[Jeff Probst]

This is Ricard's Final Tribal Council Thread.

All other Jurors should remain in their own threads. Final 3, remember... this is not for you to address each other, but to talk to Ricard. In-fighting amongst the Final 3 should be reserved for the reunion on Monday.

Ricard, you have until Saturday at 8c/9e to post your statements/questions to the Final 3. Remember not to take up too much of their time as they have 10 other jurors to get to. Please no listing or questions requiring novels for answers. You should post all of your statements/questions in your opening post in this thread.

[Ricard]

Hey guys! Gotta say, this was a pretty wild end to the season - so congrats on making it farther than any of us could.

Just a couple questions to each of you:

WENDELL:
I think it's pretty evident you're sitting pretty here tonight (and with good reason). I know you touched on your boot list forming around the Will vote (leaving this 3 as the final 3), and you've referred to this grouping as your "optimal FTC." 

• When exactly in the game were you looking at this three as your ideal final three? And why were Bret and Shirin, in your words, "optimal"?
• There are some people who value competition over winning (i.e. "Let the best man win" vs. "I'll do anything to win"). In our time together in this game, you seemed like a pretty competitive guy - but it would seem in this instance you put winning ahead of competition in what was a very competitive season. Do you value winning first?
• For the sake of argument - if you can - give me a solid reason why Bret and Shirin should each get my vote?

SHIRIN:
Congrats on the $100!

Are you going to use that money to buy a dictionary? Because I think you need to look up the meanings of "subtle" and "under the radar." Those would both imply that there was really any independent thought from you related to the game... which I have yet to see evidence of. I would suggest using words like "invisible," "weak," and maybe "boring"? I don't know. Go buy the dictionary, read up a little, and then we can talk.

• In your opening statement, you said that I "hadn't been as open with [you] in regard to game stuff" beginning at the merge. My question - how could I be open to you or not when you refused to engage in game talk? Really - I would challenge you to go back to our chats after this game is over and see just how many times I tried to engage you post-merge (remember, we were aligned), and I was met with silence.
• Follow up to that - there was a lot of discussion in Ponderosa that, while Bret went around to everyone trying to (allegedly) work with them, you did quite the opposite - you were kind of like Shirin, the Friendly Ghost. Is that your style of gameplay? Leaving people on read when you've made up your mind?
• Final question: I think it's pretty evident a lot of us spent a lot of time on this game... chatting, strategizing, confessing, etc. How many hours a week do you think the average juror spent on playing this game? How many hours per week did you spend?

BRET:
I honestly don't even know where to begin, so I'll just ask some clarifying questions that are weighing on my mind as I've seen the other questions come in.

• You referred to your idol play at the final 6 as a "huge move." The idol play that everyone saw coming because you were given an idol. In public. And you played it on yourself. The last time you possibly could play it. Tell me, what about that screams "huge move" to you?
• You talk a lot about "your plan" - but it seems like that plan pretty much followed what Wendell laid out to be his plan. Knowing that you voted out Jacob at the final 6 to avoid being seen as a "follower," can you specifically point out to me what the differences were? How can you claim that all of this was your plan?
• Going back to Jay's question - a common theme in Ponderosa regarding you was that you were always messaging people saying you wanted to change things up... and yet it appeared you never actually tried to change things up. Round after round, the jury was sitting in Ponderosa, begging for you to do something fun with that idol (myself included), shake the game up - something! - all because you kept telling everyone you wanted to change the game. Were those messages all a lie? And looking back on your game now - and seeing people's reactions here - would you change how you played the game?

[Bret]

I don't have much time, but I want to say that I truly thought taking out people like Jay and Jacob were big moves on my side. They both were threats to win the game if Wendell would have gone home. There were people who said they saw me as a goat to them. I just wanted to prove that I wasn't that.

[Ricard]

I don't have much time, but I want to say that I truly thought taking out people like Jay and Jacob were big moves on my side. They both were threats to win the game if Wendell would have gone home. There were people who said they saw me as a goat to them. I just wanted to prove that I wasn't that.

Good thing you have another 24 hours to answer! You asked us to keep an open mind, so that's exactly what I'm doing. Would love to hear your thoughts on my other questions when you get a chance.

[Wendell]

• When exactly in the game were you looking at this three as your ideal final three? And why were Bret and Shirin, in your words, "optimal"?

So I read some of my older confs to remember when it was exactly, and the moment it happened I think was after the F10 tribal. I was locked in on going with Shirin even before that vote, and knew Bret is the most beatable along with her, but I wasn't set on going to the end with him since I didn't have the same amount of trust in him that I had in Shirin, so I was willing to make a move against him as well "to free up an FTC spot" (which was why I suggested his name to you at F10). But after I threw his name pretty hard to you and Lindsey, instead of flipping on me (which he probably should have), he decided to come to me with it and talk it out. He took it easy and proved to me he is more loyal to me than I thought. At this point and after your tribal, where Shirin officially "joined our side", I knew that this is a good 3 to rely on. I had deals with Jacob and Will too, but I felt like they both played good games and I personally did not agree with the goat label that was stuck to them. But the perception of the jury is what's important, and I knew the jury did not appreciate Shirin and Brets game as much, so that combined with the loyalty and trust we had, made me choose to stick with them. The exact path and game plan to the end only came up at F8.

• There are some people who value competition over winning (i.e. "Let the best man win" vs. "I'll do anything to win"). In our time together in this game, you seemed like a pretty competitive guy - but it would seem in this instance you put winning ahead of competition in what was a very competitive season. Do you value winning first?

I hope I got this question right, I read it three times I agree that when you were in the game- I was playing cautiously and didn't put myself in the front center of the game to pull some big move. I'm a logical player, and I didn't see anything big (like flipping on my own people) actually benefit me or my position. When being in minority the first vote in the merge, it's hard to gain agency and it's not smart to not stick with the people who voted with you, for at least a while. I had to rebuild trust with a lot of people I wanted to work with and it was slowly leading me to a powerful position I utilized at F8 and forward. I get why when you were still in the game I was perceived otherwise but I think my game was competitive as well, but it was competitive at the right time to make it a winning game too. I'll be honest- I've played around 12 Survivor games before, I adore the show and the game, I always get far but I never won before. Winning is the most important thing for me. I've been in FTC before and lost so I knew just getting here is not enough, but I had to make my moves and demonstrate my positioning with them at the right time, while still being able to get to the end with a high threat level. It's a hard balance that I never managed to pull off, and I feel like this game I did. Even though it was "safe" at points, I still don't regret most of my decisions.

• For the sake of argument - if you can - give me a solid reason why Bret and Shirin should each get my vote?

Shirin- I think she showed a lot of flexibility in her game by allying with people that went against her (like me) and tried to be fluid in the game. She voted correctly for most of the game and had 2 tight duos that were mainly shielding her. 
Bret- I think not giving in to the paranoia of having a public idol is impressive, and knowing he was not in danger to not play it shows some good game awareness on his part.