When Emily Flippen first entered the game, it was with a similar vibe as Survivor legend Cirie Fields. The “I just got up off the couch and now I’m in a jungle” aura that lowered her fellow castaways’ defenses so they wouldn’t see her as the strategic threat she really is. But. Emily’s imposter syndrome and paranoia was a pretty big hindrance to her early game and established her less as a threat and more as a liability.
A few key lessons were learned during her last Survivor run. Possibly enough to allow her a clean slate for the anniversary season that people won’t see coming.
Emily’s Quick Stats
Survivor Career: Survivor 45 (7th Place)
Total Days Played: 21 days
Total Votes Against: 2 votes
Individual Immunity Challenges Won: 0
Individual Reward Challenges Won: 1
Immunity Idols Played: 0
Advantages Played: 0
Survivor 45
Emily had a rough start in the game, beginning as an outcast on the losing Lulu tribe. The drastic change from her everyday life into the game took a toll on her that led to a bout of paranoia that distanced her further from her fellow tribe mates. When Lulu lost the first immunity challenge, Emily was 100% set to be the first player going home and blew up Tribal Council in an attempt to save herself. Luck was slightly on her side when, before the vote, another Lulu chose to quit the game, giving Emily a second chance.
When Lulu lost the next immunity challenge as well, Emily approached Kaleb Gebrewold—the center of the majority alliance—to offer herself as a loyal number, giving him her Shot in the Dark as a show of trust that she wouldn’t play it at the next Tribal Council. With a new alliance established, the majority of Emily, Kaleb, Sabiyah Broderick, and Sean Edwards voted out Brandon Donlon, the weaker physical player.
Emily was quick to realize that of the five players, only three had voted. Knowing Brandon had lost his vote, she came to the conclusion that Sabiyah lost her vote somehow—which she denied.
After Kaleb single-handedly helped Lulu win their first challenge (a reward), Sabiyah and Sean approached Emily about blindsiding Kaleb, as he could be a huge threat in the future. And when they lost immunity again, they were ready to strike. Emily didn’t trust Sabiyah and felt loyal to Kaleb for helping her earlier, so she instead told him of the plan, and they worked to blindside Sabiyah in a 2-1 vote when she once again gave up her vote to extend the lifespan of her idol.
A tribe swap split up the three original Lulu members and found Emily on the Belo tribe between two former Belos and two former Rebas. They managed to win the next immunity but lost the following challenge where Emily chose to align with former Rebas Drew Basile and Austin Li Coon.
The next day found the tribes competing to “Earn the Merge.” When the winning group returned from their reward, it was determined that Kaleb would be the target of that night’s vote for being the biggest threat. Emily tried to push against this idea, but she was met with disapproval from her tribe mates. They sent her to talk to Kaleb to make him feel secure enough so he wouldn’t play his Shot in the Dark. Instead, she told him their plan, encouraging him to play it, and said she was going to vote for him in case he did go home and she needed them to believe she’d been loyal.
But that night at Tribal Council, Kaleb played his Shot in the Dark and was marked safe, negating all 11 votes against him and causing a re-vote where J. Maya suggested Emily’s name which ultimately resulted in her own elimination from the game.
The next challenge found the castaways divided up for a Split Tribal Council with two players going home that night. On the opposite team as Kaleb, she could not do anything to protect her closest ally and became the last original Lulu standing. Thankfully, her previous allegiance to Austin and Drew allowed her to easily integrate into the “Reba Four” alliance also made up of Dee Valladares and Julie Alley.
Together, the five worked to eliminate the remaining Belo tribe members at Final 10 and 9 (though Emily lost her vote on a journey on Day 17 and couldn’t participate in the Final 9 vote). She went on to win the next reward challenge, including an overnight trip to the sanctuary, where she proposed a plan to blindside Bruce Perreault next. Everyone was on board.
Knowing Bruce was in possession of an individual immunity idol, Emily spent the afternoon crafting up a fake plan with Bruce to blindside Julie ensuring he felt safe enough not to play his idol. At Tribal Council, Bruce was sent to the jury and when everyone returned to camp, Emily explained how she kept Bruce from playing the idol, which ultimately painted a huge target on her back as a strategic threat—specifically in Dee’s eyes.
But the rest of the tribe saw Julie as a bigger threat and crafted a plan to vote her out at the next Tribal Council. When Dee caught wind of this, she urged her closest ally to play a hidden immunity idol, and with both of them writing down Emily’s name, Emily was blindsided and became the 5th member of the jury.
At Final Tribal Council, Emily felt Dee played the best game—even though it involved a strategic move in eliminating her—and voted in favor of her becoming the Sole Survivor, which she won in a 5-3-0 victory.
Survivor 50 Predictions: How far will Emily go?
Last time she played, Emily started on the true bottom and figured out how to make the game work in her favor as she went along. She had enacted an incredible, game-changing move right before being voted off, which proves she knows how to play this game; it just took her some adjusting. Walking into Survivor 50, Emily knows what to expect much more than she did last time, and she also knows how she previously responded to situations that didn’t work in her favor.
If Emily can truly take what she learned from Survivor 45 and enter this season at (at least) the same level she left the game at before, she’ll have a greater chance of flying under the radar while still having a hand on the wheel of the game. But her less than stellar challenge performances might also cause her to be an early vote to keep early tribes strong.
Emily Flippen Survivor 50 Player Score
Emily really managed to turn her game in Survivor 45, but she won’t have the same luxury of time with the group. Let’s be honest, if someone hadn’t quit, she would have gone home first. And no one in Survivor 50 is quitting on day 1. She’s really going to have to shake things up from last time to keep everyone on their toes regarding her approach and ensure she’s not predictable or blatantly giving away how the sauce is made, putting a target on her own back.
Outwit (Social Game): 5/15
Outplay (Physical Game): 5/15
Outlast (Strategic Game): 8/15
Wildcard Factor: 4/5
Total Player Score: 22/50
Has Emily spent the last couple of years figuring out how to level up her game? Or is she planning to go back to Fiji with a similar approach as last time: unsuspecting, socially awkward, “who me?” The big difference is, these players know how her mind works now, so she can’t put on any acts they’ve seen before.
Will she be able to pull it off? We’ll find out when Survivor 50 premieres Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount +!