Survivor 50 episode 2 featured an array of emotional moments—embarrassment, laughter, tears, fighting, and blindsides. Most importantly, it showed us a little more insight into how we can expect the rest of the season to unfold. Specifically, who might win it all?
In an episode aptly titled “Therapy Carousel,” we got prime examples of—a fairly extensive list of—players acting on their emotions as well as reacting to other players' emotions. On top of the first two players eliminated, it’s clear now more than ever how important social gameplay is going to factor into this season and how players are already establishing what they want a post-merged game to look like.
Social players are the biggest threats in Survivor 50
After the premiere episode, we already knew that the strategists were going to be the ones making the rules in Survivor 50, but episode 2 solidified just how impactful the social element of the game is for this group and why the strategists specifically will want the best social players out of here before the merge hits.
With Jenna Lewis-Dougherty’s exit in the premiere, the Cila tribe was setting a precedent: the players pushing their influence will be gone with no second chances. And while there were a few names floating around at Cila’s second Tribal Council, it was very clear who was going home based on the prior elimination.
When Rick Devens and Joe Hunter got into it about communication styles, there was concern that maybe Joe would be the next to go, as Devens had more alliance power when voting. But if social is the name of the game, then neither is in jeopardy any time soon, as they’ve both outwardly demonstrated they’re actually not the best at social, with Devens driving with lies and Joe forcing honest gameplay out of everyone.
Christian Hubicki, however, used their argument as an opportunity to show the viewers that he’s an excellent strategic social player by keeping it under wraps with his tribe. He smoothed things over between Devens and Joe without drawing suspicion from anyone else. And he continues to be a charming goofball who adds entertainment and levity to every moment…if you know, you know…
Two other names on the chopping block were Cirie Fields and Ozzy Lusth. Both are good social players (Cirie more than Ozzy), with Cirie leaning more towards strong strategic play and Ozzy leaning more towards strong physical play. Together, they can be a dangerous combination, but as much as their strengths help enforce the others' weaknesses, their social approaches also have the power to cancel out all their other best attributes.
They also already have clear targets on their backs because of how many times they’ve played together, while still trying to be sneaky about the fact that they’re working together this time. But it’s not sneaky at all. Since the last episode, when Ozzy was adamant about Cirie staying, it’s been clear to the entire tribe that they’re aligned. The biggest threat of the episode, however, wasn’t that they are aligned, but someone calling out that they’re aligned.
Savannah Louie won Survivor 49 by driving a smart and physically dominant game alongside two core allies whom she mostly trusted. After her Final Tribal Council, where she was criticized for not creating more social bonds, she came into Survivor 50 with a plan to build better relationships by being more open. She went a little too far this week, however, when she outwardly claimed her theory on Cirie and Ozzy working together. Though everyone else had already come to the same conclusion, by voicing it out loud, she put a major target on her back as someone who is observant and has the ability to persuade people to perceive others as she wants.
Because of this, it’s not surprising that Savannah was the second person voted out of Survivor 50.
Big feelings are advantageous distractions
Devens and Joe were not the only pair to get into it this episode. At the reward challenge platform, Ozzy and Coach Wade partook in a little verbal sparring that actually might have given both of them some extra life in the game.
Like I said, a good social game is gonna be bad for our players this season, so to get into such a petty argument publicly actually marks the two players as people others might want to keep around for a good distraction while they are off playing the true game. The fewer people who see you attempting to make a big move, the less risk of being caught.
Now, a social player who’s conversely taking advantage of this is Rizo Velovic, whose boisterous introduction had him on the outs with Colby Donaldson in the beginning, but quickly won over the season 2 finalist. And after Kyle Fraser’s medevac, the alliance of Colby, Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Genevieve Mushaluk, and Q Burdette needed another member as half their allies didn’t have votes.
So Q, reacting strongly to Kyle’s statement of “one of y’all win it,” decided to bring Rizo into the fold. But having never seen Rizo’s season, none of them truly know how powerful his social game is despite the fact that he was able to get Colby to change his mind about him without even having a conversation about it.
Now, Rizo, already understanding he needed to tone it down after the first couple of days, is in the majority alliance on Vatu. He suddenly has a lot of power in this game, and the rest of his tribe has no idea how dangerous he can be. Especially now that Savannah is gone, there’s no one else on that island who knows how Rizo previously made it to the Final Four.
Without having to make a single move, Rizo was placed in one of the top spots of the game. Now he just has to stay on his toes—as he did last season—to make sure he stays there.
Next Time on Survivor…
There’s no doubt episode 3 is going to continue the same emotional pace that’s been set this season. With a swap on the horizon, social connections are going to be necessary and worrisome for our players. Without knowing the new tribe makeups, the players most likely to go home from each tribe next episode are Ozzy on Cila, Angelina Keeley on Vatu, and Dee Valladares on Kalo.
But who knows where the power will sit after the shakeup? I can’t wait to see if one of my predictions comes true when the next episode airs this Wednesday, March 11, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.