‘Survivor: Kaoh Rong’ spotlight: Can Nick Maiorano put on a good act?
Out of all of the “Survivor: Kaoh Rong” contestants that we’ve spotlighted over the past several weeks, Nick Maiorano is perhaps one of the most interesting. He almost has a Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde thing going on. Watch his video, and you think that he’s this incredibly-intelligent, smart, self-aware guy who could manipulate the heck out of these people. Then, read his bio and you start to think that he fell in love with himself before writing it. We don’t know if this is a Spencer Bledsoe – Cagayan thing where he’s trying to come across as arrogant to get far on the show, or he just had a lot of caffeine before writing it.
Either way, we still like Nick’s personality and think he could be a fun part of the season, if he makes it far enough.
Age – 30
Location -Redondo Beach, California. In other words, Los Angeles. Let’s not complicate this too much.
Tribe – Gondol a.k.a. the Beauty Tribe.
Occupation – Life coach. What’s interesting about this is that Nick himself claims that the job title is in many ways “BS,” and much of what he teaches is more or less just common sense. He’s planning on telling everyone he’s a personal trainer.
Past “Survivor” comparison – He says Jonathan Penner, and we suppose we see a little bit of that in how brutally honest the two guys are. We’d say that he is a cross of him with maybe a Matty from “Gabon,” someone who was often pretty enthusiastic and had a similar sort of vibe. (Matty also would’ve been much happier if he wasn’t a member of the Fang tribe.)
Things to know – Nick’s a game who seems happy to have everyone think that he’s surface-level, but there’s a lot more going on here than people think. He’s certainly got a love on “Survivor,” as he blogged for a season over on one of our favorite “Survivor” places on the internet in Rob Has a Website. He’s got more going on than he even lets us in on pre-game, which is very interesting and definitely not something we get from the average player.
Advantages – If the video version of Nick turns up out there, than we’ll say self-awareness. He’s on a tribe with a guy who values the nickname “Beast Mode Cowboy” so much that it’s on his belt-buckle. If he can convince people around him that he’s a friend in the early going, they could be convinced to keep him. He says that is manipulative, and we certainly know that he’s at least athletic. There’s not an obvious weakness to his game when you look at most of what he’s bringing to the table.
Disadvantages – One of the biggest issues Nick faces may just be circumstance. He’s on a tribe that is structured in an interesting way, with three women who don’t look like the prototypical “Survivor” young women who don’t know the game. He could be an easy / obvious threat, and he has to be careful he doesn’t go the way of Vince Sly or some other past players so in-tune with themselves. If you act a little too much like a life coach (which Nicks claims he won’t), people want to get rid of you. We’re just concerned that maybe he is not as good at manipulating as maybe he things.
Prediction – It’s hard to be someone like Nick and win the game. It’s possible, but he makes such bold claims about who he is and how he is going to play that he seems almost destined for a big fall somewhere. Our feeling right now is maybe merge boot, but it wouldn’t stun us if he went out shortly before or after that.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-5Dq1214jw