I feel like Natalie made a lot of mistakes starting with her social game. She admitted she didn't bother going to her tribemates and trying to get to know them--a mistake that caused her to be the first one voted out. Then she continued her nonsocial game on EoE where she made no effort to engage with many of the jury members. That showed zero growth on her part. Where's her learning curve? I couldn't believe what I was hearing when she was asked about it by Rob. Her answer was "I just needed some time alone." Omg, I about fell off my chair! These are the people she knew she could be relying on to vote for her and two million dollars can buy a lot of alone time. Save the solitude for after the game.
Then she went back in with the story that all the jurors believed Tony was running the show. That was probably partially true but it was also a ploy to try to get Sarah to go against him.Looking back I realize that was the catalyst for Sarah's gender bias speech. Sarah wanted the jury to believe she was as much in control of game as Tony, and while I think she was a great partner to him, he was definitely the brains of that duo and they knew it.
Thinking back on what Sarah said, I thought "good for her" when she said that after two years she realized she was a good person despite how she played the game. But then her words just didn't ring true. For one thing, Sarah won her season against professional football player Brad Culpepper. Where is the anti-female bias in that? Then she went on to say all the women sitting with her should finally feel free to play the way they wanted to as well which was confusing. All those "repressed" female players were also the winners of their season...and all of them played against males. And, I don't recall hearing anyone saying "Oh that Michele-- what a B" or "Wow, Denise is a horrible person because of the game she played." All in all I think the jury listened to that and wondered how any of those women, the winners of their season, were treated unfairly and realized they weren't.
But I digress, this was supposed to be about Natalie. I think another HUGE mistake she made was not going against Tony herself in the fire making challenge. Yes it's risky, yes it's terrifying, but by making Tony participate while she sat back and watched made her resume shrink while his increased. And to pit him against Sarah? The emotion of that alone showed the jury the love and loyalty of their game. Tony was a wreck and, I will say, Sarah showed a lot of class.
Natalie's answer as to why she didn't prove herself by going against Tony was equally as bad as her "I needed solitude" answer. She said that once she won the final immunity necklace she felt was comfortable and felt at peace with her game. Honestly though I don't know what else she could have said. It probably wouldn't have been a good idea to say she didn't think she could beat him. But I don't think any of those jurors were beaming with pride for Natalie knowing she chickened out at the end because she felt comfortable.
I almost feel like for all her talk about Tony being the one to beat and how no one could beat Tony she pretty much turned it into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Not that it matters--he deserved the win.
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