Welcome back to Inside Survivor’s 50 For 50, a semi-regular feature highlighting 50 former castaways who we think should be considered for a spot on Survivor 50. In a snake draft, the Inside Survivor team selected ten players each, with the only rule being they couldn’t have played more than twice.
PROFILE
Name: Jesse Lopez
Age: 32
Season: Survivor 43, 2022
Finish: 4th place
HIGHLIGHTS
Jesse Lopez started the game in the Vesi tribe, where he quickly became besties with Cody Assenmacher and Nneka Ejere and solidified their three votes against the others. After Justine Brennan and Nneka were voted out, Jesse and Cody ran Vesi, especially after Cody created an idol. Jesse, for his part, also had a tight duo with Dwight Moore, which would prove instrumental for Jesse to have an idol of his own after getting Jeanine Zheng’s idol from Dwight and promptly voting both of them out before they ratted Jesse out at the merge.
Jesse masterfully managed a delicate balance in Survivor that very few players are able to pull off: creating an actual resume by blindsiding people, having agency in who went home, being on the right side of the votes, and still keeping enough social capital so others would look the other way before targeting him.
Then, the move of the season came, and with it, Jesse’s legacy on Survivor was cemented. As Jesse became afraid others wouldn’t be able to differentiate his game from Cody’s, Jesse used Cody’s idol against him and sent him to the jury with a tension-filled handshake that shook the jungles of Fiji as well as the audience’s screens. Due to the infamous fire-making challenge at the final four, Jesse was forced to make fire against Mike Gabler, who ultimately managed to burn his rope faster. With this, Jesse became the last jury member of Survivor 43, but not before being recognised as a lethal player by friends and foes alike.
WHY HE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED
Jesse came into Survivor with the recurring dream of winning the game. Still, with such a unique story, it was impossible not to root for someone who had decided to do a 180 with their life and fight with everything they had to succeed and provide for their family. The minute the game began, Jesse became whatever his tribemates needed for them to trust him. He then leveraged their trust with such preciseness and dexterity that no one saw the hit coming until it was too late, not even his best friend, Cody.
He also managed to pass off quietly while simultaneously puppeteering everyone else. He kept orchestrating blindsides but kept out of people’s radar in favour of other targets. Jesse also convinced Karla Cruz Godoy, another crown contender of the season, to play her idol when she didn’t need to, making her vulnerable and eventually voting her out, as she was one of Jesse’s biggest threats.
As previously mentioned, Jesse’s name was written alongside the greatest players the show had seen when he used his friendship with Cody by keeping Cody’s idol and blindsiding him with it. Though this isn’t the first time a person has eliminated their closest ally, it is undoubtedly one of the most memorable, as Jesse crafted his plan while trying to manage his interpersonal relationship with Cody, as Jesse knew this could not only risk his game but ultimately end his friendship. To Cody’s credit, he shook Jesse’s hand once everything was said and done.
To say Jesse deserves a second chance is an understatement. He demonstrated cunning, adaptability, strategic prowess, and the social skills needed to succeed in the game. Jesse also showed his humanity while checkmating his adversaries across the board. Survivor 43 was Jesse’s game to lose, and due to the fire-making challenge, he ultimately did, but if he ever came back, it would be spectacular to see what kind of damage and new moves he could make. Survivor 50 should look to bring the best players back, and one of them is definitely Jesse.
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