Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 48, Episode 7

Survivor 48, Episode 7 "Survivor Smack Talk" Gameplay Analysis

  "I look good in everything, Jeff."

-Kyle Fraser

This was one of the funnier Immunity Challenges in recent memory.  All of the smack talk was great, but then we got Shauhin getting edited into the music of the montage sequence and Jeff giving an impromptu plug to apply to the show.  It was all hilarious.  Plus Sai finally got voted out, which was a huge relief.  I was nervous she might end up being a Final 3 goat that we'd have to put up with all season.  In short, I really enjoyed this episode, so let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

Mitch was in a really rough spot after the Charity vote, but he did a good job of regrouping.  I liked how he worked on his social connections with Sai, Shauhin, and Joe.  It's possible that the connection he made with Joe helped save him.  He managed to survive the vote and used his Vote Blocker in a smart way.  He may have taken the target off of his back a little bit going forward.

While taking out Mitch may have been the smarter move overall, it's not a huge deal for Eva or Joe to keep Mitch and take out Sai.  Sai had been throwing out Eva's name and Joe has a good relationship with Mitch.  Mitch is a better player, but Eva and Joe had good rational.  Plus Joe won Immunity.

Kamilla, Kyle, David, and Shauhin all made the right move in taking out Cedrek.  It's too soon to turn on the Honesty alliance, though I suspect that's coming soon.  Shauhin's social connections helped him survive the vote, David won Immunity, and Kyle and Kamilla did a nice job of throwing some shade onto Shauhin to make David trust him less.

I don't know if taking out Cedrek was ideal for Mary's game, but at least she was on the right side of the vote and definitely was smart in not sticking her neck out to save him.

Who Sucked:

Chrissy talked way too much at Tribal Council about taking out big threats and people with good stories.  That's a bold thing to say with Joe sitting right next to her.  I wouldn't be surprised to see her go out shortly.  I also don't like how she threw out Mitch's name.  Chrissy is much better off if Sai goes home.  Now, if the vote started going towards Mitch, I'm not saying Chrissy should stick out her neck to save him, but she shouldn't be the one to throw his name out there.  Ultimately, Mitch stayed, which is good for Chrissy's game, but it's ultimately a net negative for her.

Star is the only one I think Sai going home was truly bad for.  She could have beaten Sai in the end and I'm not sure there are too many other people she can beat at this point.  She told us she wanted to see threats go, so I think she should have pushed harder for Mitch to be the target.

As for Sai, I think she let her anger at Mitch voting for her last time blind her from a potential move.  She could have tried to pull in Mitch and Chrissy and used the Vote Blocker against Lagi.  Maybe play it on Eva to get her to play her Idol and then vote out Star.  She took things far too personally and let that cloud her judgement.

Cedrek got a bad break in the team division and ended up in a group where the only person he knew from before the merge was Mary.  It made too much sense for him to go.  Maybe if he had pushed a little more aggressively for Shauhin, but he must have been lured into a false sense of security.  At the very least, he should have played his Shot in the Dark.

Verdict:

Since two people were eliminated in this episode, I'm giving out two Best and Worst players of the episode.  As a reminder, I don't give out these Awards to the eliminated players as I usually find that too easy.

Best Player of the Episode #1 goes to Mitch Guerra for focusing on making social connections, making a smart move with the Vote Blocker, shrinking his target, and surviving the vote.

Best Player of the Episode #2 goes to Kamilla Karthigesu for taking out Cedrek and being the one to throw some shade onto Shauhin to David.

Worst Player of the Episode #1 goes to Star Toomey for taking out Sai instead of Mitch.  I don't know if she can beat anyone left in the game at this point.

Worst Player of the Episode #2 goes to Chrissy Sarnowsky for talking too much at Tribal Council and throwing out Mitch's name.

I'm very curious to see what David's meltdown is all about in the next episode.  And with Sai gone, I really like everyone else left on the season, so no matter how this shakes out, I'm sure I'll enjoy it!

I'm excited to see what happens next! If you liked this breakdown, check out my other write-ups at www.stacysbloggoingon.blogspot.com/.