‘Survivor: Philippines’ interview: Jonathan Penner on Lisa, storytelling, strategy
At this moment, there is no question that Jonathan Penner has to be one of the most engaging characters to ever play the game on “Survivor.” He is incredibly intelligent, a true fan of the game, and he also know how to adequately tell a story to viewers at home. Place this in contrast with Carter, who was so dull at times this season that it barely looked like he even knew how to be a part of the story himself.
But is Penner really one of the greatest players ever? That is where we have some debate, since statistically he was not one of the better three-time players ever when it came to performance. This time around in the Philippines, he even had the opportunity to go very far when it came to an alliance that was offered to him courtesy of Lisa Whelchel and Mike Skupin; however, his hesitation to take the pair up on it may have been what cost him the money.
Just for a programming note, Penner is saying that he made the mistake that he did because he didn’t want to “change up his game,” and he felt as though Lisa was on the bottom of the six-person alliance and he did not really intend on taking her to the final four. We didn’t really want to ask this obvious question, mostly because everyone and their dog today has. Instead, we wanted to focus on a few other insightful things.
Cartermatt.com – Let’s start by talking about Jeff Kent. This was an alliance I was really rooting for in that it was so unlikely, but it was so entertaining to watch. Why didn’t that work out, and would you have gone to the end of the game with him?
Jonathan Penner – I hoped to go to the end with him. That is what we had talked about. I didn’t realize until I watched the show that he had kind of poisoned the well against me with the members of Kalabaw. I didn’t initially see him as a likely ally, as I saw some of the younger players as people who would go deep with me. He’s a real alpha male and I’m not exactly a beta male myself, but I also recognized that I needed him, and he was a hell of a competitor and a very bright guy. We actually worked really well together and got along.
A lot of the younger members of Kalabaw, Katie, Dawson, and Carter, were all talking about things that were fun and funny to talk about, but weren’t particularly relevant to me or my life. Dana was a little bit older and more worldly, and Jeff, even though I didn’t know he was a baseball player, was a family guy. We got along really well. I was certainly hopeful that things were going to work out, but things started to fall apart for Kalabaw, we got Denise and didn’t get Malcolm, and our numbers were down.
When we went into the merge, even though the edit made it appear as though he was gunning for me, I don’t so much think that was the case. I really think he saw that once Denise made it clear that she was with Malcolm and not with us, we realized that the numbers were not going to work out for any of us. He needed to make it clearer to the powerful Tandang people that he really was not aligned with me and he was ready to work with them. I think he was trying to save himself, and it did for a vote … but not much more than that.
I want to go back to your conversation with Lisa from a little earlier this season, which was so fascinating to watch just from the standpoint of you forming a personal connection with her and trying to convince her to create her own story for herself in this game. How much of that was genuine, and were you thinking more from standpoint of strategy or having a personal connection with someone?
It was all of those things. ‘Survivor’ is complicated, life is complicated. Just as I’m talking to you openly and honestly, I’m also talking to you for your business and for my publicity and all of that. And, we’re having an open, honest conversation. Lisa and I had a great connection, we have a great connection, and we were really talking openly and honestly, and I was also trying to sway her.
We talked about a lot of things, and I was actually pleasantly surprised they left that in. That was kind of conversation about reality TV and storytelling and how they take three days of life and make it into a story, and hoping that she could understand, and she could because she’s a very smart woman, what I was saying then in that if she would flip, the audience was going to be cheering. If she didn’t flip, the audience was going to be disappointed.
Was that manipulative? Of course. Was it true? Of course.
Do you think there is anything Carter to do to stay in the game at this point? We really know so little about what his game actually is.
He could go on an immunity run, and that’s something that I argued when I was trying to get them to get rid of him rather than get rid of me. He’s the one who has won two immunities; I’m an old beat-up war horse here, and I could barely move after that last challenge. He could do that, and I think that he is a certainly viable third vote to take along if Malcolm and Denise want to break their word or if Skupin and Lisa want to break their word. Taking Carter and/or Abi into the finals could be a very smart play.
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Do you think that “Survivor” this season just got a little less excited without Penner in it? If you want to read our full review from Wednesday night, you can do so here.
Photo: CBS
