Zach McKay

***Zach*** (more commonly known as **Zeebem**) was a castaway on Essential Survivor: Anarchy

## Anarchy

All sixth placers are iconic, right? Zeebem is no exception.

Yes, the guy started off slow. In fact, he didn’t do a ton in the first episode - he didn’t need to, having proved himself as a strong competitor by winning immunity in the first challenge. However, his game took off for real in the second challenge, where he lost immunity and attended tribal. Even though he felt wary of her, Zeebem took this opportunity to work with Jess, connecting himself to the “Barney nexus” and voted off Cillian alongside the majority.

In fact, going into the next episode, Zeebem became increasingly close with Barney and Mink. At this point, Joseph and Barney had devolved into full blown rivalry, and Zeebem was included on the plan to throw the challenge to attend tribal and blindside Joseph. Zeebem executed this successfully, getting on Barney’s good side by sending Joseph packing without a hitch. However, Zeebem was already plotting ways to seize control of the game from Barney.

Over the next episode, the game began to happen around Zeebem, rather than with him at the center of it. He began to get into his own head about losing, thinking he needed immunity. Unfortunately for Zeebem, he didn’t receive it. However, his positioning was better than he expected it to be, and he even noted Finley’s skyrocket in social capital over the next tribal. Ultimately, Jayla had made herself an easy target and Zeebem joined the majority in sending her home.

Come the tribe swap, Zeebem was sent to the Nui Tribe, alongside Alison, Finley, Jessica, Lauren - people that were on his radar. Zeebem started to target Lauren due to their lack of connection. He even had dreams about the ORG. However, a common occurrence in Zeebem’s story is winning a challenge before things get good, and this happened for the Nui Tribe. Nui won once again in the subsequent episode as the fireworks lit on Rapa.

The thing is, when a tribe finally attends tribal, it’s bound to get chaotic. Just that happened at Nui, and Zeebem noticed that even in the madness, his name did not come out a single time. He started to feel unsafe because of his own safety. Later, he noted that Jessica and Alison seemed to be in control of the tribe, and the two wanted Finley out due to her spreading too much information and misinformation. Zeebem, both annoyed with Finley and in a sense of preserving any long-term positioning in the tribe, was happy to oblige. When Nui won their third tribal immunity the next episode, Zeebem began to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

….But, come merge, everything came crashing down. He immediately felt awful as the merge began. Ironically, he was fine, and found himself in an enviable spot: the middle. Barney’s once secure nexus fractured into Barney, Mink, and Charles against Alison and Jessica…and the girls had the backing of the majority of the tribe. Zeebem decided to vote out Barney then and there, knowing full well how much of a threat he was and being unwilling to stir the pot for him.

Going into the next tribal, Zeebem noted a shift in positioning: Jess, Alison, and Brittney were, in his eyes, a tight trio. Them, alongside Elle, were his prime targets. However, they ultimately came out on top in this vote, and found easy momentum to send home Mink. Zeebem was once more included on the plan and more than happy to help vote off Mink, who was doing no favors for Zeebem’s game.

Come Final 8, it was time for Zeebem to take his shot at Alison…only for Alison to win immunity. By default, the target seemed to switch to Jessica. Zeebem started to worry about his jury management here. What if he looked like an “asshole floater”? Ultimately, his desire about action in the game trumped desire to look good for the jury six tribals down the line, and Zeebem took part in the tribe-wide blindside on Jessica, burning that bridge in the process.

The vote after, Zeebem was, on paper, on top of the world. Alison, his prime target, lost immunity! The votes to send her home unanimously were in place! However, he soon lost his positioning without him realizing it. Once she went home, Zeebem found himself in a bit of a pickle.

By Final 6, he knew he was being targeted. Zeebem defaulted to his old plans: target Elle. However, she and Charles began to avoid Zeebem’s questions at all costs. Throughout the day, he waffled on whether he had the votes to send home Elle. The question was answered for him when he was sent home in a 4-2 vote.