Survivor season 35: Why was Ali Elliott voted out in 13th place?

This former winner contender saw her stock drop off in one episode, then completely fade in the next. Why was Ali Elliott voted out of Survivor season 35?

Wow, I did not see that elimination coming. With JP painted as the easy boot right before the merge due to his ability to run a train during individual competitions, Ali’s confrontations with Ryan and Chrissy reminded them that perhaps it’s the strategic player that may pull a few people over to eliminate them. That’s the quick rundown as to why Ali Elliott is out of Survivor season 35, but the real question remains; why was she given such a strong edit for the final pre-merge boot?

That’s the power of Ali’s strong edit, as it made her elimination both shocking and foretelling. For her entire arc, Ali was shown as someone with such a strong conviction, insight into tribal dynamics (until the end), able to make quick bonds and felt secure in herself. You throw her into 20 random tribes of newbies; she probably makes the merge upwards of 17 or 18 times. The only reason she found herself as the last pre-jury boot is that she went against the top dogs.

Think about it this way; Ali has played a strong social game to the point of having others bite bullets for her. The first time she went to Tribal Council, she wavered between getting rid of a player she perceived as a puppet (Simone Nguyen) or a strong player she knew from outside the game (Patrick Bolton). This was followed by whether or not she would dump said familiar player for being a liability to the tribe and her game.

From there, the tribes swap and Ali found herself in a tough spot. Two Hustlers, two Heroes and a Healer stood in the middle of a battle for tribal supremacy, with Roark seemingly split in the middle. For some reason, with 14 players remaining, Ali decides this is the time that she needs to move on from the “Hustlers Strong” dynamic and try to make a play with Roark.

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Here’s her literal pitch to Roark at the well; “…I want to keep you safe because you have to be.” This cuts right into a confessional that says, “The Hustlers were just a group of losers, but being here, I can finally actually build these personal relationships that I know will further my game.”

Ali decides to boldly go with Roark not to build up a better case for the Hustlers to survive the merge; she’s playing for herself. It’s an honest strategy, but unfortunately, she makes this decision to go against Chrissy, Ryan’s secret partner due to his Day 1 Super Idol power gifted to her by him. Ryan, split between someone from a different tribe he can partner with and someone who is aligning herself with a player from a tribe that would consist of half the players at the merge, opts to vote out Roark.

From that moment on, a divide between the best-protected player in the game, Ryan, and the person who promised support to the person who was voted three times in a row, Ali, was created. For some reason, instead of trying to act passive and try to stay in Ryan’s good graces, Ali blows him up as soon as they arrive back from Tribal Council.

Even with Soko going back to Tribal Council once more, Ryan and Chrissy were put in a position where they had to keep either a competition threat in JP or someone who’s smart, sociable and competitive enough to enact revenge. Oh, and this Tribal was one right before the likely merge, meaning almost everyone is fair game to become a target.

Ryan and Chrissy, being the closest allies, wanted to bury the bodies that would actively hunt after them if left in the game, and do so before they could vote against them in the jury phase. That’s why Ali was a clear-cut candidate to go home in 13th place; keeping her would do nothing but hold a great player capable of winning in a game that would give you a 1/12 shot at a million dollars.

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Survivor season 35, Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, has done one thing well with its pre-merge content; set up multiple characters capable of winning the game. Last season, at this point, it was pretty much down to Sarah or Lacina or Brad Culpepper likely to win the game. I feel the biggest reason we saw so much of Ali is two-fold; 1) She’s a strong Second Chances/Public Vote returnee candidate, and 2) She sets up the likelihood that Ryan doesn’t have as strong a social game as he once thought.

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