Survivor 41: Episode 10 "Baby with a Machine Gun" Analysis

 "We are all liars here."

-Shan Smith

Wow, what an awesome episode of Survivor.  I'm not even mad that I lost my winner pick.  This episode had interesting emotional conundrums, spectacular strategy, an epic blindside, and no time spent on garbage advantages.  I love it!  Let's take a closer look and figure out who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

The move to take out Shan was awesome and a great move for everyone involved.  Shan likely could have beat everyone left in the game, except for maybe Xander, so good on Danny, Deshawn, Xander, Heather, Erika, and Ricard for taking her out.  The plan was the brainchild of Ricard, who I applaud for being willing to turn on his closest ally and for saving himself by winning Immunity.

Erika may not have come up with the plan to take out Shan, but she improved it, at least for herself.  With Ricard's original plan, had Shan played her Idol, Erika would have been out.  By getting Danny on board, Erika found a way to make sure she was not going home, no matter what, by splitting the votes between Shan and Liana.

Finally, I just want to mention Xander and the ice he has for blood.  Another day, another Tribal Council where Xander holds onto his Idol.  

Who Sucked:

Out of everyone left in the game, the only person I have here is Liana.  She ratted out Danny and Deshawn to Shan, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but she did it because she wanted so badly to go to the end with Shan.  She seemed willing to sacrifice her game for Shan, which is a great way to make friends, but not a great way to win Survivor.  Had Shan played her Idol, Liana would have been out of the game.

As for Shan, she just tried to exert too much control over the game.  It's hard to win that way.  Eventually, people are going to tire of the control you have over every vote.  Shan made herself too much of a threat, so she had to go.

Verdict:

For Best Player of the Episode, I'm giving this Award to Ricard Foyé for winning Reward, winning Immunity, being willing to take out his closest ally, and for coming up with the plan to take out Shan.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Liana Wallace for being on the wrong side of the vote and being willing to sacrifice her game for Shan's.

Man, what an episode.  Hopefully the big advantage that they teased in the next episode doesn't screw things up too much.  I've loved the way these last three episode have gone and I don't need production screwing it all up.  Also, for the record, my new winner pick is Deshawn.