‘Literally raw with blood:’ Sask. Survivor contestant reflects on reality show

A Moose Jaw man didn’t win the million-dollar grand prize on the 44th season of ‘Survivor,’ but he did lead the season’s jury as it crowned the season’s champion.

Kane Fritzler — 25 and a recent law graduate about to begin articling at the Saskatoon law firm Robertson Stromberg at the time of filming — joined a small group of Canadians cast on the televised game show. Only a handful have been selected to compete, and no previous contestants appear to have come from Saskatchewan.

“I was really impressed when I was out there that it just felt that I was living the TV show that I’d been watching for so many years,” Fritzler said about being stranded out in the jungles and on the beaches of Fiji.

A lifelong fan of the CBS series, Fritzler described the strategy as rich and rated the challenges as difficult.

In fact, one of the first challenges the contestants battled in involved a massive slide puzzle. Fritzler said the show didn’t highlight it during the episode, but it lasted about three hours.

“My hands were literally raw with blood after,” Fritzler said of moving the large, heavy blocks that were not on wheels and didn’t slide easily. His tribe competed short of players too — one had their arm in a sling from an injury and another quit halfway through because of dehydration.

By the end, Fritzler said what was left of his tribe, Ratu, was joking that the other tribes should put them out of their misery.

The challenge also left Fritzler with a major regret. He’d taken his shirt off for the challenge, thinking it would be a 20-minute endeavour. That move, he said, left him with a “hideous” sunburn on his back for the rest of the game.

A game of relationships

That realness of the game impressed Fritzler. While the show he’d seen on TV did prove true to his experience, he noted that a lot more play is constantly happening behind the scenes at any given moment.

“They starved us. It rained and poured on us. We had some crazy votes out there. It really was the ‘Survivor’ package,” Fritzler said.

Just the tip of the iceberg shown to viewers were the relationships formed on those white-sand Fiji beaches. Fritzler said he based his game around long-term relationships he saw that could benefit him later in the game.

Unfortunately, bad luck seemed to plague the Saskatchewan player throughout the season — by his own admission. In the chaos of ‘Survivor,’ Fritzler saw his close alliances picked off, one by one.

“I felt like the curse of Fiji out here… everybody I touched just fades away in the dark,” he said with a laugh.

Fritzler said some of those relationships included people on his tribe like Maddy, though viewers didn’t get to see much of that play out on screen. Later, he voted against a fellow Ratu member, Brandon, who survived the vote thanks to an immunity idol, leaving Fritzler as the only person on the beach who had voted against a member who was still playing.

“I think that kind of started me off a foot behind everybody,” Fritzler said, though he said he hates to blame the unfortunate twists of his game.

“I was happy to play, but I definitely wanted to win and I wanted to pull off some big heist (or) some big moves,” he said.

Fritzler said he also got close with Matthew, a player who had to leave the game after an injury to his shoulder.

“They can’t possibly show all these little relationships and all these different dynamics,” he explained.

“I know it sort of seemed in the season that Ratu just came out of nowhere and was allegedly running the show, but that alliance we had — the Ratu four that made it to merge — we were thick as thieves, and there was a lot that went into that.”

Tricky gameplay

As much as Fritzler said he wanted to play that adaptable and quick, reactive ‘Survivor’ strategy that fans and players commend, he said he needed a few more soft lobs than he was able to receive.

His own strategy didn’t win him the game, but Fritzler felt he brought some advantages in with him. One of those was his Canadian spirit.

“I think it gives you a hardness from the elements and the starvation,” he said. “Walking to your car in minus 40 isn’t the exact same as starving on a beach in Fiji, but it’s not that different, if that makes sense.”

Fritzler said he also relied on some critical skills he acquired during his time at law school. Having participated in several moots and negotiations, he said he really learned how to read where someone is going with their story and what’s important to them.

“I think it really helps you understand what you can get out of a conversation, if you’re actively listening, if you’re asking the right questions,” Fritzler said.

“The more information you have about other people, the better off you’re going to be.”

One not-angry man

Ultimately, Fritzler’s game put him in the jury box on the show, which he called a “quiet honour” and a way to see how the game played out.

“I think being on jury gave me a little bit of what I wanted, too, in a weird way,” Fritzler said, joking that “even though I wasn’t winning a million dollars, at least I led the jury off.”

He said voted-out players spent the rest of the competition sequestered in Fiji at a place known as Ponderosa, enjoying time in paradise together.

Fritzler called that time “dreamy,” with eliminated competitors waking up, enjoying breakfast together, swimming and spending time in the sun without being starved or left at nature’s whims.
During that time, players on the jury spent time deliberating, discussing players’ moves and strategies, and talking about who deserved to win.

“It kind of turned into this awesome little ‘Survivor’ nerd convention, which obviously made my little heart very happy,” Fritzler explained, laughing. He added, more seriously, that jury members felt responsibility weighing on them to select the right person as the victor of the season.

Ponderosa was also a time for Fritzler to “self-therapize” after leaving the game in a bit of a “wiley” state. He said players go in excited, but from the moment contestants land on the beach, every person has ulterior motives behind every conversation.

“Every time somebody is trying to get to know you, they’re also trying to increase the stock in the relationship,” Fritzler said.

He explained that it leaves people questioning everything said to them — and every piece of information they let slip — despite playing the game with wonderful, genuine people. The time to decompress let Fritzler process the game and get back to purely enjoying ‘Survivor’ again, he said.

Going into the final episode, where the three finalists pleaded their cases to the jury, Fritzler acknowledged that not every jurist had made up their mind beforehand.

Fritzler said the jury was looking for the finalists to really explain how they controlled the game. Finalists were questioned for about three hours by their castmates, Fritzler shared.

Bringing the drama home

While Fritzler wasn’t able to immediately share all the details of his journey with family and friends, he did get to watch them as they watched his experiences on television when the season aired, beginning in March.

He said it was a lot of fun to watch people’s reactions, with some of the funniest being how his friends and family reacted to other contestants on the season.

After the episode where Fritzler and the contestant Carson shared their “nerdy” interests, Fritzler said he had many texts of support for his friend from the show. Those only lasted until Carson flipped on Fritzler and helped vote him out, making him the third member of the jury.

Reflecting on the journey, what came to mind for Fritzler wasn’t regret about the loss, but gratitude for the experience. Calling ‘Survivor’ the best possible game to play, he said he won’t soon forget being sequestered on the beaches of Fiji as a fresh law school graduate.