Survivor 42, Episode 8 "You Better Be Wearing a Seatbelt" Gameplay Analysis

 "That ain't your family, Drea."

-Drea Wheeler

Another episode of Survivor 42 marred by a terrible game mechanic.  I don't know anyone who is excited about the return of the Knowledge is Power Advantage.  Once again, Jeff Probst learns nothing.  Apart from that, this was a fairly average episode of Survivor though I did love the red paint part of the Beware Advantage.  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well: 

Let's start with Tori, who won Immunity, potentially saving herself, figured out that Drea found something by noticing the red paint, and for joining the majority in knocking Chanelle out of the game.  If there's nothing else to be done, might as well be on the right side of the vote.  I really don't like Tori, but I have to give credit where credit is due.  She had a very strong epsisode.

The bottom feeders of the merge all believe that Omar is also on the bottom.  I really like how he has gone undercover to collect information and build relationships with these people.  If the game were over tomorrow, I think Omar would win.  He voted for Romeo as a backup and to maintain his cover, which I really liked.  I don't love that he gave up his shot at Immunity for some rice though.

Hai, Jonathan, Lindsay, Mike, and Rocksroy all ended up being on the right side of the vote and I think Chanelle was the right person to take out.  Props to Mike for leading the charge on that one.  I will say that I don't love that Lindsay sat out of the challenge either.

Who Sucked:

I know Drea got her hands on a 4th Advantage, but I don't like how she got it.  Giving up your shot at Reward is almost never a good look.  It really hurt Xander's game last season and I don't think you should ever do it.  Nobody thinks you are being sincere even if she really didn't like PB & J's.  If her rational was to sit out in case there was an Advantage on the sit-out bench, great, but that wasn't the case.  She also didn't do a good enough job of washing the red paint off and Tori is on to her.  She ended up on the right side of the vote, but I think it was a net negative night for Drea.

Romeo was way too paranoid and nearly got himself voted out.  If it wasn't for Mike, I think Romeo would have been gone.  Plus he voted for Hai for some crazy reason.

Maryanne gave up her shot at Immunity and ended up on the wrong side of the vote.  I do like that she convinced Omar to give up his chance at Immunity as well, but it's not enough to get her into the positive.

As for Chanelle, she dug her grave a few episodes ago.  I think she was smart to keep her head down and not cause any problems.  Her best bet was to wait for an opportunity to open up and hope Romeo or Maryanne would be taken out instead.  Unfortunately, Mike was onto her.  Tough break.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Tori Meehan, which is very unfortunate, for winning Immunity, seeing through Drea's lies, and getting on the right side of the vote.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Romeo Escobar for his paranoia and for voting for Hai.

I don't know how much I'll be able to enjoy the next few episodes knowing the Knowledge is Power Advantage is waiting to rear its ugly head, but I'll try my best.