Moments after a Tribal Council where he lost his mind, Mike offered up a desperate strategy play in this Survivor season 35 episode 10 secret scene.
There are a few reasons why I don’t often share the secret scenes from Survivor season 35. First off, they’re not usually easily accessible on YouTube through straightforward avenues. Secondly, they usually don’t have much to offer other than acting as an (understandably) deleted scene.
However, the Survivor season 35 episode 10 secret scene may point to some game awareness from our season’s remaining players that may not have been telegraphed previously. The secret scene itself still carries the same beginning of the two-hour episode, with Joe completely oblivious as to why Mike played his Hidden Immunity Idol. However, from that opening point on, we saw Mike make an appeal to Devon.
“Devon is very logical and very simple. He may just listen,” Mike insists in a confessional, as he lays out a road for Devon to use Joe and himself for numbers in future votes. What follows is the money quote you wonder why was kept out of the game but kept in the CBS secret scene; “Devon, right now this is your game to lose.”
Devon sees the merit in Mike’s words, knows the Round Table won’t stay strong and later orchestrated part of the plot necessary to make a big move. We learned what Devon was capable of during those two hours, but even at the very beginning of what we saw, Mike thought it was pertinent and real enough to suggest that this was Devon’s game to lose.
If Mike’s seeing that as the bottom member of the merge tribe on the outs before becoming the last Healer of Survivor season 35, you have to think that Lauren, Ben, Chrissy and Ryan also see it, too. Even with Ben perceived by Ashley and Lauren as the player to beat in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, seeing Mike (alongside Joe) note Devon’s winning chances highlights possible future votes at the Final Tribal Council, should he make it.
Next: Survivor: Ranking all 34 seasons
It’s not a definitive passage that indicates winner chances, but after Devon clearly took a step forward from a strategic standpoint at the Final 7, showing his hand this early may prove costly.