We have reached Survivor season 35 episode 13; the last episode we can use edgic to determine the winner. Who does the edit say will win?
When it’s hard to use Survivor edgic to predict the winner of a season far ahead of time, it shows the strength of the editors working hard to produce a compelling story while fleshing out its characters equally. Cagayan saw an ending and a winner nobody expected, and that is one of the greatest seasons in the show’s history.
Now that we’ve come to the end of the season, we will take a look at the Survivor season 35 episode 13 edgic in the order I believe produces the best chances of using editing and logic together successfully. This is my first year looking into the tea leaves and trying to come up with a winner, and it seems like this season is as strong a test to be thrown into headfirst.
How does the Survivor edgic look like, as of season 35 episode 13? Let’s take a look:
Devon Pinto (CP4): While my pre-season winner pick, Chrissy, might be drumming up support for an underdog victory, I believe we’ve started to see hints of Devon’s winning strategy from the last episode’s Tribal Council. When Ben complained about passive play from his tribe instead of seeing them willing enough to make big movez, Devon made a point to say that he would explain them to Ben when he’s sitting on the jury.
The entirety of Devon’s edit has been rather subdued, passive, but present; he’s bringing alliances together and making moves from beyond the shadows. I believe that the reason why peoples’ minds will be changed at the Final Tribal Council is that Devon will get to explain how he knew about Chrissy’s Super Idol, how he made the Hero/Hustler alliance, how he told Ben to destroy the Round Table from within.
I believe that Devon will get an under-the-radar winner’s edit, providing a new wrinkle in edgic-watching regarding personal content. Just like Adam Klein can be a flawed player, Devon may show that a male winner’s edit doesn’t have to make him a visible hero.
Chrissy Hofbeck (CP4): Up until the previous episode, I thought Chrissy’s chances were getting slimmer. Now with a Final 5 scenario that saw her decide who to take on reward and who would be voted out, it’s clear that Chrissy’s underdog edit is coming around in full force, and her unplayed (inactive) Super Idol gives her even more opportunities to make a splash against her rival, Ben.
More importantly, we’ve seen Chrissy at her highs and lows in the edit. Ever since it rained the one day in Fiji and she teared up, she has torn up the competition, winning two Individual Immunity Challenges. We get insight into her gameplay strategy, and the viewer gets to see how she gets her way. Chrissy could win it all if Ben is eliminated before the Final Tribal Council.
Ben Driebergen (CPM5): I’m still of the mind that barring some sort of string of controversial statements that go outside of the game, Ben is in too good a position to win Survivor season 35. The edgic, so far, screams of one where he falls short in fourth place a la Malcolm Freberg, Matty Whitmore or Kelley Wentworth; an impressive player that came so close to victory.
Ben’s edit has been balanced between supreme good and chaotic evil, proudly beating his chest as a Marine while throwing a monkey wrench in consecutive Tribal Councils with his idol plays. He’s resonating with the jury about how much of a threat he is, how he’s willing to make big movez and keep the game moving from a position of relative weakness.
Ben wins the million dollars if he makes it to the Final Tribal Council, in my mind. That has to be in everyone else’s minds, too, hence the edgic path he’s been given so far.
Mike Zahalsky (MOR2): More so than others, Mike has been given a visible outsider edit so far this season. While Ben is on the outs because he’s targetted as a strong player, Mike has been a scrappy wildcard, willing to do whatever comes to his mind to make it to the next round. Sometimes, he only thinks about the immediate future without contemplating what lies beyond.
Mike still provides an insight into the game with his confessionals, but often focuses on the superficial or making a comment that backs up someone else’s strategies. His unpredictability makes him a target before the Final Tribal Council, as you don’t know where he lies or what move he will make just because.
Ryan Ulrich (MOR2): From an edgic perspective, I cannot find a reason why Ryan Ulrich would win Survivor season 35, Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. Despite having one of the most visual first-halves of the season, he hasn’t obtained a complex personality edit since the beginning of the jury phase. He’s not chumming up to members of the jury, either, so it’s not like he’s going to get a Natalie White edit.
He hasn’t made any significant game moves in a few episodes, he isn’t shown often socializing with others outside of Mike (about bagels, no less) and he isn’t giving off any winner quotes that show off how much of a powerhouse he is. If Ryan Ulrich wins this season, you might as well kill off edgic as a practice.
Ashley Nolan (MOR3): Every single member of the jury has been edited out of the show with a middle-of-the-road edgic designation or worse. Ashley Nolan likely caps off that tradition heading into the Survivor season 35 finale, as she saw her impact on the game dramatically reduced. Not even a “time to make moves” edit could save her, as she suffered the same edgic fate that bestowed young Will Wahl in Millennials vs. Gen X.
We understood why she was targetted, but it seemed to be that she was a singular threat to Chrissy’s game. I argued in the recap that players shouldn’t look too deep into not going on rewards with each other, but it was there that Devon was snatched away into a Final 3 deal that saw everyone vote Ashley out. Once again, the recent boot is a victim of others’ immediate circumstances.