Survivor: Game Changers: Why Did Debbie Go Home?

"A Line Drawn in Concrete" - Sierra Dawn-Thomas and Debbie Wanner on the tenth episode of SURVIVOR: Game Changers, airing Wednesday, April 26 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Screen Grab/CBS Entertainment ©2017 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
"A Line Drawn in Concrete" - Sierra Dawn-Thomas and Debbie Wanner on the tenth episode of SURVIVOR: Game Changers, airing Wednesday, April 26 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Screen Grab/CBS Entertainment ©2017 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. /
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The tenth elimination of Survivor: Game Changers had the hashtag “Blindside” appear, but this elimination doesn’t seem like much of a surprise.

Last night’s episode of Survivor: Game Changers went from happy tears to anger and overconfidence pretty quickly, it seems. Debbie Wanner joined the jury because of the latter, not the former.

It seemed so simple, didn’t it? Debbie had an alliance of six and her choice of targets with the rest of them. However, her own plays really sealed her fate.

There are a couple key moments to look at here. First, she fed Aubry some fake information about wanting to work with her and that Michaela was the target. On the face of it, that’s a pretty standard move at this point in time; Aubry was part of the outsider five but a potential connection down the road for Debbie.

The problem is, Debbie wasn’t particularly good at toning things down and playing it subtly. She went full-force with it, promising Aubry safety, and moreover, she also warned Aubry about Sarah. Though Aubry has spent the bulk of this round of Survivor mostly on the outs, it doesn’t mean she isn’t a savvy player. The conversation sent her effectively right to Sarah. Understandably, Sarah did not like hearing what Debbie, her supposed alliance member, had to say about her, and it made her angry.

Of course, Sarah didn’t decide right then and there to take Debbie out, but it seems as though the nail was put in the coffin during Tribal Council. Again, it came down to how Debbie decided to play. She uttered the words “strong six” repeatedly, and though it had already been clear who was in and who was out, it didn’t seem as though Sarah took kindly to that. Michaela pointing out that the time was right for a move probably didn’t hurt matters either.

The numbers seem pretty simple: with five people on the outs and six in the alliance, just one person would need to flip to create the simple majority. Sarah spoke about her attention to detail in a confessional,and presumably that extends to her math skills, too. Even without the vote steal, all she had to do was write down the name of her choosing.

That’s why Sarah earns the primary credit for sending Debbie home. Debbie also gets partial credit because of how she played, as she effectively made herself a target. (Remember: Brad and Sierra still sit atop that alliance. Either one made the easier target and still do.) Beyond that, Andrea and Zeke get some props for working together despite not wanting to very much. Numbers matter more than likability, though, especially when trying to crack an alliance.

Next: Debbie at Ponderosa

That brings us now down to 10 players remaining, with Sarah once again in the middle between the two groups at Maku Maku. Brad and Sierra will likely want to find the person who flipped, and suspicion may fall on Sarah — but that vote steal remains out there, as do Tai’s two idols.