Kara: Kara, much like being happy to see Aaron in the Final 3, I am happy to see you here as both the last remaining woman and the last remaining original Nyiri player. Likewise, I would like to congratulate you on playing a perfect game so far and having received 0 votes against you. That is not an easy task and is something that should definitely be considered in your favor. With that said, a large portion of the jury has felt that you have been too under the radar and rode the coattails of stronger players in John and Alison for too long and did not have a decisive role within this game. In fact if you are able to see Ponderosa after this, you will see that for a while we actually considered you to be playing the worst game remaining at Final 8, not someone like Jack who you have constantly called a goat and not worthy of being here. I was always one who wanted more from you and I wanted to see a very solid final week from you so I need to know what happened this week in particular that puts you over the top. Kara, can you tell me what decisive moves you took within this game that show why you are worthy of being here instead of just being aligned with John and Alison? Obviously, you have made it farther than them but what happened during this final week that shows why you are more deserving of being the winner than both Aaron and Jack?
Hey Carl!! Thanks so much for getting us started and congratulations on a well played game!!
Interesting to hear that take on my game from Ponderosa, but I will most definitely do my best to disprove that aura of my game because I do not feel that way about myself at all. I actually feel like I played up being one of the more confrontational and upfront players this season which contradicts being super utr completely. I think a lot of your question has to do with the Kara, John and Alison trio and first, I'll explain why I think that's perceived the way it is.
John and Alison played these big, widespread games that ended up with them in Ponderosa. I was never one to spread myself too thin. I kept my circles small at all times, and the influx of information I was getting, was kept to myself until I needed it. my goal was never to be in everyone's ear, my goal was to be in select ears when I had to be. If I wanted to take control of any votes I completely could have, I did so at Nyiri's second tribal council and orchestrated Davie being voted out- It wasn't a matter of my game being small it was a matter of John and Alison playing far too across the board which is why I ended up outlasting them. John, Alison, and I all had the same targets, and the moves we made benefitted all of us- they were just simply louder about it in conversations than I was and I think that's what caused their demise as opposed to mine.
Now as for decisive moves I made-It starts with the John vote which was crucial for the game. I know how John would look sitting next to me in the end- He was probably the best player left in the game at that moment in time and though he was my ally I knew that I could not sit next to him in the end between his idol plays and flashy moves (He told me he had sent Jessica an idol after the swap and this showed me he was way smarter than he had initially let on in our partnership) and whatnot. I knew I would have to turn on him at some point. So I had a final 3 with John and Alison- As well as a final 3 with Alison and Angelina (She was also a threat I had no intentions of going with her)- I concocted a final three with Nick and Tommy and sold the idea of Alison and John as a duo pinning the target completely onto them. I then spoke with Aaron about none of us being able to beat John which cause him to spill so much information out to me including that Jack and Alison had been plotted against me, whether this was true or not I still intended to target John and that's exactly what happened that week. That vote was one that was my decision and turned around the game completely.
Then I found the idol and knew everyone wanted to vote for Alison, but I had spent the day repairing the broken bridge between us and used information Aaron and John had given me about Alison in order to justify my turning against them. I completely would've played my idol on her- but she wasn't willing to vote Tommy and I didn't think and still don't think Jack was worth being idol'd out and having Tommy upset and still in the game would not be good for me at all. So I played it on myself- even though I knew I wasn't going out in order to show the jury I had that in my pocket. In this vote I managed to not turn my back on Alison, vote for Jack who I truly believe didn't deserve to be there and allowed Aaron, Tommy, and Nick to vote out Alison. I didn't have to burn the bridge between her and me here so I made the decision to not make such a move.
I don't think this game for me was about making power moves every vote- but it was making the right moves to get me sitting here. Thank you for your question and hopefully, we can talk more Sunday.
