Survivor Island of the Idols cast assessment: Aaron Meredith sculpting a win?

Aaron Meredith is a man of multitudes, and he aims to bring more than athletic prowess earned from his own gym to his Survivor: Island of the Idols game.

The most recent season was unconventional in the fact that Survivor: Edge of Extinction didn’t have a bodybuilder-type player that could perform in challenges (hence excluding Wardog). Joe Anglim, a known challenge beast, doesn’t have the muscle mass of somebody who pumps iron quite like Aaron Meredith, although the Connecticut dad has a lot more than brawn on his side.

If you happen to catch his Rob Has a Podcast interview, you would know his Atlantic Northeast archetype look Survivor has been trying to recapture since Tony in Cagayan does not reflect the kind of guy he is. He’s held a variety of jobs but, like so many of his fellow castaways on Island of the Idols, he switched gears from an engineer to a personal trainer to, later, a gym owner.

He’s the kind of good-hearted guy that would seem to play like the teddy bear that doesn’t know his own strength. The fact that he’s tapped into the podcasting world suggests that he, at least, knows more about the game than the kinds of players in his archetypes. He will have to downplay his strengths and play more strategically later, and passively earlier.

As posited in his Island of the Idols cast interview, he is a dad and will hope to bring some of that paternal way of life to his game by serving to benefit his tribe. Whereas Ozzy, the player Aaron compared himself to, started out this game as a kid, he already has the life experiences and is actually a social threat (unlike the guy who’s proven to have a one-dimensional game).

While I could see a Domenick Abbate-style role for Aaron early on, his strengths will be his weaknesses once he reaches the merge. A gym owner and trainer has to have the facilities and knowledge required to work on functional exercises tailored to the kinds of activities you’ll need to thrive on this show, especially with pushing and pulling heavy objects.

Being able to connect with the older players as a family man while still having the attitude and personality of a younger person will hopefully allow him to navigate the early days of the game and get himself in with a good alliance. He has the capability of connecting with others and has the strategic mindset to capitalize on his social good.

The odd cast dynamics of Survivor: Island of the Idols sees that Aaron will need to exhibit mastermind qualities to downplay his physical prowess. With the exception of a 60-year-old former NHL enforcer on his tribe and the athletic women of the game, he is putting himself to be in the role of somebody who fights for the tribe.

How long can he rely on those within his alliance once the merge arrives? That’s perhaps the biggest question of Survivor: Island of the Idols, as he is the likable family man that could run the table otherwise. Perhaps when he’s scavenging for resources, he’ll find some advantages, idols or other powers to keep him safe.

Who knows; maybe he’ll head to the Island of the Idols himself and learn from Sandra Diaz-Twine how to play as an Ozzy-type since she shared a season with him! Either way, I think that Aaron is slotted for an early merge boot with some mid-game-plus potential.