Survivor 48 has been quite a polarizing season among fans, with many long-time viewers frustrated with the direction the season has taken. It’s a fair assessment as the season has been a bit underwhelming with players seeming to be afraid to make big moves, or target players who are clearly a threat to their game.
Fans have taken particular issue with how no one seems to want to take a shot at Joe or Eva. Rather than taking aim at Joe and Eva, the rest of their tribemates have allowed them to remain in the game despite their strong alliance and physicality, which has helped them win a handful of challenges. In Survivor 48 episode 11, it looked like the players were finally going to make a bold move as a plan developed to try to get Joe out of the game after he lost the individual immunity challenge. The players had the perfect opportunity to vote Joe out while he was vulnerable, but instead, they chose to vote out Mary.
The decision to vote Mary out over one of the bigger threats in the game, such as Joe or Eva, left fans speechless and wondering if doing so had effectively just handed over the game to Joe and Eva. Fans were shocked that the tribe didn’t take Joe out and instead chose to vote out Mary, who was on her own in the game and posed no immediate threat to anyone’s game, largely due to the fact that no one seemed to want to give her the time of day.
Following Mary’s elimination from the show, it seems that some fans have sadly been unable to separate the game from real life.
In her post-elimination interview with New York Post, Mary revealed that some of her fellow players have received death threats since her elimination.
“I think everybody brings into the game everything from their past. Their strengths, their traumas, their egos. Everyone is literally playing the best that they can. Nobody should be getting death threats.”
Mary was quick to clarify that the threats had not been directed at her, and she also did not choose to reveal exactly which players she was referring to. Still, it seems safe to jump to the conclusion that these death threats have been directed towards those who played a role in voting Mary out of the game, aka the players who still remain in the game at the moment.
She also made it more than clear that she’s not holding anything against anyone on the show over the way they chose to play the game.
“I have a lot of grace for myself, but that means I also extend that grace to the people I played the game with,” she shared. “Everybody was playing for the first time, and everybody was just trying to make the moves that they thought were best for them. And I don’t want anybody to think that I’m holding anything against anyone for the way that they played. Everyone’s just out there trying their best.”
At the end of the day, this is a game, and everyone comes to play the game with their own unique strategies. These players all enter the game with the hopes of winning the $1 million grand prize, and truthfully, there is a lot that fans don’t get to see. Due to editing, there are sometimes major events that don’t make it to air, such as conversations had between players. This means there is no telling what might actually lead to some of the decisions made in the game.
Even when taking that into consideration, this is a game. No one on the show deserves to receive death threats due to the manner in which they played the game and the players they chose to vote out.
Survivor airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS.