Remi Town

 Season 2

Winner: Ruby

This season featured 3 returning players: Ana, and Sabrina, who had placed 2nd and 3rd in the first season, and Nico. I decided to use this as an interesting twist leading into this game, assuming Ana and Sabrina would plan to work together as tightly as they had before.

When dividing into teams, Ana and Sabrina were presented as Team Leaders, Sabrina wearing yellow for the Herbert Team, and Ana wearing Purple for the Von King Team. This title came with no real responsibility, but served as a target placed upon their back, and a bit of perceived weight on their shoulders. The Herbert team consisted of Patty, Colleen, Gwen, Ari, Sabrina, Amy, Tair, and Mayo. The Von King team consisted of Ana, Madison, Hazza, Isabel, Riley, Ruby, Nico and Madeline.

Notable Relationships

Patty and Colleen (Herbert) were best friends.

Sabrina and Ari (Herbert) were dating.

Ari (Herbert) and Riley (Von King) were best friends.

Isabel, Ruby (Von King) and Mayo (Herbert) were all former roommates.

Amy (Herbert) and Ana (Von King) were roommates.

Ana (Von King) and Patty (Herbert) were coworkers.

Nico was the first to go, prompted by Madison. As Madison would return in the next season, this move would carry over in the future. After Herbert lost only the 2nd challenge, Von King would go on to continue a steady losing streak until right before the merge. When the Herbert team was faced with losing one of their own, they sacrificed Gwen in an unanimous vote, as she was the only player without pre-existing relationships. This was the same reasoning used when Von King voted out Riley.

Team Swap

When the teams experienced a swap, each team was given a list of the other team’s members and told to circle the three players they would like to “steal”. As a result, Patty, Ari, and Mayo joined Von King, while Ana, Hazza, and Madison joined Herbert.

When Von King then went to Elimination, the original members revealed that Ana had warned them that Patty would be a threat in this game, and that she would have a strong hold over the other team. As a result, the group voted out Patty. Coming out of this move, they would later come to regard this as a strategic lie by Ana, causing tension and resentment at the merge. As Von King continued to lose, the remaining members continued to grow stronger as a collective group. First losing Ari, then Maddy, the threesome of Mayo, Isabel, and Ruby (who came into the game knowing only one another, and with a pre-existing commitment to stay aligned), solidified their bond. When it came time to vote between the 4 of them, the Von King team scrambled together to find the hidden immunity idol, then solemnly decided to vote out Madeline. When Madeline came to find that Mayo had found the idol prior to this and had concealed it from her, she felt betrayed. This was Madeline’s reasoning for voting against Mayo in the finale, potentially costing her the game.

Right before the merge, Herbert lost the last team immunity challenge, and used the vote to blindside Colleen. Colleen had a dramatic reaction to this decision. In contrast to the game before it, this season’s jury bonded over their shared sense of betrayal, and the tension was felt by all throughout the game.

The Merge

The two teams went into the merge with seemingly uneven numbers. For Von King: Mayo, Ruby, and Isabel. For Herbert: Hazza, Colleen, Sabrina, Amy, Madison, Tair, and Ana. The alliance of 3 was up against a group of 7.

What then happened was astounding to those watching. The minority alliance of 3 went on to become the final 3 at the end of the game, through making alliances with the other 7 and convincing them to turn on one another.

At the first elimination after the merge, the votes were split: Isabel and Mayo voted for Sabrina, while the other 7 voted for Isabel. When Mayo used her idol to save Isabel, and Sabrina also used an idol, the only vote left was Ruby’s vote for Hazza, sending them home in a shocking turn.

The group of 3, pitted against the alliance of 5, were able to then convince Madison to vote with them in the double elimination that followed, voting out Amy and Sabrina. They then immediately betrayed Madison, who was the next to go. Upon Madison’s exit, tensions ran high as they called the alliance of 3 out on their deception. From then on, the Von King 3 had the numbers to control the final 2 votes, eliminating Tair and Ana one after the other.

In the Finale, Isabel, Mayo, and Ruby had to then explain to a very bitter jury how they had made different moves. As Isabel had been the most aggressive in her play, and perhaps one of the more controversial players of the season in her direct and argumentative approach at Eliminations, she received only one vote from the jury. The rest of the votes were split evenly between Ruby and Mayo, resulting in a tie. It was then Isabel’s decision, and she awarded Ruby her final vote, making her the winner of the second season.

Ruby is believed to have won because of her social game, ability to make friends, and the relative lack of aggression with which she handled her play. She had also won the final immunity challenge after a hard battle, contributing to her arc.

The amount of tension felt throughout the game, and especially at the end as the jury addressed the remaining players, stood in stark contrast to the previous season. It overall had a less friendly, more competitive tone.

Photography by Maeve Bradley