Of the 18 players in Survivor 47, most are getting a proper amount of credit for the games they played, but there are a few players who haven't been recognized for their fantastic gameplay this season.
It's so hard to shine a light on everyone because we aren't out there with the cast. What we see in each episode is so limited. Luckily, each player gets a chance to do some press after they are eliminated to share a little bit about their game, what they were trying to do, and what we didn't see.
Based on that information, I picked three players from Survivor 47 who deserve a lot more credit than they have received so far!
Andy Rueda
Andy Rueda is the Survivor 47 player I feel bad about overlooking all season. Andy started the game as vulnerable as we've seen in Survivor history. I maintain that he could have easily been voted out after his emotions got the best of him after losing the first immunity challenge of the season with the Gata tribe. Andy threw his ally, Jon Lovett, under the bus at the challenge, and it caused the other players to treat Andy a certain way throughout the season.
From that moment, Andy struggled to gain favor with his tribe, but he did find a good alliance in Sam Phalen and Sierra Wright. Eventually, together, they made a big move taking out Anika Dhar. They headed into the merge as a strong three, but Sam betrayed Andy by throwing his name out to some of the other players as a backup in the Rome Cooney vote in case Rome played an idol.
Then, Andy started kicking butt and taking names. He convinced everyone to blindside Sam and Sierra and was basically the final vote in the split vote that eventually sent Sierra home. He continued to scramble, playing different players off each other. We only saw a little bit of Andy's game, but he definitely added some fuel to Sue Smey's fire in her vendetta against Kyle Ostwald. Although Andy wasn't winning challenges, he was part of all the conversations, which again allowed him to be the deciding vote in sending Caroline Vidmar home. Had Rachel LaMont not played her idol perfectly, Andy probably would have made the Final Four and might have been pitching his case to the jury for $1 million. And, looking at Andy's story, he just might have won.
Caroline Vidmar
Caroline Vidmar finished in seventh place in Survivor 47, but I don't think she got enough credit for how good of a player she was. We've already learned that most of Rachel and Caroline's scenes together were cut. Rachel revealed that Caroline was the top person in the game that she talked strategy with after the merge. It's wild that we didn't get to see that.
From my perspective, Caroline, Rachel, and Genevieve Mushaluk were the top strategists in the game. Gabe Ortis is probably in the mix, too, but I think he was a little more bold than these three. Caroline brilliantly navigated a tribe that was falling apart. First, we know she was scrambling to keep Tuku together after the merge. When it was clear that wouldn't work, she adapted quickly. She and Rachel teamed up to help form the Underdogs alliance. It was the biggest move in the game for Caroline. Three people in that alliance made the Final Four. And, had Andy not betrayed Caroline before the Final Six, there's a real chance Caroline and Rachel would have been together at the end. They were that good together.
I thought Caroline played one of the smartest games in Survivor 47. She was dealt a good hand at the beginning of the game. She took out Gabe at the right time. She just ended up with an unpredictable player like Andy between her and the end. Unfortunately, Andy won that match-up this time.
Sam Phalen
Sam Phalen played a great game in Survivor 47! Besides Sam, only one other player received a vote to win the game, and that was the Survivor 47 winner, Rachel, who received six more votes than Sam at Final Tribal.
Making the Final Three, winning the fire-making challenge, and just staying alive in the game was an incredible feat for Sam. After Sierra was voted out in episode 8, Sam looked like his game was cooked. He buckled down, and he made a lot of right moves to stay in the game until the end.
Honestly, there was a second during Tribal Council that Sam had me worried he was going to win the whole thing. Rachel left him a few openings at Final Tribal, and Sam pitched a good story to the jury about his time on Survivor. I didn't realize he was targeted that many times in the game. I know there were a few thrown-in votes for Sam, like Rome's vote, but he received 10 votes in the game, while Rachel only received four. That's quite a big discrepancy. There was a very realistic chance he was going to go home in episode 8.
And, after that, Sam didn't perform well in immunity challenges, but he won rewards. He took players to the Sanctuary. He was invited there, as well. In terms of his social game, Sam was great deflecting the blame and finding another option. People continued to work with him. And, like Caroline and Andy, a few bounces here or there, and Sam is sitting at the end with Teeny and Sue with clearly the best game played this season.
So, yeah, Sam deserves a lot more credit than he's receiving. I underestimated him all season, and I'm sorry about that!
Well, that's the list of players in Survivor 47 who deserve more credit. It was definitely a great season, and I'm just glad the jury picked the right person!