Survivor season 35 merge edgic: The wheel of fate is turning

While there are still a few contenders remaining, the Survivor season 35 edgic for the merge shows one player vault to near the top of the charts.

The merge is the most important time for those who look at the edit this closely. It’s when the alliances are formed, and players are pushed into different positions in the jockeying for power that we start to see how the Survivor season 35 edgic will pan out for the entire season.

One player never made it into the top 4 until this merge episode, despite hovering near the middle all season. One of the most visible players of the season took a bit of a back seat despite being always part of the show’s conversation up to this point. Finally, one of the players who had an outside chance dropped out of the game entirely.

Here is our Survivor season 35 edgic as of the merge episode:

survivor season 35 edgic merge, heroes vs. healers vs. hustlers merge edgic /

Complex Personalities

Ben Driebergen (CP5): If there was anybody who was consistently doing well in Survivor season 35, Ben would not be at the top of my winner contenders. While the merge episode came down to his decision, and he was the one to steer Lauren towards flipping and getting out one of the Healers, he was shown a bit wishy-washy and unsure. There’s no outright negativity, but we did see him take a social stumble here and there.

Chrissy Hofbeck (CP4): I’m quite concerned about her winner contention as of the merge. She’s still the most likely winner of any woman left at this point, but she demonstrated unnecessary threat levels at the merge. She was even the opposition’s target at the vote, making it harder for her to slip back under the radar. Plus, she’s been edited to be super overconfident; a telltale sign of a major fall to follow later.

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She’s hanging on by the strength of her pre-merge edit.

Devon Pinto (CP3): He’s always been hanging around the middle tier, but Devon Pinto gets a giant leap due to his merge edit. Even though it was a joint effort/Ryan’s main idea, Devon is getting credit for the Hero Hustler merge alliance and was shown whipping the vote. He’s connected to the strongest individuals in the minority, making him a possible safety in a swing vote situation.

At this point, the strength of Devon’s supposed strategic shift despite his sociable narration is the biggest indicator that he could win. As other players lose their shine, look to see how much Devon’s edit improves next episode.

survivor season 35 merge chrissy ryan desi mike

Mike Zahalsky (CP4): Mike got a big push at the merge, but due to how things shook out, I’m convinced he’s set up to lose late in the game. Despite making important merge conversations with Ben and trying to forge the power alliance, he was edited to be in over his head and unsure of his position. Plus, he failed to get out his target, Chrissy, and is now in a 4v7 situation because of it. Still, he told us not to underestimate him. I foresee a journey edit (one where he overcomes a personal obstacle before a late vote-out).

Cole Medders (CPN4): Disregarding the fact that Cole’s not going to win Survivor season 35, his edgic played a bigger part in Jessica’s story at the merge than his own. At the very least, he owned up to his mistakes and apologized to Ben, but he still comes off as selfish with his eating habits and was portrayed to be the reason why Jessica was voted out. He’s not long for the game, barring an Individual Immunity run.

Jessica Johnston (CP3): I made a mistake in putting her as a possible winner. Despite the now-blatant foreshadowing of her demise, I thought she would break away from Cole as he was voted out. Instead, she was shown completely in his corner and played a game that favored his good fortune. Now she’s out of the game with a sympathetic edit of “what could have been.”

Joe Mena (CPM3): He’s zany, and his idol play was incorrect, but outside of Chrissy’s negativity (who was shown as a bit negative and overconfident herself), Joe was a team player. He thought his Tribal Council antics would draw the ire and focus towards himself, as it worked the last time he visited. His negativity was balanced out by his exuberance in the merge feast edit, while many of the Healers defending his trustworthiness at Tribal.

Middle of the Road

Ryan Ulrich (MOR3): That’s right, at the merge we finally saw a reserved Ryan, offering up key confessionals about the merge the way a baseball player would talk about his performance in a locker room interview. We do know that he’s reconnected with Devon, who’s in a good position himself, but he was not the focus of the merge’s drama, conflict, or strategy. It was enough to bump him from the winner contenders list.

Lauren Rimmer (MOR3): Here we see Lauren continue to sit on the outer portions of inner circles of strategy talk, as well as speak directly with Ben over whether or not to flip. Depending on how things work out for Ben, her determination to stick with Mike yet ultimately deciding to flip could hide her negative tone in a late-game situation or show her inability to sway other players. Either way, I believe Lauren has been edited to this point in a way where she’s sociable but not targeted. Could we see her sitting at the Final Tribal Council?

Desi Williams (MOR2): Think of this as a MOR-lite edit, as she drew most of her focus from performing well (and winning) the first Individual Immunity Challenge. She didn’t have a confessional this episode, but at Tribal Council, Joe backed Desi up multiple times and was mentioned as someone he could trust. Still, she said barely anything at all, and she’s still not winning the game.

Under the Radar

Ashley Nolan (UTR2): All of Ashley’s important content came in describing the dire food situation at Levu camp. After the merge came around, she was barely present for any important conversations, had little impact on strategy talk and was silent at Tribal Council. She may have been a narrator of necessity up until this point.

Invisible

JP Hilsabeck: There’s no doubt that Ryan and Chrissy ultimately made the correct decision to keep him around. Not only does he not win all the challenges, but he’s a solid number in their alliance while saying almost nothing the entire merge. I can’t remember any other invisible merge edits in Survivor history.

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