With only first-time players remaining, the eight newbies are poised to continue their blindsiding ways in tonight’s episode of Survivor.
One interesting trend in Survivor: Edge of Extinction is how after each Tribal Council the alliances feel more and more foggy. Throughout this season alliances are quick to form, but even faster to split apart. As a result, the playing field is wide open, waiting for someone to make another move. Here are a few stories to watching for in tonight’s episode of Survivor: Edge of Extinction.
1) The Puppet Master is back in town
When the three tribes first merged, Ron appeared to have all the control, as he was able to get his way and blindside Joe. However, that changed fast when Julia decided to play her own game.
Ever since, Ron has looked lost and acted as a number that other voting blocs could make use of. But the tides are changing. Although Wardog deserves the credit for Wentworth’s blindside, it was Ron who was able to make that happen. He was the swing vote instead of being simply a passenger.
Coming into tonight’s episode, Ron could go with the Kama majority, or he could work with Wardog and Devens as teased in the promos. Aurora even loaned Ron the Extra Vote Advantage, and not many can say that they have Aurora’s loyalty. He has the flexibility and strategic mind to once again take control over this game.
2) Is it time for goat hunting?
Another story the promo teased was the strategy of taking out the “goats” that can be dragged to the end. We saw this concept in Second Chance when Jeremy’s alliance voted out Abi-Maria because everyone wanted to sit next to her at Final Tribal Council.
The question though is who are the goats in this season? Julie might come to mind, as she had a strong first half of the game but has been overcome with emotions of late. At this point, Aurora seems like someone the jury wouldn’t vote for, so maybe she is the goat? Or maybe it’s Gavin and Lauren since they haven’t really done too much on their own.
This line of reasoning shows that there isn’t really a standard coattail rider to get rid of. If they feel threatened, all four that I mentioned above understand the game well enough to work together and make a move.
3) Wentworth’s idol is back in play
Now that only one idol is in possession, production will probably re-hide Wentworth’s unused Hidden Immunity Idol. The problem is that only Lauren knew about her idol, so not a lot of castaways might feel the same urgency to look for one.
However, that doesn’t mean the Final Eight players have completely stopped searching for idols. We will see tonight if someone like Wardog, Ron or Victoria can strengthen their odds to win by discovering a Hidden Immunity Idol.