Survivor: David vs Goliath cast assessment: Nick Wilson will channel his Southern charm

The self-proclaimed “redneck lawyer,” Nick Wilson hopes he has what it takes to bring the title of Sole Survivor for David vs. Goliath home to Kentucky.

After 36 seasons of Survivor, it is certain that future players are going to resemble past winners. Nick is the spitting image of one. The winner I am comparing to him, J.T. Thomas, should not shock any readers; it was quite obvious. Interestingly enough, his fellow tribemate Christian Hubikci has compared himself to Stephen Fischbach. I would love to see these two team up and form a Tocantins 2.0.

With that being said, we are in quite a different era of Survivor now; no one is going to be super happy to lose to Nick Wilson as we saw in the post-merge of Tocantins. He mentions in his CBS bio that he is going to swing for the fences with his moves, and I think he will have learned from the mistakes made by J.T. in his two most recent appearances.

Nick is a proud first-generation college student and lawyer, so there is more wit to him than his fellow castaways may perceive on the island. He plans on lying about his profession, and I think he will be successful with this tale. When you see someone with a southern accent on Survivor, you would rarely associate lawyer which bodes well for Nick.

He is placed on the David tribe, and rightfully so. Anyone who is the first member of their family to attend college has to overcome plenty of odds, and to become a public defender afterward is even harder. When you see someone from the south like Nick, you think he might simply be filling that archetype we see on most seasons. I see him as more than just a J.T. 2.0, and his story is worthy of being considered a true David.

Despite his background, he would still value the title of Sole Survivor over the money. This leads me to believe that he is a hardcore fan of the show. It seems like more and more people value the title over the million every season, showing the number of superfans who value winning the game they love over money.

Nick is motivated by his grandma, “Mamaw Joan.” Just based on her name I desperately want her to make it out for the family visit. I think she could upstage Ghost Island’s Aunt Patty as the new family visit MVP.

Nick described his pre-merge strategy by the famous March Madness words “survive and advance.” He followed this up by saying his post-merge strategy is to take the reins and “decide who advances.” Although this may seem like a basic strategy, I liked how he articulated this, and I think he could really pop on screen this season.

When I look at Nick’s odds in the game, I am one-hundred percent convinced that he will make the merge. He is too likable and not overbearing enough to be considered as an early boot. However, I am also one-hundred percent convinced that he is not going to win the game. I said that he was likable, and in modern-day Survivor, I just feel like this type of player is always taken out around 10th place or so.

Whether he can repeat a J.T. style victory or not, Nick has a lot to bring to this season, and I cannot wait for it to kick-off.