LAST EDITED ON 01-13-02 AT 06:26 PM (EST)

This is something I had been thinking about doing while S3 was still going, but I never got around to it. Now that S3 is over, and the S4 start is almost upon us, I thought I look back at the S3 audition tape clips to see if there's anything we could have used to spoil the show. If we can do a similar analysis of the S4 audition tape clips, maybe it will help us out in our spoiling. First, I’ve made a list of the content of each clip, and then give my analysis of what I think some of it means. I haven’t come up with meaning in all of them, so maybe others can add to this.

All of these clips were shown during the preview show the week before S3 started. I have not included anything from any more extensive clips that might have been shown during post-boot interviews, or on the Insider (which I haven’t seen, and which would be irrelevant for future spoiling, since they weren’t seen till after the show was over). I’ve interspersed some comments below with the transcripts, and then added more afterwards.

1. Silas: Sitting, displaying huge grin. “I’m a big family man. I wanna support my wife and kids, totally. If she’d like to work, she can work, though. I don’t wanna - you know - politically correct here.”

Cheesy politician. Doofus. Trying too hard to say the “right” thing. Thinks he’s a player, but he’s really more of a used-car salesman. Technically, he was booted because of his physical strength, but really, it was because of how badly he was playing the game.

2. Carl: In his dentist’s office, wearing scrubs. “I’m not your typical dentist. Most of them are fat and bald-headed and divorced. Not me. Completed six marathons - Survivor’s easy.”

Clearly thinks of a lot of himself. Shows contempt for others who are not like him.

3. Jessie: Working out in her living room. “Why do I think I’ll make the ultimate Survivor? I’m a Puerto Rican female! The heat? The rice? Bring it on!” Starting up her police cruiser. “I’m ready to go to work. See ya!”

Turns out she couldn’t handle the heat.

4. Tom: Driving a golf cart on his farm, with goats and dogs following. It’s hard to tell exactly what he’s saying (big surprise). “C’mon, we’re goin’ to Survivor. Whee-hoo! C’mon doggies, here we go. It’s the big show. We’re gonna be a star.”

He was the star, but not the winner.

5. Clarence: Flexing in his tighty-whities, wearing some kind of championship belt. “Hours in the gym. Hours on the court. Pumping iron. Cardiovascular. All-state, number one.”

Wasn’t number one. Strong focus on physical ability. He was voted out because of his strength. Also, if he had any mental strength and/or ability (blatantly absent from this clip), he wouldn’t have screwed up in the beginning, and might have been able to make better bonds and alliances.

6. Teresa: Standing in the woods, wearing workout clothes. Cuts briefly to sitting in a room. “I’ve got a lot of endurance, a lot of skills, a lot of energy. This is my lucky bullet. Start getting my fire going, start rubbing those sticks together.”

She did have a lot of endurance and energy. But that lucky bullet didn’t help her much when Carl was voted out, mostly by chance. Despite strokes of good luck later (the switch, the rock-paper-scissors win for immunity), she never recovered from the early bad luck.

7. Kelly: Standing in a bar, wearing a cheerleader skirt and an “I Make Boys Cry” T-shirt. “This is how much I love Survivor: I’ll wear this asinine outfit, to a bar, on a Sunday night, all for the love of the show.”

“Pay attention to meeeeeeeeee!” B!tch.

8. Frank: On top of a telephone pole. Gets attacked by stuffed lion and kills it. “I understand you’re putting together a series, looking for some Survivors to be on an adventure. Well, I’m just the man you want.”

I don’t have much to say here, other than that he seems a bit gruff. I actually thought this was funny.

9. Kim J.: Walking through her house. “I wanna be there, I wanna kick that young butt, I wanna play the game, and I wanna win the freakin’ million dollars, and I can do it!”

10. Brandon: Sitting at a table. Low battery sign is flashing in the upper right corner. “I would be a great contestant. No one would suspect me, and I would totally win the million dollars. And look around, I could totally use it.”

He wasn’t a great contestant, and everyone did suspect him. Symbolism in the low battery?

11. Diane: Sitting at a table. “You know, with Diane Ogden, what you see is what you get, and you won’t be disappointed. I can hunt, I can cook, I can fish.”

Well, with Diane, we saw a Debb-like person with freakish hair, and we thought she would be the first one gone. Sure, those weren’t the reasons she got voted out, but we still got the prediction correct. Also, she didn’t recite many useful skills, since hunting and fishing weren’t allowed.

12. Kim P.: Sitting in a bubble bath. “You asked if we had any body art or tattoos, and I do. I have a small red rose tattoo. But you’ll have to put me on the show to find out where it is.”

Cute, but that’s about it.

13. Lindsey: Riding mountain bike topless. “I think I can. I think I can. I know I can. Woo hoo! Haaaaa!”

She couldn’t. Annoying, in your face. Thinks she’s all that.

14. Linda: Backyard camping in the winter. Strips down to tanktop. “My motto: Life! The ultimate adventure. I think it’s about ten degrees out here. I’m very strong willed. Most importantly, I get the game. I understand the social politics.”

Apparently, she didn’t understand the social politics.

15. Lex: Drumming. “One, two, three, four.” Sitting in a room. “If I have to go digging in the dirt with my bare hands, looking for a worm, I’m gonna do it!” Drumming. Cuddling with dogs.

16. Ethan: Sitting in a room. “I loved Tina. I thought she was hot.” Playing soccer. Yells something like “Aaaaawsooooooome!” or maybe “Goooooaaaaaal!” but it’s hard to tell.

Many of these clips show personality traits that played strong roles in getting the person booted. Silas, Lindsey, Kelly (sort of), Clarence (sort of - it was what was missing - mental strength, that was his downfall). In some others (Carl, Teresa, Kim P., Lex, Frank), while it wasn’t reason they got booted, we at least see what their personalities will be like.

Many of them make overt statements about the reasons why they will win, but it was the opposite. Jessie, Linda, Brandon, Clarence, Teresa (sort of - she didn’t say she was lucky, but she talked about her lucky bullet).

What I think is very interesting is that anyone who was shown saying they were going win, didn’t win. The actual winner, Ethan, instead made a positive reference to the previous winner. When I first saw these, I noticed this right away, and I thought maybe it meant Ethan would win, but I just thought it was a coincidence - would MB be so blatant? It does seem odd. Just like the editing of the show, these clips are highly edited - we are only shown 5-10 seconds of a 3 minute video. As with the show, MB can manipulate these clips to show us what he wants to show us.

Another thing I think is interesting is trying to figure out Kim J.’s clip, because the interpretation is a little different depending on whether we think MB knows the winner or not beforehand. Kim stated she would win the million dollars, and she also stated that she would kick that young butt. If MB knew Ethan won, than her clip fits very well with the others, since she didn’t win, and didn’t (ultimately) kick that young butt. If MB didn’t know the winner, then all this analysis may not be as useful. I don’t know.

Overall, I do think these clips told us a lot. If someone said they would win, they didn't. If someone gave a reason why they would win, that reason was their downfall. This may or may not help, if we can do this kind of analysis for S4 beforehand, but it's worth trying.

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