Survivor: Ghost Island Episode 13 "Always Be Moving" Analysis

"No."

-Donathan Hurley 

Sigh.  Survivor: Spooky Island has taken a downward shift over the last couple of episodes.  But, while I may not like this season's direction, we still have to figure out who's playing well, and who is not.

Who Played Well:

Let's start with Domenick, who, with Kellyn gone, is my new pick to win.  Domenick did make a mistake tonight with the Reward Challenge.  He royally pissed of Donathan.  Fortunately, Donathan had a meltdown instead of scheming to knock Don and Wendell out of the game.  A stronger player could have used this to knock Domenick out, but the rest of the night was solid for Dom.  He did a great job of throwing Donathan under the bus, staying calm and pointing out observations to the other players.  He was much more subtle than Wendell.  He also made a good call in voting out Kellyn instead of Donathan.  Kellyn is a much better player than Donathan, and she could have done some damage had they left her in the game.  So it was a mixed bag for Dom, but overall it was net positive.

Let's move on to Sebastian, who made the right call in going for the advantage and it paid off.  Who knows if he'll be able to use his extra vote correctly, but good on him for getting it.

Who Sucked:

There was a lot of bad gameplay tonight.  We'll start with Donathan who had an epic meltdown.  He needed to get Kellyn, Angela, and Laurel on his side and take out one of the boys instead of losing his mind.  I'm sure that's easier said than done, but a better player would have been able to pull that off.  Donathan is very lucky he didn't get voted out, but I'd guess he is the next to go.

Next, we have my least favorite player this season, Laurel.  It was a mixed night for her, as she won Immunity, but her refusal to turn on Wendell and Domenick is really frustrating.  She's a fan of the game, and she knows the right move is to turn on them, but she can't do that to her friends.  It's really frustrating to watch, and she is single-handedly dragging down the season.  It was a mixed night, but I think it was net negative.  She missed her last shot to stop Dom and Wendell from taking the game.

Finally, we have Wendell.  Like Domenick, he made a bad move at the Reward Challenge and really pissed Donathan off.  But I don't think he did a great job of handling that situation.  Domenick was more calm than he was.  Plus he made a terrible blunder at the Immunity Challenge, which really should have cost him the game.  He did make the right call to get rid of Kellyn instead of Donathan, but even though it was a mixed night, I think it was a net negative for Wendell.

It was pretty hilarious how insignificant Angela was in this episode.

And then we have Kellyn, who's elimination means I lost my Fantasy Survivor League.  Kellyn was in a tough spot, and if she had been playing with rational human beings instead of this bunch of loonies, I think she could have gotten out of this.  But Wendell and Dom have such a death grip on the others that she really couldn't do anything.  She's a good player, just not good enough.

Verdict:

The "Stacy's Blog Has Got It Going On Award" for this episode goes to Domeick Abbate.  He really did a great job of tossing Donathan under the bus and made the right move in knocking out Kellyn.

The "Not The Player For Me Award" goes to Donathan Hurley for having a meltdown instead of rallying forces against Domenick and Wendell. 

I was really loving this season, but these last two episodes have been duds mainly because of Laurel.  Sebastian and Angela aren't helping matters, but they seem generally clueless.  Laurel should know better.  The only question that remains is if Domenick or Wendell is going to win this thing.  They've been playing a great game, but it's not turning out to be great TV.  Good going Laurel...