Survivor Game Changers Cast Assessment: Aubry Bracco

With possibly the hugest chip on her shoulder in the entirety of the Survivor Game Changers cast, Aubry Bracco wants to prove she’s a true winner.

With no offense intended towards Michele Fitzgerald, who is referred to as a genuinely great person and a fierce competitor; Aubry Bracco was robbed of the title of Sole Survivor in Survivor Kaoh Rong by a bitter jury. A cunning strategist, Aubry managed to outwit, outplay, and outlast all members of the Brains and Brawn tribes and convince others to break their alliances and join hers.

Not only that, but she was instrumental in organizing the vote from the merge onwards. She is the only player to vote in the majority of each tribal council post-merge, doing so while losing two key strategy partners due to medical evacuation.

Plus, she had to deal with two jackanapes who pulled off second-grade Russell Hantz shenanigans once things didn’t go their way and a woman who got caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar mid-flip. Meanwhile, Michele won two immunities, didn’t manipulate others to vote her way post-merge, and earned the ability to remove a jury voter.

We all know how that ended.

Of course, a winner of Survivor has to play to a point where you are more favored than your remaining castaways on a jury you help to create. The Survivor Kaoh Rong jury did not see Aubry Bracco as favorable as they did Michele, and that is all that matters in the end.

That said, knowing the brilliant mind of Aubry within the game, she enters Survivor Game Changer with a huge chip on her shoulder. She helped change her first season’s game in a huge way, yet it wasn’t enough to win the respect of scorned players bested by those who made the big moves.

When you have an all-returnee cast, however, the gameplay is fundamentally different. As we saw recently in Survivor Cambodia, players respect moves, alliances, and voting blocs switching at a mile a minute. Decisions to vote others off can have a personal touch, but it favors the analytical minds that can separate their feelings from their voting decisions.

It will be interesting to see how Aubry Bracco ultimately approaches her game this time around. She could be one to go after the big players as soon as possible as part of an alliance that begins with bigger threats. This would involve aligning with stronger players with sharper wits.

Despite the personality differences, I could see Aubry working together with Malcolm Freberg, Troyzan Roberston, and Jeff Varner. Malcolm and Jeff, especially, represent intensely expressive personalities and have the ego to boot. We know Aubry now has the conviction to be cutthroat, so she can let these players work their strengths in opposing fashion.

Malcolm is well loved by fellow Survivor castaways and fans, alike. Not only that, but he knows how to navigate the social cues of all kinds of players, making him the perfect ally to bring physical strength at challenges and be charming back at camp.