The Golden Rule of “Survivor” may be to stay trustworthy, but it’s also important to know when to keep your mouth shut.
“Every time you open your mouth, you risk saying something that can get you voted off,” Jeff Probst told the Galang tribe during Wednesday night’s Tribal Council.
Laura Boneham, wife of ousted fan favorite Rupert, learned this lesson the hard way, after her big mouth got her into trouble with her alliance and ended up costing her a spot in the game.
Vytas Baskauskas, the only male on the all-female Galang tribe, didn’t seem to have much hope of lasting another day on the island after his tribe lost the immunity challenge — until his tribe mate, Laura decided to start blabbing her alliance’s secrets.
In a move that surprised Laura’s alliance of Monica Culpepper, Katie Collins and Tina Wesson, Laura let Vytas know that, despite the fact that they all loved him, he would be voted off at Tribal that night.
“We decided as four girls that you’re the next to go,” she told him, while the rest of her alliance stood by, flabbergasted. Laura’s move, while boneheaded, wasn’t meant to sabotage her tribe; instead she felt that she was being trustworthy by preventing Vytas from being blindsided that night.
Vytas, in turn, argued that Laura’s loose lips made her untrustworthy, and the other ladies began to consider keeping him and getting rid of Laura. The ladies already had a soft-spot for Vytas — Tina even commented that she’d love to see him hook up with her daughter Katie and make her some grandbabies — so they began to consider his suggestion.
At Tribal Council, Laura began to realize the severity of her blab-fest, as the other ladies told Jeff that they felt Laura should have consulted them before spilling their plan.
In the end Laura was stunned to see her name on the parchment. As she headed to Redemption Island, a smirking Vytas — who earlier in the episode made the comment that, ““Females are in control but they always need one alpha male to keep around, otherwise there’s no future for the pride” — seemed proud of his accomplishment to sway the vote.
During the episode, Vytas tweeted that even before Laura’s name was read, he knew his plan had worked.