What An Idiot / Australian Survivor

Much like its American equivalent, the Australian series has seen its fair share of idiotic moves...

WARNING: Spoilers ahead are unmarked. You have been warned.

In General

• Revealing that you have a secret advantage or Hidden Immunity Idol and assuming that people will not use it against you.
• Not playing a Hidden Immunity Idol when there might be the slightest chance of you going home. Often times, people have been voted out of the game with an idol in their pocket. Even worse if you do not even bring it to Tribal Council.
• Not taking out the biggest threat in the game and going to the Final Tribal Council with them. You are guaranteed to not become the Sole Survivor if you do that, as you will be seen by the jury as a coattail rider at best and a goat at worst.
• Having somebody on the bottom state to you that they have a Hidden Immunity Idol, and you did not ask for them to physically show it to you.

2016

• After the second swap, Phoebe finds herself as the main target, but her ally Rohan has an idol and gives it to her to use. She informs him to put his vote on Sue that night so she would go home instead.
  You'd Expect: That he would do as he was told.
  Instead: He puts his vote on Kat instead after the two have a fight in Tribal Council.
  As a Result: After Phoebe plays the idol, the vote ends up being one vote Kat, one vote Sue, and two votes for Rohan, meaning that he pretty much accidentally voted himself out.
• Another Tribal Council of Vavau. A 4-person alliance of Craig, Sue, Kate and Conner has a majority, while Phoebe and Kristie (aka Aganoa girls) are in a minority.
  You'd Expect: That they would split their votes.
  Instead: All of them pile their votes onto Phoebe.
  As a Result: Phoebe plays her idol and sends Craig home.

2017

• At the merge, the Samatau Alliance are scrambling to form a plan to take out Luke. Michelle, however, is getting concerned that she isn't being pulled aside to discuss strategy and shares her concerns with Tessa.
  You'd Expect: That Tessa reassures Michelle that she's a solid number.
  Instead: She straight up tells Michelle that she's at the bottom of the Samatau Alliance.
  As a Result: Michelle is not pleased to hear this to say the least, and flips to the Asaga Four along with Henry and Locky resulting in Tessa's ally Jarrad getting blindsided.
• At the final ten, a plan is set into motion to blindside Henry. Just before the votes are read at Tribal Council, Henry's ally Locky senses that something is up and tells him to play his idol.
  You'd Expect: That Henry would realise that something is up and play his idol.
  Instead: He doesn't.
  As a Result: Henry is blindsided and becomes the first Australian to be voted out with an idol in his pocket.

Champions vs. Contenders (2018)

• Even for all his previous blunders on the US version, Russell Hantz is brought onto the show as a "Champion".
  You'd Expect: That after three seasons of being proven he isn't the greatest player ever, with the last season he played on involving people who actually know what he's capable of, he'd actually play differently for a change, or at least figure that what worked back home may not work with the Aussies.
  Instead: He decides to boast about his perceived greatness from his very first confessional, and upon arriving at camp, immediately starts hunting for idols and forms an alliance with Monika, aka a former Miss Australia, reasoning she'd be like Natalie, seemingly forgetting the latter beat him back in Samoa by playing up her perceived stupidity.
  As a Result: He is seen as an immediate threat and people are thinking of voting him out.
  Later On: To try and take some heat off him, he has the bright idea of flaunting his idol out in the open, while also creating multiple alliances to get people confused and to ensure at least a split in votes. At Tribal itself, he even wears it like his own personal Immunity Necklace, flip-flopping between saying he will and won't play it.
  You'd Expect: That he play it safe and use his idol, just to ensure he can survive the night.
  Instead: He doesn't.
  As a Result: The vote is split as predicted, but because he never played his idol at all, the re-vote allows him to be almost unanimously voted out by the tribe, just to finally get rid of him.
• Another missed idol play at the final ten of a season: At Tribal Council, Sharn suddenly stands up and announces that she's going to play her idol on Mat. Benji, who is planning on blindsiding Mat that night, then scrambles and persuades her to play it on herself. Flustered, she complies and plays it for herself.
  You'd Expect: That Mat would realise that there may just be a plot to take him out, and play his idol to cover himself.
  Instead: He doesn't.
  As a Result: Mat ends up voted out with an idol in his pocket.
• The very next episode, Benji finds himself a target. He checks in with Brian after the Immunity Challenge to make sure he's still onboard.
  You'd Expect: That Benji would tell a somewhat credible lie to keep Brian on side.
  Instead: He tells Brian that Sharn is planning to vote him out that night, completely oblivious to the fact that Brian is wearing the Immunity Necklace as he's talking to him.
  As a Result: Brian realises that Benji cannot be trusted, and he and Monika turn on him that night, managing to send him out of the game on the revote despite Shonee playing her Vote Steal to save him. For bonus points, Benji also walks out of the game with an idol in his pocket.
• This next blunder is inexcusable: At the final six, Brian's alliance has a 4-2 majority against the pairing of Sharn and Shane. Shonee and Fenella want them to split the vote to trigger a 2-2-2 tie in case one of the women have an idol, with the intention of taking out one of them on the revote. The girls plan to put their votes on Sharn, while Brian and Monika will vote for Shane.
  You'd Expect: That Brian would stick with the plan and put his vote on Shane.
  Instead: He changes his vote to Sharn because he's so annoyed with her after that night's Tribal Council.
  As a Result: Sharn indeed does play an idol, and because Shane only gets one vote, Fenella is idoled out of the game having gotten two votes. For bonus points, this boneheaded move pisses off Shonee big time, and she turns on Brian right afterwards.

All Stars

• It's the final nine, and Jonathan has revealed to the tribe that the next two votes will see three players with the highest votes (and six in total) be sent to Exile Beach to take part in two re-entry challenges. The three players who fail to win both challenges will be up for elimination at the next vote.
  You'd Expect: That the principle of "looking out for number one" would be kept in mind.
  Instead: Zach (who is in the majority Mokuta alliance) has the bright idea of volunteering himself to go to Exile, confident that he can win his way back into the game because he believes that it would look good on his resume to have come back from Exile twice. He fails to win both challenges and thus is vulnerable at the next vote.
  As a Result: Jacqui flips on the Mokuta alliance and Zach is voted out in a 4-3-2 vote. Even worse - when Zach explained his decision to the other players on Exile, AK immediately called him out in a confessional for how moronic his plan was.

Brains vs. Brawn

• After the first tribal swap, the new Brains tribe is heading to Tribal Council in a 6-3 alliance split, with Brains George and Cara working with four former Brawn members, leaving original Brains members Laura, Rachel, and Georgia on the bottom of the tribe. George knows Laura found a hidden immunity idol earlier, and makes a plan to flush it and weaken her group. The plan is to split the vote: three votes on Rachel, three votes on Georgia, and Laura's group casting three votes on whoever they choose of the six. If Laura plays the idol on Rachel or Georgia, then George's majority alliance can vote out whoever wasn't saved on the revote in a 5-2 majority.
  You'd Expect: George's alliance to remember who each person is supposed to vote for that night, and also remember that the plan is splitting the votes between Rachel and Georgia specifically because Laura holds the idol and can play it for herself.
  Instead: The group has trouble remembering who they are voting for, despite George telling them several times who is voting for Rachel and who is voting for Georgia.
  As a Result: Laura plays the idol for Rachel, negating the three votes cast against her. It's then revealed that the final vote count is three votes Daini (the target of Laura's group), two votes Georgia, and one vote Laura. Worse, it was Cara, George's closest ally in the game, who forgot who to vote for and voted for Laura. Thus, Daini is voted out despite what should have been an easy vote.
• Simon has two Hidden Immunity Idols. It's the last Tribal Council before the merge. Meanwhile, Chelsea and Dani (two of his allies) are planning on blindsiding him.
  You'd Expect: Simon to play one of his idols at Tribal Council.
  Instead: He doesn't play either of his idols.
  As A Result: He is blindsided and becomes the first Australian to be voted out with two idols in his pocket.
• George is a political operative that manipulates information to convince people for a living, thereby making him a potentially very difficult opponent at the Final Tribal Council should he make it. Moreover, throughout the season, he had made several moves to eliminate other castaways, building up an impressive résumé.
  You'd Expect: Everyone else to see George as a major threat and vote him off.
  Instead: Everyone seems to be content with letting him get to the end, becoming a bigger threat as the game nears its end. However, in the defense of the other contestants, George has gotten lucky every time he was on the chopping block, which has led many viewers to suspect the season of being rigged in his favour.
  As a Result: George is in the final three, along with Flick and Hayley.
  Later on: Hayley chooses George to sit next to her in the Final 2 after voting out Flick.
  You'd Expect: George to now use his charisma and political savvy to convince the jury to vote for him to win by defending his actions in a way that makes his actions admirable and to show respect for the jurors.
  Instead: George avoids directly answering many of the jury's questions, frustrating members who want direct answers or for him to admit to some of his more negative actions in the game, which he completely defends and refuses to admit he could have done things differently.
  As a Result: Because Hayley was able to directly answer the jury and show enough humility in her answers, Hayley wins the season 7-2.

Titans vs. Rebels

• Episode 8, Mark is upset about Viola being blindsided by the Middle-Aged Mafia - which noticed Mark's friendship with Viola - and wants revenge with a capital "R" by making his alliance perform a split vote, while defecting to the OG Rebels in order to blindside Caroline. During Tribal Council, though, as Sarah begins to talk to JLP, Eden manages to convince the Middle-Aged Mafia and Jaden to pile their votes onto Sarah. Fortunately for Mark, he plays his idol...
  You'd Expect: ...on Sarah, to save her and complete his revenge against Caroline by blindsiding her, giving his new alliance an advantage.
  Instead: ...on himself, where he negates just one vote against him from Rianna.
  Result: Sarah gets voted out in a 4-3-0 vote, and Mark is left grovelling to his old ally Caroline, who no longer trusts him, in the following episode.
• Episode 10, Aileen and Feras are on the bottom of the Titans tribe following the previous vote and both scramble to stay in the game, with Aileen posing as a double agent while Feras attempts and fails to make deals with Winna and Kirby. Come Tribal Council, as Aileen speaks to the original Rebels about trying to stay on the same page…
  You’d Expect: All tribemates to at least be respectful to Aileen as she speaks.
  Instead: A smug Charles suddenly rebukes Aileen and ultimately tells her that she’s not welcome in his alliance.
  Result: Both Feras and Aileen plan to target Charles.
  Even Worse: With this Tribal Council being an Immunity Challenge where only the first three people can vote, Aileen and Feras win the right to vote alongside Kirby.
  Fortunately: Winna reveals that he has a Hidden Immunity Idol to fellow Titan Valeria.
  You’d Expect: Winna to keep it cool and play the idol for Charles before JLP reads the votes.
  Instead: He decides to voluntarily throw himself on the sword in front of the Tribal Council, trying to get Aileen and Feras to vote for him instead, and goes on to play the idol for himself.
  Result: Noticing this, Aileen and Feras decide to split the vote between Winna and Charles, resulting in Charles being sent home on the re-vote 2-1 and a Hidden Immunity idol being wasted.
• Episode 16, Kirby decides to take control of the game by siding with the Titans and Rianna to vote out Aileen. However, the plan involves Aileen losing the Immunity Challenge and an ally Kirby intends to vote with winning.
  You’d Expect: Kirby to at least have a backup plan should the worst-case scenario happens.
  Instead: She puts all her eggs in one basket, flat out admitting in a confessional that she didn’t have a Plan B if Aileen won.
  Fortunately: Just when it seemed like Aileen was set to win Immunity, her blocks end up falling during the challenge, which opened the door for Kitty to win and Kirby to set her plan in motion.
• Episode 17, Alex decides to switch up to the Titans alliance, getting in on the idea to vote out Jaden. During Tribal Council, though, Kirby and Feras manage to convince several tribemates to switch the vote to Alex.
  You’d Expect: Alex to play his idol for himself. Mark manages to convince him to play it…
  Instead: …but Alex plays it on Valeria, negating only one vote.
  However: Alex only receives four votes that Tribal Council (since Raymond chose to flip after being convinced by Mark), with Jaden getting blindsided 5-4-0. His Idol play also builds some trust with Valeria for Alex.
• Feras and his ineptness with idols. For someone who can read some castaways “like a bloody book”, he sure can’t play a Hidden Immunity Idol properly to save his life:
  • Episode 4, after Peta was blindsided last Tribal Council, Feras’ alliance decide to split the vote between Alex and Tobias to get one of them out.
    You’d Expect: Feras to hold onto his idol. Yes, it’s a bit of a risk, but he should trust his alliance and keep his Idol for the time being.
    Instead: Feras reveals his idol in dramatic fashion by removing his hoodie, and then plays it.
    Result: While he does negate three votes, his idol gets pointlessly wasted.
  • Episode 9, the post-swapped Titans attend their first tribal council. While Feras and Garrick are determined to get rid of Kirby, Kirby has managed to convince several tribemates to vote for Garrick, including the OG Titans. However, Garrick notices this prior to the vote and tells Feras that he’s “going home”.
    You'd Expect: Feras to reveal his idol and play it on Garrick before the votes are read, thus saving his ally and blindsiding Kirby. Even Aileen tells him to play it as JLP tells the tribe now’s the time to play any hidden immunity idols.
    Instead: Feras, most likely due to the confusion involving Kelli potentially having an idol due to Kirby talking to her, does nothing.
    Result: Garrick gets voted out in a 5-3-1 vote, as Aileen kept saying to Feras "I told you".
  • Episode 16, Kirby sets her plan to eliminate Aileen in motion with the remaining Titans. During Tribal Council, though, Aileen manages to figure out that something is going on, yet isn’t exactly sure on who the target is for the Titans.
    You’d Expect: Given that Feras knows that there is something brewing due to Caroline and Kitty sending mixed messages prior to Tribal Council, he should at least consider the idea of using the idol to save Aileen and blindside Mark 4-0.
    Instead: Other than asking if Alex is going to use his idol, Feras does nothing for his ally again. He doesn’t even reveal his idol compared to Alex, who merely wears it around his neck, before telling JLP to read the votes.
    Result: Aileen gets blindsided 6-4. At least Feras figures out that Kirby was in on that vote, but that’s not saying much considering he let two of his allies get voted out by Kirby.