Well, whether you call it the +1 alliance or the “The Six” or Q’s crew, the big alliance that was hoping to run the game exploding spectacularly this week and, while I don’t think anyone was expecting that group to ride all the way to the end, it leaves a real gaping hole in the Survivor landscape. I’m definitely interested to see the fall out from this one and to try and laser in on who is a genius and who is just good TV. Was Q’s move at tribal council part of a next-level strategy or is he just a car crash you can’t look away from? Is Venus low-key a manipulator of this game or is she just that cringe type of humor that keeps you watching? Does Ben rock at this game or is he just nice? Is Liz “Cocky B” Wilcox about to steal a $1 million to add to her stash or is she just a person that is on TV? The lines are getting blurry and I honestly don’t know anymore.
10.
Tevin (Orange) – Down Four
My
wife has been on this for a few weeks now, pointing out Tevin’s rather
villainous edit, and we see it come to fruition here when he gets caught
completely napping in his vote out this episode. Didn’t really come close to sniffing
out his blindside at any point during this game and in successive weeks voted
out Soda, who though of him as one of her best allies, and then made Liz mad
enough to turn on him by taking too much credit for voting out Soda. He also
got way to invested in the six which, as some people out there could clearly
see, was never a feasible way to make it to the end. Tev, your voice will be
missed.
9.
Q (Purple) – No Change
Outwit:
1 pt
Outlast:
1 pt
One
week after I proclaimed that Q had his worst episode of the season, he comes
back and says hold my rice. Keep in mind that this episode began with him throwing
away social bonds and putting way too much emphasis on strategy and then later
had him turning on his own #1 ally. That right there would have been
problematic, but then he lost it at tribal and made literally everyone left in
the game angry with him. The one thing I felt he had going for him was that, if
he somehow got to the end, he could point to doing it despite being a big
presence would drove a lot of votes and I think that jury would have respected
it. Now, I don’t think there’s much respect (or trust) left for Q and that
leaves him out of options. Maybe he will be a goat to bring to the end at this
point, but that’s about the best he can hope for. Even Jelinsky had a better
episode than Q because at least that man got yet another shout out for his
legendary one-episode performance and maybe he will get to come back and play
again one day.
8.
Venus (Orange) – Up Two
I
continue to have mixed feelings about the game Venus is playing. On the one
hand, she is playing hard. She’s trying to make moves, she competes well in the
challenges and, by the way, the two people that she has wanted to get out of
this game got blindsided in back-to-back weeks. Unfortunately, no one on the
island seems to respect her game at all and that is not a good sign for her
jury chances because, at this point, I don’t really know how she can possibly
shake that off, but at some point the fact that she continues to not get voted
out and get the people she wants voted out will start to count for something
right?
On
the other hand, Venus seems to really lack self-awareness and while there are a
ton of different personalities and skill sets that have won survivor, I feel
like you absolutely need to have strong self awareness. Or at least the
strongest self awareness of the other people sitting at final tribal so that
you can make your case to the jury and get the majority of votes. So in that sense,
she can probably only beat Q.
7.
Liz (Orange) – Up One
Outwit
+1
Look,
I’ve got to give Liz a point here because she was the driver of this blindside
and it is a resume point that she was in dire need of. No one was respecting
Liz’s gameplay out there or in here. She’s quickly climbed up the ranks and is
no longer among the bottom dwellers. There’s a ray of light where you can see
her taking this thing. As much as it was encouraging to see her edit pick up
this episode, I do think there could be some negative repercussions of her
actions. For starters, she just voted out someone who was working with her and
probably one of her closer allies (although, can you really tell with Liz?) and
she further weakened Orange who, after losing two players in a row, could
potentially continue to be a target next week (although I said the same thing
about Green and now look at them). Plus, now Liz has a move and sometimes the
tallest weed gets chopped or whatever the expression is. But hey, if you are a
Liz fan you have to at least be encouraged that we have genuine gameplay to
dissect here rather than just some joke about her looking like Moriah.
6.
Hunter (Orange) – Down Four
Outplay:
4 pt
A
few weeks back, I talked myself into Hunter as a contender, but I am waffling
hard after watching this latest episode. The positive is that, while all alliances
were crumbling, his name did not come up at all (yes, he was immune for half the
time, but even before that he was seemingly a non-target). People don’t seem to
be locked on him as an end game threat and I think that is an oversight. The
problem for him now is that The Six has absolutely crumbled and that was the
biggest source of his protection. To make matters worse, he lost his number one
ally in Tevin. To make matters even worse, he lost Q as a shield because either
Q is going quickly given that no one trusts him / they think he wants to quit
or no one is going to even bother with Q because he has lost all credibility as
a jury threat. Even though he won immunity this week, that could work against
him too because it reminds everyone that this guy is a physical beast who could
go on a run at the wrong time and steal this thing. He’s still got his idol,
but he might need to play it as soon as next week to stay in this game.
5.
Ben (Green) – Up Two
Outlast:
2 pt
I
thought Ben was in big trouble this week and all he did was put his head in his
shirt and it was impossible for anyone to target him. Ben has this way of being
both social and likable but also so incredibly non-threatening that people don’t
seem to be all that interested in using a vote on him. I just can’t get over
the metaphor of him tying Hunter in hide and seek – they both accomplished the
same thing: one by using super athleticism and flash to climb up into a tree
and one by doing something that I would do when I run out of ideas playing with
my niece. Is Ben a genius survivor player? I cannot decide. Even the rock puns
are growing on me a little bit.
Eh,
not that’s a lie, I still hate them.
4.
Tiff (Purple) – Down Three
Outplay:
1 pt
Outlast:
1 pt
My
top four here are sort of in their own tier at this point and it’s no
coincidence that these are the two closest pairs in a game that just got
flipped on its head. My previous number one Tiff slips down the rankings this
week, much like she did in the Get a Grip challenge, because it’s really
difficult to hold on when the margins are this thin. Tiff was a target this episode
and, while she seemed to survive without much trouble, it wasn’t great for her
that a) Q turned on her, b) she threw out Maria’s name and made an enemy of one
of the other power players and c) her idol is either about to be or already is
public knowledge. These are all things that I think she can pivot around, but her
threat level is elevated and her numbers shrank so, in this wild landscape that
is starting to take shape, Tiff is in at least some danger.
3.
Maria (Green) – Up One
Outwit:
1 pt
Outplay:
1 pt
Outlast:
1 pt
I
feel slightly better about the Charlie-Maria pairing and their connections than
the Tiff-Kenzie duo so Maria gets the nod here at number three. However, Maria’s
name also came up tonight and, while it never seemed to take hold, she is also trickling
onto people’s radars as a threat. I was pretty encouraged by her episode this
week and feel like she is built for a nice run to the end, however, I do feel
like Charlie seems to be getting a lot more of the strategic confessionals and
we are seeing things much more through his eyes. Is that a sign that he is
getting the winner’s edit or just a sign that he is better at talking to the
camera?
2.
Kenzie (Purple) – Up One
Outlast:
2 pt
If
you go back through my posts, I’ve never doubted Kenzie’s ability to make
connections or her win equity, I’ve merely doubted her ability to camouflage. I
think it is safe to say that she has mastered that part of the game and she has
a pretty brilliant merge. If she hadn’t already, she has officially usurped Q
to become Tiff’s #1 ally. She has a great connection with Ben which I think
could be critical in the power vacuum that is left after the break-up of The Six.
And, oh by the way, she wasn’t in The Six so it’s pretty great for her that it
broke up. Meanwhile, Tiff and Q are the bigger threats. It’s 3-3-3 between Green,
Purple and Orange so it’s time for the players to start looking at weakening
Purple but with the public idol and Tiffany out ahead of her, Kenzie should
hopefully be in a strong enough spot to weather the storm.
1.
Charlie (Green) – Up Four
Outwit:
1 pt + 1
Outlast:
2 pt + 1
Yes, I’m doing it. Two points for Charlie tonight. I thought this was a monster episode for him. To me, he got an excellent edit. He got a lot of strategic confessionals, he narrated the break up of The Six from start to finish (after weaseling his way into The Six due to his social ability and sycophantism) and he did just enough in the challenge to show everyone he is a competitor without becoming overly threatening. No one seems to think he is a threat (which eventually becomes a problem, but that is a later problem) and a lot of people seem to really trust him. Tiff came to him at tribal and he reassured her in a way that probably bumps him ahead of Q. Liz seemed to spend a lot of time with Charlie and Maria trying to hatch this plan. We know Ben and Maria love him, dating back to his days on Siga (that’s the Green tribe – I’ve finally learned all the tribes names now). Even he and Venus seem to be on decent terms at this stage in the contest. I don’t know, maybe I’m a sucker for the edit, but this guy really felt like a winner tonight. Let’s find out if I’ve got it right.
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