Survivor 49, Episode 9 "If You're Loyal to All, You're Loyal to None" Gameplay Analysis

 "Maybe there is room for two Sophies on this island."

-Sophi Balerdi

This episode of Survivor left me feeling pretty annoyed.  Not by any of the gameplay, but my Paramount+ app crashed right after the second vote was read at Tribal Council.  I didn't get it back up until Alex was getting his torch snuffed.  As for the episode itself, it was fine.  Nothing too special, but even when episodes are nothing special, we still have to figure out who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

I was really impressed with the recruiting skills from Rizo, Savannah, and Sophi B.  Together, they not only managed to flip Sophie S, but Jawan and Sage as well, and they didn't even necessarily need those two.  They could have pulled this off with just Sophie S and Savannah's Extra Vote.  Instead, the trio keeps all of their advantages going into the Final 8.  Rizo also did a great job of painting a target on Alex and Savannah managed to win Immunity.  This trio has done a great job of changing their games around.

Sophie S had a great read on the disappointment from Alex, Kristina, and Steven when she got back to camp.  From their tone and body language, she deduced she wasn't in a great spot with Hina, so she flipped and joined Rizo, Savannah, and Sophi B.  She shouldn't necessarily stay with them to the Final 4, but for now it was an excellent decision.

Who Sucked:

Jawan and Sage made a bad call in turning on Alex.  They would have been much better served trying to take out Rizo and his Idol.  They could have taken out Rizo.  He didn't play his Idol, so it could have worked.  And even if it didn't, Alex would have gone home.  That's fine, it's not either of them.  They missed a gigantic opportunity here to defang their competitors.  It seems like Rizo managed to fool both of them by painting such a large target on Alex.

Kristin and Steven did a bad job of hiding their disappointment that MC was knocked out over Sophie S.  When there's a split Tribal like this, you have to be ready for anything when the other group comes back to camp.  Sure, you can be disappointed, but you have to hide it.  Their behavior destroyed any chance of pulling off a split-vote plan this episode by burning Sophie S.  Now Steven at least won Immunity, but the hits kept on coming for Kristina.  She gave up her Reward for Jawan, which is just a terrible idea.  You lose out on precious calories and it shines a spotlight on your relationship with Jawan.  He didn't even end up going with her plan, so was it worth it Kristina!?  I also don't like how she told Sophi B about the plan to split the votes on Rizo and Savannah before the Immunity Challenge.  She should have saved that for after, especially because Savannah won Immunity.  Guess who was the new backup vote?  Sophi B, and now she knows your plan.

As for Alex, like Steven and Kristina, he did a bad job of making Sophie S feel secure in their alliance.  After their reactions, the split vote plan was never going to work.  And by playing both sides so obviously, it was easy for Rizo to paint a target on his back.  Playing both sides requires more subtlety than Alex used.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episodes goes to Rizo Velovic for recruiting Sophie S, Jawan, and Sage, painting a target on Alex's back to take him out, and holding onto his Idol.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Kristina Mills for not making Sophie S feel secure, telling too much information to Sophi B, giving up her Reward to Jawan, and ending up on the wrong side of the vote.

I'm guessing we're gonna get a few advantages next week.  I'm predicting we get the first successful play of Knowledge is Power, which I'm not really looking forward too.  It's a terrible advantage, but maybe it'll be funny at the very least.