Survivor 47 may be the best new era season, mainly because of the fantastic cast and because the show pulled back on some stranger advantages experimented with over the past several seasons.
There was one thing seemingly missing, though. This season was lacking a true villain. Sure, Sue Smey isn't likable, but she's barely done anything so far, let alone anything so bad as to be dubbed a villain (except for her dislike for Kyle Ostwald). Genevieve Mushaluk has been a villain at times, but she wasn't intentionally trying to fill that role. She was just trying to move forward in the game.
Who has emerged as the villain in Survivor 47?
Despite a rough start (or was it?), Andy Rueda has slowly slithered into the villain role. Andy melted down very publicly on the beach at an immunity challenge on day three. It felt like his game was going to be over at the time. Instead, Andy was able to throw the target from his back and onto his closest ally, Jon Lovett. It was the first of his significant blindsides against his allies.
For days, Andy displayed a total lack of awareness in the game. Sierra Wright and Sam Phalen took him under their wing and protected him so they could use him to control votes. It was obvious they didn't think much of Andy's game acumen, and they were just using him until they didn't need him anymore.
Andy struck first, blindsiding them both by leading a charge to take out Sierra and make her the first member of the jury. In confessionals, Andy seems aware of what is happening in the game and has continued to act like the absent-minded professor at times. Audiences have seen peeks into his mind when he has told others the probabilities of success of this thing or that. Everyone else has pretty much ignored him or chuckled at his math.
In episode 12, Andy pulled off yet another blindside against his allies. He was in a strong final-five alliance with Rachel LaMont, Caroline Vidmar, Teeny Chrichillo, and Sue. Andy sensed he was at the bottom of that group because he envisioned Operation: Italy and executed it perfectly. He convinced the four women that he thought Genevieve had an idol and that it was imperative to split their votes. He put himself into the position of being the seventh vote to break a three-way tie at tribal council, and he took out Caroline.
Even Rachel, who as played as astutely as anyone, was sure Andy was on their side and wouldn't flip. It is one of her few miscalculations of the game.
Now, it is a race between players to sit next to Sue and Teeny at the final tribal council. If Andy somehow pulls it off, there is still some question about whether the jury will vote for him. No one on the jury seems to respect him, and they also know he has successfully flipped on his allies three times.
If Andy makes the final three, will the jury reward him for his duplicitousness, or will they hold that against him? If he is indeed sitting next to Sue or Teeny, he could just pull off an unlikely win.
The biggest question is whether Andy's early-game cluelessness was an act or real. At this point, it is difficult to believe him either way.