After an emotional episode that was far slower-paced than the rest of the pre-merge, early favorite Stephanie Johnson had her Survivor dream end.
Stephanie Johnson was getting so much content in Survivor Ghost Island. At first, it seemed like she would be a major long-term power player. Now that her game is over, the edit ending up giving her too much content for her to win. We saw emotional scenes from her in two straight weeks, and despite the relatively early exit, we really got to see her journey play out.
Stephanie had already proven her strategic prowess. We saw her work Jacob Derwin into telling her everything in the premiere. At the end of the day, she must have given off this vibe to the majority alliance.
Her edit was extremely similar to that of Michaela and Ali. They appear to be power players, but after a swap, they appear too big a threat to keep around. It did not seem like she was playing too hard to herself, but others’ perception became her reality. Stephanie is one of those players where all they need to do is hit the merge. She was not able to, leaving her game with a lot to be desired.
I thought Stephanie caught a major break after the Reward Challenge. She was going to Ghost Island where I thought she would play for the advantage that Kellyn neglected. As a viewer, this was yet again an anti-climax at Ghost Island. Of course, I know that advantages are not going to pop up every time. It would have been perfect for the episode if Stephanie was able to get something out of her trip to Ghost Island.
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A major problem for Stephanie was that her minority alliance was rather small. It was simply Stephanie, Jenna, and Michael. This was a major part of Stephanie’s demise. Jenna seems like a floater at this point, although her flirtatious ways towards Sebastian were impressive to see. Even without this maneuver, Stephanie and Michael probably thought Jenna was safe.
At the Immunity Challenge, I am not ruling out that Malolo threw the challenge. Chelsea was abysmal, and we did not see her take any heat from her tribemates. Kellyn, who has been incredible at puzzles, was super emotional after the loss. I think the emotion potentially was due to her and Bradley throwing the puzzle portion. From a strategic standpoint, it makes total sense for them to throw the challenge. It simply keeps more former Navitis and less Malolos, and the threat of an idol is very low due to Michael’s previous play.
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It appeared that the vote could have gone either way. The majority five noted that Michael came out as a real player at the previous tribal council. Michael was going with the “keep the tribe strong” tactic, but in this era of Survivor, this rarely means much. At the same time, Michael’s physique is going to make him a major target if he hits the merge. If Stephanie remains, she could easily slide by.
Stephanie’s pleas made her seem like even more of a long-term Survivor threat. She should have either downplayed her hand or make up a lie about what happened at Ghost Island. Even though we see Desiree go through Stephanie’s bag, Stephanie should have come up with something. If even one seed of doubt is planted, they may decide that it is not worth the risk and vote out Michael.
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Stephanie was not an overbearing threat, but her fellow castaways were still able to sniff out her strategic strengths. There was just not enough room to hide for Stephanie in Survivor Ghost Island. I think everyone could see that she would flip right back to her old alliance members at a swap or a merge, and in the end, it made sense for her to be voted out.