This week’s
episode was very strange and very entertaining. We saw Dawn lose her teeth and
her mind, Brenda and Erik both had confessionals, and a three person alliance
was entirely protected from immunity, leaving the majority alliance to scramble
right in the middle of tribal council.
Jeff Probst
was raving about this season while Philippines was still airing, and I’m
beginning to understand why. In my opinion, the past three episodes have been
the three best of the season so far. This season has very interesting group
dynamics, conflicting alliances and relationships within alliances. These will
all undoubtedly unfold further down the line and I believe we’re in store for a
very interesting ending to this season. However, quite often we see seasons
begin to settle down a little before the last few weeks. Let’s hope this season
doesn’t follow that trend.
Player of the Week: Malcolm
Freberg
Malcolm’s double idol play was one of the biggest
power plays in Survivor history, and it made for one of the best tribal
councils ever. There’s a lot of different opinions floating around about the
decisions Malcolm made last night. Personally, I think targeting Phillip was
exactly the right move. Every single player was hoping to take Phillip to the
end because they knew they could beat him, so by removing him from the game,
you shake up everybody’s plans and create the biggest fracture within the
majority alliance. People also have to keep in mind that we have no idea how
long it was before tribal that Malcolm found the second idol, and how much time
the amigos had to plan. This move is the definition of playing to win, and
while I don’t believe it will get Malcolm to the end, but I do believe it will
get him a third chance to play this game.
Movers and Shakers:
+ 2 Malcolm Freberg
+ 1 Reynold Toepfer
+ 1 Brenda Lowe
- 1 Phillip Shepard
- 1 Dawn Meehan
- 2 Sherri Beithman
10. Phillip Shepard (Last Week: 9th)
One thing I always hate to see in
Survivor, is people accepting their fate, and not fighting to stay in the game
when their back is up against the wall. When the bromigos threw Phillip under
the bus, he instructed his alliance to stick to the plan, force Malcolm and
Eddie to play their idols, and let them vote for him. Even though Phillip was
almost certain to go home no matter what he did, he has to at least try.
However, out of devotion to Stealth R Us, or a lack of care, or perhaps just
stubbornness, Phillip has joined the jury. Throughout this season, Phillip has
been rude, unpleasant, disrespectful, delusional, and a bully. Ultimately, this
behaviour was his undoing. Call it karma, call it justice, call it unlucky,
call it whatever you want, the one thing it undeniably was, is good television.
9. Reynold Toepfer (Last Week: 10th)
Reynold was a marked man before the
immunity challenge. He was the unanimous first choice of the Stealth R Us
alliance. Now that Malcolm has made such a bold powerful move, I’m convinced
Reynold has moved back one spot on the chopping block, assuming the bromigos
can’t find any recruits.
8. Sherri Beithman (Last Week: 6th)
Ever since
Shamar’s medivac, Sherri has been nothing more than a floater. The only real
scheming we’ve seen from her has been to try drag a goat to the end. However,
this plan was inherently flawed since there will almost certainly be a final
three and everybody except Phillip would most likely have beaten her. It seems
as though Sherri may be a one-trick pony and now that Phillip’s gone, she’s
lost her only strong connection to Stealth R Us.
7. Eddie Fox (Last Week: 7th)
Eddie is one
lucky man. I don’t think you could argue that Malcolm saved Eddie this week,
and how, he will most likely stick around for at least a little while longer.
Eddie was only targeted this week because Reynold and Malcolm were both
protected. Stealth R Us have made it clear that they are much less worried
about him than they are Malcolm or Reynold.
6. Malcolm Freberg (Last Week: 8th)
Malcolm may have saved his alliance for
this week but it still looks unlikely they’ll be able to rally the numbers,
though that’s not to say all hope is lost. Sherri is a very possible recruit.
Her game plan is to take the worst players with her to the end. So far, she’s
proven to not think very highly of Reynold, or Eddie at all, and she may
believe that they would be the easiest players to beat at the end. Furthermore,
with Phillip gone, she’s clearly on the outs of her alliance and really doesn’t
have much to lose. Erik is absolutely playing an under-the-radar game. In the
past, he has proven to be paranoid, and he is still scarred from the rather
cruel number the women of Micronesia pulled on him. Perhaps he’ll feel more
comfortable working with his fellow bros. Perhaps his vote for Phillip this
week was a sign he’s ready to turn this game on its head. A rather unsuspecting
potential recruit is Andrea. Every week, it’s becoming more and more clear that
her alliance is threatened by her and does not intend to take her to the end.
With her closest ally gone, she may feel more comfortable working with the boys
that she clearly has bonded with. There are a number of avenues for Malcolm to
work, and it’s absolutely possible he may take control of this game, and if he
does he will absolutely be the man to beat in this game. If I were a betting
man though, my money would be on Stealth R Us to prevail.
5. Erik Reichenbach (Last Week: 5th)
Erik is quite a unique player in that
he seems to actively avoid strategy. In Micronesia, he learnt that he is not a
very good strategist, and because of this, he seems to be avoiding it as if it
were a disease. This is a very dangerous approach, because when it comes to the
final tribal council, it’s hard to convince the jury you deserve the million
when you didn’t succeed in the three major aspects of the game, social,
physical, and strategic. However, it has worked in the past, most notably for
Jud ‘Fabio’ Birza, but I don’t believe it’s possible unless you have a
particularly bitter jury, or a very week final two or three.
4. Dawn Meehan (Last Week: 3rd)
As we get closer and closer to the
finish, Dawn’s chances seem to be getting worse and worse. Dawn has screwed
over a lot of people after they have confided in her, and though people have
won this way, I don’t know if Dawn could, purely because of the way she carries
herself and the jury’s perception of her. If a young charismatic guy like
Malcolm were to screw you over, you’d feel he outplayed you, but when a mom of
6 adopted children screws you over, you feel she hurt and betrayed you. If Dawn
wants to win, she needs to stop crying, stand up and own this strong cut throat
game she’s playing.
3. Brenda Lowe (Last Week: 4th)
We’re starting to see that Brenda is
perhaps in a stronger position than suspected. Last week, everyone was happy
for her to win immunity, and this week, we saw Dawn crying for her help to find
her retainer. This tribe has plenty of strong swimmers, but it was Brenda whom
she confided in. Brenda may be in a stronger position than suspected, but based
purely on the editing, it’s safe to assume that she doesn’t win.
2. Andrea Boehlke (Last Week: 2nd)
Of all the members of the Stealth alliance, Andrea certainly has the
toughest road to the end. Everyone recognises her as the strategist and the biggest threat of
her alliance. However, if she can take her alliance to final 6 and get rid of
Erik, she has a great shot at dominating immunity, when her competition
includes Cochran, Dawn, Sherri, and an injured Brenda. Andrea is a thoroughly
underrated challenge competitor. If Andrea can make it to the end, she could
beat almost anyone for the million.
1. John Cochran (Last Week: 1st)
Cochran is certainly playing great in
terms of the fact that everyone sees his value and no one wants to get rid of
him. However, in the past few weeks, a number of people have stepped out in
front of him as jury threats, such as Malcolm and Andrea. If Cochran is to win,
he’ll need to either get rid of these threats or step up his own game.
Written by Robert Milner.
Credit: CBS
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