Survivor Winners at War: Michele Fitzgerald is episode 3’s MVP

After being left out of the loop in the first Tribal Council, Michele Fitzgerald has worked her back into a good position three episodes into Survivor: Winners at War.

Jeff Probst and company did a spectacular job of landing a full cast of winners for Survivor’s landmark 40th season. However, the debate is still out there if all twenty were deserving of their win. Michele Fitzgerald is definitely one of those winners who faces that criticism, but she hasn’t let that affect her mindset coming into Winners at War.

Even though Michele began the season on the outs as she was left out of the first vote, it was during the first couple of days that she formed a crucial alliance. Right away, Michele made a pact of three with Jeremy and Natalie. When Natalie’s time was up, Michele and Jeremy drew closer and are turning into a dynamic duo.

Besides developing a relationship with Jeremy, Michele has done a great job of expanding her social web, especially since that first Tribal. She’s starting to build something with Ben and Adam, while still keeping her options open with the old school players. That effort paid off in episode 3.

She was initially a key part of a majority alliance to blindside Parvati. That was until Adam’s overconfidence motivated him to tell Boston Rob the plan. Not too long after, Michele and Jeremy had the godfather breathing down their neck about voting out his number one, but they didn’t panic.

As Michele and Jeremy were deliberating on this dilemma on the beach, it was Michele who proposed the idea of keeping the vote on an old-schooler. Deciding to vote for Ethan is the perfect balance between weakening the Old School alliance, while preventing an all out war from happening back at camp. At the same tine, leaving Adam out of this move gives him a wake up call, and if he learns his lesson, Michele could have him as a useful ally again.

But thinking of a good plan is one thing, being able to execute it is a whole nother story. Once Jeremy and Michele decided together that voting for Ethan was the best option, it was Michele who took action. She went to both Ben and Denise to explain how Adam ruined the initial plan, and their new plan is to take out Ethan.

Given how close Denise and Adam were, it was a risky move telling her what happened. However, Michele is proving that her social game is stronger than ever, as she was able to convince Ben and Denise to vote for Ethan without any recourse. In the end, because of her efforts, they got the four votes they needed to send Ethan home. Michele now has a significant measure of power over her tribe, so let’s hope she doesn’t fall into Adam’s ways and remains humble after pulling off this big move.