Season 48 of Survivor is officially underway, and we have now met the 18 players who are vying for the title of Sole Survivor. Of course, by the end of the season premiere, we were already down one player, but that still leaves us with 17 players to assess and discuss.
Following that two-hour premiere, we have to point out that there are some players that we simply do not think have what it takes to get to the finale, let alone win the whole thing. And part of the reason for that is simply strategy and gameplay early on.
Some players put themselves out there way too hard early on and it can epically backfire on them. And I think that is going to be the case in Survivor 48 as well. So which three players do I think are going to end up on the chopping block well before the finale?
Star Toomey
While the Lagi tribe may not have lost the first challenge and in fact proved that they are the ones to watch early on, I think Star is in trouble. Her entire tribe noticed that she was missing for hours on end and that can only mean one thing in Survivor: idol hunting.
Star's search for an advantage or idol was so obvious that I think that she is going to be one of the people her tribe is committed to sending home when they get to their first tribal council. Now it is entirely possible things could change depending on how challenges play out, but based on this first episode and how she became the topic of conversation on her tribe, I don't see her making it to the finale, let alone winning the game.
Mary Zheng
The Vula tribe was the first to lose a challenge and end up at tribal council for Survivor 48 and while Mary made it through the vote, she also painted a bit of a target on her back. She was the only vote for Sai, in a vote that saw Stephanie's torch get snuffed first. Not only that, but it was clear that the person or even people that she thought she was working with did not have her back.
While Mary didn't necessarily do anything wrong in her gameplay, I do think that this tribal council will have repercussions in terms of her not getting to the finale. I honestly think she will end up getting voted out, especially if Sai decides that she needs to take out the person who threw her name out at tribal.
David Kinne
Fair or unfair, David has a target on his back simply because he looks like a beast. And the fact that he has already proven himself to be a tough competitor is not going to help him overall in the game. In fact, I think his competitive nature will get him to at a certain point in the game before the other players will realize that they need to get him out or else they won't have a chance to win at all.
The thing that I think might also be an issue for David is that he pointed out all the hidden clues to his tribe and had them hunting to figure out what they meant. We know as viewers that this is all part of the beware advantage and the clues needed to get the immunity idol, but of course, the tribe does not yet know this. By David pointing things out to the whole tribe and having them hunt for clues with him, I think that might end up backfiring on him in a big way.