Survivor: Ghost Island Episode 4 "Trust Your Gut" Review

Holy crap!  We saw Chelsea tonight.  She isn't a ghost!

Who Played Well:

Well, let's start over at Malolo tribe.  We can lump Chelsea, Desiree, and Sebastian together here.  They made the right move by staying the course and voting out Brendan.  Michael made it easy for them, but I'll get to that later.  The point is, the original Naviti all played this correctly and none of them fell for Michael's plan.

Next up we have Kellyn, who as I said above, made the correct move in going after Brendan.  But she also made the right call on Ghost Island.  I'm sure the producers weren't happy, but Kellyn deciding not to play the game and hold on to her vote was absolutely the correct decision.  I'm really liking her gameplay.  Kellyn isn't about the big, flashy move.  She's about the smart move.  

Now, moving over the the Naviti tribe, both Donathan and Laurel did a good job of keeping their options open by strengthening their social bonds with Wendell and Domenick.  I think it will most likely be better for them to go with Chris and Angela, but I like that they didn't just make Wendell and Domenick the outcasts.  This move also gave Laurel the information about Domenick's idol.  Her decision to forge a relationship with Domenick is already paying off.

And good job on Wendell and Domenick for being nice enough guys to make Laurel and Donethan want to work with them.  I think this is more of a negative point for Chris, but Wendell and Domenick are seizing the opportunity and I have to give them credit for that.  Plus Wendell won the challenge for his tribe, saving himself.  As for Domenick's decision to tell Laurel about the idol, I don't love it.  It could pay off though.  Domenick, as per usual, had a mixed night, but I think it was net positive.

Who Sucked:

Going back to Malolo, we'll start with Bradley, who had a mixed night, but it was net negative.  On one hand, he got his group in line and managed to keep them in line and voted off Bradley.  On the other hand, this guy has a horrendous social game.  Had Michael played the idol correctly or come up with a better plan, Bradley would be out of the game.  He needs to check himself and do it soon.

As for Stephanie, Jenna, and Michael, I applaud their effort.  Michael and Stephanie did a good job throwing Bradley under the bus.  Unfortunately, they screwed up by telling the original Naviti to vote for Bradley.  This gave them no incentive to flip because they knew they were safe.  They should have said, "Hey, we're voting for one of you, so unless you change your vote, you could be going home."  They needed to scare them more.  Plus, Michael read the room incorrectly and played his idol on the wrong person.  Not a great week for them.

Over at Naviti, Chris continues to have a bad social game, driving Donathan and Laurel away to Wendell and Domenick.  But he also managed to save himself by winning the immunity challenge.  

Angela didn't really do anything.  And we didn't see James or Libby.

Finally, we have Brendan.  I do give him points for trying.  He did a good job throwing Bradley under the bus, but again, he shouldn't have gone along with Michael's plan.  There was some definite room for improvement.  He also should have been more insistent that Michael play the idol for him.  It might not have worked, but it also might have.

I'm giving the "Stacy's Blog Has Got It Going On Award" to Kellyn Bechtold for his smart choices is voting out Brendan and for keeping her vote instead of playing the game on Ghost Island.

I'm giving the "Not The Player For Me Award" to Michael Yerger.  I think his composure at tribal council was great, but his plan needed work.  Plus he misread the room and misplayed the idol.  Michael wasn't as terrible as some of the previous winners of this award, but he was the worst player of the week.

So far, I am in love with this season.  We have a great cast, cool twists, and Ghost Island isn't nearly as overpowered as I thought it would be.