Not the most groundbreaking week of Survivor, but, hey, never a bad time to do a ranking.
16.
Randen (Orange) – Down 3
Well, this was a bummer. Never fun to see someone get pulled from the game, particularly when all they did wrong was sleep on some bamboo. The Randen story was just starting to get good as his alliance with Venus was one of the more interesting alliances we had on the show, and they seemingly were going to have an idol to play with as well. Now the interesting storyline becomes what will be the fallout from this? Who will find the Orange tribe idol when it is inevitably replanted? Will Orange still be able to dominate in the challenges without one of their biggest and strongest competitors? Who else will God choose to smite with numb limbs in order to protect our dear Bhanu? Speaking of which …
15.
Bhanu (Purple) – No Change
It certainly seems like Bhanu was on the verge of being voted out this week and was saved by the fluke med-evac (although Q’s reaction really makes me wonder), but I think his chances of winning the game are still dangerously low. It’s hard for me to imagine that a guy who is stricken with paranoia, emotional volatility and blabber-mouth disease is going to get the respect of the jury at the end of this game. Not to mention that he’s still at the bottom of a winless tribe and in danger of drifting further down once he reveals how he sold out everyone to Liz and Ben on the journey.
BUT
I’m actually really starting to buy-in to the possibility that Bhanu is going
to make a deep run in this game. If he can somehow make the merge, he is going
to be so unthreatening that he may stumble into a free pass to final tribal as
a presumptive zero vote finalist. And, hey, if he makes it to final tribal,
there are less likable people that you could give a million bucks to, right?
14.
Venus (Orange) – Down 2
Even before Randen, her one known ally, was pulled from the game, I didn’t love what I was seeing from Venus. To me, she came across as a little too strong-willed/antagonistic in her conversation with Randen where she was pitching Hunter (although maybe I am only downgrading that because I am a product of the patriarchy) and that was her ally. Still feels to me like she is on the outs from Tevin and Soda and if this team goes to tribal – a lot more likely of an outcome without Randen – she could be the one to go.
13.
Liz (Orange) – Up 3
Look at Liz! Up three spots this week! It helps to have an episode where your storyline isn’t all about how rich you are. Instead, she showed some real social and strategic tact during her journey and she was part of the team that got him to give up all his secrets. Was that difficult to do? Nah, Bhanu is a sieve. But Liz didn’t mess it up! And when we are at the bottom of the list, that was apparently enough.
12.
Tim (Green) – Up 2
Not going to lie to you, I don’t know much about Tim. And I am going to bet you also don’t know much about Tim. Close your eyes and try to picture what Tim’s voice sounds like. You can’t, can you? Of course that may just be because I told you to picture what his voice sounds like. Don’t feel bad if don’t know Tim because, quite frankly, the show doesn’t seem to care much about Tim or the Green tribe in general considering that the main thing they showed us this week was an idol hunt from four days previously. But I still believe in the team works and vibes over at the Green tribe and, although they may be kinda boring, it seems like whoever survives to the merge will have a chance of factoring in to the end game.
11.
Ben (Green) – No Change
Despite the fact that Ben has been arguably the most memorable character of the entire Green tribe, he almost dropped in my rankings this week and arguably should have. This episode he lost his vote, showed that he wasn’t a great puzzler and, in one of the secret scenes that was cut from the episode, there was a segment about how he isn’t talking detailed strategy with anyone on the island. Not to mention I did not care for those rock puns one bit. He is the king of the vibes which is great as long as his tribe is winning, but without a vote it’s very possible that he becomes an easy boot. I did at least like the way that he lied when he came back from the journey and seemed like that was a smart, logical lie to tell to help protect himself without setting himself up to get exposed later on.
10.
Moriah (Green) – No Change
If I showed you a picture of Liz and then showed you a picture of Moriah, would you know the difference? Maybe now that Moriah has a giant gash on her face from going hard in the challenge (rock on, Mo), but she’s still fairly invisible on the purple tribe (which is the Green tribe this season). I’m thinking the story is going to have to pick up for Green at some point and then I’ll be able to see if my first episode hopes for Mo were validated.
9.
Kenzie (Purple) – Down 3
Outlast: 1 pt
This pains me to say, but after this latest episode I actually think if I was putting on odds on who would go further out of Kenzie and Bhanu in this game, I would make Bhanu the favorite. Sure, Kenzie has much more win equity than Bhanu or practically anybody else on this list if she can make it to the end, but her game got absolutely bombed this week when Bhanu announced to the other tribes that she was a master manipulator that was running the game and could not be trusted. The Drag-maid – yikes, gonna need to rearrange that one – the Mer-gon still has the skills that would be required to win this game, but her threat level is probably #1 in the entire game and just three episodes in that is a Dragon-sized problem.
8.
Q (Purple) – Up 1
Outlast: 1 pt
I would have loved to have known if there was any chance Q was actually going to get his way and convince Tiffany to vote out Kenzie over Bhanu this week had Randen gotten the chance to sleep in Hunter’s travel bed. If he could have pulled that off, I would really need to give credit to this guy who would become a very influential player. My read was that he authentically believed they were going to blindside Kenzie. I don’t think that was going to happen because I can’t imagine Tiff making that move at that point, but still, I’m intrigued by the charisma and power of Q.
7.
Soda (Orange) – Up 1
OK, so I heard an interesting take on the Soda-Venus idol grabbing thing and want to share it with all of you. Yes, it is very bad that Soda was grabbing the idol out of Vensus’s hands, but is it also bad that Venus was extending her arms and always being the one taking the idol from Jeff? Is she actually be a big idol hog by always being the one who is accepting the idol from Jeff after they win? Something to watch out for on the next episode.
6.
Hunter (Orange) – Down 1
Outplay: 1 pt + 1
Hunter becomes our first player to get a second point in the Outplay category and he actually ends up being our only person to pick up any additional points in this episode so that’s great for him. The dude absolutely killed it in the challenge thanks to Chekov’s sandbag during his flash back. And I actually really liked how he seemed to be convincing his tribe (with the exception of Venus) that he was not that smart or knowledgeable about the game and was only there for the adventure. That seemed like a smart way to lower his threat level. But if he is going to single-handedly win challenges like he did this week then it’s not going to matter how dumb he pretends to be and that is what scares me.
5.
Jem (Green) – Up 2
Good news for Jem is that she had a nice uptick in face time this episode. Even better was the fact that she ended up grabbing the idol during a group idol search, seemingly without anyone else realizing. If you noticed, for the first time this season, they actually had her read out the part of the note where it says “if your tribe never loses, you will receive different instructions” or something like that so that could be foreshadowing that Green is going to keep winning all the way to the merge which would potentially even better good news.
4.
Tevin (Orange) – No Change
Surprisingly invisible episode for Tevin this week as well, but nobody around him did enough for me to drop him outside my top four at this stage in the game as my first impression continues to drive his ranking here. Having Randen and his idol out of the mix should help him out a bit as this takes away an important piece from the rebellion, but it could put Orange more at risk of heading to tribal. I’d be interested in seeing one of these other tribes go so that some actual battle lines are drawn and hopefully figure out if Tevin’s social connections are as strong as I think.
3.
Charlie (Green) – Down 1
Outlast: 1 pt
Charlie takes a slight dip this week as he was a part of the uneventfulness over on the Green tribe, but he still did manage to get a confessional in there during the idol search and continues to be shown in a reasonably strategic light. The Jem idol thing could either work to his benefit (they seem to have a good relationship) or be a piece that Jem uses to help the Angels rather than Charlie. Perhaps we will find out in a flashback two episodes after it happens.
2.
Tiffany (Purple) – Up 1
Outplay: 1 pt
I gave Tiff a small bump this year as I continue to really enjoy her confessionals. She seems like a healthy mix of competitiveness, strategic insight, social strength and just not putting up with any bull crap. I don’t love how much her tribe is losing and what that could mean for her numbers-wise at the merge, but she is probably the least threatening of all the Purple people and that opens the door for her to play the middle and find a way to factor into the late game.
1.
Maria (Green) – No Change
Outwit: 1 pt
Outlast: 1 pt
Nothing in the episode would be reason to justify dropping Maria out of this number one spot so I’ll keep her here, but hopefully we get to see more of her (and the Green tribe) next episode so that I can feel more confident in this decision. It’s a very wide open game at this stage, so I’m not sure she will hold this position forever, but for now Maria remains undefeated.
Well, this was a bummer. Never fun to see someone get pulled from the game, particularly when all they did wrong was sleep on some bamboo. The Randen story was just starting to get good as his alliance with Venus was one of the more interesting alliances we had on the show, and they seemingly were going to have an idol to play with as well. Now the interesting storyline becomes what will be the fallout from this? Who will find the Orange tribe idol when it is inevitably replanted? Will Orange still be able to dominate in the challenges without one of their biggest and strongest competitors? Who else will God choose to smite with numb limbs in order to protect our dear Bhanu? Speaking of which …
It certainly seems like Bhanu was on the verge of being voted out this week and was saved by the fluke med-evac (although Q’s reaction really makes me wonder), but I think his chances of winning the game are still dangerously low. It’s hard for me to imagine that a guy who is stricken with paranoia, emotional volatility and blabber-mouth disease is going to get the respect of the jury at the end of this game. Not to mention that he’s still at the bottom of a winless tribe and in danger of drifting further down once he reveals how he sold out everyone to Liz and Ben on the journey.
Even before Randen, her one known ally, was pulled from the game, I didn’t love what I was seeing from Venus. To me, she came across as a little too strong-willed/antagonistic in her conversation with Randen where she was pitching Hunter (although maybe I am only downgrading that because I am a product of the patriarchy) and that was her ally. Still feels to me like she is on the outs from Tevin and Soda and if this team goes to tribal – a lot more likely of an outcome without Randen – she could be the one to go.
Look at Liz! Up three spots this week! It helps to have an episode where your storyline isn’t all about how rich you are. Instead, she showed some real social and strategic tact during her journey and she was part of the team that got him to give up all his secrets. Was that difficult to do? Nah, Bhanu is a sieve. But Liz didn’t mess it up! And when we are at the bottom of the list, that was apparently enough.
Not going to lie to you, I don’t know much about Tim. And I am going to bet you also don’t know much about Tim. Close your eyes and try to picture what Tim’s voice sounds like. You can’t, can you? Of course that may just be because I told you to picture what his voice sounds like. Don’t feel bad if don’t know Tim because, quite frankly, the show doesn’t seem to care much about Tim or the Green tribe in general considering that the main thing they showed us this week was an idol hunt from four days previously. But I still believe in the team works and vibes over at the Green tribe and, although they may be kinda boring, it seems like whoever survives to the merge will have a chance of factoring in to the end game.
Despite the fact that Ben has been arguably the most memorable character of the entire Green tribe, he almost dropped in my rankings this week and arguably should have. This episode he lost his vote, showed that he wasn’t a great puzzler and, in one of the secret scenes that was cut from the episode, there was a segment about how he isn’t talking detailed strategy with anyone on the island. Not to mention I did not care for those rock puns one bit. He is the king of the vibes which is great as long as his tribe is winning, but without a vote it’s very possible that he becomes an easy boot. I did at least like the way that he lied when he came back from the journey and seemed like that was a smart, logical lie to tell to help protect himself without setting himself up to get exposed later on.
If I showed you a picture of Liz and then showed you a picture of Moriah, would you know the difference? Maybe now that Moriah has a giant gash on her face from going hard in the challenge (rock on, Mo), but she’s still fairly invisible on the purple tribe (which is the Green tribe this season). I’m thinking the story is going to have to pick up for Green at some point and then I’ll be able to see if my first episode hopes for Mo were validated.
Outlast: 1 pt
This pains me to say, but after this latest episode I actually think if I was putting on odds on who would go further out of Kenzie and Bhanu in this game, I would make Bhanu the favorite. Sure, Kenzie has much more win equity than Bhanu or practically anybody else on this list if she can make it to the end, but her game got absolutely bombed this week when Bhanu announced to the other tribes that she was a master manipulator that was running the game and could not be trusted. The Drag-maid – yikes, gonna need to rearrange that one – the Mer-gon still has the skills that would be required to win this game, but her threat level is probably #1 in the entire game and just three episodes in that is a Dragon-sized problem.
Outlast: 1 pt
I would have loved to have known if there was any chance Q was actually going to get his way and convince Tiffany to vote out Kenzie over Bhanu this week had Randen gotten the chance to sleep in Hunter’s travel bed. If he could have pulled that off, I would really need to give credit to this guy who would become a very influential player. My read was that he authentically believed they were going to blindside Kenzie. I don’t think that was going to happen because I can’t imagine Tiff making that move at that point, but still, I’m intrigued by the charisma and power of Q.
OK, so I heard an interesting take on the Soda-Venus idol grabbing thing and want to share it with all of you. Yes, it is very bad that Soda was grabbing the idol out of Vensus’s hands, but is it also bad that Venus was extending her arms and always being the one taking the idol from Jeff? Is she actually be a big idol hog by always being the one who is accepting the idol from Jeff after they win? Something to watch out for on the next episode.
Outplay: 1 pt + 1
Hunter becomes our first player to get a second point in the Outplay category and he actually ends up being our only person to pick up any additional points in this episode so that’s great for him. The dude absolutely killed it in the challenge thanks to Chekov’s sandbag during his flash back. And I actually really liked how he seemed to be convincing his tribe (with the exception of Venus) that he was not that smart or knowledgeable about the game and was only there for the adventure. That seemed like a smart way to lower his threat level. But if he is going to single-handedly win challenges like he did this week then it’s not going to matter how dumb he pretends to be and that is what scares me.
Good news for Jem is that she had a nice uptick in face time this episode. Even better was the fact that she ended up grabbing the idol during a group idol search, seemingly without anyone else realizing. If you noticed, for the first time this season, they actually had her read out the part of the note where it says “if your tribe never loses, you will receive different instructions” or something like that so that could be foreshadowing that Green is going to keep winning all the way to the merge which would potentially even better good news.
Surprisingly invisible episode for Tevin this week as well, but nobody around him did enough for me to drop him outside my top four at this stage in the game as my first impression continues to drive his ranking here. Having Randen and his idol out of the mix should help him out a bit as this takes away an important piece from the rebellion, but it could put Orange more at risk of heading to tribal. I’d be interested in seeing one of these other tribes go so that some actual battle lines are drawn and hopefully figure out if Tevin’s social connections are as strong as I think.
Outlast: 1 pt
Charlie takes a slight dip this week as he was a part of the uneventfulness over on the Green tribe, but he still did manage to get a confessional in there during the idol search and continues to be shown in a reasonably strategic light. The Jem idol thing could either work to his benefit (they seem to have a good relationship) or be a piece that Jem uses to help the Angels rather than Charlie. Perhaps we will find out in a flashback two episodes after it happens.
Outplay: 1 pt
I gave Tiff a small bump this year as I continue to really enjoy her confessionals. She seems like a healthy mix of competitiveness, strategic insight, social strength and just not putting up with any bull crap. I don’t love how much her tribe is losing and what that could mean for her numbers-wise at the merge, but she is probably the least threatening of all the Purple people and that opens the door for her to play the middle and find a way to factor into the late game.
Outwit: 1 pt
Outlast: 1 pt
Nothing in the episode would be reason to justify dropping Maria out of this number one spot so I’ll keep her here, but hopefully we get to see more of her (and the Green tribe) next episode so that I can feel more confident in this decision. It’s a very wide open game at this stage, so I’m not sure she will hold this position forever, but for now Maria remains undefeated.
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