Survivor 44: Episode 5 "The Third Turd" Gameplay Analysis

 "We're a bunch of silly gooses out here."

-Danny Massa

Well, I really liked the first 90 of this episode, but I'm really annoyed that Tika didn't have to go to Tribal Council.  They lost the Immunity Challenge and Matthew's quit had nothing to do with them.  I'm bummed for Matthew.  He was a fun character and it's tough to see him go out this way, but I'm more annoyed that we didn't get what could have been an awesome Tribal Council.  Whether I'm annoyed or not, we still have to figure out who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

Let's start over on Ratu.  I really liked seeing the nerdy bond formed between Carson and Kane.  Carson handled this tribe swap very well and used the opportunity to build relationships and Kane's position in his tribe is questionable at best.  He definitely needs Carson as an ally.

Over on Tika, going into this episode, Yam Yam seemed to be the obvious next boot.  He managed to change things around and take advantage of situations to the point where it seemed like he wasn't in trouble at all.  I love how he bonded with Josh over being gay and the strategy that formed out of that.  He also figured out that Josh's Idol is fake due to him using the beads from tree mail and that it was falling apart in his hands.

Finally, I do respect Josh's efforts in this episode.  He was in a very bad spot, so he bonded and strategized with Yam Yam and built the fake Idol.  It's clear that he's a very bad liar and was probably going to get voted out next, but I will give him credit for putting the effort in.  In the end, Danny did more damage to Josh's game than Josh did.

Who Sucked:

Speaking of Danny, he and Brandon were terrible on their journey with Carolyn.  They bromanced way too hard and excluded Carolyn and seemed to nearly cost Josh his game.  And they did it enough that the editors were able to give us a supercut over a single lunch.  It's just terrible.  I would be money that Carolyn will be gunning for these two when the merge begins and I think she's going to win.

Carolyn didn't have a great episode either.  Once she got back to camp, she all but said she would be gunning for Josh and once Tribal Council was called off, she actually did say she wanted Josh out to his face.  With all the time Josh and Yam Yam had to bond, I wouldn't have been shocked had she been the one to be voted out.  She's now burned both of these guys.  I don't blame her at all for being pissed at Danny and Brandon, but she took it out on Josh and most likely burned a bridge in the process.

Finally, we have Matt.  When Jaime tried to talk strategy with him, he was pretty meh about the whole situation, which made Jaime not trust him.  Had Soka gone to Tribal Council, I would bet that Jaime would want Matt out of the game and since she has an Idol, that's a very likely possibility.  When you get new people on your tribe, you have to at least pretend to scheme and plot with them, otherwise they're going to target you.

We really didn't get enough from Frannie, Heidi, Jaime, or Lauren for me to have an opinion on them.

As for Matthew, he seemed like a promising player.  He just lacked the common sense to not go rock climbing on Survivor.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Yam Yam Arocho for bonding and strategizing with Josh and for figuring out that Josh's Idol was fake.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Carolyn Wiger for being so vocal about wanting to take out Josh and burning that bridge.

The merge is next!  And I'm very excited to see how this plays out.  Everyone left has holes in their game, so it should be a hot mess and I'm here for it.