Hall of Shame Moment: Jon Dalton’s Despicable Lie

Most entries into the Reality TV Hall of Shame, whether full inductions or Hall of Shame Moments, have almost universal acceptance. OK, we’ll say 99% acceptance, in general. However, this Hall of Shame Moment is not like that. Here we recognize one of the slimiest acts ever perpetrated on reality TV, and also – in some eyes – one of the most brilliant as far as game play is concerned. Feelings run strong on both sides. We have gotten many e-mails suggesting that this move be “recognized” here, and many saying it should not be because it was a good move.

We are, of course, talking about Jon Dalton, of Survivor: Pearl Islands, making up a story about his grandmother having died while he was on the show so he could use that to a tactical advantage in the game. And obviously, because you’re reading this article, we have decided to recognize this as a Hall of Shame Moment. First we’ll discuss what he did and then we’ll talk about why we came to this decision.

Jon has been one of the most obnoxious Survivor players ever. He may yet end up with a full induction here, but we’ll wait to find out how all of this ends before making that decision. But no matter how obnoxious he was, he outdid himself in Episode 11. When the “loved ones” showed up to participate in a reward challenge, Jon asked his pal how Jon’s grandmother was doing. His pal reported that she had, alas, died. Jon made sure everybody knew this and played it up for sympathy in order to win the reward.

But that’s not all. He also used it to help convince Sandra and Christa that he was telling the truth in his attempt to sway them to vote out Tijuana – he swore on his grandmother, and they both knew how much that meant.

As they say in those TV commercials: Wait! There’s more! He continued to play the sympathy card at Tribal Council, where he talked about how a few days ago, he’d have stabbed people in the back, but not now. No, Jon was a changed man. Jon would never do that now. You can trust Jon.

Gag.

Of course, Jon’s grandmother is just fine. As he said when all the others were away, she was probably at home watching TV. He planned this all ahead of time with his pal so he could play on the sympathy of others. He used the supposed death of a loved one to get an advantage in a game. That, frankly, is disgusting.

Even most of those who e-mailed to say he should not be put into the Hall of Shame admitted that Jon is a scumbag. But, they said, his play was brilliant (though we’ll address that claim as well). Some sample statements and my comments on them:

“Here is one of the few players in the history of the game [who] started planning moves before he actually left the U.S.! … He is playing the game very, very hard from a strategic point. … Is he playing fair? Absolutely. You often write that this is a game, not real life, and so it was okay for Lill to lie. Why not Jon? Jon simply took advantage of knowing that loved ones come to the show each series and took advantage of that knowledge.”

“These people all knew what they signed up for, and should not expect any less than backstabbing and foul play.”

“Survivor is … a game that has continued to evolve and, quite simply, Jon was the first to take advantage of that fact and move one step ahead of what everyone else considered "part of the game." Remember that, at first, people thought Richard getting to people vote as a bloc ("alliance") was unfair… Then people took voting in an alliance to be "fair" (mainly because it worked), but lying about WHICH alliance you were voting for was outside the game and was unethical. Then, once everybody started lying about which alliance they were in, the act of actually switching alliances became "unfair." … Each step of the "evolution" of strategy involved somebody or a group of people willing to think "outside the box" and stretch the envelope as far as what was, and what was not, "part of the game."