A big tribe swap is underway in Survivor 48 episode 4, "The House Party's Over." In a new clip from CBS, Jeff Probst breaks the news to the players right before the immunity challenge. It's going to be a really interesting episode as the players try to settle in to their new tribes and someone gets voted out.
Heading into the tribe swap, the Vula tribe is reeling after three straight losses and three straight Tribal Councils. The whole tribe of Mary Zheng, Cedrek McFadden, and Sai Hughley will benefit from a swap, but there's one player on that tribe who will benefit more than the others.
Even though the Lagi and Civa tribes have been winning, there are players from those tribes, too, who could benefit from switching tribes. We shared a list of four players who are most likely to benefit from the big change in the game.
Mary Zheng
Mary will absolutely benefit from a tribe swap. She's been on the bottom since the game started, and somehow, she's been able to survive this long. In the second episode, she was selected to go on a Journey, which shifted the Vula's tribe vote from Mary to Kevin Leung. Then, in episode 3, Mary became just the second player in Survivor history to save herself with a Shot in the Dark.
If she's able to go to another tribe and work her way into an alliance, she's going to be in a much better spot. Unless she found an idol or an advantage, she would have been voted out next.
Mitch Guerra
So far, Mitch Guerra has been in a great spot. His tribe has been performing well in challenges, and he's performed well, too. And, he won an advantage on his Journey. Even with all that success, it looked like Mitch might be on the outside looking in of a four-person alliance that included Kamilla Karthigesu, Kyle Fraser, David Kinne, and Chrissy Sarnowsky. Obviously, we never got to see if the vote swung his way, but Mitch could have been targeted after Charity Nelms had things played out differently.
If Mitch can make one or two strong connections, perform well in challenges, and use his advantages wisely, I really think Mitch has what it takes to win Survivor 48.
Charity Nelms
Like Mitch, it's hard to say just how much trouble Charity would be in if the Civa tribe finally lost a challenge, but it seemed like the core four of Kyle, David, Kamilla, and Chrissy were planning to work together if that happened.
I picked Charity as a player who could make it to the end, and I'm sticking by that. It's hard to make it to the end without clear allies or people to work with. So, it's all going to depend on Charity getting into the right situation or making the situation right for her on the new tribe. We'll find out how that all shakes out soon.
Eva Erickson
In the clip we saw of the tribe swap, Eva mentioned that she didn't do well with change, but I don't think she realized just how vulnerable of a position she was on the Lagi tribe. Star Toomey just needs to solve a puzzle, and she would have a hidden immunity idol. Initially, Star seemed like she was on the outside of the Lagi tribe, but she used the Beware Advantage and puzzle to bring in the rest of the tribe. She specifically left Eva on the outside and didn't tell her about the advantage, so clearly, they are not going to be working together.
Eva does have a close bond early in the game with Joe Hunter, but Joe might not have had the sway to stop the other Lagi players from targetting Eva. There was a moment in episode 3 when Thomas Krottinger noticed just how close Eva and Joe are, and he was ready to break up their alliance before it really has a chance to get going.
As we've seen so often in the New Era of Survivor, a strong pair, especially an unsuspecting one, can have huge success in the game by staying together. Will Joe and Eva end up on the same tribe? We'll have to wait and see in episode 4!