Survivor: David vs. Goliath episode 9: Big takeaways

In the past two Tribal Councils on Survivor: David vs. Goliath, we’ve seen two advantages played, three Hidden Immunity Idols used and two Goliaths getting their torches snuffed.

Despite castaways sticking to original tribal lines, we’ve had a thoroughly entertaining post-merge so far. This past episode brought us a historical Survivor moment as Carl became the first person to ever use the Idol Nullifier! To top it all off, he used it correctly and sent home a serious challenge threat. Here are three significant takeaways we gleaned from this crazy episode.

1. The Davids’ tight relationship makes them superior. Just a few weeks ago, there were seven Goliaths and five Davids. Even with the majority, the Goliaths lost two of their members. It really came down to sharing information.

While the Davids are a very tight-knit group, the Goliaths have had many disagreements with each other. Instead of pushing those differences of opinions aside, the Goliath members let that get to them. First with Angelina telling Elizabeth that she was the vote, then Alec letting Nick know they were targeting Christian, and lastly Kara giving the Davids the idea that Dan had another idol.

That’s three votes in a row where the original Goliaths revealed pivotal information to the Davids. On the other hand, the Davids have done a great job of keeping their information within their alliance. Nick, Carl, and Christian consulting their entire tribe about their advantages strengthened their alliance and made every member feel like they are a part of a great team.

2. Kara and Alec are ready to flip. With the Davids being so close, it looks like the only castaways that will be willing to flip on their original tribe are the Goliaths. For the longest time, Alison looked poised to be that person who would join the Davids, but tribal after tribal she kept on voting with the Goliaths. Mike also blew his chance as he betrayed his secret “Strike Force” alliance by targeting Christian. And for Angelina, it’s still hard for the Davids to trust anything she says.

That leaves Kara and Alec coming into a Tribal Council where both tribes have equal numbers. The fact that Kara was so eager to get Dan out shows that she’s at least trying to play a strategically minded game and could vote with the Davids. Alec’s close relationship with Nick may also give him the opportunity to form another alliance with the Davids.

Either way, I could see Kara or Alec voting with the Davids or at least revealing to them who the Goliaths are voting for. We also can’t forget about the promo after last episode teasing Carl’s feud with Gabby. That can open the door for some Davids confiding in Kara or Alec for a vote as well.

3. The best ten players are still in the game. In most Survivor seasons, often times there are people who we root for that get voted out early. This season has been different. There still has been entertaining castaways that have been voted off including Natalie, John, and Dan. But in all honesty, none of them had a great shot of winning the game compared to the players left.

There’s not one person remaining in this game that isn’t capable of playing a strong strategic game. There are also several castaways playing great social games including Christian, Nick, Alec and Mike.

At this point, it’s anyone’s game because there are so many solid players left, which makes the final phase of this game so exciting!