NEWPORT -- In the end, Helen Glover's only weakness may have been
her many strengths. As her last three competitors confided their reasons
for voting her off the Thai island to America last night, they all
complimented her.
Clay, the restaurant owner, praised her culinary skills and said he
would miss her. Jan, the teacher, said she had been a friend and
reminisced about how Glover would sing to her at night to help her
relax. And Brian, the man behind the plot to get rid of her, paid
tribute, perhaps unintentionally, to her strength when he said: "Helen's
got to go now. She's a threat to me."
With Glover out of the way, the used car salesman from California, Brian
Heidik, won Survivor-Thailand and deprived Middletown of its second
castaway champion.
For the 40 or so people gathered last night in the Carr-Rice building of
Trinity Church, where Glover and her family are members, disappointment
at her defeat was mitigated by admiration for the church's most famous,
and most tenacious member.
"I'm very proud of her; she should be proud of herself," said Wendy
Durudogan, a Trinity parishoner and organizer of last night's potluck
dinner.
The crowd was definitely rooting for the hometown girl. "She's livened
up this whole town," said Lee Parks, from Newport, a self-confessed
Survivor addict.
"If you didn't watch it, you would have nothing to talk about around the
water cooler at work," Parks said.
Parks added that she had questions she wanted to ask Glover. For
example, "Where are the latrines?"
The congregation sat chatting, eating pasta and salad and drinking the
odd glass of red or white wine. Once the lights dimmed, and the season
finale of CBS's Survivor came on the large screen television (donated by
a church member), everyone sat transfixed.
As Glover -- who watched the finale from Los Angeles -- attempted to
cross the balance beam as part of the first immunity challenge, sighs of
"oh, God," and "come on Helen" could be heard in the darkness. When she
finally made it across after several failed attempts, the room erupted
into applause.
It was, in the words of Father John Lawrence, minister at Trinity, "a
partisan crowd."
The series came to its climax during a three-hour special last night.
During the finale, the four remaining players battled bamboo balance
beams and engaged in old-fashioned back stabbing.
Throughout the 36 nights on the island, Glover secretly forged alliances
with more than one person. She admitted that playing both sides was
important to winning the game. Prior to last night's show, she had an
alliance with both Brian and Ted. Ted, however, did not benefit from the
pact. He was voted out in episode 11 by Glover and two other
contestants, after he took Glover with him for a meal, some wine and
massage.
Glover's fan base remained unmoved by such chicanery.
"She's been honest, she's tried to maintain character and dignity, who
she is. I don't think she's lost that," said Durudogan.
The sentiment was echoed by Marie Maguire, administrative assistant at
Trinity. "She's been very pleasant. Some of the other contestants have
not been so nice."
Maguire said the episode when Glover's husband Jim won the right to
visit for 24 hours by eating bugs was her favorite. "That was very
moving."
Her friends who had come to watch Glover become the second Survivor
champion from Middletown testified to the woman's grit. The entire
family, said Debby Lengyel, from Portsmouth, is competitive. Her
decision to take part in the show, Lengyel said, came after a dare from
Helen's husbant dared her.
Glover confirmed this when she told the camera "I hate to lose. And I
hate to look like a fool doing it."
Reality television, which the first Survivor series spawned two years
ago when Middletown's Richard Hatch won, has been criticized for its
dog-eat-dog ethos and questionable taste. Lawrence, who has been
minister at Trinity for 2 1/2 years, said last night he saw no
contradiction in holding a party to celebrate a contestant on such a
show in the old and venerable Trinity Church.
"In one way, the show reflects contemporary culture, for good or ill,
the deviousness, the alliances," he said. However, there were other
elements to it.
"They [the contestants] tend to keep up the relationships with each
other after the show," he said.
The show proved that "we are not meant to live in that competitive
overdrive. That's somewhat redemptive," Lawrence said.
Being voted off the island, after coming so far in the grueling and
unpredictable series, obviously smarted for Glover. Giving her reaction
to her demise to the camera, she had a message for her former comrades.
"To the three of you that are left, break a leg. And I mean it."
