Got Conflict? (Episode 3, Chapter 8)
In many ways, Episode 3 was all about John Rocker. He may have thought he was doing his best but, his failure to keep Val from going home spurred on an array of conflict in both tribes. That being said, I do feel a little bad for the guy because he honestly thought that Val had an immunity idol and, he told her to play it. She shouldn’t have lied to him but, what’s done is done.
Speaking of things that shouldn’t have been said, I don’t think John Rocker exercised much forethought when he blatantly told Jeff Probst that he had been trying to keep a promise to Jeremy by protecting Val. He seemed completely oblivious to the shocked expressions of his male tribe members when he made this confession. Although he may not have realized it at the time, John essentially launched his tribe into a great deal of substantive conflict.
For the men in the Coyopa tribe, this evidence of John’s hidden agenda showed complete disregard for their alliance and the corresponding group goal. John’s hidden goal to ensure Julie’s safety had interfered with the goal of the men’s alliance and, this was not to be tolerated. For this decision, John Rocker was ultimately voted out.
It follows, however, that John’s failure to protect Val resulted in conflict for the Hunahpu tribe, also. For this tribe, affective conflict arose when Jeremy became emotional and upset that John had let his wife be sent home. Jeremy’s anger towards John turned into affective conflict as he decided to take on an opinion-giver role and tell his tribe all about John’s history of racist, sexist, and homophobic remarks. In turn, this made Jeremy’s tribe members become angry and aggressive which, subsequently, put Julie in a very uncomfortable spot. For the Hunahpu tribe, this was a potentially destructive conflict because it isolated Julie and may affect the tribe’s future ability to collaborate effectively.
In fact, the discord within the Hunahpu tribe was palpable at the end of the immunity challenge when tempers flared and tribe members let it be known that they were not a fan of John’s poor reputation. Most notably, however, was the way that Natasha lashed out at John in a way that the Coyopa tribe sarcastically referred to as “classy”. When it comes to gender responses to conflict, Natasha’s reaction was viewed negatively whereas Missy’s choice to seek out and comfort Julie when the conflict arose was a much more acceptable and expected gender response.
On the other hand, back at the Coyopa tribe, John’s decision may have resulted in a much more constructive conflict. There definitely was some procedural conflict as the tribe members tried to figure out who would be voted out at tribal counsel but, after careful negotiation, the male members of Coyopa decided to take on a compromise-conflict strategy with the two remaining women tribe members. The men decided that it was was worthwhile to break their alliance with John and let the women buy a little more time in order to let go of a member who was operating with a hidden agenda. As Jeff Probst said, hopefully this will prove to be a well-timed blindside for the Coyopa tribe.
