Ever since Survivor began allowing three finalist to become
eligible for the grand prize way back in season 13, one question has been
weighing heavily on the minds of survivor fans everywhere. That being, what
happens in the case of tie? This is not
possible with a final two and an odd numbered jury, but with a final three it
is a very real possibility weather the jury is odd or even numbered. I have often wondered how they would solve
this dilemma and even Jenna Morasca pondered it during the first final three
season when she was co-hosting Survivor Live. This week during the reunion one of the most
shocking survivor moments happened when Jeff Probst finally revealed the official
rule, which is, the person who is not in the tie will go to the jury and cast
the tie breaking vote.
As I said, I have put a lot of thought into possible
solutions and I actually considered this possibility, but after careful
consideration I dismissed this possibility because of one huge flaw, which
still leaves a big question about this procedure. The flaw and question is WHEN would the new
jury member cast his vote? You see the
problem? Jeff does not read the votes for
months after they are cast and after the entire season has aired. Would it be fair to allow a jury member to
vote months later at the reunion after seeing so much more information from
watching the show on television, that other jury members were not afforded?
I do know perfectly well that the votes are not actually sealed after the final tribal without Jeff and the rest of producers tallying them, but still… what exactly would the procedure be in revealing the tie and sending the finalist to the jury? Would they break a long standing tradition and tell everyone we have decided to read the votes right now, or would they just tell everyone it’s a tie and we need to do a tie breaker without even reading the votes? Jeff did not clarify this during the reunion. However they do it, a tie will still really screw things up. Unless they allow the tie breaker to happen live, which I believe would be really unfair, we would lose so much anticipation and tension that comes from the reading of the votes, which is a huge part of Survivor's appeal. So. I’m actually still very curious to see this happen, and discover just exactly how they will handle it.
