Early Show Transcript
March 27, 2004
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*Matt runs into the studio, panting and slamming the door behind him*
MATT: Hide me! I'm being chased by three bears, there's a dispute over some porridge, don't ask questions.
Oh, hello.
*sits down in studio chair, a distinct roaring sound is heard behind the studio door, no one seems to notice*
QUESTION: First up: obviously a good chunk of your loss comes from failing to bow down before Isabella in
gratitude, offer to sacrifice virgin maidens to her at every full moon, and promise to give your firstborn child
to her.
MATT: Hope you don’t mind my butting in, but to be perfectly honest that basically captures exactly how
it felt in reading the episode. Anyhow, go on.
QUESTION: Well, okay, it was because she pulled off a vital immunity and needed you gone, but she ousted
my favorite, I can be bitter. If you had been open to a deal with her, do you think the two of you could have made
it to the finals?
MATT: If I had to be anything, I could be anything, yes, I am actually quite a bit more flexible then the
story may have indicated usually. However, at the time I did not think that I had to be open to a deal with her.
Would we have made it to the finals? I could see it happening, not very easily, but it could have happened. Believe
me when I say that all of us have played the what if and woulda, shoulda, coulda games a few million times since
being voted out. There are so many variables to take into effect, and you always wind up wondering, had I done
something else, would I not have met an untimely demise? Truth be told though, looking back and hating yourself
for things you did not do doesn’t get you anywhere really. I made my choices and I’m actually quite happy with
them.
QUESTION: As a related question, if it weren't for the wheel of fortune twist, Amy would have been gone
prior to this and Isabella would have still been trying to deal with you. Would you have been more amenable to
partnering with her if things had gone down that way?
MATT: Actually, I had a plan that never really got into play that I’m gonna share with y’all now. Truth
be told, in the strangest of strange times, Isabella gained and lost all my trust in a period of 24 hours and instantly
had less credibility than pretty much anyone else on Miyagi. That being said, I already knew that Amy was going
to get voted out and was putting into effect my plan of making it further (since with Kamiya in the majority I
was pretty positive that simply being partnered with Emma would not offer much of if any protection whatsoever).
I knew Amy was going, so I had leeway with saying whatever I wanted to say at Tribal Council without any fear of
being booted because of it. So, with Amy gone I would’ve blabbed to Ryan everything that had gone down (since at
the time I was under the impression that he was really the one in charge, oh how little I knew) and worked out
a deal to get Emmabella out next. None of us knew she was an athlete at the time, so it seemed like a good idea
at the time. All that said and done, I would’ve turned on Hogan and Lance easily (since I “knew” that the Kamiyan’s
wanted me around more than they wanted him around), and at the F5 tried to cut a deal with Mike and Ryan to get
out Joni, since I knew neither of them liked her very much, if at all. Now, I’m in like flint at the F4, and hope
to get by on people skills or winning immunity challenges.
Of course, the wheel changed things a little bit.
QUESTION: Okay, moving away from obvious Isabella questions- did you ever consider trying to make a serious
deal with Mike once you knew your neck was on the line? Something more positive and long term than a promise to
not Pagong him?
MATT: Well, the issue with Mike was an interesting combination of trying to be honest and honestly not trusting
the guy. I respected him and his intelligence, and I knew he wouldn’t buy me making a F2 agreement with him since
my friendship with Amy was more than obvious and I was beyond the point of lying about it. I did respect him for
his honesty, since he was at least up front with his intentions in being a complete and total ass, but as soon
as the jury phase hit I noticed a distinct change in his strategy. All of a sudden he was the nice guy, the one
everyone wanted to talk to, the guy who sucked up to you and said exactly what you wanted to hear. He was playing
to the jury at that point, I mean as soon as I heard Lance and Hogan speaking about Mike as if he was one of the
best guys on the planet (something I knew firsthand was not exactly true) and realizing that I myself was taken
in the same way, I realized that Mike was playing the game for the jury and only for the jury at that point, which
is probably admirable, but was not the same, upfront Mike that we all came to know and love (or at least fear and
cower from) at Kamiya. As soon as the merge hit, it seemed a bit too convenient to me that he was suddenly the
nicest guy on the planet when just days before he was a complete and total dick. So, yeah, I couldn’t trust him
enough to make it to the end.
QUESTION: And since I'm hogging everyone elses question time here, I'll just ask the most important, burning
one that I've wanted to know since you first arrived on the island. We already know how Freddy vs. Jason would
go down, of course, but what would happen if Michael Myers had gotten involved in the whole deal?
MATT: Well, for the first time in a long time I’ll say that you’ve put me in something of a conundrum, as
all the fighters are worthy opponents and have their strengths and weaknesses in my eyes. Freddy, sure he’s the
superpowered powerhouse of the bunch, but he was always having a tad bit too much fun with his kills. So, I’ll
take him out of the running since in basic hand to hand combat in the real world he has neither the strength nor
the stamina to match up against Jason or Michael. Jason, long story short is the Shaft of serial killers. He’s
the man. No matter what you do to the guy, he just keeps on coming. He’s been shot, stabbed, impaled, cut apart,
blown up, lit on fire, electrocuted, sliced, diced, lost his fingers, been shot with arrows, been pummeled with
nails by a psychic girl, hammered, beaten, dismembered, sucked out into space, shot by an uber-android and had
a close encounter with a boat propeller. All this from a hydrocephalic kid who accidentally drowned one day in
a lake, not too shabby.
Michael on the other hand is an interesting case, since he seems to have the same abilities as our Mr. Voorhees.
He’s unstoppable, has been shot, stabbed, impaled, electrocuted, hit by cars and lit on fire all the same as Jason,
and even got his career started at an earlier date to boot. Additionally, I live in South Pasadena, which was used
as Haddonfield in the original Halloween, so knowing that I live in the town that Michael Myers originally stalked
does give me some bias either way. Besides, his nickname, “The Evil” has more of a ring to it than Jason.
Nevertheless, I have to give Jason the edge here, if not for being the superior fighter, for being the killer with
an easier background to explain. They went into the mysticism with Michael Myers, while Jason, for the most part
(with the exception of Jason Goes to Hell), has no explanation for being the way he is outside of the fact that
he’s a psycho who happens to get resurrected by electricity and psychic powers.
That, and a hockey mask beats a Captain Kirk mask any day.
QUESTION: Take care Matt. Stay non-linear.
MATT: Actually I was considering becoming a yuppie, but your kind words have changed my ways. Thank you
dear reader, oh thank you! (seriously, this is not intended to be as patronizing as it sounds, but thank you for
appreciating what I am J)
QUESTION: Matt, it seemed like you showed your hand to Isabella and tipped her off. Why did you hate her so
much after she saved your butt?
MATT: Well, she saved my butt, yes, but it seemed to me like it was an incredibly stupid move for her to
keep me around given the information that I knew. I know that’s wrong on so many levels, but I’m not a fan of making
incredibly stupid moves. Now that my friends is what we call irony.
QUESTION: Also, if they were in the final two, is there anybody left that you wouldn't vote for?
MATT: Okay, this is another one of those situations that revolves around the information I had at the time
and the information with which I currently possess. At that time in the game, I would have said Hogan and Lance
would be my least ideal Final 2. Neither of them were exactly the greatest of conversationalists (Hogan may be
a debate champion, but when it comes to typing he indeed does sound like Robb Zbacnick as Mario has pointed out).
In my little microcosm, Lance was boring and Hogan was the kid who liked to take a crap and wanted to bone Joni.
Since the game however I have found that my perceptions on both were rather off.
Now, I would say my least ideal final 2 would be Michelle and Joni for completely different reasons. I would say
Michelle simply for her treatment of Beth and her reasoning behind it, while Joni, well, simply because she strikes
me now as a tad bit phony (I can hear Murtz naming his first born after me now...), at least around that time in
the game from what I’ve seen in the episodes.
QUESTION: Amy kept on talking about how much you had changed since you were in Kamiya prison. Did you really
change due to living in Kamiya?
MATT: Yup. At Sato, as was part of my strategy, I was more or less in control. I wasn’t the guy who was
telling everyone what to do, but I was the guy who everyone came to and brainstormed with about camp ideas, and
in the big scheme of things that to me was better than being in charge. People can hate the guy in charge, in which
case the guy they can gripe to about the guy in charge holds the power.
And then my power was stripped, I’m sure that sounds narcissistic and it probably is. I went from the best seat
in the house to constantly fearing for my life in the game. I knew exactly why I was chosen to come over to Kamp
Kamiya the moment I was chosen first, and every minute of every day on Kamiya when I did not have the false hope
that they were constantly feeding us, I was absolutely positive I would be the next one out. Normally in life I
am an incredibly, incredibly, loyal person when it comes to my friends. Then, I come on over to good old Kamp Kamiya
and I am a member of the walking dead in purgatory, already voted out but not decided whether or not I’m headed
to heaven or hell. That was all just a matter of waiting. So, to alleviate the waiting, I did something that every
fiber of my loyal side would scream for me not to do, and I try to make it so that I would be, at the very least,
the LAST member of my tribe voted out. I knew I was going but I was always repeating, “three more days, I can make
it three more days easy.” So, I basically pushed two of my best friends in front of a train. First, with David,
all I had to do was fall into Kamiya’s trap and tell them the stuff they wanted to hear, the stuff I actually believed
at the time, and basically not stop David from making a complete and total ass out of himself. Then, with Beth
(which I am still really pissed at myself for doing) I basically egged her on after the challenge that was thrown.
We were both pissed, rightfully so, and in our rants to each other in a list of four letter words that is probably
best not revealed in this conversation, we basically plotted the deaths of the Kamiya’s one by one. When it came
to talking to the Kamiya’s, I encouraged her to be defiant and pissy with them, while I myself remained reasonably
diplomatic though quite pissed myself.
When it came to destroying everything, oh god it would have been beautiful. Camp would have been burned, all tools
buried or thrown in the ocean, water jugs punctured, god it would have been beautiful. And as a part of my plan,
I would have blamed it all on Beth after she got voted out and gotten away with destruction of property Scot-free.
So, yeah, as time went by I was progressively going further and further into my dark side, which is something I
haven’t really explored. Just look at my vocabulary as the game progressed, my usage of four-letter-words increased
exponentially over time.
QUESTION: Secondly, there was a running theme this episode of not having to like someone to be in an alliance
with them. I know you and Hogan didn't get along, but do you think there was something in hindsight that you could
have done to make sure he was with you?
MATT: I really thought that Hogan was with us. It was true that we didn’t talk enough, but I trusted Amy
enough to keep a leash on him and wrangle him in (one of my many bad moves). After Tribal Council when Ryan was
voted out, Hogan said that he hated Joni, and that was all I needed to hear. Joni would be gone, simple as that.
I knew Hogan was a basic guy, but when he said something, he said something, and I was more than willing to believe
him at face value. He just didn’t strike me as bright enough to pull off a lie successfully. Well, surprise, surprise.
QUESTION: Are you rooting for Kerry? What's his chances? What do you think of Bush?
MATT: Long story short, I am rooting for Kerry all the way, I haven’t a clue about his chances (I know I
came off as the democrat extraordinaire of the story, but I’m not as informed as I really should be on most topics),
and to be perfectly truthful, I would trust a blindfolded chimp with a power drill more than I do Shrub with running
our country.
*waits for audience to start throwing tomatoes and rocks at me*
See, the best part about this is that I don’t have any posters or CD’s that can be thrown into a pile and burned
in effigy for saying such traitorous remarks, though odds are in favor of me having to start running for Canada
in a few minutes.
QUESTION: Also, do you regret being so open about your views on politics and religion while you were in
the game?
MATT: Okay, here’s the truth of the matter where things like this come down to editing. When it came to
religion and politics, more often than not I would shrug off the topic, especially around Hogan. I knew my views
on the two topics differed from many of the people that I played, especially on the topic of religion of which
I’m not a huge fan. But, for the sake of argument I’d like to clear things up a bit.
For one, contrary to popular belief, I am not in fact an atheist. I may have a fat ass and be a lazy bastard, but
I am not an atheist. I am however, for lack of a better word, an agnostic. I do believe that there is likely a
higher force at work here beyond all of our perceptions, but with all the deities in all the religions in the world
I don’t think it’s up to me to choose whose is best or whose is “correct”. With God, Buddha, Allah, Zeus, Odin,
Shiva the Destroyer (always loved that name), among the thousands of other higher forces of the thousands of cultures
on this planet, I do not consider myself the best judge to say which one is right. So, in terms of spiritualism
I tend to pick and choose between the beliefs of all the world’s religions, enjoying and appreciating everything
for all it’s worth. I’m not sure if that made any sense whatsoever, but it’s me. *shrugs*
QUESTION: You were in a great spot in the game. What happened? Did you not realize at the time where you
stood or were you so hell bent on thrashing Emma/Isabella that it didn't matter to you?
MATT: Yeah, I knew I was in a great spot in the game at the time and I was more than willing to use it for
everything it was worth. That being said, I didn’t see sticking by Emma as a really viable option at the time,
since her saying no to me about Amy was basically her saying no to me in general, and at that point I “knew” that
Kamiya was all still a big happy unit of five and that they would pick off us Sato’s one at a time. It struck me
as incredibly stupid that any of them would vote out a Kamiya before a Sato when we were at nine, so it made perfect
sense for her to go back to them. I mean, at the time when she revealed the information to me, 90% of me was all
giddy like a little kid who was given the keys to a steamroller with all the school bullies laid out in front of
him, while 10% of me was wondering why Ryan had her tell me everything she told me. Yeah, Kamiya made me even more
of a cynic than I already am, how’s that for justice? Did I answer the question? I dunno.
QUESTION: Also, after reading the last couple of episodes, it seemed as if you and Mike had begun to have
a relationship based on mutual respect. Was there ever any attempt to form an outside alliance with him?
MATT: Nope. Check out my earlier answers for my thoughts on Mike, but I will use this as a place to mention
the fact that I was actually rather candid with the Kamiya’s after the Beth thing, particularly Mike. I would basically
tell them every chance that I got that there was a special circle of hell waiting for them for what they did to
Beth, and that I would make sure each one of them would see it by the end of the game. I still haven’t, nor will
I forgive them for what they did to her. Some people say forgive and forget. Nah, I don't know. I say forget about
forgiving and just accept. And... get the hell out of town. So, forming solid alliances with any of them would
have seemed rather hypocritical of me considering what I believed then and now.
QUESTION: Matt, I disagree with the assumption someone mentioned earlier that you and Hogan didn't get along.
Although the episode paints you both as mortal enemies, in your Final Words as well as Hogan's voting comments,
you both seemed to have gotten along. So, just for clarification, what was your real relationship with Hogan?
MATT: Ah, finally the question where I get to clarify one of the most biting issues in the game. My real
relationship with Hogan at the time wasn’t the cheeriest of them, nor was it bad. We simply never talked. This
had to do with numerous factors, among them the fact that he was almost never on and he talked like a complete
idiot when on aim. Then there was the issue of religion and politics, which was something that I started more than
Hogan did. He mentioned very early on, I think Day 1 or 2, loudly and proudly that not only was he the president
of his school’s young republican club, but he was an active member of his church as well. In my mind Hogan had
suddenly become this giant with flaming red eyes, a swastika on his forehead and a copy of the U.S. Constitution
in his hand with the first ten amendments replaced by the ten commandments. Again, this is all in my head, and
anyone who knows me will vouch for the fact that I have a very active imagination. I shared my beliefs with him
when we discussed them, but it wasn’t exactly what I’d call unawkward conversation (if that’s really a word, which
my spell check says it doesn’t).
Anyhow, to make a long story even longer, my last experience with a high school’s young republican club was when
they staged the Pro-War Rally to go against the anti-war protest that I took part in during high school. They were
the ones who drove by with a flag on the side of their van and threw bottle caps at us, so as it was I didn’t exactly
have the greatest picture of Hogan in mind. Yeah, it was a prejudice of mine, and maybe I should’ve been a better
person and looked past them, but, meh, I didn’t.
That being said, Hogan was already placed on the hit list early on in Sato for his less than social behavior and
his general camp and challenge ineptitude, so I didn’t think it’d be the greatest of ideas to associate with the
lamb being led to the slaughter, especially one who shared a vocabulary as high as Hogan’s. Anyhow, once the merge
time hit, I knew I had no choice but to work with Hogan and I was more than willing to let it happen. I just figured
the best way to work with the guy would be to associate with him as little as possible. The less I talked to him,
the less likely he would say something that wound up pissing me off, and vice versa. Amy said she had him under
control, so I didn’t have to worry on that side, and I was more than willing to stick by Hogan. Honestly, at that
point I probably would have stuck with him until the end.
I didn’t count on Joni having him as whipped as she did though, wow that’s been rather funny to watch. I mean,
I can’t totally blame Hogan for what he did. To be sixteen, fresh out of puberty, and horny! Man those were the
days.
QUESTION: Of the remaining players, who is most likely to get your jury vote and who is least likely?
MATT: Most likely would be Amy, in a heartbeat. Least likely is a bit tougher… It could go any number of
ways in that regard, from Michelle to her shining personality, to Joni and her duplicity, or Lance and the fact
that he never did anything to catch my attention as a player. That being said, my answer would have to be 42.
QUESTION: Which fact personally hurt you more-- the fact that you never got to butcher that last deer, or the
fact that you lost to someone like Hogan?
MATT: Ooh, probably the deer at that point. I wouldn’t mind the Hogan thing, since under those circumstances
I was genuinely outplayed by several people, but all in all not being able to provide would’ve stung. More than
anything else in the game, I wanted to be the provider. When it came to statistics, my best categories were building
and searching, two that almost never came up during challenges and would thereby be absolutely useless on the field
of battle, but would make me one helluva provider. I vultured (my term for searching) almost every day that I could
find time to, and loved providing for it. I made pretty much every fish trap in the game (or at the very least
had a hand in building every fish trap) while I also helped build almost every non-functional shelter and threw
what I had into the snares. I loved to provide and make life easy, and not being able to do that really would get
to me sometimes.
QUESTION: What would have happened had you said yes to Isabella? How do you think the game would have been
different? Do you think you could have won?
MATT: In a heartbeat. With things as they were, I could have beat almost anyone in a Final 2 vote, since
I knew I could talk circles around even the best of them, and had links to both tribes which weren’t exactly the
strongest, but weren’t bad either. I would’ve had a problem up against Amy for sure, because, well, she’s Amy,
and more than likely against Isabella, since if I ever found out her identity I would have more than likely admitted
that she was the better player. I would’ve played the outcast card to the hilt though, so I’m pretty sure I could
have beat her too.
QUESTION: So what was the deal between you and Amy? And what about Beth and Amy? What is it that makes people
obsess over Amy?
MATT: I don’t know really what makes Amy so special, but, well, she is. You know that movie There’s Something
About Mary? Mary’s the girl that absolutely everyone loves, she’s absolutely one of the nicest and sweetest people
around, absolutely beautiful, is very loyal and loving to her family and those she takes into her family, while
at the same time she is incredibly strong and a fierce warrior. That's Amy. When talking to Amy, she has this way
of making you feel special and that you’re better than you used to think you were. While some girls take the damsel
in distress route, Amy is a fighter who wouldn’t go down without tearing off a decent chunk of her enemies scalp
in the process. I mean, it really takes knowing her to understand it, but her strength combined with the fact that
she is just an unbelievably nice person makes her an amazing human being.
And she’s hot. Yup, they have Hot Mormon Mom’s calendars in auto shops devoted to Amy if I’m not mistaken. (okay,
now I’m joking, and I’ll bet you even money that Amy is preparing to throw something heavy at me the moment she
reads that last line)
QUESTION: Why was Joni so angry with you in her tribal council vote? We never saw any buildup to that at
all.
MATT: You know what? That one completely mystifies me as well. I was nothing but nice to Joni for the entire
time that I knew her on Miyagi, since I understood her situation well. We were both the last surviving members
of our tribes from the switch, we were both the youngest of the switched members, and both of our gameplans as
they were were destroyed because of the switch. I empathized with her and was as nice as I could be, even down
to the moment when I said I only would vote for her out of simple lack of options. So, she didn’t like me, that
happens, but the way she handled her dislike for me honestly seemed like she was behaving like a spoiled brat.
Meh, character is character, and it served her well by the looks of things.
QUESTION: What's the first thing you plan to do to Ryan in the jury box? Does it involve the machete?
MATT: Nah, I tortured Ryan in an even worse way. He had to live with me in the jury lodge and endure my
Risky Business dance, and believe me when I say me in tighty-whities is something you do NOT want to see.
QUESTION: Is there anything different you would have done after the merge?
MATT: Given the information that I had at the time, I would say not one bit. I had a great plan and it would’ve
worked, but then the wheel did it’s thing. And I became the wheel’s bitch. Knowing what I know now, I would’ve
stuck by Emmabella and rode it out until the end, though I would still have tried harder to get her to trust Amy.
QUESTION: Having had a chance to reflect on the deals and offers made to you by the various members of Kamiya,
whose, if any, do you feel was the most genuine?
MATT: Heh, none of them. I’m sorry, but every deal that was formed on Kamiya had an ulterior motive of sorts
that I could never entirely trust. Mike did his alliance thing with David, Beth and myself, we saw how that one
went. Then Ryan and Michelle came to Beth and myself, if just for their own amusement. Michelle and Emmabella came
to us then to try and take out Ryan and Mike, didn’t trust that one, and look how it served Beth. Ryan was always
trying to feed me bones, keep me around as his pet monkey for the sake of amusement. Emmabella came to me as a
part of her quest against the rest, so, yeah, I don’t really feel any of them were genuine offers in their entirety.
Then again, my definition of an offer is usually a mutual situation of sorts, so Isabella’s deal goes into that
pile because it was more to serve her good than mine at the time.
QUESTION: What were your initial feelings toward each of your Miyagi tribemates at the merge, and have they
changed since the game ended?
MATT: Hmmm, this could go on for a while so I’ll give you these one at a time.
Ryan (merge): Total asshole.
Ryan (now): Oddly enough, he’s one of my better friends from the game right now. He’s a classy guy who’s willing
to admit his faults, and is essentially the evil version of me.
Matt (merge): Man, he was afraid and willing to sell his soul to stay in the game.
Matt (now): He’s got a lot of issues to work out, but he’s a pretty cool guy. Needs to wear that mask a bit less
though.
Amy (merge): One of the best people I know.
Amy (now): Nothing’s changed.
Emma (merge): Dumb, selfish girl who is going to ride her anonymity to the end and probably win the thing.
Isabella (now): Well, as it was I was already an Isabella fan from the time I had read Tonga, and as it was she
was something of a fan of me because of our mutual friend Marcy (from Tonga, whose been my best friend since ages
ago when Australia was still on the air), so it was a weird situation to be in. Now, she’s a great person, smarter
than I could hope to be and genuinely a kick to be around. I got kicked out by someone I was a big fan of, do you
have any idea how cool that is?
Hogan (merge): Dumbass, but one I can manage.
Hogan (now): Still a dumbass for voting me out, but I’ll admit he’s smarter than I ever gave him credit. He is
a lot more open-minded than he came off as on the show or to my face, and is one hell of a guy to get into a debate
with. I probably could have worked with him if I gave him half a chance. We don’t talk much, but he’s a good kid.
Joni (merge): I liked her a lot actually, she was nice and sweet and all that jazz.
Joni (now): I don’t think I’ve had more than a few words exchanged with her since the game ended, so I really honestly
don’t have any opinion of her now. She’s lost points however for not being able to tell me she hated me to my face,
but hey, what can ya do? I always said brutal honesty would be my downfall, maybe it’s best that the other players
didn’t use it.
Lance (merge): Who?
Lance (now): Although we talk as much now as we did in the game, from all I have seen in the game and everything
everyone has told me about him, he was a class act, through and through, and I’ve got a lot of respect for the
guy. I’ve a lot of respect for any parents really, as that’s as tough as any job can get.
Michelle (merge): A warrior in the truest sense of the word, I had a lot of respect for her in game, even if she
should have probably brought Midol as a luxury item instead of whatever it is that she did bring.
Michelle (now): Well, seeing how much of a heinous bitch and hypocrite she was in game, it seemed that her problem
was that she had no concept that someday she might be accountable for her actions. She just had no foreski-, errr,
foresight and it was almost tragic to watch the utter lack of character and wisdom she seemed to possess at times.
That being said, I can guarantee you that Michelle had the biggest set of brass balls out of anyone on Okinawa.
Mike (merge): Not exactly a class act, and there were times where I genuinely questioned his sanity, and not in
the figure of speech sense, but the gnome incidents had me seriously wondering if this guy was chemically unbalanced.
He was brutally honest, which I still give him a lot of credit for to this day. I didn’t exactly agree with his
method of sucking up to the people that were on his chopping block, but hey, you do what you gotta do to win.
Mike (now): Don’t talk to him much, but I still like him just the same. He’s an ok guy, and seeing that he wasn’t
just humoring me when I made peace with him over the gnome was actually nice to see.
QUESTION: Is there anything that happened that did not make the story that you would like to explain?
MATT: Yeah, among other things, there is the fact that I almost always had a strategy going on . Actually,
as it was my one main strategy in the game never made it in substantially, and when it did it was in an obscure
reference sort of way. Well, faithful readers, for those of you who have humored me this entire time and have actually
read this entire, rambling interview, you can be at peace as I describe Matt Carter’s true strategy.
*dramatic sting of music*
Actually, it was rather quite simple and oddly enough, adapted from another person’s strategy. I am a psychology
student, it’s a subject I truly love and really enjoy, but I knew that by telling people this exact fact it could
get some suspicious looks my way, so I never mentioned it to anyone. The Matt that they all knew was a history
major, looking out to be a high school teacher upon graduating, and honestly, it remains my only truly successful
lie. I held it up the entire time, only telling Beth in the moments before silence when she would be kicked out.
It was a small lie and one that ultimately didn’t serve any true purpose, but I was told that there were a few
people surprised once they saw my exit that it was mentioned that I was a psych student, so I figure that to be
a victory.
Oddly enough though, I adapted that strategy from Isabella in Tonga, how’s that for strange?
QUESTION: Can you tell some of your most favorite parts of Okinawa?
MATT: Ooh, there were lots of high moments for me in the game, and I’ll just give you the highlights here
since I do realize that this interview is going on for quite a while and I am probably boring you.
There were campfire conversations early on in the game, where Beth, Amy, David, Henry and myself in certain permutations
would just sit around and shoot the shit for some time, talking about things that weren’t even related to strategy
and just genuinely enjoying each other’s company. One that sticks out in particular was sitting with David and
Henry late one night, where I was joking that we should replace the Ancient Voices theme song with “Turning Japanese”
since we were in Okinawa, and the two of them explained to me what the song really meant. I didn’t know before
and it was an oddly hilarious moment.
The eating challenge was another great moment, stemming from the fact that I just wanted to show Henry up on one.
He wanted to be the guy to go twice, he wanted to be the hero, and I wanted to be the one to deny him his hero
moment. Sure, that’s probably terrible, but it felt great.
Post-switch, there were five challenges in a row, starting from the ninja stars all the way through the ring diving,
where I consistently got up to the plate and helped my team win. Being as how I was by far the least athletic member
of the tribe, it was a big thing for me to be the guy who would wind up saving the day.
Making the merge was huge, since I never thought I’d see the day, but the best memory from the game would be the
barbeque feast, hands down. I had gone through hell at Kamiya, gone through so many roller coasters of emotions,
and then I was put into a situation with two people I genuinely adored. Beth, Amy and I just spent hours upon hours
that day chatting away like real family and basically became this odd mass with six arms and legs from all the
group hugging, I know it sounds corny, but up until that point since the switch, I didn’t have any moment of real,
genuine happiness. Seeing Amy again, seeing Beth happy again, regaining much of my sanity again, that, that was
the single happiest moment in the game for me.
QUESTION: What did you learn about yourself?
MATT: I learned that I can be hasty in making my conclusions about people, I learned that although I am
not perfect, more people do like me than I usually tend to be. I’ve learned not to be as self-deprecating as I
used to be, as ultimately self-deprecating Matt is really no fun. I learned that it’s a lot easier for me to make
friends than I ever thought possible, as for all my life it has been very difficult for me to make friends, I mean
real genuine and close friends. Some of these people rank high on the people I’ve met in my life, and I wouldn’t
trade knowing them for anything in the world.
QUESTION: If you were to compare yourself to any Survivor, from seasons 1-7, who would it be and why?
MATT: Ah, the true coup de gras of Survivor questions. This is perhaps the hardest question to answer really,
because more often than not people tend to answer it in a sense that will make them look better. People will say
Rupert, or Michael (hey, I'm guilty of that one), or Teresa, say they reflect their skills and strategies from
the great or at the very least most likable players. After the game, I did take some time out and look at the players
and found out that I really was not the player I thought I was, rather, I was a combination of some different players.
Well, one I recently figured out on my own, the other was mentioned by none other than Mister Lanza some time recently.
Out of them all, I'd say I am something of a combo of Frank (Africa) and Clay (Thailand). I'd rank myself as holding
characteristics of Frank, because more than anything else I wanted to be the provider, I wanted to be the guy who
was in power, and through circumstances I didn't really have the chance to do much of either all that successfully.
I was principled and loyal to a fault, but still very willing to play the game. As well I maintained strong beliefs
as Frank did, though on the other end of the spectrum and I didn't really portray them as loudly and proudly as
Mr. Garrison did.
As for Clay, Mario mentioned that I was one of the hardest Survivors to compare to any past seasons (go me!), stating
that I was probably closer to Tom or Clay than anyone else, since honestly no one took me very seriously and yet
I still maintained a very strategic mind that didn't come out all that often. Emotional as I may have gotten, I
always did have a plan of some sorts going on.
Though no offense to either, but I'm not a bigot, racist or homophobe.
QUESTION: Did you have ANY idea that Hogan would vote for you?
MATT: Not a clue in the faintest. I didn't find out until some time later that Hogan had been the one to
cast the deadly vote, though believe me when I say I was doing pretty much every possible permutation for the way
the voting could've gone. It was a little confusing.
QUESTION: How long did the game take? Give me a range. From when to when, about?
MATT: It started on Monday, October 13th and ended I think two or three days before Christmas. In the beginning,
Mario promised that he'd be done before the holidays and indeed he did deliver. It started out slow but picked
up a lot of steam towards the end. For an indication of that, I was voted out on December 6th, just about two and
a half weeks before endgame.
QUESTION: Who is your favorite player of all time and why?
MATT: Michael Skupin from Australia, hands down, with PI Rupert (not All Stars Rupe) a close second. I
put these guys essentially in the same category, as these two embodied the Survivor experience more than anyone
else. These two men wanted to live their lives to the fullest, and did so, each holding the truly great moments
of their respective seasons. Michael was one of the greatest fishermen the game has ever seen, had the pole break
on his back during water torture (I still maintain he would've beaten the Colbster) killed the only animal larger
than a chicken on Survivor and had by far the show's most dramatic exit.
Rupert on the other hand was the ultimate provider (even to the point of making him a criminal), won several challenges
for his tribe single-handedly and at the time was one of the great tragic characters. Seriously, Rupert is the
kind of person that the Greek tragedies are made around.
QUESTION: Who (from Okinawa) do you think could do well on the actual show and why?
MATT: If the survival aspects didn't eat her alive (which I'm pretty sure they would), I'd say Isabella
in a heartbeat. I'd say Mike, or maybe David would be two of the people more physically adept to the game and would
probably have the endurance necessary to finish it off.
QUESTION: Did you, ultimately, enjoy Okinawa?
MATT: For 21 days I went through living hell. I was taxed mentally more than I ever could have expected
in life, lived with some of the worst and most reviled people I could have ever expected to meet, and was a pawn
of god only knows how many people. Did I enjoy Okinawa? HELL YEAH! It was the most fun I think I’ve ever had, it
gave me some of the best friends I could have ever hoped for, and was a blast. In the game there were lots of low
lows, and lots of high highs, and truth be told, the high highs are much higher in my book than ANY of the low
lows. It was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had, and I honestly wouldn’t trade it for anything in
the world.
QUESTION: Anything you’d like to say in parting?
MATT: Yeah, one thing, and I think you all know what it is… *breathes in* I AM A GOLDEN GOD!!!!!!!!!!! (bet
ya didn’t see that one coming) Actually, I do want to say that I hope you all enjoyed the show, even if you didn’t
enjoy me. In parting, I wish y’all peace, love, and prosperity. This is Matt Carter, last surviving member of the
switched Satos, signing out.
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