Usually, it is customary before playing a game with relatively high stakes (like, say, a million dollars, for example) to scout out the competition a little bit. You know, do a little film study, find out exactly what you’re up against. What their strengths are that need to be neutralized. What their weaknesses are that can be exploited. So, how much of that did Jerri Manthey do leading up to her appearance on Heroes vs. Villains? How about…none! Heck, she doesn’t even know whom she was playing against! “I do not know who everyone is that’s here,” she admitted to me in Samoa just before the game began. “The people I played in All-Stars with — I know them. Some of them I’ve met before, some of them I’ve met very briefly, and some of them I have no idea who they are. Honestly, I don’t even know their names.” [Jerri claims she's back in Black Widow mode, plus exclusive video after the jump.]
Ooooooookay, then! Yet contrary to that quote, Jerri insists that she has come to play this time around, unlike her experience on All-Stars, when her mission was to show people she wasn’t the villain she was portrayed to be on The Australian Outback. (That didn’t work out so well, as she was literally booed off the stage at the All-Stars reunion show.) “Honestly I just feel like All-Stars, I went into it in such a vulnerable place trying to make the public like me as a person,” she told me. “And I realized very quickly that regardless of what you do, people have an idea of who you are. So this time my strategy is to come back to the Jerri I was in Australia — the fearless Jerri.”
I believe that. But I also believe that Jerri might have more difficulty then she thinks in building social relationships. When I visited the Villains camp on day two, the whole tribe was hanging out down by the water, except for Jerri and Randy. The fact that she has so few relationships with the people she is playing with and against could cost her here. And I don’t believe that the people she does know and has played with (Colby, Rupert, Boston Rob) are exactly scrambling to align with her. As Jerri herself said, “I think Colby would be a great ally. Whether he’s down for that or not is a whole other story.” (Answer: no.)
The one thing in Jerri’s favor is that no one seems particularly concerned about her, which is surprising in that Jerri is not someone to just sit back. She will make moves. (Remember: It was Jerri that vocally spearheaded the ouster of Tina and was very vocal about getting rid of all the previous winners in All-Stars.) If the big targets on her tribe like Parvati and Boston Rob come after each other, Jerri could possibly lay low for a while, but if it comes down simply to familiarity and popularity, then she’s in a lot of trouble. Hopefully, she’ll at least know everyone’s names by the time they’re voting her out.
To hear Jerri embrace the dark side, and get Jeff Probst’s take on Jerri getting booed of the stage at the All-Stars reunion, check out the video below. This is the 19th in a series of daily profiles on the contestants of Survivor: Heroes Vs Villains. If you missed our first 18 (including Russell, Boston Rob, Cirie, and Parvati), there are links to all those players below the video. And to enjoy interviews with all the Heroes and Villains, head over to our super special Survivor video hub. Last up tomorrow: Rupert Boneham. Oh, and for Survivor scoop delivered right to you, follow me on Twitter @EWDaltonRoss. Okay, take it away, Jerri…
Cirie says she'll win because "I'm a gangsta in an Oprah suit."
Shocker! Boston Rob says, "I don't see how I can lose."
Sugar wants a showmance with J.T.
Randy claims it's "under the radar time"
Amanda insists "I’m gonna be a bulldog this time. No apologies, bitches."
Why the hell is Tom Westman back?
Is Danielle Russell's new Natalie?
Can anyone take Coach seriously?
Candice says that "being a hero is kinda cheesy"
Will Stephenie's shoulder dislocate her from the game?
Has Colby learned from his mistake with Tina?
Sandra says "I'm a good girl, I promise." Anyone believe that?
J.T. is gunning for Cirie and trying to avoid a showmance
Courtney calls herself overrated
Can Tyson back up all the tough talk?
Why everyone wants Parvati gone…and fast
Which woman is going to stab James in the back this time?
Image Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS
So happy Jerri is back! Can’t wait to see her and Colby go at it again.
I love Jerri. It’s so funny how she was this huge villain in her season, but if you go back and watch, she was actually pretty tame compared to today’s truly sadistic castaways (RUSSELL).
You were wrong with the winners in All-Stars. It was Jenna L who did that not Jerri!!!
I love her body,
The ironic thing is that, in All-Stars, barring the Lex & Kathy’s boneheaded move where they voted her out to save Amber right before the merge, she would have cruised all the way to final 6 or 7 – minimum.
Agreed, Lex and Kathy played right into Boston Rob’s hands. And yes, it was Jenna Lewis who wanted all the previous winners off asap.
Where is Johnny Fairplay? You can’t have a season of Villains without him. That so many people hate him is proof enough that he should be there. The biggest liar of all time and they didn’t have him back? This show has no right to be called Heroes vs Villains without that liar there to mix things up. BOO HISS! Very disappointed that he isn’t there. I hated him too but that’s what a villain is last I checked.
He wasn’t asked back because he asked to be voted off on Micronesia, and if there’s anything Jeff Probst hates more than a quitter, I don’t know what it is
Johnny Fairplay WAS my fav after the grandma lie. That was freaking awesome! However, in the all stars game he flat out quit. Villians are not quitters. I’m okay with him being gone.
Who was the person that passed away that they showed on the screen at the end of the show last night?
Jenn Lyon, a contestant on Survivor Palau who made it to the Final 4 before losing against Iam in a fire challenge. She developed breast canncer after the season aired.
@ Robin:
She was a contestant on Survivor: Palau, and she passed away due to cancer a while back.
I feel sorry for Colby because of Jerri being on again. The poor guy can NOT play Survivor, a game he loves, without having this witch either all over him like a bad rash, or immediately trying to vote him out just because she was a woman scorned. Aside from that, I do have to say there are only two Survivor players who have caused me to actually literally stand up and cheer. One was when Russell H. found the third hidden immunity idol on Samoa. The other was when Jerri got voted off in Australia.