It's almost here. We are about to find out who the sole survivor from Survivor 47 will be this Wednesday. We are now down to four. From the original Gata tribe, we have Rachel Lamont and Sam Phelan. From Lavo, Christine "Teeny" Chirichillo is the last person standing and so is Sue Smey from Tuku.
Inevitably, there are going to be heroes and villains in each season. For the new era of Survivor, it is less clear-cut who they are. Backstabbing can be perceived as good gameplay. Being a social butterfly might no longer be viewed as favorably as it did in the past. So who among the four remaining castaways on Survivor 47 do the fans like most? We rank the four remaining players by likeability.
1. Rachel Lamont
Has there been a unanimous favorite as universally liked as Rachel? Despite being the main driver of the majority alliance since the merge, it feels like Rachel is well-liked by both Survivor fans as well as her peers in the game. The attempts to eliminate her have seemed like a begrudging sign of respect.
Her attempt to play her shot-in-the-dark to gauge the reaction from her tribemates is a masterclass and will probably be copied in the future. She has also been a challenge beast, winning the block-a-vote advantage on a journey, multiple immunity challenges, and finding a hidden immunity idol without anyone noticing.
At the same time, she is also the same person who adorably tried sneaking rice that was used for a challenge in her pants. There was also a scene where she helped Teeny sew her bag after it caught fire.
She has managed to balance individual gameplay brilliance while maintaining her core human trait of being friendly and personable.
2. Sam Phalen
Ah, the lovable loser Sam. It almost feels like Sam has been fighting to save his life since the tribes merged. And yet, Sam is so bad at immunity challenges and can't win to save himself. He has been protected mostly because Kyle Ostwald was perceived as a bigger physical threat and Genvieve Mushaluk was seen as a bigger strategic threat.
However, say what you want about his gameplay. He has managed to turn his perception around in the game thanks to his loyalty to Sierra Wright, his on-again, off-again bromance with Andy Rueda, and creating a strong friendship with Genevieve.
3. Christine "Teeny" Chirichillo
Oh Teeny. She had all the makings of a lovable underdog story, but success got to her head.
Teeny was so easy to root for initially, as her tribe at Lavo backstabbed her and voted out her closest ally Kishan. She also seemed to undergo a personal journey to discover herself, and found the strength to continue fighting despite the adversity.
However, since coming into power as the dominant alliance, Teeny has become the bully she hated earlier in the game. She irrationally got mad at Sam for not picking her for the reward challenge, even though she was not in his alliance nor seemed interested in working with him. She also tried to bully Sam and Genevieve from trying to work their way out of the bottom, saying that if they tried, it would make her 'very upset'.
The fact that she still can't get on the right side of a strategic move this late in the game makes it all the more hilarious. She was blindsided by the Kishan vote early in the game, then absolutely manipulated by Andy for Operation: Italy, and then falling for Genevieve's deception once again. She just consistently picks the wrong team and somehow falls over backward into the final four.
4. Sue Smey
Sue may have been liked or respected if she appeared in the first season of Survivor. However, her schtick does not work in the new era. She has been a running joke among the Survivor community this season.
First, she did absolutely nothing by lying about her age by saying she was 45. It served no one and it was not like the other players cannot see through that right away. Then, she had an irrational hatred for Kyle that made no sense to anyone else. And why is she always caked in dirt? Can she not take a dip in the sea?
She has also been blissfully unaware of the game going on around her. She did not know when her allies Gabe Ortis and Caroline Vidmar were voted out. Sue could have saved them as she had a hidden immunity idol, and when she did play it at last week's final five tribal council, it did not make a difference.
Sue is the ideal personification of a Survivor goat, and not a very likeable one at that.