Survivor 44, Episode 3 "Sneaky Little Snake" Gameplay Analysis

 "If you eat that raw worm, I'll eat a raw worm."

-Lauren Harpe

There was some really fun fake Idol shenanigans in this episode, which made me laugh a lot.  I really hope we get some good payoff from that.  There was also some questionable gameplay and Claire getting voted out is a major bummer.  I think I'm ready to go back to the two tribe format for a while after this.  I'm getting tired of the focus on tribe strength in such small tribes.  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

We'll start over on Ratu.  Matthew managed to find the Hidden Immunity Idol, make a fake one, and get Jaime to find it and was much cleaner in his execution than Danny.  It was very impressive work from Matthew.  And even though Jaime fell for it, I don't blame her at all.  She has no reason to suspect it's not real.  She actually used the opportunity to form a bond and alliance with Matthew, which is really the best she could do in this situation.

Moving over to Soka, Danny succeeded in all of his endeavors tonight, even if I don't love the way he did some of it.  He got Matt to find the fake Idol, which is great, but I don't like how assertive he was in the situation.  I think he would have been better served to talk about Matt behind his back and tell other people he saw Matt find the key.  He also formed an alliance to counter the duo of Matt and Frannie, but immediately torpedoed it to take out Claire, which I think was a bad call.  Ultimately, he got everyone to vote his way in a unanimous decision, so I'll put him on the positive side, but it's close.  He's playing with fire by going this hard so early.  He's going to make a great 8th place boot.

Shockingly, Matt and Frannie survived the episode with their showmance intact.  I did not expect that to happen.  I thought Matt was a goner.  I'll give more credit to Frannie than Matt because I liked how she tried to turn the game around on Josh and when that didn't work, she was willing to sacrifice Claire.  Matt helped, but it was more of Frannie.  One of them should have gone home in this episode, but they didn't.

I like that Heidi stuck with what her closest ally, Danny, in this vote.  I don't like that Danny and Josh blew up the alliance instead of taking out Matt or Frannie, but that wasn't on Heidi.  She was the swing vote and stuck with her closest ally.  At this point in the game, that's the right call.

Who Sucked:

Staying on Soka, Josh did some of the same things Danny did that were bad, but with not as much good stuff.  Going after Claire instead of Matt or Frannie was dumb.  He did succeed in his goal, but it's not great that his name was thrown out there.  He hasn't strategized or formed much of a connection with Frannie or Heidi.  That's not good.

Finally, over on Tika, I don't love that Sarah told Carson that his word doesn't mean as much anymore.  It's a little thing and a true statement, but it's not something she should have said out loud.  She needs Carson and a statement like that could make Carson less inclined to work with her.

We really didn't get enough from Brandon, Kane, Lauren, Carolyn, Carson, or Yam Yam for me to have an opinion either way on them.

As for Claire, I feel really bad for her.  I don't think she should have gone home.  For future contestants, I probably wouldn't sit out of three challenges in a row.  You can do two, but after than, I would jump in to compete.  It's a bad reason to vote someone out, but it can happen.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Matthew Grinstead-Mayle for finding the Hidden Immunity Idol, getting Jaime to find a fake Idol, and forming an alliance with her.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Josh Wilder for turning on Claire instead of going after the showmance and not having a working relationship with Frannie and Heidi.

Fingers crossed that we get a tribe swap next episode.  I doubt that's what the twist will be, but it would be a nice change of pace.  I really can't wait to see what happens with the fake Idols.  Should be fun!