The Fulcrum Alliance is an alliance from Survivor: Philippines.
The alliance was formed on the Tandang tribe by Lisa Whelchel and Michael Skupin. Despite losing third member RC Saint-Amour at the merge, Lisa and Michael were able to regroup and successfully dictate the vote at many crucial post-merge Tribal Councils, flipping between opposing alliances as they saw fit. The duo ultimately made it to the Final Tribal Council intact, but their gameplay was seen as weaker than eventual winner Denise Stapley's, resulting in them finishing in joint second place.
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History[]
RC and Skupin on the Outs[]
After Abi thought that RC was planning something with Skupin behind her back, Abi thought of getting Tandang's Hidden Immunity Idol with the help of the clue that she and RC found inside of the tribe's rice basket. With the help of Pete Yurkowski, Abi-Maria Gomes found the idol, and kept it to herself. Pete, however, thought of a strategy to fully sever the ties between Abi and RC: he took the clue for the idol, and placed it in RC's bag, with Abi thinking that her hunch was right, and with Peter's new recruits Lisa and Artis, created a new Tandang Alliance against RC and Skupin.
Tipping the Scales[]
Even though Skupin and RC are now part of the minority, the majority didn't get the chance to vote them out, as Tandang never lost in any of the Immunity Challenges they participated in. On Day 17, Kalabaw and Tandang were instructed to leave their beaches, as they were going to Merge. With Skupin and RC in the outs of Tandang and Kalabaw needing numbers against Tandang, Penner invited Skupin and RC to their alliance to go against Tandang to flip the majority to them. However, Kalabaw's other members have other plans: Malcolm Freberg proposed of a plan to vote off the returning players by eliminating Penner first, and RC leaving if he used the Hidden Immunity Idol, which Jeff Kent - a castaway who doesn't want returning players to win - joining with the plan. RC joined with Penner's plan in voting against Pete, but Skupin - who probably wanted to avoid a tie between Penner and his ally RC - voted against Penner instead. With Penner using his idol, Skupin's ally RC was sent home, making Skupin vulnerable.
Saving Skupin[]
With RC and Penner's Hidden Immunity Idol gone, the remaining castaways planned to vote against Penner next. Knowing that he is next, Penner tried his best in winning the Immunity Challenge, which he did after a slow start. With Penner safe and just a few moments before the Tribal Council with no definite plans, Lisa - who befriended Skupin when he found out that she was Blair from The Facts of Life during their time in Tandang - tried to save Skupin who is a possible target for being a returning player, by telling him and Pete that she found Malcolm's idol, and that it is a good time to blindside a threat. The plan however failed after Pete - who thinks of Malcolm as an ally - told Malcolm about it, which forced Lisa to rally Tandang during the Tribal Council to vote him out for not telling about his idol. The plan failed as Malcolm shows his idol to everyone and threatened that he would use it. Lisa and Skupin (where Skupin was thought to be part of the six-vote plan against Pete) voted against Jeff, keeping Tandang in the majority.
Skupin's Big Move[]
After Jeff was eliminated and Penner is still in danger, Penner tries to swing the numbers in Kalabaw (who found a new ally in Malcolm) against Tandang by convincing Skupin and Lisa that they are better with them than with Tandang. While Penner's efforts of swaying Lisa (saying that he understands her struggle and that Lisa would look better with the audience if she voted with them) failed, Penner, however, managed to survive by one vote: with a vote against Artis from Skupin. With Artis eliminated, Kalabaw had now gained the majority.
Lisa Jumps Ship[]
After the Day 25 Tribal Council where Abi said that Lisa was untrustworthy, Lisa decides to renege from the Tandang Alliance and joins the Kalabaw super-alliance with Skupin, cementing the two as a tight duo. After neither Pete nor Abi won the Immunity Challenge, a plan to split the vote between Pete and Abi was made to flush out Abi's Hidden Immunity Idol. Pete, however, took a chance at getting the alliance back to Tandang's side, but failed and was sent to the jury, as Abi used her idol to prevent a tie between her and Pete.
Dealing with Matsing[]
While the super-alliance planned to vote out Abi since she is the only member of the tribe not in the alliance, Malcolm and Skupin, however, thought of creating a Final 4 alliance with Lisa and Denise. Skupin consulted Lisa about it (with Lisa saying that she trusts Penner more), and first asked Penner to join them in a Final 3 alliance. Penner declined, saying that he wants to play one step at a time. With Lisa thinking that Penner missed an opportunity the alliance finally decided to form a Final 4 alliance with Matsing, targeting Kalabaw after Abi is gone.
Breaking with Kalabaw[]
After Day 27, the plan of the super-alliance seems clear: if Abi didn't win Immunity in the next Tribal Council, she will be the next to be voted out. However, after Abi won the Immunity Challenge (with the help of an advantage bought at the Survivor Auction) much to the others' disbelief, the Matsing-Fulcrum super-alliance's plan of voting out Penner - the plan if Abi somehow won Immunity - materialized where Penner failed to get the alliance to his side (even after saying that they have a lower chance of winning if they aligned with Matsing), sending him to the jury.
Lisa's Epiphany[]
After Day 30, with Abi and Carter left as the outsiders, they now seemed to be the next two boots. However, after Lisa's brother (who visited during the Loved Ones reward) told her that people will respect her even if she betrays them as it is just a game, she now has new found confidence to make big moves, particularly to blindside Malcolm. With a plan with the outsiders to vote out Malcolm, it seemed that Malcolm's blindside is imminent. However, after Malcolm narrowly won against Carter in the Immunity Challenge, the blindside plan was put to hold, and they stuck with Matsing to vote out Carter, eliminating all original Kalabaw castaways.
The Final Five Decision[]
After Day 33, the Fulcrum-Matsing alliance was left with Abi. With Lisa thinking of bringing people that she could beat instead of people that deserved it more, Lisa considered Abi's proposal on voting out Denise (as Malcolm has an idol, with the assumption that he would use for himself as the next Tribal Council would be the last time to use it). During the next Reward Challenge, Skupin won and decided to bring Lisa and Malcolm to the Reward, where Malcolm proposed a Final Three agreement with the alliance. Before Tribal Council, the alliance decides whether to keep Abi as she would be an easier person to beat at the Final Tribal Council than staying with the alliance with Matsing, or to keep Denise as she has the chance to beat Malcolm in the Final Four Immunity Challenge, to eliminate him in the next Tribal Council. Abi tried to persuade the alliance to bring her to end as she said that she would not get Jury votes for being unlikable, but the alliance sided with Matsing voting out Abi unanimously, sending her to the jury.
Fulcrum's Final Decision[]
After Day 36, Abi was eliminated and the Final Four Alliance prevailed. The alliance talked on who to bring in the Final Three: Lisa wanted Denise because she feels that Malcolm played a better game and is likable, while Skupin wanted Malcolm for being a worthy opponent to face against in the Final Tribal Council. Denise later approached Lisa after Malcolm became hesitant on forcing a tie (as Malcolm hopes that his alliance with Fulcrum would eliminate Denise) and said that they should vote against Malcolm for being the biggest threat, which Lisa accepted. Lisa, with the help of Denise, persuaded Skupin to vote against Malcolm after Malcolm lost the Immunity Challenge, for he will surely win if he is in the Final Three. At the Tribal Council, the alliance sided with Denise and Malcolm became the last member of the jury.
Final Tribal Council[]
The alliance, with Denise, faced a seemingly averse Jury. Lisa was criticized for her hesitant game-play, while Skupin was criticized for him saying that he has a target on his back for being a returning player, but never got votes against him. Ultimately, neither members of the alliance became the Sole Survivor, only earning 1 vote each (RC for Lisa and Carter for Skupin), losing to Denise, who earned 6 votes.
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