Malolo 3.0 is slow to reverse the Malololow, you know, as Survivor Ghost Island continues to see “the best tribe ever” tear itself apart.
Survivor Ghost Island is cursed. Not the physical Ghost Island location itself, but the season as a whole, as it seems like while players were busy focusing on who could reverse the curse of particular items, nobody was paying attention to its current players. Jacob Derwin declared Malolo as one of the “best tribes of all-time,” and in doing so has cursed his tribe to doom.
Gonzalez was the first to go, only because Jacob was an option taken off the table. Jacob followed shortly behind her. Malolo gained a small victory when the OG four Malolo on Naviti 2.0 used Naviti’s incompetence to vote out Morgan, but since then Malolo has been cursed with loss after loss after loss, with the early numbers disadvantage continuing to take out Malolo after Malolo.
With Survivor Ghost Island episode 6, James Lim was put in a bad spot. Although all tribes had a 3-2 OG Naviti advantage, he was paired with Michael who had voted against him on Day 6. Plus, they were the only two males on a tribe with the weakest puzzle player taking control of an Immunity Challenge that came down to a puzzle. An attempt to get out of his hole would prove difficult.
Watch Survivor on fuboTV: Watch over 67 live sports and entertainment channels (including CBS) with a 7-day FREE trial!
In all honesty, it seems like we’re getting a very protected image of Michael Yerger so far in Survivor Ghost Island. In the past two weeks, we’ve seen Michael vote out members of his own tribe to create unanimous votes, and both times the blindside was presented more like fate than a betrayal.
We know from Stephanie Johnson’s exit interview that Michael and Jenna cut a deal with the old Naviti members on Malolo 2.0 when she was out at Ghost Island, showing that they’re willing to work with them as teammates when the merge arrives. Michael’s allegiance is to himself to prove he can play this game as a teenager who’s been through a lot in life, in part growing up.
Must Read: Survivor Winners: Ranking 34 Sole Survivors By Season
What does this have to do with James Lim being voted out of Survivor? It shows that as much as Angela was up for the possibility of taking out Desiree after the Immunity Challenge, Michael was never going to let it happen. Even though this presented an opportunity for James and Michael to survive another round together, it didn’t make sense for Angela nor Michael to make that big move.
Betsided
For Angela, the idea of Naviti taking out one of their own is unfathomable. Whether it’s Kellyn or Bradley playing the role of a propagandist, the idea of “original tribe strong” has become such a memetic that it’s just been accepted. “Don’t rock the boat; let’s get to the merge” is the ongoing mentality, and for Angela to cross that line in the sand would rightly put the target on her.
For Michael, it doesn’t make sense for him to take a swing against Naviti now one vote away from the merge (and the jury). He’s the only player in the game that’s been on Malolo since the beginning; he knows that the tribe cannot compete against Naviti at the merge. By trying to convince Angela to flip and vote out Desiree 3-2, he breaks the trust given to him by Kellyn and Bradley at Malolo 2.0.
By not targetting James (someone he voted for as a split-vote move to combat a possible Derwin idol play), Michael no longer connects himself to a losing mentality but opens himself up to plenty of possibilities.
Kellyn and Bradley look to be his closest ins against the coming Domenick vs. Chris war, which now has made it to Malolo 3.0 as the known story of the merge to watch out for. If he connects with them, who connects well enough with the merged group to create a winning voting bloc, Naviti has the chance to start waging war against each other and taking out the biggest players as the merge progresses.
Next: Survivor: Ranking all 35 seasons
None of that is an option to Michael, nor Donathan, Libby and Laurel if he takes a stance right now and puts a target on his back right before the merge. James Lim was voted out in 15th place in Survivor Ghost Island because of a rock-solid anti-Malolo contingency paired with being put up against someone Kellyn wants to work with later down the road.