Survivor Exit Interview: Tyson Tells Us Who's Awesome

Tyson Apostol was one of two Survivor eliminations this week despite being in a majority alliance with a seemingly fool proof plan to get rid of either Russell or Parvati.  The only thing they didn't count on was Tyson himself, who switched his vote without telling anyone and inadvertently sent himself home.  I spoke with Tyson about why he made the risky move, if anyone had fun out there and how his tribemates rank on the awesomeness scale.

Sara Morrison: First things first: why did you switch your vote to Parvati?  The editing made it seem like Russell convinced you to do it.

Tyson Apostol: Yeah, that's incorrect.  I told Russell, Parvati, and Danielle that we were gonna split the votes on them.  And I said to Russell: "you gotta vote Parvati out or you gotta play the idol.  That's the only way to save yourself."  And then on the way to Tribal Council, I was thinking, 'you know, Parvati's smart, she's gonna vote for Russell.  I want Parvati gone more than Russell at this point, so I'll just throw another vote onto Parvati instead of Russell and counter her move' - well, the move I predicted she would make - 'thereby still sending her home.'  So that was what I was thinking.  I didn't tell anybody my plan, I just kinda just thought it through at Tribal Council while everything was going on.  I usually tune out anyways so it was a perfect time for me to think and, uh, I thought wrong.  So, oh well.

Sara: You've been on for two seasons now, and both times you were blindsided out of the game.  Do you think you overestimated your own intelligence or underestimated everyone else's?

Tyson: I overestimated everyone's intelligence.

Sara:  In that you made moves based on what you thought was the best strategic play for everyone else to make?

Tyson: Correct.  I really think Russell was just giving up right there.  I think that he knew that he was gone either way because the alliances he had made were so far in the minority that he was just like, "I know I'm gonna go out, I may as well not look like a complete assh*le and give the idol to Parvati and just bow out kinda gracefully."

Sara: It seemed like you were onto something early on when you wanted to keep Randy and vote Parvati out.  I think if your alliance listened to you then, you would still be in the game.

Tyson: I knew that, but at the same time early on you just have to go with the majority and ruffle as few feathers as possible.  I pushed for Randy as much as I could without making people angry or suspicious but it wasn't working.  People wanted Randy gone because they didn't feel he was good in the challenges, they didn't feel he was working around camp enough and stuff like that, so it was hard because I knew that every second that we left anybody that was against us -- and we won challenges and stuff already so we had plenty of time to kind of feel out the tribe and we immediately knew that Russell, Parvati and Danielle were on the outs -- you've got to squash out alliances as soon as you can because you just don't know what's gonna happen in the game.  There's so many factors and variables that if you don't get rid of the people you want out as soon as possible, a lot of times it comes back to bite you in the ass.

Sara: Did you guys have any fun out there?  I don't think viewers are getting a sense of that this season.

Tyson: It's kinda weird this season.  I had fun, but maybe I really didn't, watching TV.  I also remember talking, so I don't know what to believe now.  I always thought I had a good memory and stuff, but this is making me second-guess myself.

Sara: Your final statement to us the other night was that you are still awesome.  Can you rate your tribemates in order of awesomeness?  Obviously, you are the most awesome.

Tyson: Correct.  So, second most awesome to bottom ... Rob, Courtney, Coach, Sandra, Randy, Russell, Parvati, Jerri, Danielle.

Sara: I think that's about it --

Tyson: Do you want to rate the tribe in awesome?  I just want to see how far we differ.

Sara: Well, I really don't like Russell.  I put him at the bottom.  And I'll put you at the top, just so you don't get mad.

Tyson: Okay, who would you really put at the top if you weren't talking to me on the phone?

Sara: Hmm ... you know, I like Sandra a lot for some reason, you know, as a viewer.  She's hilarious.  I don't know that I'd feel the same way if I actually had to live with her, though.  Same with Courtney.

Tyson: Where would Coach be?

Sara: Wow, I don't know, I mean, I hated him on your first season but this season he somehow became more lovable so ... probably somewhere in the middle, I guess.  And Danielle, I have no idea where she falls on the awesomeness scale because I have no idea who she is still.  She's invisible.

Tyson: Do you like hanging out with people who have no clue about anything?

Sara: Not usually, no.

Tyson: Okay, so she might be closer to the bottom for you, then, too.  

Sara: And Randy, he was fun to watch but I can't imagine he's any fun to hang out with in real life.

Tyson: No, he's quite a pessimist.  

Sara: Yeah, so you were stuck with a bunch of drags this season.

Tyson: Well, either that or a bunch of bores with the Heroes tribe.

Sara: So you did about as well as you probably could with the people you were with.  And then you got a vacation, so, all in all, not bad.

Tyson: It all worked out in the end.