Survivor Edge of Extinction: Victoria Baamonde is episode 5’s MVP

It took a few episodes, but we finally have a first-time player making a perfectly crafted big move in Survivor: Edge of Extinction.

This season of Survivor has had a shaky start with predictable Tribal Councils, a questionable twist and overall boring gameplay since the same people keep on losing challenges. However, this week upped the ante with a thrilling double episode which Victoria played a huge role in. Her keen awareness of the game enabled her to pull off an impressive blindside.

For the entire game, there has been constant murmurings of blindsiding a returning player, especially at old Kama. Victoria was amongst those scheming, but she didn’t have an opportunity to act until their tribe lost this week.

However, she took advantage of the first chance she got by making Aubry look silly, which hardly ever happens when returnees are up against newbies. Victoria did such a solid job of lulling Aubry into a false sense of security that she became the first person to get voted out with an idol and an Extra Vote advantage in her possession! Without being unnatural or forced, she made Aubry feel like they could have a dialog.

Although Eric and Gavin were key parts in this bilndside, Victoria deserves the praise. She came up with the perfect plan to fool one of the biggest strategic threats in the game. She planted the idea of a woman’s alliance in Aubry’s mind. Combine that with her willingness to strategize and Aubry was hooked.

What makes Victoria so dangerous is her innocent but competitive gameplay. Even though we’ve seen her strategize with several people, she does so subtly. Despite possessing the ability, Victoria doesn’t come across as a strategic threat like Christian from David vs. Goliath did.

She’s not the greatest challenge performer, and when she talks gameplay, it’s casual and not aggressive. The first part of the double episode was her big moment, but she also had a great confessional in the second half highlighting her ability to separate the game from real life.

Victoria is not afraid to make big moves and she proved it. Her sneaky and smart gameplay can make a blindside plan a reality. She now enters the merge in the majority and with plenty of targets in front of her, giving her the security and wiggle room to make things happen.