‘Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites’ review: Pride is [spoiler’s] mistake again

When you see someone make a mistake the first time on “Survivor” and they are invited back, there is really just one thing that you have to hope for: That they won’t do it again. For Dawn the first time around, for example, it was not speaking up when she had an opportunity to do so. Meanwhile, for Erik it was obviously giving away immunity.

For Brenda Lowe, it was a little bit more complicated. We don’t know what it is, but there is something in her makeup almost like a “Survivor” Bushido code. She does not want to come across as weak. On “Survivor Nicagragua,” her undoing was a lack of willingness to scramble when she knew she was on the line. This time around, her sense of honor got in the way yet again.

First of all, she got a little bit hosed by the reward challenge that forced her to either spend time with her own loved ones, or to allow everyone else left in the game to have some time with the people that they loved. Of course, she did the nice thing in allowing everyone except her and Dawn to see their folks, which is starting to become a big strategic mistake. Cochran knew that this would make her likable, and thus a threat.

Then, Brenda’s compassion during the immunity challenge also was a pretty poor move. She admitted in a confessional to throwing it, and in reality she should have told Dawn that in retrospect. If she made that sort of deal with her, then there’s no way that Dawn casts the vote to send her home. Instead, she does send Brenda home.

This is going to be an interesting one to watch the aftermath of, especially when it comes to Dawn. Brenda helped save her in the game literally time and time again emotionally, and she did her pretty dirty. Cochran may have been the one behind the plan, but since Brenda wanted to take him out next week, he wasn’t really the dagger. Dawn was, and she may have just made the same mistake she did her first time: Playing someone else’s game. At this point there’s no way that she wins in the end, if she makes it that far.

Do you think that this week’s vote cemented Cochran as a great player, or Brenda as someone who simply made an awful move? If you want to see where we ranked these players leading up to this episode, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: CBS