Getting to Know the Cast - YASE Tribe
As stated in my previous blogs previewing the LUVU Tribe and the UA Tribe…
Survivor 41 is finally here! With only hours until the 41st season’s premier, it’s time to take a deeper look at the 18 castaways set to square off in the newly formatted 26 day adventure of a lifetime. For some, the dream of scheming at the water well, masterminding game changing blindsides, and pleading their case to the jury will come true. However, for others the tribe will speak quickly and see their torch get snuffed out by Probst prematurely ending their adventure before it ever gets started.
The 18 castaways have been split up into 3 tribes (Luvu, Ua, Yase) of 6 castaways each. Soon we will see tribes building their new societies at camp, new relationships created at challenges and alliances formed at the fire. From there the fun will begin with strategic decisions being made and possibly used against you in the game.
What do you do? Step up for the tribe in the puzzle or lay low? Inevitably, these 18 castaways will be making these decisions before our very eyes. So far, we only have 1 minute clips introducing us to the cast via Instagram. What can we learn or infer about each player? Hard to say. Maybe nothing. But, wouldn’t it be fun to read between the lines and speculate with a hot take or two of how these players might answer this puzzle decision? I think so.
If nothing else these 1 minute Instagram video clips will help me familiarize myself with each of the players, learn their names, learn what tribe they are part of, learn a drop or two about who they are, and if we’re lucky, get some insight into their character archetypes. Let’s do some analysis of these castaways, shall we?
The YASE Tribe
From Left to Right in yellow:
Xavier Hastings - age 21, App Developer from Chicago, IL
A 21 year old app developer, who runs 13 miles a day, is in tip top physical shape, and wants to be a good presence is a solid foundation. I love that he is an app developer because I feel like his process for creating apps could be of service to him on the island. Meaning, I hope that he makes user friendly apps, prides himself on having excellent customer service records, and willing to update the app to fix all bugs it may have to maximize the experience. I think puzzles should be an app developer’s strong point and combined with his physical strength he could be going viral this season.
David Voce - age 35, Neurosurgeon from Chicago, IL
“I will be the first to take my scalpel and stab somebody in the back.” David is not only smart (a neurosurgeon) but also very clever (scalpel line). He strikes me as the villain archetype out of the Russell Hantz school of game play. David will be an aggressive player. He will be seeking control in any form - power, idols, immunity, and information. He will be running the numbers and trying to solve the problems that camp life, challenges and the game will throw at him. David seems brilliant and if people aren’t careful I could see David going far in the game. Maybe even to the Final Tribal Council.
Liana Wallace - age 20, College Student from Washington, DC
A Georgetown student who wants “to lead with authenticity”. Without a doubt Liana’s authenticity has served her well in life. We learn in Liana’s Instagram video she’s a spoken word artist. Looked like she was performing at some open mic on campus, but hope to learn more about what “spoken artist” means. If she makes Final Tribal Council, she will deliver quite the speech as to why she deserves the million bucks. Words have a lot of power in Survivor and a spoken word artist should be at an advantage, but leading with authenticity might be a kryptonite for this Hoya.
Tiffany Seely - age 47, Teacher from Plainview, NY
Warning. There may be some bias in my opinion of Tiffany and her potential in the game. Now you may be asking yourself why? Well, like Tiffany, I too am a teacher from Long Island, NY and can relate to the tools that being a teacher equips you with for Survivor. Teachers are constantly challenged by the grunt work of the job, the kids, the parents, the curriculum demands, doing more with less, thinking on your feet, adapting to change on a yearly/monthly/weekly/daily/hourly/minute to minute basis. That’s Survivor! In this game you have to be aggressive and when the game throws you a curve ball, adapt to it and move forward just like a teacher does every single day in every single class! I think I have my other co-favorite in this race!
Eric Abraham - age 51, Cyber Security Analyst from San Antonio, TX
Our oldest male competitor is a military man having served in our Air Force which illuminates why he uses phrases like “getting to know his teammates”, “What’s their assets?”, What’s their liabilities?” and “always motivating them”. Eric’s words tell a bit more when you read between the lines. He is a leader. Probably always has been. If Survivor is going to be a grind it out struggle and you need a leader who’s been through intensive training, Yase will be lucky to have Eric. He won’t be afraid to take that often hit or miss “leader” role on Survivor. I think it’s in his nature. However, buyer beware Eric, sometimes that leader can be followed and sometimes they could be led themselves, right to Probst for your torch to be snuffed.
Evvie Jagoda - age 28, PhD Student from Arlington, MA
We all have an idea of who the people that attend Harvard are. We envision them being supremely intelligent (check), interestingly unique (check), and able to persevere in pursuit of their studies despite the immense demands that Harvard would put on any student (check). Evvie checks those boxes and more for me. It’s one thing to be a student at Harvard, but a PhD in human evolutionary biology at Harvard student? More impressive! When it comes to Probst’s challenge of how we would play the game, do the puzzle or take the back seat? I think we all could make a highly educated guess as to what Evvie would do. However, I think being the Harvard castaway can also work against you. It may be hard for others to relate to Evvie’s level of education and may think she is too smart and calculated. If so, her tribe will be sending her back to Cambridge without a million dollars to put toward paying for her education.
That’s it for getting to know the Yase Tribe. Be sure to read my other blogs for getting to know the Luvu Tribe and the Ua Tribe.
Looking forward to blogging about Survivor 41 all season long. Be sure to outlike, outcomment, and outshare the rest.
The blog has spoken!
