Early Show Transcript
January 26, 2004
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QUESTION: Henry, while I felt you didn't play the best game out there, you tried to be decent and honest
about it, something that I believe is an awesome trait to have out there. So, having said that, there are two sides
to every story. Is there anything you wanna say about your relationship with everyone on Sato, Amy in particular,
that you feel was misrepresented?
HENRY: Actually... not really. I was expecting to be furious with the editing. But it's been very, very
even handed and fair so far. Mario's gone to great legnths to make sure we all get our point of views expressed.
Even if he thinks we were crazy he'll listen tirelessly to us and try to get our words and feelings down. That's
why he's the greatest online Survivor showrunner there ever was and ever will be. But that being said I do have
a couple of points from the novel I'd like to emphasize. Amy is coming off as one of the good guys. But she set
Elisabeth, the sweetheart, up and told a lot of stories about her-- the veracity of which are still hotly disputed.
She tried to cannibalize her alliance on like Day Two. She was incredibly fake - "oh, there's no alliance,"
"oh, I don't have a problem with you, Henry." And she blindsided me when I'd already shown I wasn't willing
to do that to one of my fellow competitors. She made fun of me behind my back when, for the most part, I really
wasn't saying that stuff about her to anyone. Amy was an outstanding player. As good as a lot of the players we
respect on the real show. But she wasn't some snow white heroine. I, in my defense, caught more fish than Rupert
on a daily basis. That never came off in the story. I was keeping the tribe stuffed. I was solid in the challenges.
I didn't lie. Like Rudy, you could take my word as gold. I didn't blindside anyone. I didn't write trash talk confessionals
ever. And in that whole Episode 3 I never made any move to stab Amy or Hogan in the back. Ever. And it wasn't because
I didn't know how to play the game. It was because I was a lot more honorable than she was. All of that's in the
story. But people tend to remember the bad about me and the good about Amy. And I still just don't see it as that
simple.
QUESTION: Henry, you knew you were an Outcast in Sato. It doesn't matter that you voted for yourself as
least honorable with everyone else, because everyone else did without being coached, meaning they truly felt that
way. Why didn't you try and side with Kamiya to take out the rest of Sato?
HENRY: Because doing so would have resulted in a tie - three old Kamiya, three old Sato. And that seemed
foolish. I thought it was so self-evidently foolish that no one - not me, not Amy, not Hogan, not anyone - would
do that. Take a tie over a clear 4-3 advantage? No thanks. The fact that Amy and Hogan did proves that they were
playing more emotionally than I was. I couldn't stand Amy. Hated her guts. Wanted her gone. Wanted so badly to
be the one to personally snuff her torch that I asked Mike to let me have her. But I didn't blow my load. I was
gonna wait and take care of her when it was safe. I just overestimated Amy's strategic intelligence.
QUESTION: Hey Henry, you did give me someone to watch carefully; but unfortunately I felt you were doomed
from the start. My question is to you is... was everyone on Sato such great actors that you felt you could tell
them what to do? I know I wouldn't have done so if I didn't feel secure. Thanks!
HENRY: At the time the people on Sato appeared to be playing the game very conservatively. They were very
bland to talk to a lot of the time. Not outside of the game. Outside of the game they're characters. But it's just
the way they were playing. Uncontroversial. Unthreatening. They never wanted to express an opinion or make a suggestion.
I felt in order to succeed as a tribe we were gonna have to take advantage of opportunities. Think of the moment
in the beginning of episode three where I was insisting we needed to prepare for a twist and they didn't want to
hear about it. They said there wasn't going to be a twist, blah blah, whatever Henry, just shut up. Well there
was a twist and it was exactly what I thought it was going to be. Or the first episode where no one wanted to be
the leader and we just got messed up. We looked like a couple of idiots. So just before the immunity challenge
I decided someone has to lead this tribe whether it's easy or popular or what. Otherwise none of us were gonna
make the merge. We would have been the Maraamus. And I wasn't the only one who turned us around. But I'm not gonna
be falsely modest either. I think as much as they hated me for pushing them so hard... they all could have under
the radar-ed themselves into a coma without me. I mean there's no polite, delicate way to succeed as a tribe. You
need to push hard. To show what tools got you there in the first place. You don't appreciate that watching on TV.
You don't think people would just let themselves starve and rot and lose challenge after challenge. But they will
if they're scared of coming across as a somebody. I know it sounds pompous. But someone almost does have to put
themselves on the line, to risk getting Huntered for the good of the tribe. And it's usually the person with the
biggest ego. Why? Because they're most afraid of being portrayed as incompetent on TV. That would be me. It's like
why Michelle chugged the seafood smoothie. She just couldn't take the embarrassment of America believing she couldn't
do it. And it cost us both.
QUESTION: Henry, I feel bad for you. You really had a rough game. The first online Survivor I played, I
was exactly like you, so I understand some of the strategic moves you made, even if they might have been not that
smart in retrospect. My question... Are there any people from the game that you still won't or haven't talked to?
HENRY: Actually there's only one person I haven't talked to since the game ended. But that's just because
they're never, ever online. It has nothing to do with anything that happened in the game itself. The other person
I haven't talked to so much, honestly, is Joni. Joni and I just did not hit it off. I thought she was totally cool.
She thought I was a jerk. And then I got voted out and I just didn't know what to say to her outside of the game.
Everyone else I'd built at least the foundations of a friendship with. But with Joni there was only awkwardness.
I'd still like to be friends with her. I still think she's cool. It's just awkward. Everyone else, for better or
for worse, I have talked to. Beth and I scrap sometimes. Amy and I scrap sometimes. I joined the game in part because
I wanted to make a lot of cool online friends. But the game messes with your head. It makes you paranoid. It brings
out the worst in everybody from the beginning. You never feel quite the same way with those people again. But slowly
you build back trust. And Amy - one of the people I just could not stand in the game - I now count as one of my
best online friends. Sometimes talking to her is a little scary. You keep waiting for things to go wrong again.
But it's worth it. Definitely worth it.
QUESTION: Henry, you went through the hardest part of the game, in my opinion, namely, getting blindsided.
But my question is, who did you have the best bond with? The worst bond?
HENRY: Inside the game or outside of the game? Cause those are totally separate questions. Inside the game
I thought at the time I had the best bond with David McDaniel. I trusted him 110%. But that's because he was a
very good player. I trusted Christopher. I felt like we were really hitting it off. He was meaner to me behind
my back than anyone. He was a MASTER player. Reading the novel I see my truest bond was definitely with Lance.
But while I considered Lance a friend at the time I didn't know he was my only friend out there. Lance was just
the only one who was really straightforward. What he said was what he meant. Nothing was going on behind your back
where Lance was concerned. During the game I considered Hogan, Beth and Amy to be three people I just did not click
with at all. Just had nothing to say to them. Had to force myself to be polite. But I wasn't that nicey nice so
it just didn't come out well. But really Christopher, who I trusted, was more vicious and dangerous than any of
them. Outside of the game... I hate to play favorites. But right now, today I'd say Amy is my closest ally. She's
sweet to me.
And my worst bond outside of the game? No comment. It's definitely time to say no comment.
QUESTION: Henry, what were your long-term game plans, after the twist? Assuming that Amy hadn't jumped ship
and everyone had voted off Joni, what would have hapened at the next few Sato tribal councils, in your ideal scenario?
Likewise, what would you envision for the post-merge?
HENRY: Well, when I brought people over in the twist I was looking for allies. I was looking for real Sato
members. People I might choose even over my original tribemates. I wanted to win the next two immunities and let
the Kamiyas vote off Matt and Beth. Right? Take Amy's strategic legs out from under her. Leave her no other choice
than to reconcile with me. Then I wouldn't want to let David take a fall. So I'd throw an immunity, pull the remaining
four Satos together and vote off Christopher. After all I didn't want to win tribal immunity again after that so
what was the harm in losing a good athlete? That would have been smart, in my eyes. Then Joni and Murtz would be
against a wall, they'd need to take any offer they got to stay in the game. I'd throw the next immunity, scare
the hell out of them and then align with them to finally drop the axe on Amy. I figured we'd merge around that
point. It only makes sense in terms of the jury. You're never gonna merge much sooner or later than episode seven.
So then I've got Joni and Murtz, right? Joni isn't going to want to go back to Mike and Ryan. They treated her
badly. And I would have made friends with her. So I would keep her as an ally. I'd have made friends with Murtz
and somehow converted him. And David McDaniel would be hanging on for dear life over at Kamiya. He'd know he was
next on the chopping block several weeks running. So he'd welcome me back and vice versa. And the four of us would
find a way to slide by while the obvious physical threats - Mike, Ryan, Hogan - all went after each other. We wouldn't
seem that threatening. Especially me because everyone would hate me by that point and they'd understimate Joni
(as always.) And so our little ragtag foursome - me, Joni, Murtz and David - were going to be the Final Four. And
by that point everyone would really, really hate me. I'd have more blood on my hands than anyone in the history
of Survivor. So whatever happened after that any of those guys would have taken me to the Final Two as a sure win
opponent. And at that point all I could have done was been brutally honest and told people exactly how I'd gotten
to that point and hope they respected me.
QUESTION: Henry, is there anything else you'd like to add?
HENRY: I had three beliefs in the game, none of which worked out. They were:
1) The under the radar players are the biggest threats. They will win out over the obvious players every time.
Keep the obvious threats (Elisabeth, David, Mike.) Boot the total under the radars (Hogan, Beth) or the sharks
will all end up eating each other while the guppies play and you'll end up with an outcome that no one can respect.
2) Be honest with everyone. Sure, it'll piss some people off. But ultimately they'll all come to respect your word
as the gospel truth. Same way Rudy, Big Tom, Frank, Ethan and Rupert were all successful. Don't deny the existence
of the alliance. That turns your word to shit. Your word is worthless once you tell obvious, big, fake, smelly
old lies like that. You show that you're willing to do anything to win and that you must be handled with kid gloves.
And though some people may cringe when you admit the obvious - sure, we have an alliance - they won't vote you
out for it. Not if it's against their strategic best interests. (Or so went the theory. It didn't turn out so well.)
3) Don't be afraid to take on leadership around camp. Under the radar players want someone to stand behind, a shield
from all the blood and shit that's gonna fly in this game. If you have the guts to be that shield and to take the
heat you may not win but you're gonna go far. Because that's as indespensible as someone who can bring in lots
of fish. And hey, I could do that too. The person who's willing to be the shield gets to make a lot of the decisions.
If the tribe wins they look good (Mike Skupin, Andrew.) If the tribe fails they look bad. But that wasn't gonna
happen. I would have worked myself to death first. And for that you get to shape the game. You get to vote out
the people you don't want winning (Hogan, Beth, anyone I saw as undeserving.) You get to keep your friends. And
you get to set yourself up pretty good for the endgame. You just have to accept that everyone's gonna be pissed
at you come the jury.
None of those ideas worked. But I don't accept that I was an idiot. I just... struck out my first time at bat.
I didn't like the hand I was dealt and I never managed to adapt. In Survivor you HAVE to adapt or you'll be voted
out of the tribe. And on a closing note, I'm sorry for trashing Elisabeth in my voting confessional and to Mike.
I was confused. I thought she'd tried to stab me in the back and I was acting in self defense. She didn't deserve
that. She was always kind to me, always my friend. Romeo and Juliet just got led astray and things ended in tragedy
for both of them.
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