Ben Blake

***Ben*** was a castaway on Essential Survivor: Togo. He later competed on Essential Survivor: All-Stars.

## Togo

For someone who’s never really looked into the show before. Ben’s gameplay was one of, if not, the most polarizing experiences you would have spectated. Looking at his amazing idol finding ability, and even his character moments, it’s clear that Ben had a huge role in this season.

For starters, Ben was chosen by Nick to be on the Kabre tribe. Ironically, by the end of the premiere episode, Nick was the only one Ben wouldn’t mind seeing go home first from Kabre. Luckily enough, Ben also felt like he could trust Aidan and Kalina, even getting included in an alliance with Bob as well. And to make matters better, right before the first Immunity Challenge, Ben found the one and only Legacy Advantage. Followed up with an idol he found right after. Once Kabre won the challenge and they headed back to camp, Bob pulled Ben aside and asked him if he wanted to idol search with him. But with Ben already having both of the Production-Planted items, he became flustered and spit out random places he looked, which made Bob very suspicious. He also told Aidan about the Legacy he had to gain trust with him, which may or may not have come back later to bite him in the butt,

As the days went by, it was clear in Ben’s confessional entries that he was a really emotional player. This gets proved in later instances, but as of right now it’s still somewhat apparent. When Kabre lost their first challenge, what should’ve been an easy vote out turned into complete madness within camp. The foursome of Aidan, Doug, Kalina and Ben all met up after the challenge, and due to his odd persona, it looked like Nick was gonna be the target. But Aidan didn't exactly like that plan, so he let Ben in on Bob’s actions, and his smart social strategies. Ben agreed with Aidan, prompting the two to let Nick know about it. But in a matter of minutes, Doug and Kalina were now informed about the flip, so they brought in Bob with their side. The numbers were now 3-3 and both sides were trying to figure out what to do to make sure rocks aren’t drawn. While Ben’s side didn't come up with anything, Kalina and Doug brainwashed Aidan into thinking that voting Nick out was the best idea, so Aidan followed up with him. But the trio of Doug, Bob, and Kalina instead voted for Ben to create a 3-2-1 split. But Ben's instincts helped him, as he played his idol on himself, idling out Bob in a fashion that got the whole tribe riled up and arguing with each other. Douglas had some harsh words to say about Ben in that altercation, which sparked up their rivalry that continued down the road.

But right before everyone was called over to the beach, Ben found the idol he had played already. So we went into the swap with two items… but on the flip side he also came out of the swap with Douglas on his tribe, much to his annoyance. As he went through the usual, getting to know new tribe members phase, he took a very strong liking to Rey from the Mina tribe. But as if things couldn’t get any better… Ben found the idol at his new camp. Making these 4 items he found in less than 10 days. But every up comes with a down, Ben's down was that he felt forced to vote off his closest ally Nick once New Tchamba went to Tribal. At the next Tchamba tribal, Ben heavily campaigned for Douglas to go home, annoying his target. But when he got picked up as an ally by Gabe, Leetah and Asier. He realized that the plan was to vote out Rey, Ben’s closest ally next to Nick. Of course, Ben was extremely reluctant to Gabe’s plan, but after Gabe lied and said Rey was talking bad about Ben, Ben completely agreed with the plan. But when Asier didn't vote and time was running out Ben’s alliance began to scramble… that is, until Zach spilled the beans about their side’s target. Getting Ben to save himself yet again, and idol out poor Rey.

Despite Ben’s wishes, the merge this season came at the Final 12, and once Liz won first individual immunity, Ben wasted 0 time campaigning once again for Douglas to go home. But that plan was foiled once Douglas had a huge blowout at camp and quit the game shortly after. After that, Kalina won immunity so Ben’s alliance wanted to take out her number one in Aidan. But when Zach and Asier were being sneaky around them, they didn't feel too hot about it. After an hour of investigating they found out that the other side had numbers and was targeting Brendan. So Ben gave his Legacy to Brendan for keep to use. When he did, Ben’s alliance was blindsided as 1. Brendan only received one vote. 2. Zach had flipped and stolen Gabe's vote. And 3. Jack was blindsided, 6-4-\*1. But things weren’t over yet… because the Auction was about to come… which Ben had only acquired a Sit-Out advantage that he didn't end up using.

At the Final 10, Ben’s alliance was yet again clueless about who the target was. They thought it was Gabe, only for them to be wrong yet again and have Brendan get sent over to Ponderosa. Fast forwarding to the Final Seven, Ben's alliance had taken a major comeback, Zach and Asier flipped back into the alliance, giving Gabe, Zach, Asier and Ben the majority over everyone. And when Kalina won immunity, it was a clear Aidan vote-out to lessen her allies. But what they didn't know was Kalina gained an idol from Aidan leaving. Which she used in the next Tribal, but when Zach, and Asier flipped back to Kalina yet again, they blindsided Gabe. Leaving Ben officially alone… until Zach and Liz teamed up with him at the Final Five. So when Ben won immunity then, he saw that as the opportunity to pull off a big move. It was supposed to be an easy Kalina vote but when Kalina revealed that she had an idol, they began to speculate if she was lying. So using the tie = rocks rule against Production, they planned to have the vote create a tie between Liz and Zach, (the other’s target) while one of them threw a hinky vote at Kalina. This way, Liz and Zach would be safe because of the rule, Ben would be safe because of his Immunity win, and Kalina would be safe if she had used her idol, meaning Asier goes home in the same fashion as James did in Season One. But little did they know, was that Asier had an idol, playing it right then and there. But that wasn’t the only blindside they received that night, they also found out that Kalina went behind Asier’s back and voted Liz instead, in case Zach had an idol. Which meant Liz unintentionally went home, 3-1-\*1. But mind you, if Ben’s plan had worked. It would’ve gone down as one of the best plans in the ORG’s history.

At the Final Four, Zach won immunity. So with Kalina being as big of a threat as she was. It seemed as if the trio of Zach, Ben, and Asier would simply just vote her out. But when Kalina persuaded Asier into voting Ben with her, Kalina and Ben went into a fire-making challenge, which Ben unfortunately lost, ending his career in Togo four days short.

## All-Stars

Ben was one of the people who really MADE this season so special. Last season, he was known for his constant idol finds. This season, he was known for his constant flipping. And despite the entire cast realizing his slimy gameplay, Ben somehow managed to maneuver himself all the way to the Final Tribal Council, where he placed 2nd.

Wearing purple, Ben joined the Nicobar tribe and was already taken aback by his competition. In his mind, he thought that he had strengthened good bonds with just about everyone on the tribe. When in reality, Ben was on the lower half on everyone’s Trust Rankings. When Nicobar lost the challenge, it was a tribe consensus to vote off Lucifer for his inactiveness. But Lucifer had told Ben that Josiah was throwing out his name, causing a bit of distrust between the two. In the end however, everyone stuck to their word and booted Lucifer 9-1.

Arriving at the Nicobar 2.0 beach, Ben despite being in the minority, was pretty content with everyone on his tribe. Going as far to say that, this tribe was better than his original tribe… until they finally lost a challenge and Ben’s name was on the chopping block. So while Ben tried to campaign, he came up with the idea of Logic throwing him and Aidan under the bus to the majority (which he did), so Ben’s main priority was to flip the vote to Logic. But since he was already integrated into the majority, Ben’s campaigning only made him look worse. Heading into Tribal Council, he was convinced it was him. And although he did receive some votes, it was Aidan who was ultimately blindsided.

After losing yet another challenge, Ben knew that he was on the direct bottom of the tribe. He was so close to giving up, but he had one final push in him; and that was to blindside Enrique. Apparently there was a feud between the two of them, so Ben thought that it’d be a good idea to just full-on target him with Gabe, Paul, and Logic. But before 30 minutes even hit, Logic reported Ben back to his alliance, albeit, twisting a few truths here and there. So while the majority alliance was concocting a Logic blindside, Ben believed that he was the vote, staying true to the Enrique vote. So safe to say that when Ben actually stayed, Enrique became his new Douglas.

At the merge, Ben was in a tricky situation. Stuck in the middle of two alliances, Ben had told everyone that he wanted to work with them. So he eventually sided with the majority (the mainly Nicobar side) and booted Adam, but due to him trying to play both sides. He made sure Jacob convinced Kim that Brandon flipped, making Ben in everyone’s good graces… until Brandon called him out and Ben wasn’t good with his current opposition. But he tried once again to please them during the Final 12 vote, but when Josiah revealed his advantage, Ben pleased the opposite, while making his current majority mad.

During the next round, Ben was heavily considering flipping over to the Kim/Tyler side as they proposed a Josiah boot. They all knew that side was running things, and it seemed as if Josiah was the head of that alliance. But when Jacob spit out a lie about Kim and the Final 3 deal she made with Ben and Gabe, Ben began to reconsider things for the remainder of the round, finally deciding to vote Josiah with the newfound majority. At Final 10, everyone left was fully aware of Ben's flipping, which resulted in him being ghosted and ignored by relatively everyone as no one wanted him to screw up their plans. But a few minutes before Tribal, Ben finally heard Jacob’s name.

During the Final 9 vote out, Ben’s want for Jacob to only enlarged more and more, so by the Final 8, he was reluctant to side with Zach and Gabe because of their former association with Jacob. So this coupled with the obsession with Jacob caused Ben to vote in the minority once again, placing his vote on Jacob while his last ally Brandon, got taken out. At 7, Ben, once again, was pushing for a Jacob blindside. But his new allies in Zach and Gabe were hesitant about it, and proposed to vote Jacob. But Ben, for as stubborn as he is, knew he had 0 traction left in the game and complied.

Now with Jayden out and a little blowup at Tribal, Ben finally began to set all the Jacob campaigning aside and was willing to work with him for the time being. But Ben’s opinion quickly changed as he realized Jacob was the current front-runner, but before Ben could run back and campaign, Jacob won immunity. In Ben’s mind, now the current targets were Paul and Zach. But he ended up voting Paul as he thought Paul had the better shot at winning. At Final Five, Paul was the vote again when Jacob won immunity. Coupled with the fact that Paul was actively targeting Ben, that's all he needed to hear.

At the Final Four, it was a simple vote as Jacob finally lost immunity and he was still the current front runner. So now with Jacob out, the Final Tribal Council was Ben, Kamen and Zach. And due to people throwing their votes everywhere so Ben and Kamen didn't share 2nd Place, Ben received 3/10 votes, becoming the Runner-Up of Essential Survivor: All Stars