Survivor: David vs. Goliath finale: Can Mike White win the game?

Mike finally takes matters into his own hands by blindsiding “Big Bang Theory”, but is it enough to make a case for him to win Survivor: David vs. Goliath?

For a majority of the post-merge game, Mike White has sat back, letting the big threats dictate who’s going home. Yesterday’s episode gave us a different version of Mike. No one expected the guy who is always out first in challenges, to actually win Individual Immunity! Wearing the necklace gave Mike the confidence to make a move, but is it enough? Let’s examine Mike’s odds of reaching the Final Three and becoming the Sole Survivor.

Mike’s chances of making Final Tribal

In terms of the next two votes, Mike doesn’t appear to be in any serious danger. The castaways are keen on using voting blocs to blindside the biggest threats, so Davie, Nick and Alison are all on the chopping block for the next two votes.

The main concern is the Final Four. At this point, most of the castaways probably want to bring Angelina to the finals, rather than Mike. If someone else wins immunity, they will probably select Angelina to be safe, forcing Mike to square off in a fire challenge.

In a secret confessional, Mike mentioned how he would easily lose in a fire-making challenge. So Mike’s options for Final Tribal are limited. Either he or Angelina has to win immunity in order to secure a spot. If not, he would have to convince the immunity winner to bring him. That might be a tough one to sell when you could have Angelina sitting beside you in the end!

Mike’s chances of receiving votes at Final Tribal

Mike has played a quiet but solid game, both strategically and socially, which might be enough for the win if he is sitting next to the right people. He was finally able to come up with a master plan to remove the biggest threat from the game, in Christian.

At this point, Davie and Nick have made superior moves and are just playing at such a high level. If either of them makes the end, Mike isn’t winning. So it’s key for Mike’s success to eliminate both of them within the next three Tribal Councils. If he is able to do so, Mike will be sitting next to Angelina, Kara or Alison, who are all beatable.

One concern is that if Mike makes Final Tribal, no one will vote for him because he doesn’t need the money. However, CBS released a secret confessional of Mike explaining why people are underestimating him and why he deserves to win… and it was very convincing!

Mike has quietly played an incredible social game. We saw evidence of that in yesterday’s episode as several castaways turned to Mike to express their feelings about the vote, even when they were told not to! Let’s face it, Mike writes and performs for a living, so he could very well deliver winning arguments during Final Tribal.

Overall Rundown: Mike is safe for the next few votes, but he has to make sure Davie and Nick are out of the game before Final Tribal. If he can also avoid the Final Four fire-making challenge, he’ll have a shot at explaining his solid gameplay against beatable competition. If that scenario works out, we could be looking at our first real celebrity winner of Survivor.