Survivor 44: Episode 8 "Don't Get Cocky, Kid" Gameplay Analysis

 "Thanks for covering us in mud first, Jeff."

-Kane Fritzler

Well, would you look at that.  Finally, we got a regular-ass Tribal Council.  What a breath of fresh air!  We haven't had one of these since Sarah got voted out.  That's actually insane.  We spent too much time at the Challenge in this episode and not enough time with the pre-Tribal strategy, but I still enjoyed the episode.  Let's get into who played well and who sucked!

Who Played Well:

Let's start with the original Ratu members.  Their plan didn't work, but that isn't the fault of Lauren, Jaime, or Kane.  They made the right move for their game and Lauren even won Immunity, which probably saved her.  Someone else blew the vote for them, but I refuse to put any of the blame on these three.

The Tika three played this brilliantly.  Danny played his Idol and a member of Ratu went home.  I don't think this could have cone any better for Carson, Yam Yam, and Carolyn.  Carson and Yam Yam have plausible deniability and I think Carson revealing to Danny that Yam Yam knew the plan scared Danny into 100% playing his Idol if he wasn't already locked in.

I don't love that Danny told Heidi about the Idol, but after that he did what he needed to do and saved Frannie and took out Brandon.  Playing the Idol could potentially take the target off his back.  I doubt it, but it's possible.  I'll also give Frannie credit for having a good enough relationship with Danny for him to play the Idol on her.

Who Sucked:

Out of everyone left in the game, I only have Heidi here.  I don't like that Heidi told Carson and Yam Yam about the Idol.  If they had wanted to, they could have used that information to take out Danny or Heidi instead.  And since Danny now knows that Heidi leaked the information, he has no reason to keep trusting her.  She could have gotten Yam Yam and Carson on board without revealing that information.

As for Brandon, I don't know why he told Danny and Heidi that he was targeting Frannie.  That was a terrible move and it directly let to his elimination.  If that had been the fake plan, it would be a different story.  They are in an alliance with her!  Why would you tell them!?

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Carson Garrett.  He has plausible deniability with the Ratu group because he voted for Frannie, but he also got Danny to play his Idol.  He played this brilliantly.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt.  As a reminder, the person eliminated is not eligible for either Award.  Heidi wins for giving too much information to Carson and Yam Yam, which could have easily blown up in her face and could damage her relationship with Danny.

Hopefully we're done with the B.S. twists for the season and we get more episodes like this.