Former two-term councilmember, 3-time appointed Mayor John Bauters’ tenure on the Fox reality show ‘The Snake’ came to an end last Tuesday. Five weeks after bursting out of a wood crate, he was ungraciously packed back into that same crate and sent home. “Send him back to City Hall,” host Jim Jeffries declared.

Bauters seemed poised to make a run at winning the competition and the $100K that came with it but quickly riled the other players in a similar manner with many who have dealt with him at the local government level.

Many are now asking if this was a prudent move for someone that is still relatively young in political terms and if this could jeopardize any potential comeback after losing political office last year.

Episodes 5 & 6: ‘Mayor John’ Narrowly Evades Elimination

In a plot twist, Bauters was introduced as “The Surprise Snake” in the 4th episode of the season. He immediately revealed his strategy and his perceived advantage as a politician. “I’m used to having to figure out how to get votes. I’m used to having to work people over to get them to ‘yes,’” he confessed to an off-camera interviewer.

He was able to stay under the radar in Week 5, narrowly avoided elimination in episode 6 while in the bottom two, then earned immunity in Week 7 by winning the weekly competition.

Episode 7: Bauters Wins Immunity

It was after achieving immunity that Bauters exposed his cunningness and manipulative ways likely dooming himself.

He immediately flaunted his power irking rival players with his smugness and self-aggrandizing behavior. “I knew that if he won, he would let his ego run wild,” whispered contestant Frankie Lavecchia to other players he was allied with explaining his decision not to pursue winning the weekly competition despite it being within his grasp.

Bauters devised a scheme where he interviewed each contestant separately to determine who he should eliminate in what he framed as a “community consensus,” but later admitted “he just wanted the information” so he could triangulate a more comprehensive strategy.

“He’s just on his high horse calling everyone in, acting like he’s smarter than everyone, saying ‘trust the process,’” assessed Jack Micco, a non-profit director from Austin, Texas. “You idiot. It’s The Snake!” pointing out that others were not naive to his intentions.

“It’s so enjoyable to watch John be the snake,” said Derek North, a detective from Naperville, Illinois. “He’s going about it in the worst way possible. Everyone in the house hates it, and I don’t even have to pit everyone in the house against him. He’s doing it to himself. He’s seeing it through Mayor’s eyes, and he is going to lose this election.”

John’s betrayal of Jordan, who opted to save him in week 5, was particularly telling of his machiavellian ways. “John is a clown, and the fact that I have to stand in that snake pit and beg for him to save me? F*** that. I won’t be doing that. I want to curse him out.”

Many questioned the strategy and his savviness as a politician for thinking this was a good play. “You’re the dumbest politician I’ve ever met,” said Kethryn Cavender a Tech manager from New York city who Bauters ultimately chose to eliminate that week.

In the next segment, host Jeffries plays pre-recorded videos from the loved ones of each contestant. John’s parents appear for his clip, clearly reading off a teleprompter. “It was very choreographed and scripted, much like most of John’s life,” assessed contestant Brett Covalt, a boxer from Tampa, Florida.

Among Bauters’ most cringe-worthy moments in the episode include his admissions that he’s “never been afraid to do the dirty work,” and that cutting deals “was his favorite part of politics.”

Episode 8: Bauters Meets Demise

With others clearly gunning for him, Bauters made a peculiar play during the weekly challenge that involved locating medallions while crawling through a shallow pool of chum. Instead of placing these medallions in his own box as instructed, he instead dropped them in Frankie’s box to boost his chances of winning. With John’s help, Frankie collected the most medallions with 37, but unbeknownst to them, the winner was instead picked through a lottery method that was ultimately won by Jack.

During the voting ceremony, with immunity in hand, Jack was tasked with picking between Bauters and Frankie who found themselves in the bottom two. During their final plea, Frankie came across as sincere, and John came across as scripted and methodical. Jack pondered his decision, concluding that while Frankie was probably the bigger long-term threat, the house consensus was to eliminate John. “Sometimes what’s best for the house is to listen to the people,” said Jack before revealing his pick.

”I’ve learned from John’s mistakes along the way,” Jack later lamented. “The worst thing you can do in this game is to have enemies and have people gunning for you.”

An edited recap of Bauters’ appearances has been uploaded to YouTube.

Bauters’ Exit Interview

John seemed in denial that his arrogance rubbed some people the wrong way and, true to his character, denied any wrongdoing and blamed others for his misfortune. “I think it’s probably not usual for people to deal with a politician who’s incredibly honest and capable of having challenging conversations, but that’s who I am.”

Following his defeat, Bauters appeared on the reality TV show podcast The RHAP (Rob Has a Podcast) to discuss his appearance.

Bauters admitted errors in his strategy but also noted he was already behind the 8-ball as the new contestant. He compared it to being the new kid at high school and figuring out which lunch table to sit at. “I was just too smart or too strategic for people who weren’t close to me … they were scared of that.”

Was Appearance ‘Political Suicide’?

Not only did John not win the $100,000, it may have cost him in terms of reputation and trust (the comment section of our July story is filled with anonymous comments mostly critical of him). John’s hubris and general smarminess were on full display for nearly five hours of television.

In a recent East Bay Insiders Podcast [48:39], host Steve Tavares questioned the career move of appearing on a realty show where being deceitful is a benefit and if he could ever return to politics after allowing viewers to “peek behind the curtain” of his thought process. “Was he trying to work me over all that time? I thought he was just trying to work with me?” Tavares discussed assessing that he may have a hard time getting people to trust him after publicly disclosing his methods.

Some presumed Bauters was merely playing the role of a prototypical conniving politician. For the few observers of Emeryville politics, Bauters’ antics and this behavior seemed far from an act.

Throughout his two terms, he helped torpedo a community dog park, persistently took credit for things he either had no involvement in or didn’t exist to boost his stature in local politics, was hostile and opaque with the local media, and even denigrated the city’s founder (to name a few).

Politics has shifted throughout the decades and even merged with entertainment, so it’s possible it could benefit someone as ambitious as John.

In his return to civilian life, Bauters lists two professional roles, including with Revitalize East Bay and as the Executive Director of the Oakland chapter of the Abundance Network.

Ad-supported episodes of The Snake can be streamed online at Fox.com/the-snake.