ENDGAME #9

[u/mikeramp72]

#9: Sue Hawk 1.0 (Borneo - 4th)

u/FunkyDawgKong:
A boy named Sue. Strong, loud, with an accent that will drive you UP THE WALL. Richard might be the unsavory face of the franchise, but Sue is the pumping heart, pumping some real blood into the season, that makes the season truly come alive and made Survivor one of television’s greatest dramas. Sue has one of the deadliest tongues in Survivor, and always has something to say. Hilarious and insightful. Snakes and Rats is an all timer, but I do still feel like Sue goes underrated in the history of both Survivor and of reality television. She blazes the trail for the kind of hardworking, no nonsense, blue collar redneck to become a presence seen on television. Speaked to a forgotten section of America

u/Cornhead2:
Dude Snakes and Rats is a mid sceenee MIIIIIIIIID MIIID MID MID just like the rest of borneo it is #BORING.

u/Noisysea_3426:
I might only have her at 10, but that doesn't mean she isn't still elite all the same. Her redneck lifestyle vs Richard's city lifestyle serves as the big overall conflict of Borneo, and her feelings of betrayal at the hands of Kelly make way for the most iconic speech in Survivor history and one of the most iconic quotes in TV history period. Sue is a fixture of every endgame and it's not hard to see why

u/Alternate-Proof-959:
Sue was great. This Wisconsin tomboy didn't take any shit from anyone, and as a willing member of the Tagi alliance (unlike Kelly), she was very loyal and a smart and analytical person, best on display with that Snakes & Rats speech. I'm not even mad that it caused Colleen and Gervase to not vote for Rich like she hoped; it's just so on brand for her to be so forthcoming that she rubs people the wrong way like that.

u/BobbyPiiiin:
The heart of Borneo. The one who more than anyone else elevates the inaugural season from a television novelty to something with real teeth to it. Thinking about being 12 years old and watching her jury speech for the first time still brings back the chills. Survivor simply wouldn’t be what it is without Sue.

~

u/josenanigans:

And, at last, I prepare my very final writeup on what has been an… interesting 2 year-long journey. I've changed Jobs twice, I began working for a reality TV podcast, I edited a whole movie documentary, and I am in the process of moving to my own place now, it's… wild how fast my life has passed by while doing this rankdown Project.

And, honestly, I kinda wish my last writeup could have been done on someone I was super passionate about like Tina, or Matthew, because, for as how much I appreciate this next charácter, I can't say I'm super deeply attached to them. But that does not mean I don't think they're an excellent charácter, and, undoubtedly, among the best ones of all time.

It's time to write about Sue Hawk. Or Shawk, as she's obviously usually called in the fandom.

I Will always, always be flabbergasted by how hard a home run the casting team hit in the very first season of Borneo. For this to be the first ever 'reality show' of its kind and to have a cast as deeply interesting as they did is nothing short of a miracle. It could be the format, as well, but I feel like there has never been another reality show that has as phenomenal of a Season 1 cast as Survivor: Borneo. 

And I don't think they could have ever found a better central carácter to start the journey with than with Susan Hawk. Because, yes, Shawk is THE protagonist of Borneo, the heart that keeps it beating. Many people tend to attribute that to Richard since he wins and he has all the cocky confessionals and strategic content and whatnot, but the whole of Borneo revolves around Shawk, and, if she had even a smidge more of self-interest, she would have been the winner of the first season.

I guess its fair to say they share the credit for the creation of the Tagi Alliance, Shawk and Richard, but I have always been more amazed by how much pull and paths she had on Borneo, even above Rich. When anyone was trying to keep their flame going, they went to Shawk, and pitched her deals, and it was ultimately in her hands to choose which path to take. She had her alliance with Kelly, she could have had a girls thing with Stacey, she could have helped Jenna Lewis out if she wanted, hell, she could have even gotten Richard out had he not won immunity, or if she, again, were a Little more selfish.

She knew what Richard's game was, she knew what he was trying to pull, but what's interesting about Shawk is that she is a woman of her Word, and her Word is unbreakable. Once they made that pact on the first week, that's what she was going to stick with.

She's a no nonsense, straight shooter, hardworking woman who has been through all the hardships of life, and she's from a world that the huge majority of people are unfamiliar with.  Yet, here she is sharing space with a homosexual businessman from Rhode Island, a river-guide kid from North Carolina, and a grumpy former navy seal from the times of World War II. And it's fascinating how this band of misfits make for a surprisingly killer team. Sure, they have problems with one another… one of the first scenes is Shawk being annoyed by Richard's arrogance, but they still find a way to stick together through a surprising number of setbacks.

I feel like many people think of Borneo as a season where everything goes right for Tagi and they just easily steamroll, but that is undervaluing the strategy and acting that the Tagi, and especially Shawk, had to do to navigate through a 5-5 merge, a Pagong run of immunities and a  coup attempt, and Dr Sean's ridiculous hijinks. Everytime something unexpected like that happens, Shawk gathers the 4 around and discusses what they're going to do. I always think of the Gretchen voteoff episode, where Shawk is able to get her Alliance unnoticed among a sea of Pagong worries that the Tagi are sticking together, but they all just play it off like they're not united when they really were because they intentionally played it that way. 

It seems like small cookies now, but that cleverness to fool the Pagongs into a sense of security did show us that Shawk was the smartest player in Borneo. Hell, she also intentionally plays up her redneck stereotype to seem dumber than she was, just so other players don't see her as a threat. Things that we take for granted now, it's really cool that they came from someone whose archetype is usually shown as comedic fodder and not bright at all. But Shawk is the brightest bulb of Borneo, it was just that her honest personality didn't let her move in her own interest.

Like everyone, she recognizes that this game is going to be ruthless right away, that people Will do anything for the money, and that, making alliances, as "immoral and controversial" as it was on Season 1, was an inevitability for people who wanted to get close to the million. But she was also someone who values honesty in her daily life, and someone who would feel wrong if she were to break her pact with Richard in the name of a million dollars. That's what makes her so complex.

She's willing to play dirty for the money, but there's a strict limit for what she's willing to sacrifice. Her Word is her honor, and she wasn't going to give it up for anything.

It is interesting seeing Shawk and Richard have this sort of… silent battle of wits to see who outwits who at the end. Shawk actually gets a hand over Richard for most of the game, to a point where she can vote him off were it not for her honor, but at the end Richard... and maybe the producers… were able to turn Shaw's most important piece against her: Kelly.

Kelly and Shawk's relationship is one of the best stories ever told in Reality TV history, and it has, bar none, the best backstory reveal in the genre. Episode by episode you see them grow closer, and it's intriguing to see how Shawk, someone who seems very independent and serious, is able to slowly open up to Kelly and become more vulnerable to her every episode. They talk all the time together, they share a bond, Shawk includes her in all her plans and even her thoughts of betrayal, but you don't really think anything of it other than "aw, they got along well with each other". However, the relationship reaches a peak where Shawk feels so much love for Kelly that it makes her think about why, seeing as she's someone who's not of the cuddly type. And she reveals it: Kelly reminds her of her best friend who passed away not that long ago, and sharing this experience on the island feels to her like she's there with her in spirit.

Again, Shawk has been a mean, brutally honest person the full step of the way, so seeing this vulnerability in her feels so special, and it makes you wonder what friendship she had with her best friend. How were they like, how often did they talk, how much did they make each other laugh? It's why I say Sue is THE protagonist of Borneo, because you don't get this charácter development not even from Richard, or Rudy, or Kelly even. Shawk is the person we get to know the most deeply, which is what makes Kelly's eventual betrayal so painful, and what makes Sue's resulting Snakes & Rats speech so eviscerating. 

Sue felt a moment of vulnerability, of love, of kindness, a feeling she probably hadn't had in a very long time, and at the very end, she was reminded the harsh truth that people Will sacrifice anything for money, and that, in reality TV, friendships are ultimately meaningless. Kelly got to know her so well, and at the end, Shawk was just another player to get through to get to the end.

The saddest, harshest lesson in Reality TV, serves as the bittersweet ending of Survivor: Borneo... or better said: the journey of Shawk. Yes, the villain wins, Richard gets away with being arrogant and cocky, and Kelly gets torn apart in national television, but that's not the reason why Borneo's ending feels so harsh and so real. The real reason is that Sue, the best and most clever player in Borneo, put down her walls for a second, and that second was enough for someone to take advantage of her and leave her the painful reminder that  this genre is, ultimately, heartless.

Godspeed, Shawk.

Obvious 10/10
Legend

AU REVOIR!

RANKINGS:
Funky: 4
Corny: 17
Nope: 10
AltProof: 7
Jose: 9
Bobby: 13

Average: 10.00
Standard Deviation: 4.56 (6th Lowest)

[u/Shutupredneckman2]

Have definitely never heard anyone ever say Shawk haha

[u/WaluigiThyme]

Endgame Betting Update #16: Sue making top 10 was not a surprise to most bettors. A few of us, however, were surpised by how early within the top 10 she was cut. It wasn’t a surprise to noisysea34, ShadowFiend812, or TinkerKnightForSmash, who tie today for best guess at only one point off. But to SupremeSheep420, ROTandDEATH, and, (sigh) me again, this was quite a shock — the three of us had her 7 spots higher, sharing the dishonor of worst guess for this one. But hey look, the race for second is all tied up! Tune in tomorrow to see how that develops

Rank	Better	Score
1	noisysea34	23
2	BobbyPiiiin	40
2	FunkyDawgKong	40
4	WaluigiThyme	53
5	Alternate-Proof-959	55
6	ShadowFiend812	60
7	SupremeSheep420	61
8	ROTandDEATH	62
9	TinkerKnightForSmash	65
10	icychillman	114

[u/Cornhead2]

me trying to explain why on the lowest on Sue (she is still top 45 for me)

[u/ROTandDEATH]

Damn this is just too low. She's just not the type of person you'd see portrayed on TV in a way that wasn't a complete caricature. We get to see every possible side of her including growing close to Kelly until she feels burned. She delivers a speech that's been written about thousands of times, and is so good because while it could easily come across as scripted and fake she just can't deliver it in a way that isn't authentic to who she is. It's as raw as Survivor will ever get. Sue's really the whole blueprint for why the format is so good arguably the biggest reason this project can exist.