Survivor: David vs. Goliath "Jackets and Eggs" Analysis

"We're not playing Survivor lite this season."

-Nick Wilson

"Jackets and Eggs" may be the funniest episode of Survivor I've seen in a long time.  So many hysterical moments, some of which will end up being iconic.  It was fun having an episode that focused so much on survival, the elements, and social interactions.  We did get less strategy than normal, but that's okay, variety is the spice of life.  Let's take a look a the gameplay we did get.

Who Played Well:

Starting over on the Vuku tribe, we didn't see much of Alec after his crazy move last week, but he did win the Immunity Challenge for his tribe saving himself and Kara.

As for Kara, I thought she did a good job throwing Alec under the bus.  Who knows if it will work, but it's all she can do right now and it's nice to see her being able to keep calm and focus on what she has to do for her game.

Finally, we have Elizabeth, who saw right through what Kara was saying.  I thought Elizabeth might be blinded by all of the things she has in common with Kara, but she didn't and knows it's likely she will vote out Kara next, which I think would be the right move for the Davids on Vuku.

Moving over to the Jabeni tribe, we'll start with Nick and Lyrsa, who did a great job of throwing Natalie under the bus and getting Mike to flip.  Lyrsa got into it just enough with Natalie.  Their arguments make Natalie look bad, but not Lyrsa and she reminded me of Sandra in this episode.  I think we can give most of the credit for Mike's flip to Nick, who has formed a great bond with him and made Mike comfortable enough to turn on the Goliaths.

Finally, we have Mike, who I do think made the right move with the information he had.  All he knows is a Goliath was voted out of a tribe that had a Goliath majority.  All bets on a Goliath alliance staying strong are off as far as Mike should be concerned.  It's a tough call, but he clearly felt more comfortable having Nick and Lyrsa as allies instead of Natalie, so for his game, I think he made the right move.

Over on the Tiva tribe, Christian not only has an amazing social game, but he was the one who won Immunity for his tribe and saved Gabby from going home.  I didn't like Christian at first, but every episode, I like him a bit more.

We also have Dan, who did lose the Reward Challenge, but everyone will get over that.  More importantly, Dan found a second idol.  I have a feeling Dan is going to screw these idol plays up, but, for now, he's got two idols and hasn't told anyone about the second one, which is an improvement for Dan.

Who Sucked:

The only person I can put under this category for this episode is Angelina.  She didn't vote with the majority of her tribe, which probably won't win her any points with Lyrsa.  The whole jacket situation could blow up in her face and she's lucky Natalie didn't throw her under the bus, but repeatedly asking Natalie for her jacket may have endeared her to the rest of her tribe.  

We simply didn't see enough of Carl, Davie, Alison, Gabby, or John for me to write anything positive or negative about their games.

As for Natalie, she's a really awful player.  It's clear she learned nothing about her abrasiveness.  On paper, she should have been completely safe, but her horrendously bad social game was too much for Mike to deal with.  She was extremely entertaining, but a terrible player and I'm happy to see her go out in the way she did.

Verdict:

For this episode, I'm awarding the "Stacy's Blog Has Got It Going Award" to Nick Wilson.  He formed a solid bond with Mike, helped convinced him to flip, stood up to Natalie's ridiculous demands, and saved himself and Lyrsa.

The "Not The Player For Me Award" really only has one option and that is Angelina Keely for voting the wrong way and her role in the jacket situation.  If her tribe loses again, I wouldn't be shocked to see her go next.

This season continues to deliver with one of the funniest episodes in years.  I'm happy to see Natalie go out here and can't wait to see what happens next.