Survivor 44: Episode 4 "I'm Felicia" Gameplay Analysis

 "Wow, I give that an 11!"

-Jeff Probst

So, I have to say I'm not a big fan of the twist in the episode.  Swapping one person from each tribe to a new tribe and giving them a Hidden Immunity Idol feels like overly-manufactured drama.  I would have rather seen a full tribe shuffle or maybe a chance to choose to mutiny to a new tribe in exchange for an Idol.  There were better ways to do this.  It was still a fun episode, but the twist was poorly executed.  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

Let's start on the Ratu tribe.  I really like how Matthew formed a bond with Carson by telling him the half true information about Brandon playing the Idol and Jaime finding the new one.  It's a good way to get Carson on his side and he has plausible deniability if it's revealed that Jaime has a fake Idol.

Carson and Lauren also did a great job on the puzzle to come from behind to win Immunity.  It's especially good for Lauren who missed the key earlier in the challenge.  She redeemed herself and they saved their tribe from Tribal Council.

Over on Soka, I like that Danny, Heidi, Franny, and Matt made a couples alliance and planned to turn on Josh.  It would have given them a united front going into a merge and made them a powerful group.  It still could if they can avoid Tribal Council before the merge.

Over on Tika, I really like how Carolyn pulled off getting Sarah to find the fake Idol.  In this "new era" of Survivor it was just silly enough to work.  I also love that she flipped on Yam Yam and Sarah after they made Carolyn the decoy boot.  If someone is willing to do that and tell you to your face, you should absolutely flip.  She bonded with Josh and took out Sarah, while still having her Idol.

Josh had a few problems in this episode.  The rest of Soka was turning against him and no one believed that he was a physical trainer, but I still think he had a net positive episode.  He saved himself with his Idol and bonded with Carolyn well enough for her to join him and help take out Sarah.  He may even be able to survive without an Idol if Tika goes back to Tribal Council.

Who Sucked:

Out of everyone who survived this episode, the only person I have in this section is Yam Yam.  Unless you are playing with Christina or Leif from Survivor: One World, you should never tell someone they are the decoy boot.  Yam Yam socially and strategically alienated Carolyn and assumed she wouldn't be bothered with his blunt way of communication.  Honestly, the Tika tribe should have played this differently as a group and let Josh throw out a name rather than throwing out Carolyn's to him.  Maybe they would still be intact.

We really didn't get enough from Brandon, Kane, or Jaime for me to have an opinion.

As for Sarah, she had similar problems to Yam Yam, but they weren't shown to be as severe.  Maybe she needed to work on her social connection to Carolyn to avoid being her target.  At the very least, she should have played the fake Idol.   It obviously wouldn't have saved her, but she didn't know that.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Carolyn Wiger for tricking Sarah with the fake Idol, flipping on Sarah and Yam Yam, bonding with Josh, and holding onto her Idol.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Yam Yam Arocho for being too blunt with Carolyn and telling her she was the decoy boot.

Carolyn is really growing on me and I'm very excited to see the fallout of this vote in the next episode.  It should be fun!