It’s double the trouble for the cast of Survivor: David vs. Goliath, in a two-hour episode that saw two more contestants go home. Last week’s epic tribal council that saw the Idol Nullifier come into play for the first time left the tribe in chaos, and for the first time the numbers were even – five Davids and five Goliaths. All that made the perfect recipe for a memorable showdown.

This game has been largely dominated by a trio of players – Christian, Nick, and Davie, three of the savviest strategic gamers we’ve seen on Survivor in a while. Sure enough, they struck again early this week, with Davie and Nick going idol-hunting and Nick finding a clue to the next idol. But it was a clue with special nighttime instructions, meaning to get there would be a risky proposition without being detected.

The reward challenges usually play little strategic role in Survivor lately, especially since they’re almost all team-based recently. That wasn’t the case this week, as the team-based swimming and tossing challenge led to two major results. First, Alec quickly leading his team from behind led to him becoming the #1 target of the tribe, as Carl (whose lack of food is making him cranky) announced his intention to get him out. Second, the winning team made themselves sick eating so much at their Survivor picnic that it made it easier for Nick to sneak away and find that idol.

The immunity challenges in Survivor: David vs. Goliath have not been the most memorable, but that changed this week in a huge way. What started as a simple balance/endurance based challenge took a turn early on when the cast was given the chance to sit out and enjoy a giant plate of nachos instead. Angelina, Carl, and the newly idol-holding Nick all chose to take it – and they wound up with a much better show than they expected. While Mike, Davie, Alison, and Kara all dropped out in short order, that left three contestants – for a very long time.

Alec was expected to do well. Gabby and Christian were not, and yet they endured. Alec lived up to his reputation as one of the season’s villains, ruthlessly psyching them both out with trash talk. It eventually broke down Gabby, who dropped out after several hours – but then something shifted. Christian, in one of the best moments in Survivor history, went on a hilariously geeky filibuster to drown out Alec. This went on until he and Alec had an brief but intense talk, and Alec could hang on no more. Christian pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent memory.

Post-immunity, the target was squarely on Alec, who had no way to protect himself. However, the game was thrown for a loop by Carl’s domineering personality – which rubbed Gabby the wrong way. Although Gabby has always played emotionally, she rarely turned that into a game move until now. Just like that, Carl found the target on him, and Alec exploited this to its fullest by arguing that while he was the biggest physical threat, Carl was a much bigger strategic threat. It all built to a tense tribal council where Alec fought for his life.

Eleventh Boot of Survivor: David vs. Goliath – Alec Merlino

Alec fought hard, but in the end his destiny was to become the second unanimous boot of the post-merge, voted out 9-1. Alec often played aggressively, but his game moves rarely benefited him long-term. He was a scattered but dynamic player who had a wildly entertaining last episode. Sadly, due to him breaking the rules of the post-game NDA, he will not be back for any future engagements, but he delivered while he was here.

This was the double episode of the season, so we were right onto the next episode. While Alec was gone, the conflict that drove the first episode was still very much going. Carl had gone from being one of the most under-the-radar members of the cast to being the leader of the Davids last episodes, and the Davids now had the majority for the first time in the game. He wasted no time making clear that they would be knocking the Goliaths off one-by-one, and quiet doctor Alison was deemed to be the first victim.

Carl’s mistake was shuffling around his alliance. Angelina, who had been angry with the Goliaths ever since a few of them voted against her during the Dan boot, seemed to have fully flipped sides to the Davids. That led Carl to leave Gabby, who was seen as emotional and too close to Alison, out of the loop. This naturally led to Gabby becoming – you guessed it – emotional! Her anger at Carl was already building since the last episode, but now she seemed actually read to do about it and wasted no time getting her friend Christian in on the plan.

After another team reward challenge ended with surprise letters from home in addition to a survivor picnic on a man-made island – with Carl winning his first reward challenge – it was time for immunity. Although it didn’t produce an on-air controversy akin to last season’s photo finish between Wendell and Laurel, it did have a controversy of its own. The challenge, following a race for puzzle pieces, involved assembling an eleven-letter world. Well, Carl did – finding the word “Perceptions” – but not the right word, as Davie found “Perspective” first. Could this be a Survivor production error, allowing more than one word to be formed? How are the contestants supposed to read Jeff Probst’s mind?

However, the most interesting thing that happened at the immunity challenge had nothing to do with the challenge. For the last few episodes, the Survivors had been running low on rice. That means only one thing on this show – a painful negotiation with Jeff Probst. Angelina, who often boasts of her people skills but rarely shows them on the show, offered to lead the negotiation. She made the fatal mistake of making the first offer, which Probst predictably shot down. Instead, he made a particularly cruel offer – if any one person would sit out the immunity challenge, he would give them rationed rice for the rest of the game. Surprisingly, it was Angelina who made the offer, potentially winning her a lot of favor with her tribe – and making her more of a threat in the endgame.

So Davie won immunity, and the Survivors went back to camp as a tense vote was brewing. We saw a dynamic multiple times early in the merge, as the Goliaths, as soon as they had the advantage, would tease the idea of flipping and never do it. Now the Davids were in that position, and they could follow suit. All eyes were on Gabby and Christian to see if they would stay “David Strong” or take out one of their own.

Twelfth Boot of Survivor: David vs. Goliath – Carl Boudreaux

In the end, Gabby and Christian did flip, sending their own tribemate to the jury. Carl was a typical hard-working leader type in the game, mostly quiet but playing a savvy game. It’s only when he took control of the game that his personality really started rubbing people the wrong way. And an emotional player like Gabby is far more likely to flip when faced with a dynamic that stresses them out.

So the game is now knotted at four Davids, four Goliaths, four men, four women. And it seems like a far bigger betrayal may be coming as the commercial for next week hinted that Gabby could turn on Christian, seeing him as the biggest threat in the game. Could a female alliance form against a trio of the savviest male players in years? Is Angelina’s redemption arc beginning?

Below, I’ll take a look at the power rankings for episode 12 of Survivor: David vs. Goliath, with the #1 slot being the safest and #8 being in the most danger.

Last week I had Alec at 8th and Carl at 7th, so two overall wins for the predictions.

1. Nick

The king is back on top! After one week at #2, Nick’s idol find this week ensures he’s in pole position for next week. He’s unlikely to be the target of either the Goliaths or a potential female alliance, but if he is he has a way to protect himself.

2. Davie

The only member of the “David Bros” without an idol, but his immunity win this week didn’t seem to put him on anyone’s radar. He’s likable, savvy, and in a strong alliance. David is likely finale-bound.

3. Mike

Mike is in a very good position right now with the numbers knotted. His social game is strong enough and he’s not perceived as a threat. If the game goes down gender-lines, he’s likely to be seen as the least threatening of the guys, and he’s not high on the Davids’ hit list either.

4. Kara

This week showed that the Davids view Angelina as a far bigger threat than Kara at the moment. Kara’s been quietly playing an effective game, making the deals she needs to to stay alive. I don’t think next week is the week it comes crashing down.

5. Angelina

Angelina improved her status in the game a lot this week – or did she? She may have gone from the tribe goat to the tribe hero, but now she’s on people’s radar as a threat. But I don’t think that will happen this week, as she has ties to too many groups for her to become the primary target.

6. Christian

With the numbers knotted, Christian is suddenly in a very precarious position. This becomes double if Gabby decides to turn on him as the preview indicates. He does have an idol, but Christian is a very trusting and friendly player. Will he see a betrayal coming from his closest friend? If not, he’s in serious danger of following in the footsteps of Pearl Islands Rupert.

7. Gabby

Gabby is a mess, and the idea of her masterminding a blindside of the game’s most dominating player is fascinating. There’s a lot of ways that turns out, but it feels more likely to me that it ends with her flaming out and being blindsided by her own alliance or idoled out than it does with her victory.

8. Alison

Despite the hype of a women’s alliance and a blindside of Christian in the trailers, the most likely scenario is that the four Davids + Angelina stick together and Alison’s unlikely survival this week turns into a one-week stay.