The Deadbolt Interview - Breaking Down a Survivor Blindside with Erik Cardona of Survivor Samoa

Breaking Down a Survivor Blindside with Erik Cardona of Survivor Samoa
by Troy Rogers

Although fans have seen a lull in Survivor blindsides over the past few weeks of Survivor Samoa, it was back to business as usual for the Survivor tribes after both Foa Foa and Galu met on a beach to merge into one. With Foa Foa down to four tribe members to eight on the side of Galu, things didn't look good for Russell, Jaison, Mick, and Natalie. But once the Survivor tribes finally merged in Samoa, fans saw sparks fly as everyone scrambled for power, with strategies flipping and turning like never before seen on Survivor. Although Laura, Monica, and Jaison all had targets on their backs, it was outspoken Galu member, Erik Cardona, who realized Galu turned against him and was sent packing from Samoa.

The next day we tracked down Erik for our weekly Survivor Samoa chat to find out what went wrong, whether Erik saw the blindside coming, his overall Survivor strategy, how the game changed for Erik after Russell Swan left Samoa, and what Erik thought of both Shambo and Russell Hantz.

THE DEADBOLT: After Jeff read your name for the fifth time, did you know the blindside was coming?

ERIK CARDONA: Yeah. At that point, I did. You know, I wasn't surprised at the first four votes because I wasn't accepted or well liked by Foa Foa, I was okay with that, because I felt the more I painted them as the enemy the stronger our tribe would be and the more cohesive we'll be and the more emphasis we'll have on thinking about taking care of our own. When it becomes an individual game like that, somebody in their mid-twenties, a guy who's competitive, he's a pretty obvious target.

I didn't want the focus to be individual immunity. I wanted to remind people that we're still going after Foa Foa like that was the plan. So I had no problem being arrogant and cocky against those guys, that was the plan. So when I saw four votes, I was like, "Those little bastards. Okay, all right, do what you do. I like that." Then that fifth one comes up and I'm like, "What?" And then six and seven. I think around the twenty eighth vote, I was like, "Oh, shit! This is really going down." And the poor thing, Shambo, sat next to me and she's going, "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" the whole time, which was funny because she knew it was coming. But it still affected her as if she couldn't believe it. You got to love her and her loyalty.

THE DEADBOLT: What was your strategy with the hidden idol? Aside from Russell, we've seen a lot of people go down holding onto them?

ERIK: Yeah. It's a tricky thing, you know? I think Survivor has had a hard time with the idols. It's such a beautiful portion of the game but it's so difficult to implement. Before, they gave us a choice and you could use it anytime during tribal council, even after the votes were read, and then people would go the entire game coasting with it. So you can't do that. But now, in this way, you can't play it after the vote and you can't play it until before the vote. You really have to have some sort of an indication that's going on.

People who have the idols are more threats and are therefore more likely to be blindsided. So it's got to be a real pain in the ass for CBS and the producers to figure out a way to use them better. If anything, I thought if I could continue to keep it invisible and make people think that it never existed, nobody would look for it or have any clues for it, then nobody would suspect it. Also, I thought that I could just choose who I give it to and help better my position by giving it to the proper person at the proper time, which at this point would've been Shambo. If we got to the final five, I would've given her the idol so she'd be in the final four and make things good for her for the rest of the show.

THE DEADBOLT: What changed after Russell Swan left? You seemed a lot more outspoken after that.

ERIK: Well, I didn't want to lose the momentum and the people around us. There's a moment when Foa Foa, when Russell [Hantz] starts talking at that tribal council, he says, "I really think we got a break. I really think Russell [Swan] was the strongest and now he's gone. And now we're going to build momentum." I was like, "We need to stop that right there." I looked around and our tribe was kind of like shaking their heads a little bit, and I was like, "Oh no! No, no, no, no ... We are not losing momentum."

So out of respect for the game and the way I wanted to play the game, and also, most importantly, out of respect for Russell Swan, I was like, "No, we're putting the right foot on the pedal and we're putting it down to the metal and we're kicking your ass." It wasn't personal. It was just the situation of the game that was called for and so I went after them like a bloodhound and I was like, "Let's go. Let's go, get on my shoulders. I know Russell is gone but I will carry you. Lean on me, let's kick their ass." And I was focused.

THE DEADBOLT: What are your thoughts on Shambo and Russell Hantz?

ERIK: [laughs] Oh, Shambo was wonderful. I mean, she was annoying as hell. She was crazy and screwed a lot of things up and always claimed to be an expert at something. At first you don't know that she's only an expert in her own mind. But she was an expert fisherman and there goes our gear. She was an expert chicken whisperer and she lost a chicken. Okay, she was a little different, but Shambo has respect for the game.

Shambo worked as smart as she could and Shambo was a very, very positive force and her comradery and respect for teamwork was why I wanted to be aligned with her. I made a reference that I got her in my pocket, but it wasn't spiteful. I got her in my pocket so I could control the decisions she made. But not because I was trying to influence her as much as I wanted to make sure she didn't make mistakes. The reason I had her in my pocket was because at that point I'm not going to let any harm come to her. So that was my thought about her.

Russell, to me, was total bush league. I don't know what he was doing. But he talks himself up and makes it as though he was the greatest thing in Survivor since sliced coconut. He was out there and he was thinking like he was going to do all of these things and to me it was all just words.

Survivor Samoa I think he was Ty Cobb of Survivor. It's like he steals second base. He didn't do it because he had a great jump or he's really fast, it was because the pitcher made a bad throw or the catcher didn't throw down there. He stole second base because he went from first and stabbed the shortstop in the throat [laughs]. The shortstop falls over, and he's bleeding from the throat and the ball rolls out, and this guy stands up on second base, bows his head, and proclaims that he's the best second base stealer ever in the history of the game. Come on, that is bush league. Total bush league. He's the Ty Cobb of Survivor. I don't respect the way he plays.

THE DEADBOLT: When was the last time you spent the night in a tree?

ERIK: [laughs] It's so funny, because there are things that I want to say in this game that are important and insightful. But when the camera flips open and I'm talking from a tree, you can't help but laugh. So I just feel it was a traumatic experience and it was really, really hard to sleep on a bed or a couch or anywhere after the show, because you just kind of get comfortable in something like that.

-- Troy Rogers