Survivor S48 Thoughts:
YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS WOOOOOO
I love Survivor with my whole heart. I thought it would be interesting to write down my thoughts after each episode and tell you what I'm thinking.
EPISODE 1:
Current Winner Pick: Eva
Lagi:
Ok I gotta admit I made this page when I was halfway through episode 1 and completely forgot everyone else except for Joe and Eva. I think their dynamic is really sweet and you genuinely want a loyal pair to win the game. I think Eva in particular is going to make it far, but I'm scared that Joe's loyalty is gonna bite him in the ass. Even if his loyalty doesn't, he's going to be seen as a physical threat post-merge and taken out. As for the all-mens alliance, it won't last. There's this predisposition that men are more physical threats and are therefore less likely to get carried long into post-merge.
Civa:
I think David's going to be taken out early in the game. Unfortunately, the way that the new era looks at physical threats is ridiculous. They now get them out pre-merge to set themselves up in post and it is so stupid. Lowkey scared for him. Kyle I don't care about, I think he's getting picked off early. I like my steak medium-rare so he can suck my dick. Kamilla is fine, I like that she likes movies and I feel like she's not going to be seen as a strategic threat. Kyle is such an idiot for saying out loud how many similarities they have because it immediately paints them like a duo. Charity not reading the room on Kamilla and him being a duo is so incredibly stupid to me.
Vula:
Sai... girl no. I get wanting to play but for the love of all that is holy pump the brakes. Wanting to make the most out of every moment is fine, but not when it's negatively affecting your game. Cedrek is going out or being dragged along as a scapegoat. I have high hopes for Justin, but I think he's just a number at this point. The problem is that it's GOOD to be just a number pre-merge. I'm sick of people wanting to go go go pre-merge. Make a four, try to keep everyone in your tribe together, make it to merge with the numbers. Why are we fucking up our games this early because we can't help ourselves? Bring back the good ol days of voting people out for wandering to find idols. Also Mary is my queen and can do no wrong.
What would I do if I was on Vula? (BEFORE I KNOW WHAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING)
I would love to think I could set up a vote and flush out Sai's idol, but unfortunately that would be a stupid decision to make. I would go with the majority. If I was on the bottom, I would pledge allegiance to Sai and her group and highlight all the ways that I am useful to them or start a rumor that the other person on the bottom is secretly fucking them over. Unfortunately for Stephanie who is on the bottom, everyone else has ties to one another BUT people like making stupid decisions in the new era so maybe there is hope for flushing Sai's idol.
End Thoughts:
I applaud Mary for attempting to make a move, but it was really written on the wall. I wish Justin and Kevin would have listened to her because I don't think I can stand another week of Sai rubbing her stomach every time someone else gets voted out. Stephanie using her shot in the dark was a choice for sure. I would much rather go down voting than trying to roll the dice, but to each their own. Vula has to vote Sai out pre-merge or she might just take out the entire game.
EPISODE 2:
Current Winner Pick: Eva
I understand Star getting upset about Eva mentioning her sitting out, but it's not enough to start a whole fight over. I think the kinds of people who make Survivor great are the emotional ones who let their feelings get ahead of their thoughts, but this is kind of ridiculous, especially when your team did so well on the last challenge. Also her saying she's not physical when she's literally a basketball player... like girl I thought you were a physical threat right away. I think Thomas is interesting and I literally laughed when he said "make the code disappear." That's a gamer they should be watching out for.
Sai is frustrating me right now. When she was upset that they wouldn't let her go even though they clearly said it was a practice round... I'm scared that she's gonna be so confident that she won't even see her own demise. I thought she was going to make a great villain too.
End Thoughts:
Cedrek is so incredibly stupid. If this bullshit keeps happening he's basically giving the game to Sai on a silver platter.
EPISODE 3:
Current Winner Pick: Bianca
I was more focused on watching this episode than actually writing notes on it, so I apologize in advance. Vula is a crashing nightmare. I hate to say this, but Sai's immediate gameplay is an automatic falling point of the tribe. Immediately splitting the tribe up that early in the game... ugh it's such a stupid idea. Mary and Sai's relationship is so weird, and I don't understand when people have mutual understandings of each other being good in the game THIS EARLY. Last season with Rachel and Genevieve it made sense because they were at the end and it wasn't worth keeping each other in the game, but when you recognize a good fellow player PRE-MERGE WHY WOULD YOU NOT WANT TO DRAG THEM ALONG AND THEN USE THEM AS A SHIELD POST??? IT'S MIND BOGGLING TO ME HOW THESE PLAYERS DON'T UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTALS OF SURVIVOR AND ARE SO WRAPPED UP WITH HAVING A RIVALRY THAT THEY CAN'T SEE INTO THE FUTURE.
Anyways, I changed my winner pick to Bianca just because I think she's smart. Not with partnering with Star, but in general. I think if her and Thomas aren't big about their gameplay they can make it far, but I can't see Thomas being lowkey in the future.
End Thoughts:
Mary my queen... she is so funny and I hope she can worm her way into post-merge. Cedrek made perhaps the most stupid decision ever made in Survivor history by keeping Sai. If I was Sai, I would go to Mary and make an immediate alliance. If I was Mary, I would make an alliance with Cedrek. I would never be in Cedrek's position because if I was, I would be sitting next to Justin who I know for a fact I could beat later on in the game and who lends himself to making the team more cohesive. I'm sick and tired of this Sai pandering, especially since it is so painfully obvious from her speech to Cedrek tonight that she is not only a gameplayer who has already found an idol, but an eloquent and persuasive speaker. Literally I cannot emphasize enough that Cedrek wrote Sai's name down TWICE tonight and then changed his mind on a dime. If I was Mary, that shows me he's easily persuaded/manipulated and should be taken as an immediate red flag that he can switch BUT he's not going to win this game acting like that so you can beat him easily at Final Tribal.
With the tribe swap, hopefully Mary can shine but fucking Sai still being in the game is incredibly dangerous for everyone. At this point, I don't think she's going to win because of her aggressive gameplay probably being seen as a red flag to normal fucking people but it would be great to see her pull it out.
EPISODE 4:
Current Winner Pick: Shauhin
Again, it seems to be a common thing with me to completely zone out of writing while I watch the episode so let me quickly recap my thoughts.
I no longer think Bianca is going to win because she is not present in the edit at all. She's attempting to pose herself as a middle swing vote but she doesn't even have a vote to bargain with so there is no reason for her to make promises she can't keep. I also no longer think Eva is going to make it to the end because she keeps being insanely predictable with the people she is bonding with and has this abnormal aversion to working with her fellow women which I find to leave a bad taste in my mouth. I understand having a preference, but to rule it out and place a target on your back? Erm...
Time to jump on the Shauhin bandwagon with everyone else. I think while this episode did not show him and Joe in the best light, if he gets to merge and strategically wins immunities, he can stay out of the public eye long enough to make it to final tribal.
I hope with every fiber of my being that they bring Thomas back for another season. As soon as he said to make the note disappear to Shauhin, I knew he was going to make good TV. I just wish he could have stuck around a little longer. As for Kyle and Kamilla, they are both alive, but unfortunately now everyone is going to know they are a duo. I think this move was good for their game, and I hope Kamilla didn't use her extra vote and kept it for next week.
EPISODE 5:
Current Winner Pick: Shauhin
Me when I predict who is going out the week before. I was really sad to see Bianca go. Again, I think it was poor planning on Cedrek's part to get her out. I much rather would have seen Chrissy gone (I KNOW RIGHT. I ACTUALLY WOULD KEEP SAI IN THE GAME) to eliminate Civa 6 in the event of the merge, which is happening next episode. I think Cedrek immediately betraying Bianca's trust shouldn't be taken lightly by the rest of the group.
As for David, my opinion of him has changed a lot since the last time I wrote about him. I actually think I'm enjoying seeing him compete and I hope he gets far.
The same goes for Kamilla and Kyle. Ugh, I hate saying this because I slammed Kyle earlier for not trusting people who like their steak medium-rare but I think he is the better insulated out of the two. I hope they stay strong in the face of the merge with Shauhin and Joe and work hard to keep their integrity.
This was really Eva's episode. Not only does she get a major scene in the edit through her panic attack, but Joe gets points for being a decent human being. I think the edit is setting them (and the rest of Lagi) up to be an extremely successful group. Also say what you will, but Star giving Eva the idol was so insanely smart. Star knew she couldn't get it opened herself, so she asked everyone to help and then gave it to Eva as both a sign of goodwill and to get a massive target off of her back and onto Eva's. Fucking genius I love you Star you've redeemed yourself in my eyes, queen.
EPISODE 6:
Current Winner Pick: Shauhin
They're just edging me by not getting Sai out at this point. Everything she does is so fucking shady but I can't do anything but sit there and admire her. I hope with every fiber in me that for my sake and for good TV, she makes it all the way to final 4 and gets taken out at fire-making. She is such a good shield to have in this game.
Speaking of other good shields, we have a major alliance that just formed in old Lagi + David and Kyle. I think it's incredibly interesting to see a majority of the cast swearing up and down that they want to play this game with integrity and honesty and it's honestly refreshing. I love the dichotomy of Kyle having to battle with the fact that he initially lied to his group while wanting to play the game with honor. I just wish there were more women in the group. I feel like everyone has passed the women by in this season and passed them off for being either not a challenge threat or not honest. The only woman officially in this alliance is Eva (I am not counting Kamilla). While I appreciate the sentiment of wanting to play the game in a new way, I think it's going to be a man's game from now on.
As for Charity getting voted out, I couldn't even imagine being voted out just before the merge. I understand the fear in a Civa 6 strong and Charity was an easy vote because she was speaking badly about the girl who is literally running this game right now. I feel bad because I know Charity was fucking smart for calling out Eva. If they don't flush out Eva's idol or wound her by voting out Joe, there is 0% any one of them is winning.
If there's one thing you should know about me and my survivor tastes, it is that I always root for the underdog. While Shauhin is my winner pick (and I do believe he could potentially be on the bottom at some point), I secretly hope that Mary wins.
EPISODE 7:
Current Winner Pick: Shauhin
HALLELOO!!! REJOICE!!! Honestly, Sai and Cedrek getting out in the same episode was meant for me personally. Looking back, I really wish Mitch was voted out instead of Sai because I started to really love her chaos, but I'll take it. So let's discuss my man Shauhin for a second. I think the edit was pinning him as a target, which was really weird because there was no previous mention to anyone ever thinking of voting him out before. I tentatively have him as my winner pick still because I believe that he will take this as a sign to blend into the background more until it is his time to shine. I am hopeful that he will pull it out when he needs to and will use other people like Joe, Eva, and David as shields.
For the first time, I'm going to talk about the next episode preview that we got because I think it is INCREDIBLY interesting. We see everyone saying that David has lost his mind, which leads me to wonder if the "strong men" group is going to collapse. I hope David goes absolutely apeshit because I would love to see him as an antagonistic force, especially after we just lost Sai.
I think the next vote should be Joe if anyone wants to win this game at all. Seeing how Joe was treated in this episode was honestly insane to me, because everyone was going to him for answers. Honestly, I love Joe a lot. He not only is good at challenges, he has an amazing story, and we saw that he has heart from the way he treats Eva. He is fiercely loyal, which I think will be his downfall. While it would be fulfilling to see him win, I am still hoping that Shauhin wins.
I also want to talk about Kyle and Kamilla, who I think are crushing it so far. Kyle has moved up exponentially in my book, and I trust in his decision-making. Would I have voted out Shauhin? Yeah, because I want to win. BUT Kyle took into consideration what the opinions of the rest of his alliance would be when he got back. Joe and Eva could have turned against them because they voted off a member of their alliance so quickly. While I think they need to vote out Shauhin if they have any hope of winning, I think it was such a good decision to stick with the easy vote and not make anyone upset. Wait to make flashy moves later in the game and with everyone there, that way they don't feel as blindsided.
Anyways, I'm excited to see how next episode goes!