Kamilla Karthigesu has been playing a very strong game so far in Survivor 48. Her social ability has kept her insulated and protected, despite several times being in the minority group. She, along with Kyle Fraser, navigated an incredibly challenging tribe swap that saw her outnumbered against a tight alliance of three. At merge, she has again been outside the power alliance (of five, or six), yet has gotten information and been able to stay in the know.
Kamilla still has an uphill climb. She remains outside of the larger alliance right now, one that could potentially run the rest of the game. Moreover, that alliance vocally prides itself on loyalty, so it is hard to picture major cracks in the armor emerging to the point where it blows up completely. That said, if anyone is in a position to navigate the challenging times right now, it is Kamilla.
Rachel Lamont, winner of Survivor 47, is equally dazzled by Kamilla's game and the way she has been able to capitalize on the tough cards she has been dealt. That is high praise from a former winner. Could Kamilla fight her way to a similar ending?
Rachel shares why Kamilla's gameplay is so impressive
On this week's episode of On Fire With Jeff Probst, Rachel took some time to explain why she felt that Kamilla was playing the best game she possibly could with the situation around her. Producer Jay Wolff brought up a school experience to explain Kamilla's situation in the game. He talked about being the nerd who had a cool kid who would bring information about school parties to him on the downlow.
Jay asked Rachel, "What is it like with limited information and trying to operate with Kyle? Who's the popular guy? How do you optimize that situation?"
Rachel explained to her co-hosts that she feels Kamilla is maximizing her opportunities and playing the best game she could given the circumstances.
"As much as it's hard for Kamilla to not be in this majority alliance, she has done really well for herself to establish this incredible trust with Kyle, so much so that he is telling her everything and continually putting his neck on the line to save her, " Rachel explained. "Like we heard Kyle say in this episode, that Kamilla is invaluable to his game, and that's a testament to how well Kamilla is playing."
Rachel went on to talk a bit about what makes Kamilla's position so hard.
"The downside is that she has less control where she is, but she's also ingratiated herself with Shauhin and Joe, too, and they made that alliance of four a few episodes ago. She's managed to get them all to play bodyguard and spy on her behalf. So I think she is optimizing the situation if she can't be in the Strong Six, then this is about as good as it gets."
"About as good as it gets" is high praise from a former winner. And in this case, it is pretty accurate. There is almost nothing else Kamilla can do right now to put herself in a better position. She has built a loyal number one in Kyle, a solid foundation of other players who like her and at least have a working relationship with her, and enough people protecting her to stay shielded for now.
Players may well catch on to her threat level soon. It will be hard for Kamilla to make her way to the end. By far, her best bet is to ride with Kyle as far as possible and hope he and possibly Shauhin want to flip on the majority alliance and pull her in. If that happens, she could be sitting at Final Tribal. If they want to stay loyal, then Kyle simply will not have the numbers to protect her any longer.
In either scenario, Kamilla should be proud of the way she has played the game. It has been challenging, and she has had to work from the bottom, but what she has managed to accomplish is very impressive, and hopefully, there is a lot more of that to come. Regardless, she has given fans a social game masterclass to watch, and that is a big success on this season of Survivor. We will see if it pays off at the end.