Hey Survivor fans!

Episode 7 Recap:

Another great episode and the Pagoning ceases with a SUPER dope blindside. I’m going to be talking about my reactions to the episode: specifically, how I think this move to blindside Bradley affects some of the players and how it might influence relationships going into the merge. I’m going to work my way backwards, starting with tribal council and ending with the various idol/advantage finds that will surely have a massive impact.

Bradley going home was super exciting for me– I love the edit and he clearly had no idea that he was the next to go. I always love a good blindside, but beyond the excitement of seeing the season villain go, I think we’re missing out on a great merge player who would’ve incited some serious squabbles because of his abrasive personality and strategic prowess. I also think that as exciting and as big of a move as this was, it was entirely the WRONG move at this stage of the game. The edit of this episode made it seem like Dom and Chelsea were voting for Bradley because he was annoying to live with. It left me wondering whether or not they had actually considered the effect that booting him would have on other original Naviti members that were close to him. They might have entirely screwed themselves out of allies like Kellyn and Des, who were extremely loyal to Bradley, going into a merge, especially since Bradley made it clear in his actions and words that he was entirely loyal to keeping Naviti strong! Not to mention, Bradley is more or less the perfect ally. There’s no way that guy goes on and wins the game; he’s too abrasive. If you keep him around, he would be the perfect goat to drag to the final as long as he keeps pissing people off. Not only did they vote off a Naviti this week, maybe thinking that the numbers will still be 8 Naviti to 5 Malolos and they’ll have a majority, but they might have totally isolated Kellyn and Des who both could be really critical approaching the merge and this looming Chris vs. Dom battle. Dom definitely just put himself in a precarious position, but he also still has an idol and the legacy advantage, which I can only assume he’ll be playing in the next episode at 13 to save his own ass. Hopefully he and Chelsea will be able to spin it as if Bradley was a liability to the rest of the alliance somehow, but I very highly doubt it. In my expectations post for Episode 8 next week I’ll dive deeper into where I think the battle lines will be drawn in the Chris/Dom war!

Besides the craziness that was the Bradley blindside, we got back into the theme of Ghost Island this week! Starting from the very beginning of the episode, Michael feels the heat and goes searching for an idol. Side note — why did this not happen earlier?? Assuming that the idol went right back into play after the Brendan boot, why was nobody from the Malolo alliance going out to search for it again? Either way, I think it’s crazy that Des, Kellyn, and Angela would let him go searching for it. They even SAY in the shelter: “I think he’s looking for the idol.” If you think he’s going to look for the idol, then go babysit him (think Andrea babysitting Malcolm in Caramoan) to ensure that if you do end up at tribal again, your easy boot remains an easy boot. But low and behold, Michael digs up the f***ing stick from Survivor Micronesia: Fans vs. Favorites. I liked how they spun the “curse” of this relic being that all three people who touched this fake idol were voted out consecutively. The conversation between Eliza and Jason is also one of the best in all of Survivor, so I was happy to see it again on the big screen. As far as the Malolo tribe, maybe burning the flag did rid them of the curse, because I was definitely happy to see them immune for the first time in a while.

After the reward challenge that Naviti and Yanuya won, Ghost Island comes back into play and Naviti chooses to send Kellyn. It was interesting to hear Bradley’s exit interview in which he explained this decision. His reasoning was to send Kellyn again hoping she played the game and got an advantage for their alliance, but he said that Chelsea didn’t get that at all and came up with the whole “she’s already been so let’s keep it mysterious” explanation, to which Bradley was like “um okay.” Anyway, Kellyn gets to Ghost Island and instead of having a 50% chance of winning an advantage, she had a 66% chance, to which my only thought was “PLEASE play the damn game, we haven’t seen a game played since Jacob in the premiere.” Thankfully, she chose correctly and got the “steal a vote” advantage from Survivor Game Changers, which has now matured into an extra vote. I think people will be pretty wary of Kellyn having an advantage now that she’s been to Ghost Island twice, so she probably won’t be in any danger heading into the merge since people might be afraid of it.

Lastly, I was so happy to see my winner pick from the beginning, Wendell, go out and find an idol. He’s been pretty under the radar or middle of the road for a good part of the pre-merge, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Previously we only saw Wendell talking brief strategy in his confessionals or being vocal at challenges, but we finally got some emotional content from him when he was talking about his girlfriend. It was another great Survivor Micronesia call back with Erik’s immunity necklace that he gave away to the Black Widow alliance, in what is 1000% the dumbest move ever in Survivor history. The necklace is now a hidden immunity idol and I’m really hoping Wendell reverses the curse of this idol. It’s going to be literally impossible to hide or disguise because it’s fricken huge, but he’s a furniture designer so I’m sure he’ll be able to figure something out. Love him in this episode and glad he’s got some power in this game now!

What are your thoughts about the pre-merge as a whole? I thought it was a really engaging pre-merge with lots of interesting relationships forming. Minus the general Pagonging of the Malolo tribe, everyone came out to play and that will make for a super exciting merge.

Episode 8 Expectations:

Any time a merge comes with this many idols/advantages in play and two tribe swaps I have such trouble trying to determine who the merge boot might be. This season is no different in that there is an inherent numbers differential between original Malolos and Navitis, but the Chris vs. Dom battle seems to be overtaking that with a fracturing of the old Naviti folk. There’s also 3 idols and 2 advantages in play so that could also have a massive impact.

In the preview posted on the official YouTube page and the “scenes from our next episode,” this is how I see the divisions shaking up IF this Chris/Dom battle exists as much as it’s being played up:

Team Chris:

Angela – she’ll likely go running back to her main ally.

Kellyn – pissed that Bradley got voted out, I think she’ll likely jump to this side of the .battle seeing the original Naviti fracturing.

Des – Kellyn’s closest ally, I think she’ll align here for the same reasons.

Sea Bass – initially wanted to target Dom in the premiere and thinks he and Chris are bffs, but also has a good relationship with Wendell.

Jenna – will vote with Sea Bass.

Team Dom

Wendell – I feel like Wendell knows that having Dom on his side is better than going against him. He’s a great ally in the sense that he’ll be the target in front of Wendell.

Donathan – Spent a ton of time with Dom and just voted with him to boot Bradley, but also liked Chris when they were both on Naviti together so he could flip.

Libby – I think Dom is still wary of Libby, but she doesn’t have any connections otherwise.

Laurel – I think she’ll take her relationship with Donathan and Libby and try to take out someone from Chris’s side because she isn’t too fond of Chris either.

Chelsea – She went from being Bradley’s pawn to being Dom’s pawn so who fricken knows with her.

Team SWING

Michael! – Michael I think would end up being the swing vote mainly because he hasn’t worked with either of these two guys or their right hand allies. He’s had a close relationship with Kellyn on the Malolo tribe, but I think Michael’s place is dependent upon on whether or not Kellyn thinks she can really trust him.

This is what I see happening if the Dom vs. Chris battle really plays up the way it’s being previewed. If it is, I see no way in which Dom or any of his alliance members go home. Pretty much everybody knows that he has an idol, but nobody knows he has the legacy advantage. I see no scenario in which Dom doesn’t play the legacy advantage this week, since it can only be played at 13 and 6. So Dom isn’t going home this week. This leads me to believe that the Chris faction will likely target the “safe vote” being Libby or Chelsea, both of whom have never been to Ghost Island and it’s safe to assume don’t have an idol.

What I really hope to see is people from both sides saying “wow, these two guys have a lot of power, maybe we just flip the narrative and screw both of them.” I think if players like Wendell, Laurel, Donathan, etc. who have played with both Dom and Chris throughout the pre-merge can see an opening to exploit this division and gather some people to vote someone else out instead of voting by those battle lines, it could be really interesting.

Power Rankings:

**Note: I’m pretty dang proud of my power rankings so far, because with the exception of the Brendan boot, I’ve consistently had the person who went home in at least my bottom 4! Not bad for a first time blogger right?

Michael – With Chris and Dom gunning for each other, I think he’s in a great position. All he had to do was get to the merge and he would have a second life, and now with an idol in his pocket he’ll be able to operate nicely off the bat. Dom – I’m 99% convinced that he’ll play his legacy advantage this week no matter what and I think that because of the past edits, there’s no way Dom and his cronies lose this “battle” to Chris and his crew. Wendell – Wendell is right in the middle of both of these guys, now having been on a tribe with each of them. He also made great relationships with Donathan and Laurel when on Naviti, and with Sea Bass when on Yanuya. I like to keep castaways with idols near the top and since he has one, he’ll be in a real power position. Kellyn – She has her extra vote advantage and will likely be flabbergasted when she sees that Bradley got booted. I think that she could be targeted depending on how the chips may fall, but maybe she uses the extra vote quickly to advance herself and her alliance past the merge boot. Donathan – He’s made some good relationships across all of the castaways and has proven himself to be a decent challenge competitor recently, but still flying pretty under the radar in terms of being a threat. Laurel – Laurel is similar to Donathan in that she’s made good relationships with lots of people pre-merge, and I think that will put her in a good spot at the merge. Jenna – I have no idea where to put her so I put her in the middle mainly because she has been invisible. She poses no strategic or physical threat so far, and I think will just vote with Sea Bass. Chelsea – She was involved in the Bradley blindside which is great, but I think she isolated her former alliance members in Kellyn and Des and could be left without an alliance depending on how those two react to Bradley’s boot. Des – She’s #2 in the Kellyn/Des pairing and could be seen as an easy merge boot since she doesn’t have any strong bonds with anybody except for Kellyn. Sea Bass – He’ll be viewed as a challenge threat and without the protection of an idol, I think he might be in some trouble. He targeted Dom at the start of the game with Chris, and I don’t see that changing at the merge. Libby – She voted with Dom and Chelsea to boot Bradley, but I think Dom is still very wary of her since she’s apparently Parvait 2.0 (I’m STILL laughing). If she chooses not to align with Dom, she could be targeted. Angela – Chris’s pawn. That’s pretty much it. Chris – I’ve had him near the bottom of every power ranking thus far because I just don’t think he stands a chance. I’ll be seriously disappointed if Chris doesn’t go home in this hugely edited Chris/Dom battle. There’s no way Dom goes home with two advantages to his name, so either Chris goes home or one of Dom’s cronies goes home, but I really think Chris is in hot water.