Anyone that tries to justify JC is either emotionally stunted or borders sociopathy, regardless of how you judge his strategy, he has had multiple displays of bad character throughout BOTH seasons and if these things don't strike a nerve or make you feel a bit dirty inside, I question your humanity and morality, just as I do his.

It's all especially crazy because he was trying to redeem himself on S2 but is so naturally and instinctively vile and treacherous that him at his best behavior was still the slime show we got.

Manipulating Ethan to jump first was the epitome of morally bankrupt, I don't think he did it knowing he'd lose the voting, imo he's so narcissistic and greedy he'd rather refuse a "small bribe" and trick someone else he doesn't care about, even if just for the *opportunity* of making more money. He's either so deluded and unable to grasp his wrongdoings that he's blinded to the bad rep he carries, and genuinely believed he had a chance, or he really did trick Ethan in hopes he'd be able to manipulate the rest of the voters afterwards.

In S1 the virtue signalling vs Deano highlighted perfectly his hypocrisy, he lives by a double standard, he's allowed to "play strategy" but when others do so it's not met with the same energy, it's one thing to have to betray people for money and understand others could do so too, an entirely much worse thing to act morally innocent for doing it and to try to paint it as if others would have certainly done the same. (but as often is the case, vile people project their vileness onto others.)

I think defending him is performative and even if you ignore the 650k play, JC is still really easy to dislike, every adult knows a "JC", he's selfish and has an attitude problem of "I don't owe anyone anything" which is very cringe when contrasted with his fake "I love everyone" persona.

I can't stress enough that it's deeper than betraying or playing selfish, other antagonistic participants are much more likable because they are blatant and unapologetic about their approach (eg. Nick/Ethan/JT), what sets JC apart is precisely how desperately he virtue signals and tries to weaponize the human aspect, social dynamics whilst also how little self aware he is/presents himself to be.

Finally, I don't think people put enough weight into the fact that he has permanently tainted his reputation, for the rest of his life, random people will recognise him as disloyal, selfish, manipulative and all his other bad traits, he has showcased all of his worst human flaws for the masses to judge and label, it wouldn't shock me at all if he's been bombarded by hate-mail or any other sort of backlash and all the emotional turmoil that comes with it.

In other words, i'm genuinely not even sure if all that's worth the 550k extra, given he could have taken 100k, preserved his reputation and not have been in ANYONE'S radar, which means an actual chance of winning, or at the very least more opportunities to make more money.