Survivor season 35: Breaking down Katrina’s elimination

Now that Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers has eliminated its first player, it’s time to take an in-depth look at what happened.

Warning: If you have not seen the premiere of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, read no further … and check out our recap instead. 

Surprisingly, the Heroes are the first group in Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers to be down one member, after Katrina Radke became the first player out of the game in an effectively unanimous vote. Initially, this writer was going to go off what the episode seemed to show for this analysis of why that all happened — that Katrina and Chrissy were on the outs of the Heroes because of their age.

Apparently, though, it was more like Katrina was the only person on the outs. She spoke to Entertainment Weekly, clarifying the situation further and actually commenting on the editing itself. If you look closely at the episode we saw as well as the preview for episode 2 aired at the end of the episode, you can start to see that what she says is closer to the actual case.

For instance, Chrissy’s the one shown making moves and talking to other people (like Ben and Alan), far more than Katrina, who at one points adds that few people have had conversations with her about the game. At first glance, this seems to indicate that Chrissy knew more than Katrina that the two of them were in trouble. Katrina’s interview, however, disputes that, too, as she says, “I was going home. I had packed my bags. I knew. Sometimes things can change at Tribal, but it was pretty clear before I got there.”

Why Katrina over Chrissy, then? It all goes back to the talking. Chrissy had an in with Alan and Ben — or at least more of one than Katrina appears to have had — and likely got the sense of which way the wind was blowing, enough to flip her vote, and ditto with Katrina per her interview.

All in all, it was just a case of not getting to play to the positives Daniel George identified when he took a look at her pre-show information. If there’d been a swimming competition, it’s hard not to think we might be talking about someone else this week instead of Katrina, because as I observed in the recap, the Heroes definitely had physical performance in mind when picking who to vote for.

Next: Does Survivor edgic really predict winners?

Why do you think Katrina ended up leaving the game first?