Survivor Edge of Extinction cast assessment: Aurora McCreary expects to be a villain

Very few castaways head into Survivor expecting to be seen as a villain, but Aurora McCreary has that level of self-awareness ahead of Edge of Extinction.

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses and having a plan to combat them is a huge advantage in Survivor. It means that you know what you’re bringing to the table in an alliance and can rely on others to balance things out and keep everyone in line. Aurora McCreary knows she can be pushy and speak her mind, but knowing that she can be wild is key to preventing it in the first place.

It’s weirdly calming how enthusiastic and engaging Aurora is in her ET Canada interview because the way she communicates comes in contrast with the alarming key phrases she shares. She talks about how humble she will be in apologizing for her aggressive behavior, but this comes backloaded after saying she thinks she knows better than others, she is stubborn and she is direct.

It’s like she knows that she has to keep herself out of the spotlight in order to avoid being the first one voted out, but once the unbearable length of three days has come and gone, she’ll be free to be the confrontational, self-described “loudmouth” that she truly is. Most of what I’ve said is Aurora in her own words, showing just how damning ones own words can be when it comes to Survivor preparedness.

Her CBS bio is full of other wonderful contrasts, mentioning how she’s an addictive, loud gum-chewer but that she hates “any noise coming from the mouth” from others. It’s that kind of “it’s okay when I do it, but I hate when others do it” that’s certainly … a take to have.

She describes being a divorce lawyer as the best Survivor preparedness possible as she sees former “allies” come together and try to tear each other apart, emploring different strategies to undermine the other. She takes pride in her ability to manipulate others’ goals and ambitions in their divorces and will look to employ that skill set when playing this game.

It’s certainly a lot to take in, and it certainly doesn’t seem like Aurora is out to become an outward villain who’s unnecessarily mean to others. She just knows how her assertiveness and aggression will be viewed by the audience because at the end of the day, she’s not here to make friends or please the audience; she’s here to win a million dollars.

We’ll have to see how personal it does or doesn’t become with Aurora, as she has used the majority of her pre-press interviews and bio talk to discuss just how negative she can be on the front end but how self-aware, apologetic and courteous she can be on the back end. That formula is ripe for confrontation.

If I were a betting man, unless Aurora is able to hide her self-admitted true self in the harshest of conditions she’ll ever face, she cannot win Survivor: Edge of Extinction. The way she describes herself screams “I know better than you, but at least I’ll be nice about it,” which is something juries very rarely respect. She’ll need to pull off the hugest moves possible to earn a jury’s respect back, and that will be difficult with four returnees (most who are likely to either be in the game or on the jury).

Aurora’s game looks messy on paper, even if she’s doing a good front in the interview. She knows she may come across as a villain; let’s hope she can be an enjoyable one at that.