5. Davie Rickenbacker
On the surface, Davie looks like one of the strongest players in Survivor: David vs. Goliath. He has helped Alec flip over to the Davids to vote out Natalia and got zero pushback or negativity for his actions. Even when he’s not the focus of the episode, he’s sharing his shining personality, asking to get his black ass out of the cyclone and laughing about eating some Kentucky Boiled Chicken (KBC).
Most importantly, Davie’s been hidden from the downsides of his actions and from being blindsided. His first two episodes showed him in a heroic light when finding food and an idol, but moved focus away from him when being blindsided. His “Devilish Davie” comment at the tribe swap was defended as positive, as it helped him to sway Alec to his side.
The one thing I have worried about with Davie at the merge is who he’s close with. Carl seems to be his partner, but that only showed up in the edit when talking about targeting Elizabeth. His other game partners were those planning to get rid of Gabby, but Bi and Lyrsa are already out the game, and Nick and Christian might want to work with Gabby to strengthen their merge numbers.
Davie is a good player in a good position without the prowess to make moves.