Of the nine players voted out of Survivor 47 so far, almost all of them have been voted out via the blindside. Almost every player thought they had a good enough chance at tribal council to keep their Shot in the Dark, which Jeff Probst admitted was to encourage players to make bold moves rather than gang up others as we'd seen in some of the older seasons of Survivor.
There's no doubt that there have been some devastating blindsides in Survivor 47! I can't say it's more or less than other seasons of the new era, but it feels like, right now, these players are always looking to make the biggest splash at tribal council.
With only a few episodes to go before the two-part Survivor 47 finale, we ranked the four biggest blindsides of Survivor 47 so far, starting with Rome Cooney.
4. Rome Cooney
Rome Cooney was one of the biggest personalities in Survivor 47. There was no one playing this season with the passion, enthusiasm, and aggression that Rome was bringing to the beach every day, but it was also clear that he wasn't reading the game accurately. Essentially, his tribe kept him at arm's length until they had clear numbers to make the move on Rome, even though Genevieve Mushaluk didn't want to make the move.
After the merge, Rome tried to make a splash immediately by breaking up the Tuku alliance. It wasn't a bad move! Tuku had more players than the other two tribes. He tried to twist Kyle Ostwald's words and use them against him to the former Tuku players, but they immediately figured out what Rome was trying to do. Everyone basically unanimously agreed they didn't want to play like that right now, and Rome became the first target after the merge.
When Kyle won immunity, Rome switched his target to his old nemesis, Sol Yi, but it was already too late.
Meanwhile, Rome thought he was running the game. He shared as much in his interviews throughout the episode, and he was devastated when he saw his name pop up during the vote. Rome was so confident that Sol was going home that he didn't even vote for Sol. He threw a random vote at Sam Phalen just to stir things up.
It was almost a bummer to see Rome eliminated so early. I never thought he would make it to the end, but he was going to cause so much post-merge mayhem. We've sort of been missing that chaotic, energetic gameplay since Rome was voted out.
3. Kishan Patel
Kishan Patel was the first big blindside of the season. Kishan was the fourth player voted out of Survivor 47 after Jon Lovett, TK Foster, and Aysha Welch. After the Lavo tribe lost the immunity challenge, Teeny Chirichillo was picked to go on a journey where she lost her vote. That made all the difference in Kishan's blindside.
At the Lavo camp, Kishan pulled in Genevieve and Sol Yi to make a move on Rome, who was basically in a power position in the tribe. Kishan filled Teeny in on the plan, and at that time, it looked like Rome was going home.
Genevieve, then, pulled off one of the biggest moves in the game. She knew Kishan was a massive threat in the game. I agree with her! Had Kishan made the merge and worked more with other players, he was one of the best strategic players in the game. It was a great time to make a move on Rome, but Genevieve stopped that in its tracks. She pulled in Rome and Sol, two enemies basically, to take out Kishan. Because Teeny didn't have a vote and Rome used his Steal a Vote advantage on Kishan, Kishan was voted out 3-0.
Kishan gave props to his former tribe for the big move. When Rome stole his vote at tribal council, he knew he was cooked.
I still think if Teeny had her vote, that's a much harder move to make. Even with the Steal a Vote, Teeny and Sol could have voted for Rome, which would have resulted in a 2-2 tie. Plus, I don't think Genevieve even brings that move to the table unless she's positive it's going to work. It's just another example of how she's playing a great game.
2. Sierra Wright
Sierra Wright was voted out of Survivor 47 in episode 8 in one of the biggest and most shocking blindsides of the season. Clearly, something was up in episode 8 when Sam Phalen, Rachel LaMont, and Sierra were left alone at camp while the others were scrambling around in the short time before tribal council. Rachel knew a blindside was coming and played her Shot in the Dark to see if she was the mark. She wasn't, but Sam and Sierra were.
The rest of the tribe, including former ally Andy Rueda, split the vote between Sam and Sierra. When they tied, Sierra was targeted on the re-vote. It was an excellent play by the rest of the tribe to line up all the votes and split them between Sam and Sierra. In the event that Sam or Sierra played an idol, one of them was going home anyway. It was great!
Sierra, of course, was devastated by the blindside. As Jeff read the votes, she was visibly upset, but she kept her composure until she was away from the tribe. It's interesting that Sierra was targeted instead of Sam, but maybe, she was viewed as the bigger threat in the game because she had a better relationship with Rachel, who Caroline Vidmar has claimed is the biggest threat left in the game.
1. Anika Dhar
Anika Dhar was voted out of Survivor 47 in episode 5. The Gata tribe lost the immunity challenge for the first time since the season premiere. The plan was obviously to vote out Andy. Sam, Sierra, Anika, and Rachel had agreed that Andy was next after the season premiere when they voted out Jon Lovett. It seemed like that was the most likely scenario.
But, those first few days, Sam and Sierra started to get to know Andy and liked that they could string Andy along as a number heading into the merge. They didn't fully trust him, and they couldn't be completely honest with him, but they liked that arrangement rather than entering the merge with Anika and Rachel. They basically set up Rachel and Anika for a huge blindside, and Andy played his part well after the immunity challenge.
At tribal council, Sierra, Sam, and Andy voted for Anika, while Rachel and Anika voted for Andy. As Jeff read the votes, Anika was stunned. It was gut-wrenching to watch as Anika came to terms with what just happened. On the On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast, Jeff Probst recently revealed she sat for a full minute before she went to get her torch. He also admitted that in his circles this is the most talked about blindside of Survivor 47 so far, and I have to agree. It was painful.
It was so shocking, too, because it was clearly the wrong move for Sierra and Sam. Like, it's easy to look back, but heading into episode 10, Sam is clearly on the bottom. Sierra was blindsided in a devastating fashion, as well. It was not a good move by any stretch, and it's probably why Anika never saw it coming.
There are still a few episodes of Survivor 47 left! We know even more blindsides are on the way soon!