5) Lisa Whelchel
As much as I think Jeff Kent and RC are far better players than Lisa, the former television star actually made something happen. RC wanted to get Abi out, but she got blindsided during the first Tribal Council after the merge. Jeff Kent wanted to do everything in his power to outlast Penner, but he got blindsided eight days before Penner’s torch was snuffed. Sure, Lisa coasted to the end, but she stole the show during the most dramatic Tribal Council of the season.
While Lisa was hanging up everyone’s clothes, she discovered Malcolm’s Hidden Immunity Idol. Despite entering the merge with the majority, Lisa’s loyalty was still questioned by several members of her alliance. During the second Tribal after the merge, she swung for the fences by revealing to everyone that Malcolm found an idol while using that to make a statement to her alliance. That night she succeeded in taking out a serious threat in Jeff Kent, allowing her alliance to capture the majority.
After that game-changing move, Lisa took a step down as she felt terrible for manipulating the vote and outing Malcolm’s idol. Up until that point, Lisa was playing a solid game, but then she became more concerned with not hurting people’s feelings. She also became very passive, missing out on opportunities to vote out Denise and Malcolm. If Lisa could have separated her emotion from the game for the entire season, she could have been a sneakily strong castaway.