Survivor: David vs. Goliath episode 12: Big takeaways

The excitement in Survivor: David vs. Goliath continues to ramp up as several castaways try to make sure their fate is in their own hands.

The greatest part about this week’s episode of Survivor: David vs. Goliath is the fact that there are so many plans going on at once! Christian thinking the vote was Alison; Gabby trying to blindside Christian; Nick, Mike and Angelina tossing a couple of votes on Gabby’s name in case of an idol; and finally Davie putting a wrench in Gabby’s plan by urging Christian to play his idol.

You almost need a map to understand everyone’s plan, and it seems like this trend is just going to continue! Here are three of the biggest takeaways we learned after episode 12 of Survivor: David vs. Goliath.

1) Davie has come to play! Coming into this episode, it looked like Christian and Nick were playing the two best games, with everyone else yet to prove themselves. That all changed when ‘Devilish’ Davie planned to play both sides, and he actually pulled it off!

While appearing to be committed to a Final Four alliance with Nick, Mike, and Angelina, he still wasn’t feeling comfortable with letting them take out Christian. Taking matters into his own hands, Davie decided to tell Christian to play his idol, while still voting for him in order to make it seem like he was solid with the four-person alliance.

With several power players all trying to execute their plan at the same Tribal Council, Davie was the one secretly deciding which plan suited him best and interfered to make it happen. He proved that he’s a strategic threat in addition to a physical threat.

2) The Jabeni tribe reunites. The castaways in this season have developed the habit of building an alliance in one episode and then going back on it in the next. It still might be too early to tell, but it looks like Nick, Mike and Angelina have truly restored their bond from the former expansion tribe: Jabeni.

At this point, Angelina has basically nowhere else to turn, and Mike’s closest relationships left in the game are with Nick and Angelina. As for Nick, the only person he’s very tight with outside of Mike, is Davie, who they tried to get as another number for their alliance.

So when you breakdown everyone’s social bonds remaining in this game, you really realize how these three former Jabeni members are all interconnected. Their closest allies throughout this season are in this four-person alliance. However, the one person who could really throw a wrench in this potentially Final Four plan is Davie.

3) Kara as a sleeper pick to win it all? As alluded to in the first takeaway, the three remaining Davids appear to be the biggest threats to win this season. If Christian, Nick, or Davie make it to the end, it would be hard to argue against their case to be the Sole Survivor.

If there’s one Goliath that has a shot to outlast the Davids, it would be Kara. She’s been playing an under the radar game at this point, as the three Davids plus Alison all seem to be farther up the chopping block than her.

The whole season she’s been deceptively strong at challenges, which finally manifested into winning her first Individual Immunity last episode. If she can survive the next few votes and go with the flow of voting out big threats like Christian, then she can end up in the Final Five without anyone realizing her threat level.  At that point, Kara would be just one or two immunity wins away from securing a spot in Final Tribal, which she has proven that she is capable of winning.

The shifting loyalties and the awareness to take out big threats makes this season of Survivor a thrill to watch!