The Jury Is Supposed To Remain Seated on 'Survivor 48,' so Why Did David Stand Up?

At the end of the May 7, 2025 episode of Survivor, when Mary's game officially ended, one of the jury members, David, did something totally unexpected. He stood up, looking extremely angry at the result of the votes, and appeared to do it in solidarity of Mary's loss. But, given what he has said about their shaky alliance in the past, that may not be totally accurate as to why David stood up on Survivor.

Typically, jury members remain silent and seated during the elimination at the end of an episode. And, at first, that's what David did. Then, he stood up without saying a word. He didn't explain himself afterward either, but Mary's elimination was the catalyst for his move. So, what happened exactly to make David stand up on Survivor?

During the May 7 episode, it came down to Joe and Mary. In the end, Mary was voted out of the game and named as the fifth member of the jury. It's possible that David was upset because Mary was sort of aligned with him at one point. Well, when he was still in the game, anyway. And, if it had to be between Mary and Joe, David might have wanted Joe out instead.

David's look when he stood up after the final vote was announced appeared to be something between anger and intimidation. Not that it would have mattered, since an angry jury member doesn't mean votes are changed on Survivor. But, since a jury member can't speak at this point, maybe standing up and giving a scowl was David's only way to get his point across.

After the official Survivor Instagram account shared a post about the episode, and added in a photo of David standing with the rest of the jury seated, viewers left comments to share their own confusion.

"He's over there trying to intimidate everyone," someone commented.

Another wrote, "What was that about?" with crying laughing emojis.

When it comes to David's look and his standing up being perceived as anger on behalf of Mary, that may not be totally the case. When David was eliminated on Survivor 48 and spoke with Entertainment Weekly in an exit interview, he opened up about Mary. At the time, he said that she had "latched onto" him and started "following" him around, so he was forced to bring her into the fold. But, he added, the plan was to get Mary out.

"It just came to the point where I'm like, 'I can't do anything about Mary. She's here. We might as well use her for a number,' David told the outlet. "She was always going to be the sixth boot, which I don't think was ever really truly clarified."

Maybe after David was booted before Mary, he had a change of heart, and by standing up, he wanted to honor her after her own defeat.