Survivor: David vs. Goliath 11th place player comparisons

Once again this season has delivered, with Dan going home in an unprecedented fashion this Survivor season is all but guaranteed a top ten status.

Who he compared himself to: Malcolm Freberg

Dan Rengering will not be walking away from David vs. Goliath with a pedigree near the level of Malcolm’s. Malcolm’s only true errors in Phillipines came at the Final Four. With Dan, you could point to several spots where he was at fault during his run. However, it is quite difficult to fault Dan for his boot this episode; that was impossible to anticipate, and even last week the idol play was still justified.

The one major difference in their games is their feelings towards being in a potential showmance. Dan was all about Kara for the entirety of the game. On the other hand, we saw Malcolm and Angie flirting early on. However, Malcolm was easily able to let Angie go to better his game, which I do not think Dan was capable of. It is not like Malcolm had no numbers in the spot either; he and Angie made up half of Matsing, but Malcolm was able to make the right move regardless.

Comparing Dan to 11th placers:

My first comparison is to Keith Tollefson from South Pacific. Although it was not showcased on the island, Keith would eventually marry his fellow showmance partner, Whitney Duncan. Keith was the victim of the famous Cochran flip at the merge. Keith would win one redemption duel before finishing in 11th. Both of them give me similar vibes in terms of athletic guys that did not have the strategic mind to make a winning run.

Next, I am looking at Debbie Wanner from Game Changers. Debbie and Dan obviously look nothing alike on paper, but both entered the Final 11 with confidence in their 6-5 majority. I knew that both of them were not going to make it super deep based on their gameplay, but their exits were still surprising. Debbie’s boot came from a simple flip from Sarah, while more external factors led to Dan’s demise.

I am going to break my rules of only looking at US Survivor for this last one, only because their exits are so similar. This player is Anneliese Wilson from Australian Survivor 2017.  If you are not familiar with the season, Anneliese was the first person ever eliminated due to an idol nullifier being played on her.

The difference in this play is that in the Australian version, the nullifier could be played on the person after they play their idol, making the advantage very overpowered. This makes her exit even harder to swallow, although she was not in the majority like Dan.

The verdict: Anneliese Wilson

This was always going to be the player comparison because this way of being voted out of Survivor has occurred twice, and both of them went home in 11th. This type of exit has to feel so sour; neither of them even knew this advantage would ever exist, and there was no way for them to adjust their game to this unique advantage.