Survivor 48 promised a lot of big personalities, and so far, we have seen that. Players like Sai Hughley, Thomas Krottinger, Eva Erickson, Mary Zheng, David Kinne, and Star Toomey have all had various big moments. Others, like Chrissy Sarnowsky and Kyle Fraser, have come on recently. What we have not yet seen a ton of yet, outside of some tribal council advantage chaos, is a lot of big moves.
This has led to a relatively uninspiring boot order that has left some fans wishing for more. There have even been references to Survivor 48 being one of the least interesting seasons of Survivor yet. I probably would not go that far, but the talk of loyalty and rigid alliances has made for a lacking merge thus far. It appears Mitch Guerra, having played a quiet game thus far, is ready to make a move.
Survivor preview shows Mitch ready to play aggressive
Mitch has played a quiet game so far, relying on his social connections and personal relationships to get by. It has appeared that he is typically in the majority alliance and vote, although viewers have not gotten to see much strategically from him at this point in the competition. Mitch has been a very relatable, well-liked castaway, so getting to see more of him would be a positive.
It appears Mitch is ready to take on that power role this week, in a sneak peak clip released by CBS.
In the clip, Mitch is shown in a confessional talking about it being time to make a big move. "It's gonna be a big uphill battle, but at this point in the game, I'm trying to play as aggressive as possible."
He talks about the idea of sticking with old players he knows versus going and finding a new seat at the table. The confessional makes it seem like Mitch is ready to shake things up.
Except, the clip of what Mitch actually does on the beach seems a bit, well, basic. And entirely expected. His original tribe, Civa, has the most original members left in the game of any starting tribe, with five. Given that the total number of players left in total is only ten, a group of five becomes very powerful.
It would make sense for Mitch to try to bring that group together and control the rest of the merge, and that is precisely what he suggests doing. Mitch, David, Kyle, Chrissy, and Kamilla Karthigesu make up the five members of the original Civa, and the clip shows Mitch gathering the group. Strategically, this makes sense, but it also seems a bit boring.
Mitch's big move seems like more of a wimper
I truly enjoy watching Mitch on Survivor 48. He gives visibility to those with speech impediments or other types of disabilities, in a lot the same way that Eva helps represent the Autism community. As someone who can fully relate, it feels good to watch Mitch thriving in a social game on the world stage.
All that being said, hyping this move up as a big, aggressive play to pad a resume really does not feel accurate at all. The majority tribe getting back together as a majority alliance to simply steamroll the rest of the cast seems predictable and uninspired. Truthfully, it would match with how the rest of the season has played out so far, attempting to follow loyalty and strong alliances to the end.
Given Chrissy's recent conversations, though, it appears that she may be the thorn in the side of Mitch. She has made it clear she is not here to be honest and needs to make a big move, and she even mentioned one of the original Civas, David, by name.
With that knowledge in mind, Mitch may have a hard time pulling her back in. If he cannot, then suddenly the Civa are outnumbered and could be picked off pretty easily. Perhaps this is where the notion of aggression comes into play. It certainly is a risk to rely on Chrissy right now, given her last tribal council.
All that said, I still think that Mitch pulling in the group of original Civa really is not much of a move. It feels bland and expected, which are not two words I ever expected to use in describing anything regarding Mitch. If he does manage it and they stick together, it could set him up well to win. In the end, that is all that matters from a gameplay perspective. From a viewer's perspective, though, excitement thrives off chaos. On Survivor 48, who, if anyone, is going to deliver it?