Ryan’s Analysis: Survivor 50, Episode 2

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, Episode 2 "Therapy Carousel: Gameplay Breakdown

 "My wife is gonna divorce me."

-Christian Hubicki

You know, for as annoyed as I've been with all the celebrities being involved in season 50, Billie Eilish's Boomerang Idol may have been worth it just for the expression of Christian's face when he read the note out loud.  This was a a really fun episode and this cast of cartoon characters is making it a blast to watch, even if they don't always make the best strategic moves.  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

We'll start on Cila.  Christian managed to find the Boomerang Idol and I think he made a wise decision in giving it to Aubry.  She's been voted out with an Idol in her pocket before, she's an odd nerd, like Christian, so they should be able to work together, plus she played with Christian's number 1 ally, Devens, on Edge of Extinction, so there's an addition connection.  He also was one of the main people pushing to take out Savannah.  Telling Devens about the Boomerang Idol is a little questionable, but it did lead to Devens coming up with the fake Idol at Tribal Council plan, which could be a brilliant play, and Christian did a good job of providing a distraction to make it happen.

Continuing with Devens, I don't think he handled the situation with Joe the greatest and Joe is still in the game, which could cause problems for Devens down the road, but I'll give him a net positive.  He's close enough to Christian to learn about the Boomerang Idol, he came up with an excellent fake Idol plan, and he did help take out Savannah.

Cirie is so amazing.  Her names wasn't even remotely a target.  She managed to work her magic to protect Ozzy and get the target onto Savannah and was rewarded with an Extra Vote from Ozzy for her efforts.

Emily may not have gotten her primary target, Ozzy, out of the game, but taking out Savannah is still good for her.

Moving on to Kalo, the only person I have to mention here is Charlie.  He recognized that Chrissy was irritating members of the tribe, so even if he was inclined to make an alliance with her, he's decided to go in a different direction.  Probably a smart call.

Over on Vatu, Rizo recognized that he was irritating people with his behavior early on and is making corrections.  It's been successful enough that Q brought him into the alliance to take Kyle's place, which is also a good move for Q.  Rizo does need to work on his work ethic though.  If your tribe is a working tribe, you have to be a worker, even if it sucks, but I'll still give him a net positive.

Who Sucked:

Back on Cila, Joe had a few good points about Devens.  There was no real reason for Devens to hide Ozzy's pitch about an alliance between Devens, Savannah, and Joe from Joe.  Even if he didn't intend to go along with it, Devens could have just talked about it with Joe.  However, it isn't just Devens who has a problem with Joe's game.  Everyone feels like they have to play around him and his principles, which doesn't bode well for him in the long run.  He was in on the vote, but it doesn't get him out of the negative.

I think Ozzy could have proven his total loyalty to Cirie by using his words, but still holding onto his Extra Vote.  There was no real reason for him to give up his hardware here.  He was in on the Savannah vote though, so that's something.

Over on Kalo, both Chrissy and Coach seem to be rubbing people the wrong way.  Chrissy is acting like the camp mom, which is never a good idea, and Coach didn't need to call out Ozzy at the Reward Challenge.  It feels like Coach is backsliding and letting his ego get the better of him...again.

Back on Vatu, Angelina is also seen as lazy, but unlike Rizo, she isn't doing anything to correct her behavior and doesn't seem to have any alliance yet.

Aubry needs to get her head in the game.  The way she always has her bag with her made her tribemates suspicious enough to search it.  She may have gotten the Boomerang Idol, but that has nothing to do with how she's been playing.   Maybe it will be the kickstart she needs to turn things around.

We really didn't get enough from Dee, Jonathan, Kamilla, Mike, Tiffany, Colby, Genevieve, or Stephenie for me to say either way.

As for Savannah, she told us during this episode that, unlike in 49, she really didn't vibe or connect with anyone on her tribe.  Sometimes you have to work with people you don't have a natural vibe or connection with and I don't think Savannah got that.  Plus people didn't trust her due to being the winner of a season no one had seen and possibly having an advantage from her journey.  All of this could have been negated if she had a stronger social game, but I don't know if Savannah has that gear.  She won her season by going to the end with a pair of weak finalists, not because she's an incredible Survivor player, and I think season 50 confirms that.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Christian Hubicki for finding the Boomerang Idol, giving it to Aubry, taking out Savannah, and helping Devens with his fake Idol at Tribal Council plan.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Joe Hunter for getting into an argument with Devens and being difficult to work with.

This tribe swap should make things interesting.  I'm a little relieved.  I didn't want to see Cila go back to Tribal Council again.  I don't want Devens, Christian, Cirie, or Emily to be in danger, but now with a tribe swap, everyone's in danger!  Should be fun!

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