise had convinced James just before TC that he needed to use the idol, and had then voted against Todd, she could have cruised to victory, voting out Amanda next, then using Courtney to oust Peih-Gee and Erik, setting herself up in the finals against the two people she was most likely to beat.

What ended up happening at F6 was a blunder only if the tiebreaker was a firemaking challenge, and it's unclear if the tiebreaker would have been that or drawing for the purple rock. If the purple rock was the tiebreaker, then not going for the tie was correct, because Peih-Gee (the IC winner), Erik, and Todd (the two whose names forced the tie) would have been immune from the drawing, and Denise would have faced the prospect of going home herself. Even if the tiebreaker was firemaking, apparently Peih-Gee insisted that the target should be Todd, and not, as per Denise's preference, Courtney who was the least able competitior. Why should Denise have made the concession as to who the target would be when she was the one with the leverage?

Bottom Line: Don't get me wrong: Denise was a blundertastic player for most of her time in the game (and even after the game, it turns out). But I'm not convinced that her decision at F6 was itself a blunder.

Ok, everybody, since we're at the halfway point, I'd like to take a brief pause in the countdown to ask: Do any of you have a 'blunder that wasn't a blunder' you haven't seen on the list yet? I already have my top ten figured out, but I'm looking for 2-3 honorable mentions. KThnx ;)