Survivor: Edge of Extinction Episode 6 "There's Always a Twist" Analysis

"Julie, you're hot."

-Lauren O'Connell

This was a pretty exciting episode of Survivor, though it does leave me worried about what is to come.  Most importantly, Devens is back from the Edge, but how did he and the other contestants do gameplay wise?  Let's take a look!

Who Played Well:

Let's start with the Kama 6 as a whole.  Even though we didn't get a ton of screen time from most of them, Eric, Gavin, Julia, Julie, Ron, and Victoria all did a great job in this episode.  They took out a major player in Joe and alienated David and Rick from the other original Manu's by getting Kelley, Lauren, and Wardog to vote for David.  It really couldn't have gone any better for them.  Ron got his way on the vote, but he has to be careful not to ruffle any feathers. by taking charge like that.

Julie did the best of the Kama 6.  Not only did she win Immunity, but she also bonded the most with Rick out of the Kama's, which may benefit her moving forward.

Finally, we have Rick Devens himself.  Major props to him for keeping calm and getting back in the game.  He also managed to get ahold of half of an Idol.  I think he probably should have given the other half of the Idol to someone other than David to try and form more bonds, but he and David managed to get both halves of the Idol through Tribal Council and can now use the Idol.  He's in a rough spot because he wasn't in on the Joe vote, but he's in a far better spot than he was at the beginning of the episode.

Who Sucked:

As I said above, David did get his half of the Idol through the episode, but he also wasn't in on the Joe vote and received votes.

Aurora is the only Kama in the game who was not in on the plan to vote out Joe.  It wouldn't surprise me to see her go shortly.

Kelley, Lauren, and Wardog all turned on David and Rick far too soon.  Their desire to make a safe vote may cause their own games to end.  They were all left out of the Joe vote and alienated both Rick and David moving forward.  At least Kelley and Lauren held onto their Idols.

As for Joe, he definitely did not scramble enough.  He needed to start making moves after he lost Individual Immunity.  Standing still and painting the flag was not the move.  I understand he was trying not to look like a strategic threat, but that does no good when everyone thinks you're a massive physical threat.  Use tools that others wouldn't expect of you.  Scheme and plot!  Joe put too much trust in his allies and paid the price, but he'll probably be back and in the meantime, he can hang out on the Edge and not piss anyone off and win his way to the end...so maybe he did make the right move after all.

Verdict:

I'll give the Platinum Probst Award, which goes to the best player in an episode, to Julie Rosenberg for winning Immunity, bonding with Rick, and for helping to get Joe eliminated while getting the outsiders to target each other.

The Rotten Coconut Award, which goes to the worst player in an episode, to Wardog DaSilva.  He, Kelley, and Lauren all played poorly in targeting Rick and David so quickly, but at least Kelley and Lauren held onto their Idols.  Wardog has nothing to protect him.

I really enjoyed this episode, especially everything involving the Edge of Extinction players, but having Joe on the Edge is very worrisome.  I really hope he doesn't come back and win his way to the end, but I'm enjoying what we're getting so far.