Now this is not going to be an article where I try to proclaim Fabio was the most strategic person on his season. Anybody who watched him would know that isn’t true. This is an article to highlight the other things Fabio did to clinch his victory because as we were once again reminded last night, strategy is not everything in these game shows.

Going into Survivor: Nicaragua, Fabio was a very self-aware person. He knew that his demeanor and attitude would lead people to think he was stupid. In fact, he welcomed it. As I’ve brought up before, Fabio came up with one of my favorite winner quotes of all-time when he reacted to his tribe deciding to nickname him Fabio.

Dude, I don’t care what they call me. I’m going to win the million dollars. So I guess my nickname’s Fabio.

That kind of laissez-faire attitude would be the cornerstone of Fabio’s game. No matter what, he was always going to go with the flow and he was never going to bother politicking. For better or for worse, Fabio in Nicaragua was just going to see where the waves would take him.

It’s a strategy that I like to call the “mirror strategy”. I call it that because when you’re in front of a mirror, there are no lies. What you see if who you are without any alterations. No Photoshop touch-ups, no Instagram filters. Just you. In Nicaragua, that’s exactly what Fabio brought with him, just Fabio, the same guy he sees in the mirror every day.

Like Matty Whitmore being the unexpected “sane” person in Survivor: Gabon, Fabio becomes Nicaragua’s voice of reason. In any other season, Fabio should be the wacky side character who has fun soundbites but this is Nicaragua and in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Take the first tribal council La Flor attends for example, the infamous Shannon Elkins boot.

At that tribal, things get pretty heated. Shannon starts saying some pretty dumb things in an attempt to save himself. This includes a bizarre non-sequitur to ask Sash Lenahan if he’s gay. Despite being on Shannon’s side, Fabio starts deriding Shannon’s stupid line of questioning. He tries to bring the tribe back to the point at hand but it’s no use because his tribe is filled with a bunch of lunatics.

For much of the pre-merge, most of Fabio’s story is about disliking NaOnka Mixon. Once again, Fabio proves his inability to lie or be fake because whenever NaOnka does something stupid, like steal Fabio’s socks or hide a bunch of food, Fabio just can’t stop himself from calling her out. It’s probably pretty endearing to the rest of his tribe, who are afraid to say anything and mess up their social standing within their alliances but also silently hate NaOnka.

Throughout much of the middle portion of the game, Fabio lays low. That doesn’t mean he isn’t doing things. He forms a tight bond with Marty Piombo before Marty is voted out. He gets into an alliance with Benry Henry that won’t get much power but will help him down the stretch. Throughout this time, Fabio makes friends, never makes anybody angry (except for NaOknka but she doesn’t count) and keeps to himself.

We also see a lot of raw emotion from Fabio at the loved ones visits. It’s a recurring theme of the season that Chase is unable to make a decision without somehow backstabbing and pissing off at least one person. When Chase wins the loved ones reward, he doesn’t take Fabio after explicitly telling him that he would. Fabio is understandably upset at this turn of events and blows up publicly at Chase. It’s not something that would normally be smart to do in the game but Fabio doesn’t care about that. In that moment, he only cares about seeing his mother.

Where Fabio really starts to come alive is down the stretch of the season. Stuck in the minority at the final six, he realizes that to get to the end, he needs to win competitions… which he does. At final five, he makes a strong push to vote out Holly Hoffman instead of the old and nearly crippled Dan Lembo. Sash won’t flip without Chase Rice and Chase isn’t flipping so Fabio’s push falls on deaf ears. Still, Fabio is the only one to make an effort to keep Dan and that buys a lot of credit with the definite mafia boss.

Fabio’s best moment is without a doubt throughout the entire final four round. He once again wins immunity, his third straight and fourth total, and guarantees himself a spot at final tribal council. The safety also allows him to be completely open with the rest of the final three. This makes Fabio impossibly happy because he can now make people squirm knowing their future is in his hands.

Welcome to Fabio’s world bitches.

It starts with Sash. Fabio tells him with a huge shit-eating grin that he isn’t quite sure yet who he wants win him in the final three. Sash, being a total sleazebag, tries to pretend like he was never planning on cutting Fabio and that he was always going to be loyal to him. Fabio sees right through this because Sash is more transparent than a wet t-shirt.

With this information, he goes to Chase and Holly individually. They both confirm to Fabio that they intended on voting him off had he not won immunity. This makes Fabio laugh a hearty guffaw because now they are forced to turn on each other.

The fun continues at tribal council where Fabio might be the most exuberant contestant I have ever seen. He laughs in Sash’s face as Sash tries to pretend like he was going to stay true to Fabio. At this tribal, Fabio makes Sash feel so endangered that Sash fesses up his whole game. He admits to multiple alliances and numerous backstabs. Basically he makes himself completely ineligible to win come final tribal council and becomes an asset for Fabio to keep in the game.

The fun keeps going for Fabio at the other three’s final pleas. He laughs some more when Chase tells him that he was the most open and honest with Fabio, not Sash. Fabio is almost incredulous hearing this and replies,

Yeah, yeah, you know… at the very last second *big laugh* you’re pretty honest with me at the very last second. So yeah I would agree.

At final tribal council, Fabio is once again an open book. He can sit there knowing that he got to the end without ever backstabbing anybody or going back on his word. He can point to competition wins as a manner of self-preservation and his real friendships with the jury as key reasons why they should vote for him.

Sitting next to Sash, the comparisons are shocking. Sash continues to try and sleazy his way through the game. Pretending to be sorry about backstabs and heartbreaks with a smug-ass grin on his face. On the other end of the spectrum, Fabio is asked about his family and has a tearful breakdown about how much they mean to him and why he’s out on Survivor for them. You couldn’t ask for a bigger difference in realness.

To give credit where credit is due, Chase puts together a strong final tribal council performance. He owns up to much of his game and admits to his deceit and lies. It’s the only time in the game that Chase doesn’t appear to be wishy washy. It’s impressive but it’s also too late. Enough of the jurors have no respect for his game and genuinely like Fabio so Chase won’t be getting the majority.

It’s something Jeff Probst always says, Survivor is going to reveal to you who you truly are. Nobody can go on Survivor and keep up a veneer for 39 days under the heavy stress of starvation and sleep deprivation. Sooner or later, the real you will show itself. For Fabio, he never had to reveal anything he didn’t want to because he was always going in as himself. It’s what endeared him to the jury and it’s what got him the win.

Last night in front of the jury, Josh reminded me a lot of Fabio. He was completely honest and himself. At one point, he forgot his speech out of nervousness and it actually made him even more endearing. He may have come off slightly insecure but it was completely genuine. Unlike Fabio, Josh may have made some enemies in the game on the way but at the end of the day, he was real enough to get those people to respect him. More often than not, being authentic means way more than playing a good strategic game. Fabio helped proved that and Josh just reinforced it.