Plenty of Survivor Ghost Island episode 4 players received tone, were either prominently shown off or were given a compelling (but one-dimensional) edit.
In last week’s Survivor Ghost Island edgic feature, I said that Brendan was the Malolo dad targetting Bradley, with the edit showing little about him as a person, let alone a character. There proved to be a reason for that, as he was the first victim of the Naviti numbers advantage in the tribe swap scenario, putting the beginning tribe numbers at 9-7 in favor of Naviti.
That seems to be the early storyline of the season, as it seems like we’ve been given a push to be more supportive of Malolo characters while besmirching the in-your-face Naviti ones. However, we’ve seen early how well the edit has twisted our perception, with Branden’s elimination a true shocker.
With all that in mind, let’s look at the Survivor Ghost Island episode 4 edgic chart, followed by who the edit suggests has a long life left in this game:
Winner Contenders
Kellyn Bechtold (CPP5): Even if going to Ghost Island guarantees personal content for the visitor, Kellyn could do no wrong this episode. She decided not to play the game of chance to preserve her vote lead. She solidified that old Naviti wasn’t dumb and that they need to grin and bear whatever Malolo throws their way. Everything Kellyn suggested (and was highlighted) in the edit was correct.
Yet, Bradley was made out to be the ringleader and the villain while Kellyn receives just one false glare from Michael that could have come at any time during the hour-plus Tribal Council session.
Stephanie Johnson (OTTP3): Despite Malolo camp getting no attention until after the Immunity Challenge, Stephanie was one of two Malolo players given a segment on their own at the Malolo beach, giving an overly optimistic moment of hope both figuratively and literally drawn into the sand. It may have been over the top, but it was a moment where a mom wanted to show a fighting effort for her kids; a golden type of moment in a potential Survivor winner’s edit.
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Domenick Abbate (CP5): It’s still the Domenick show this season, yet we have more players trying to work with him and building up his case. He’s playing like Tony Vlachos right now without the one-note paranoia, and this showed more of a toned-down Domenick willing to fight for his right to party one more week.
Wendell Holland (MOR3): If we get too many more of this MOR3 edits for Wendell, he will be hard to argue as a potential winner. We got more second-person vision this episode in his lone confessional, but we saw that the reason Donathan and Laurel want to come over to the minority on Naviti is that they want to work with Wendell. He was given personal content early, but he’s also gotten a few things wrong. He vaults to this spot because of bad actions from others.
Building a Case
Laurel Johnson (CPP3): For the first time this season, Laurel really broke out of her shell and emerged as an immediate contender possibility. She specifically noted that she was playing under the radar before but wanted to make moves now and take control of her game. We got to learn about her Division I athletic past, and she made a big splash helping to win the reward challenge.
She got a ton of praise this past week by other players and got a light-positive tone at camp after reward. She’s even shown to be trustworthy for Domenick to reveal his idol to her. Female winners who don’t run the table get these kinds of under-the-radar pre-merge edits, so we’ll have to see just how her and Donathan’s subversion plan works.
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Michael Yerger (CP4): Michael played an extremely bold game last week, playing into his knowledge of Survivor to lie about the power of his idol to make a play to the majority alliance. Unfortunately, he’s shown his hand, proved he’s a big threat, proved he knows tons about the game, doesn’t have a Hidden Immunity Idol anymore and was shown not believing in Brendan that he was the target. I’ve taken him out of winning contention for now until he’s shown the heat is off him.
Donathan Hurley (MOR2): After an over-the-top Survivor Ghost Island premiere, he got a much-needed subsequent UTR episode. Now that we’ve got a ton of social play and personal content, we now seem him working with Laurel together to put a plan in play. If he’s willing to make moves of his own, he could emerge as more than a journey edit kind of player.
Outside Looking In
Chris Noble (CPN3): After finding out that Morgan was voted out because his teammates tried to take out his second-in-command, Chris gathered the troops in the most Chris way possible; by dictating others what to do and telling everyone how much he likes them (and himself). He’s playing the powerless leader role, as a plot against him is already underway.
Jenna Bowman (UTR1): She said she would put Bradley’s name down five times in the previous episode of Survivor Ghost Island, yet she played things very low key this episode. Her partnership with Stephanie means she’s likely to go further, and the “Next Time On…” preview showed that she might get into a showmance with Sebastian. Getting in with the majority gives her more chances to stay safe another week.
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Sebastian Noel (MOR3): One moment he’s saying the most absolutely goofy things about a Malolo low, the next he’s playing straight that he’s going to vote against his alliance and sticking strong. He’s smarter than the edit lets on, but it’s still concerning the editors want that side of him shown.
James Lim (UTR1): It’s clear he’s well liked within the original Malolo group, but he’s still on the outs socially. He wasn’t in on Laurel and Donathan’s plan and how smart he is in this game was exposed when he got Morgan out with his own big move. Plus, he was almost invisible this episode. That doesn’t bode well.
Just Can’t See It/Out Of The Game
Branden Shapiro (MOR3): The MOR3 king has been dethroned! Unfortunately, it seems like while he was the leader of Malolo, the majority saw him as the dad who gives really bad pep talks. Okay, that was Bradley, but it seemed like he was a threat that needed to get rid of and couldn’t convince Michael that the vote truly was for him.
Angela Perkins (MOR2): We got to see Angela note that her own family slit her throat, then Chris steamrolled the rest of the conversation for the Naviti majority. She doesn’t seem to have much of a social game beyond him, either.
Betsided
Libby Vincek (INV): Seriously, she went to Tribal Council three out of four times and has only been a major player getting out her Catholic friend. It’s clear that she’s been purposefully hidden from the edit until the time is right, meaning she doesn’t have a great shot to win at all.
Bradley Kleihege (OTTN3): Good lord, did Bradley introduce himself to the audience like a (lucky) fool. However forced his villain edit may be (it seems like old Naviti trusts him as a leader for a reason), acting like he’s Boston Rob and Kim Spradlin as a first-time player yet disliking Branden because he’s a leader (he says leaders don’t win ) is bad. He’s likely going to be a short burst villain out of the game in a few episodes based on his edit.
Desiree Afuye (UTR2): She still hasn’t given a confessional since saying she’s not good at puzzles and got underplayed by the edit in calling attention to voting out Brendan. That’s a strong move, yet it seemed like credit was crafted more towards Chelsea.
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Chelsea Townsend (MOR2): Speaking of, the audience at home finally get to learn that Chelsea is a player in Survivor Ghost Island! She seems to offer a strategic play and backs up the decision in a confessional, but it seems rather straightforward and without too much complexity. Plus, one forced confessional in the fourth episode? It’s not like she’s hanging onto Russell Hantz (or even the so-called Russell Hantz 2.0 on Naviti).