Survivor 47: Episode 2 "Epic Boss Girl Move" Gameplay Analysis

 "Bro."

-TK Foster

This was a really fun and satisfying episode of Survivor.  I love when overconfident players get setup for an epic downfall and this was no exception.  TK getting voted out here was hilarious, especially with Kyle's reaction.  It's wild.  After episode 1, if you had told me that TK would be the next person to go, I wouldn't have believed you.  This episode did a great job of showing exactly how we ended up here and I loved every second of it.  Let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

We'll start over on the Gata tribe.  I gotta say, Andy made some headway in working his way back into the game.  Although I think he should have taken the Beware Advantage, Andy telling Sam and bonding with him definitely helped his position.  Sam wants to take him further into game at this point.

While finding the Beware Advantage with Anika wasn't ideal, I do like that Sam got it.  Keeping it out of Andy's hands was the most important thing.  I like that he told Sierra about it immediately and formed a strong connection with her.  Although Anika told Rachel about the Beware Advantage first, Sam told her himself quickly enough and I don't think it raised too many red flags.  I also really like that Sam only took the Idol that is good for 1 Tribal Council.  That way he doesn't have too big a target on his back.

Moving over to Lavo, Kishan had a strong enough relationship with Teeny to learn about Rome's quest for the Idol.

Over on Taku, taking out TK was a fantastic move for the tribe.  Sue, Caroline, and Gabe were all in a bad position with TK and needed him out, and Tiyana definitely was right to join them instead of going to rocks for TK.  I don't love how closed off how Caroline was to Gabe at first.  She got lucky that this got Gabe to reveal his Idol to her, but I think she should have been more open to his face from the get-go, even if she didn't mean it.  That said, things went her way in the end.

Gabe playing his Idol is interesting.  Yes, he didn't need to play it and he might wish he hadn't over the next two Tribal Councils, but playing it might lower his threat level due to how sketchy he was acting in the early days of the game.  Plus he would have been safe if it had ended up being a rock draw.  I think I land on that it was ultimately the right move, but I could be totally wrong.

Who Sucked:

Going back to Lavo, Rome was driving everybody nuts and his Idol is the only thing that's going to save him.  He's just completely unaware of how he is perceived.

Teeny obviously has a good social game because they learned about Rome's Idol quest.  However, getting caught reading the box and showing it to Kishan was not good.  Teeny tried to talk their way out of it with Rome, but he rightfully lost some trust in them.

Back on Taku, Kyle was left out of the vote, which isn't good.  He's the obvious next boot.  However, everyone does seem to like him and he did try to play peacemaker between TK and Tiyanna.  I think he'll be able to get out of this.

We really didn't get enough from Aysha, Genevieve, or Sol to say either way.

As for TK, he was dismissive of Sue and Caroline and underestimated them, as well as Gabe and Tiyana.  He definitely thought his physical strength made him invincible and wasn't as preoccupied with the social game as he should have been.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Gabe Ortis.  I considered both Sam and Sue as well, but I like how Gabe played TK's alliance and helped organize the vote against him.  I also like that he played his Idol.  I think it could lower his threat level.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Rome Cooney for his terrible social game.  As a reminder, the eliminated player is ineligible for this Award.

This was a really fun episode.  I'm excited to see how Kyle reacts when they get back to camp and how the other tribes will react when Tuku shows up to the next challenge.  It should be entertaining!