I was just watching the late afternoon broadcast of 'Survivor: Gabon' just now, during which I caught a glimpse of something rather ironic. In this game which features backstabbing, blindsiding and betrayal (amongst other things) in abundance, trust is actually one of the most essential components of the game itself.

It is rare to see an alliance trusting each other enough to stick together and last the entire game (with notable exceptions being 'Rob and Amber' from All-Stars & 'Yul, Becky, Ozzy and Sundra' from Cook Islands). Even though promises are made for the members to cover each other's backs, alert each other if they have a target on their backs or even make desperate moves to save the alliance, somehow, something will crumble. A member would get tricked by mind games, leading him/her to believe that he/she is being left out of the loop. There may be a loss of faith, resulting in someone flipping sides and turning the game on its head. It's always a conflict between faith and your own gameplan.

I must make myself clear, I'm not complaining or ranting, because all these indeed are part of the game itself. I'm just wondering what'll actually happen if one alliance actually stuck together from start to finish. Especially in the earlier seasons, when tribe switches were not rampant at all, a powerhouse tribe/alliance could (theoratically) dominate due to the fact that they could bank on the fact that they would not get split up midway. For the producers, it will probably make the game more predictable or boring, which they of course wish to avoid for reasons of declining viewership among others. I'm interested to find out if this form of 'fairytale' would work out.

I like it how Jeff (the host) always highlights the importance of a strong tribe, the value of trust or something of the like after each blindside or elimination at tribal council. Which is indeed proven to be quite true, even more so when the game is coming to an end. When the numbers start to dwindle, and decisions become even harder, that is really when trust comes into play. Just something I was thinking about, really.

Everything said, it is afterall, a game of wits.

Outwit. Outplay. Outlast. In true survivor fashion, always.