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@AdmiralZephyr

13. James “J.T.” Thomas, Jr. (Survivor: Tocantins)

Admittedly, J.T.’s disastrous performance in Heroes vs. Villains has tainted my opinions on him as a player…but also admittedly, I already had slightly tainted opinions even back when he won in Tocantins. I think it’s pretty clear that Stephen did most of the strategic heavy lifting for the duo and J.T. just happened to benefit from Stephen’s actions by having the southern charm to woo the jury in his favor. Still, J.T. was the first ever “perfect game” in Survivor history (given that Tijuana fucked Sandra, Coby fucked Tom, and Rita fucked Earl), so it’s hard to argue that he was, at the very least, a great player in Tocantins.

Before I get into the positives of J.T.’s game, I just want to add one more negative that explains his placement outside of what I’d consider my top tier of winners. Pagongings are easier to navigate than your more chaotic seasons. You set the opposing tribe or opposing alliance as the enemy, and you pick them off until they’re all gone. THEN you start cannibalizing your own allies. But in a normal Pagonging, you’re coming from a position of power, either by having equal numbers and winning a tiebreaker, or by starting out with a numerical majority. In those situations, by the time a Pagonging is complete, there’s still multiple opportunities to eliminate the threats within your own ranks.

In a reverse Pagonging however, you have a tribe or alliance that is woefully outnumbered by the opposition. And if they successfully manage to flip things around against the majority, that’s a LOT of people that have to go home before you look inward at your own allies. J.T. was admittedly a huge threat in Tocantins, but Timbira had a 2-1 advantage over Jalapao by the final 9, and there was never a point when it was safe to take out a Jalapao over a Timbira until the endgame, when J.T. could win immunity after immunity after immunity and guarantee himself a spot in the finals. Stephen knew he needed to take out the golden boy, but doing so early would’ve been a situation where you make a big move just to make on, and it hurts your game. So yeah, J.T. actually benefitted from entering the merge down in numbers, in this case.

That being said, part of the reason why the reverse Pagonging was able to occur was because J.T. was so likable and personable. Sure, Timbira was a powder keg waiting to explode, but J.T. managed to sway Coach (and thus Coach’s alliance) to his side, and then swayed Brendan (and thus Brendan’s alliance) to his side. Without J.T.’s presence, I don’t know if Timbira willingly turns against each other so early. Hell, from that point on, it was never “Hey, maybe we should band together against the Jalapaos,” but instead “fuck this other member of Timbira!” J.T.’s likable personality brought that mentality to life. And the jury ABSOLUTELY loved him and rewarded him with a unanimous victory over Stephen. I HAVE to give him credit for that.

All that being said, while I think J.T. certainly deserved his win and his winsome personality got the Timbiras to love him in the first place…I still think he NEEDED Stephen to facilitate their implosion. If Sierra gets booted at 8 as was the original plan, I don’t know if Timbira would’ve continued self-destructing at that point, especially without Stephen continuing to hold Erinn close as a pocket ally. The point is that J.T. worked best as the friendly face of a strategic duo and won his way to the end rather than getting cut (like Trish with Tony.) He deserved his unanimous win, but I don’t think he’s a GREAT player.
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