Survivor: David vs. Goliath episode 12 edgic: Love and indifference

The Loved Ones’ visit is an important final closure for the edgic season, as our Survivor: David vs. Goliath episode 12 edgic looks at who missed out.

In poorly-edited or straightforward gameplay seasons, the field for potential Survivor winners is narrow by the time the Loved Ones’ visit rolls around. There are usually eight or fewer players left in the game, and there are usually some runaway contenders presented in the edit.

David vs. Goliath has been something else entirely. The editors have been trying new tricks and new methods of presenting the information of the season’s story at the request of host and executive producer Jeff Probst, and the results show a wildly unpredictable season. A big part of that is also on the players, as they have been dynamic in their approach and the development of their character arc across the season.

That makes our job working on our Survivor edgic that much more difficult, but now our Survivor: David vs. Goliath episode 12 edgic chart looks at two runaways and one edge case I will explain later:

Nick Wilson (CPN5): Normally, a sudden negative uptick in the edit for a leading contender could speak to their downfall, but in reality, Nick’s negativity in being blindsided was being shielded in the previous episode by not appearing “wrong” in the vote numbers. Although it’s not good to be negative in a family visit episode, the edit justifies it and saw someone else fall, not Nick, for getting revenge.

Gabby was edited as much more scornful by coming up with the plan, as Nick planned to use his social game to string him along. Overall, this episode knocked Nick down a peg, but not necessarily enough to elevate others.

Christian Hubicki (CPM4): Though he got a lot of positivity surrounding others like from Gabby “How did you get such a big brain?” Pascuzzi, he was taken down a peg by the negativity from Nick and how he thought he was repairing broken bridges while Nick had ulterior motives.

Plus, although we don’t typically register importance from the Loved Ones’ visit (everyone usually gets positivity), Emily was especially highlighted due to Christian’s empathy, shaping the story of the episode. I feel like Christian is the distraction edit for Nick unless the editors are doubling down on telling a great winner’s story from start to finish.

Angelina Keeley (CP3): This is the first episode since the first Goliath Tribal Council where Angelina got a complex personality edit that wasn’t mired by negative or mixed tone. We saw her pitch a Final Four group at the reward including Davie, Mike and Nick, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t the Final Four group. She even worked with Mike to pull off a big move and give Goliath the numbers once more.

It seems like Angelina is destined to make it to the Final Tribal Council. Her edit has been everpresent throughout the season, taking habitual cooldown episodes here and there. We know that the jury didn’t respect her game at the merge, but if she can scratch and survive with Mike and Davie/Alison at the end, it’s possible we could see the wildcard winner edit. She’s the only other player that has been edited as such throughout the season.

Kara Kay (UTR2): This episode killed any hope of Kara’s winner edit, in my mind. When you go almost completely invisible and go with the flow once more and not provide any introspect on the episode’s events, it’s safe to mark off her social charm skills as something to flavor her edit. Her impact on the game is low at a time when there are so few players left.

Gabby Pascuzzi (CPM4): There were a lot of fun foreshadowing moments in this episode of David vs. Goliath, including Gabby telling her mom she’s almost done. Gabby’s plan to take out Christian was edited as if she was plotting an assassination attempt, showing the negativity that undercut her sudden uptick in respect and interest from other players.

While I’d argue because of the Final Four twist bumping up the number of vulnerable spots left that Gabby made the right move, the edit needed to balance out one the most empathetic character for the audience by the negativity of being taken out by the second-most empathetic character. It was a Greek tragedy of consequence.

Davie Rickenbacker (CP2): We don’t take Loved Ones’ reactions into account, but it was nice to see Hazel bring the child out of Davie. He was secretly the most important player of this episode of Survivor: David vs. Goliath, as he was prescient to know his role on the Reward Challenge Final Four totem pole and tipped Christian off to use his Hidden Immunity Idol.

Davie the Strategist is a great lean for the character, but it’s coming a bit too late to outweigh Devilish Davie’s edit so far.

Alison Raybould (UTR2): Hi Alison!

Though she had an understated role in this episode once again, she was the one to suggest Gabby was making a smart move but it might not matter due to Christian pulling out another rabbit out of her hat. Outside of Davie, Alison might have had the strongest read on the game this episode, yet it was only for a passing moment as to not give away the final act.

Mike White (UTR2): Despite not having a confessional this episode (the only player to do so), Mike and Angelina used their game prowess to suss out the possibility of an idol play and threw their votes not on Alison, but on Gabby. It allowed for the Goliaths to regain the majority at the Final Seven, and Mike might retain his sway when it comes to the vote.

I don’t think Mike White can win due to him being a Hollywood millionaire among public defenders, scientists, doctors, realtors and social media managers, but it is interesting to see how much sway he has over the game.