Survivor 49, Episode 8 "Hot Grim Reaper" Gameplay Breakdown

 "Don't listen to Uncle Jeff."

-Jawan Pitts

This was a really fun and interesting episode, even if there was some really bad gameplay involved.  The twist in this episode really felt like an un-merge.  We've seen similar twists in previous seasons, but I like this incarnation more than most because we've had at least one regular episode with the merge episode.  We had everyone on one beach and lines were drawn.  Now our group is split in half and they have to deal with those lines.  This version worked a lot better for me than previous versions, especially because we didn't have the terrible Control a Vote Advantage to go along with it.  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

Rizo was in a terrible spot coming into this episode.  He was left out of the vote, but he didn't spend any time stewing on that.  He got right back to work doing damage control and seemed to make some good inroads with Jawan.  It's amazing that he got through that Tribal Council without getting a single vote against him and he managed to hang onto his Idol.  Dude's got nerves of steal.  I don't know if I would have able to do that.

Savannah started off the night in the same boat as Rizo.  She also went on the damage control tour, but it didn't seem to have as much effect as Rizo's.  However, she saved herself by winning Immunity and was able to go to Tribal Council and bank her vote for future use.  Plus, I'm sure her arrival had some influence on the vote steering away from Rizo.  I don't think it will save them long term, but for now Savannah and Rizo both had a great episode.

Kristina, Alex, and Steven all went on an Idol hunt and Kristina found the Idol.  Unfortunately for her, but fortunately for Alex and Steven, Kristina found the Idol right in front of the guys.  Still, a public Idol is better than someone else having the Idol, but I wouldn't hang onto it for too long if I were Kristina.

Finally, Sophi B was another one who was in a bad spot after the vote and she also went on the damage control tour.  Sophi B had her best moment in her conversation with Sage.  She listened to why Sage doesn't like Savannah and respond correctly by saying she only aligned with them out of happenstance.  She told us she's willing to cut Rizo and Savannah to keep herself in the game, which is the attitude she needs right now.

Who Sucked:

Sophie S is an interesting one.  I actually really liked her plan to get the others to vote for Rizo while pitching herself as the target.  She was a likely target anyway, but this way you don't piss off an ally by suggesting them as the decoy vote.  That rarely goes well.  Sure, it's risky for her, but she was in a bad spot anyway.  Might as well go with the plan with the best change of success.  However, she blew that up by trusting MC with her plan to throw a stray vote on Jawan.  I don't think that would have helped her.  If Rizo played his Idol, it would have been a tie vote between Sophie S and Jawan.  I think Sage and Rizo would have cut Sophie S at that point.  If she wanted to do the stray vote strategy, it would have been smarter to put it on MC.  That at least gives her a better chance, but either way, this is a plan you keep to yourself and don't breathe a word to anyone about it.  However, Sophie S managed to scramble up out of the hole she dug for herself.  After a hilarious game of telephone, Sophie S had to talk to Jawan with her tail between her legs.  I'm not 100% sure what she did, but she saved herself.  I'm going to give her a net negative though because I do think her actions put her in a worse position than she was at the beginning of the episode.

I think both Jawan and Sage made a bad call in taking out MC, especially Jawan.  I think the best move for them would have been to target Rizo.  He didn't play his Idol, so it was certainly possible to knock him out of the game with the Idol in his pocked.  If he did play it, MC or Sophie S would have been knocked out on the revote, but now Rizo's Idol is gone.  That sounds like a pretty good deal for both Jawan and Sage.  I would have even been okay with them piling votes on Sophie S.  She was willing to throw Jawan under the bus.  I would have understood if he wasn't willing to risk voting for Rizo after that.  Voting for MC makes no sense to me.  While I like the damage control both of them did after the Nate vote, both of them end up net negative for me.

As for MC, I don't know what she was thinking by ratting out Sophie S's plan to Jawan.  She tells us she wants to rebuild some trust with him.  That's ridiculous.  MC had never been on a tribe with Jawan until the merge.  Of course she's not going to fully trust Jawan.  But fine, rebuilding trust is generally an okay move, but what good was telling Jawan about Sophie S's plan?  All that can do is cause chaos.  At that point, Rizo was the target and Sophie S would have gone home if Rizo played the Idol.  Why on Earth would MC want to change that?  I think there is a very real chance that if she hadn't told Jawan this, she would still be in the game.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Rizo Velovic for his damage control with Jawan, getting the vote to go the way he wanted, and for surviving Tribal Council without playing his Idol.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Jawan Pitts for taking out MC when Sophie S and Rizo were infinitely better choices.  As a reminder, the eliminated player is not eligible for either award.

This was a fun episode, even if some of the gameplay was really bad.  I don't think this vote will blow up the game too much, but I'm excited to see if there is any fall out!