Brilliant and Boneheaded 'Survivor' Plays of the Week: Majority Rules
Warning: This recap for the “It’s a ‘Me’ Game, Not a ‘We’ Game” episode of Survivor: Kaoh Rong contains spoilers.
At this stage in the game of Survivor, players not only have to worry about each other, they have to think about the jury. Deciding who you go to the finals with is very important. Who will the jury likely vote for?
All of the remaining players know that they do not want to go with Tai. Aside from Scot, the jury likes him — and even Scot might respect him enough to vote for him. But Tai has a lot of power in this game, thanks to an idol and an extra vote, and people like Cydney and Aubry know they need him on their side… until they can blindside him. The question is: When?
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Not this week, unfortunately for Julia. Though she and Jason do their best to convince others to vote for Tai — and flush out his idol — the majority of five holds steady. Julia is eliminated, Jason appears to be next, and Tai is still sitting pretty.
Boneheaded Play of the Week: Cydney and Michele
Theirs isn’t the dumbest decision of the season, but the women had a perfect opportunity to flush out Tai’s idol AND get rid of Julia — and didn’t take it.
Cydney and Michele win the reward challenge, and choose to bring Aubry along, which gives the three women a chance to form a new alliance. Michele was left out of the Scot vote last week, and wants to make sure she’s in the loop going forward.
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Now, they’ve got five on their side, with just Jason and Julia aligned against them. When Michele wins immunity, Jason and Julia desperately urge her and Cydney to join them in voting for Tai. Best case scenario? He doesn’t use his idol and goes home. Worst case? His idol is flushed out, and either Jason or Julia goes home.
This actually makes for a good plan, but the women stick with their alliance. The thing is, Julia is right in tribal council when she says Michele and Cydney are at the bottom of the five. They may rue this day in not trying to knock Tai down a peg.
Brilliant Play of the Week: Tai
Tai must know that nobody wants to take him to the finals. Nobody. Not only is he a likeable guy, but he’s made great moves in the game. He found the idol, he’s won challenges, and he’s a hard worker around camp.
He’s not resting on his laurels, though. After voting out Scot, he immediately cements his alliance with Aubry, the craftiest player in the game and one who is dragging along a goat in Joe. Tai must feel pretty good about the idea of a final three of himself and those two.
And even in tribal council, when Jason and Julia stir up trouble by talking about making big moves, he gets nervous, but not stupid. He trusts his gut instinct not to use his idol — and he’s proven correct.
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This is a game about the moves you make, but also the moves you don’t. And in this case, Tai is rewarded for not jumping the gun.
Power rankings:
1. Tai - He has an idol and an extra vote.
2. Aubry - She has a rock solid goat in Joe and a strong alliance with Tai.
3. Jason - He’s a lone wolf with nothing to lose, making him dangerous.
Survivor airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.
