Survivor 45: Episode 10 "How Am I the Mobster?" Gameplay Analysis

 "I did fart once."

-Drew Basile

Okay, the Top Gun montage sequence in this episode might be my favorite Survivor moment since Tony won Winners at War.  I don't know whose idea it was, but they deserve a raise.  That was the funniest moment in a very funny episode.  This episode was a blast even if the gameplay was questionable at times.  Let's get into who played well and who sucked!

Who Played Well:

Taking out Bruce was a mostly questionable movie since I don't think he could have beat anyone in the end.  He was a great Final Three goat.  However, I think splitting the vote between Bruce and Jake was a good move for Austin, Dee, and Julie.  They're the ones in power, so getting rid of the bottom feeders is fine for them.  Austin also managed to win a tough Immunity Challenge, which gave them the opportunity to get rid of Bruce.

Emily was very effective in this episode.  She was the one who lured Bruce into a false sense of security so that he didn't play his Idol and went home.  That said, I do think the move is questionable for her.  I think a better move would have been getting Reba to split their votes and then Emily and the Belo 3 put their votes on Julie or even Dee.   Emily has been questioning her position a lot on the show, so this could have been a good moment to seize control.  I'm guessing Austin and Drew have been reassuring her and we just aren't being shown it, but based on what we are seeing, I don't think Emily should have gone after Bruce.  All that said, I still think Emily can use this moment to help her win the game so this ends up being a net positive for her.

Who Sucked:

Drew and Jake got into a really stupid, if entertaining fight, in this episode.  I'll put more of the fault on Drew for confronting Jake in the way he did, but neither of them handled this well.  I also think getting rid of Bruce is bad for both of them.  Yes, Jake had limited options, but again, why not try to rally Emily, Katurah and Bruce and get Reba to split the vote.  And with Bruce gone, I believe Drew is now on the bottom with Katurah as the two who can't win the game.  He has the worst social game of the Reba alliance and Jake has a lot of friends on the jury.  Drew needed to go to the end with Katurah and Bruce to win and he can't do that anymore.

I really liked Bruce's plan to lie about his Idol being out of the game.  Unfortunately, Katurah blew up his spot.  She shouldn't have told the other women about his plan.  She could have used Bruce and his Idol to break Reba's chokehold on the game.  Bruce is also one of the only people she has a chance against to win.  Taking out Bruce is horrible for her.

As for Bruce, like I said, his plan was a solid idea.  I just have no idea why he would trust Katurah with the truth.  Terrible read.  An even worse read was not playing his Idol.  Emily really pulled one over on him.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Austin Li Coon for winning Immunity and going through with the Bruce/Jake split vote.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Katurah Topps for telling the women about Bruce's Idol lie and for helping to eliminate Bruce.

I think Reba is finally going to implode in the next episode and I'm itching to see it happen.  Hopefully it means my boy Jake will finally get out of the Danger Zone.