Survivor 47: Episode 4 "Is That Blood in Your Hair" Gameplay Analysis

 "Rome will burn."

-Sol Yi

Well, this episode took a turn I wasn't expecting.  I was all set for the downfall of Rome.  I was really excited to see him finally get voted out and out of nowhere the game got flipped on its head.  This Lavo tribe is a mess and I'm here for it.  Let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

We'll start on the Gata tribe with Anika and Rachel, who were part of forming the Breadwinners alliance.  They are seeming more and more like the smarter path for Sierra to take and I think they're doing a good job of making her feel comfortable.

Going over to Lavo, I love Genevieve's move in knocking Kishan out of the game.  She realized he was throwing her name out as the backup vote after she agreed to join Kishan and vote out her closest ally in Rome.  She realized that Kishan didn't actually have her back and made moves to knock Kishan out of the game instead of Rome.  I love this move for her!

I'll give Sol some credit for surviving this vote.  It wasn't neat and he probably should have played his Shot in the Dark, but he has a good social game going with both Teeny and Genevieve.  I think his relationship with Genevieve is why he survived.   

Moving over to Tuku, Sue managed to get an Idol.  Was she very suspicious when Caroline and Tiyana walked up on her?  Yes, but she has a fully-powered, so I'll give her a net positive.  Caroline and Tiyana are absolutely right to be suspicious though.  I also like that Caroline was able to keep her vote on the Journey.

Who Sucked:

Going back over to Gata, Sierra made a big mistake in telling Andy about the Breadwinners alliance, especially if she's not committed to working with him.  I do like that she is part of the Breadwinners alliance and I think that's the way she should go if they go to Tribal Council again.

Andy definitely hurt his position in the game.  He's lost his Shot in the Dark twice, which makes the rest of his tribe see him as a careless player.  He also told Sam about the Breadwinners alliance, which Sam then told Sierra about.  Sierra should absolutely not work with Andy and should want him out next.  I do like that he managed to keep his vote on the Journey though.

I don't like that Sam confronted Sierra about the Breadwinners alliance.  No good can come from that.  I feel like he just pushed her away from him and towards the girls.  He should have kept than information to himself and saved it for a more opportune moment.

Moving over to Lavo, Rome continues to have a terrible social game and he was nearly voted out because of it.  He also was terrible in the challenge, to the point I thought he was throwing it at first.  Getting rid of Kishan was a good move for him though.

Teeny ended up giving up their vote on the Journey.  I don't think that was the right call.  You can't assume Caroline and Andy will repay the favor later because they shouldn't.  I think Teeny should have suggested a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who would lose their vote.

We really didn't get enough from Gabe or Kyle for me to say either way.

As for Kishan, I think he tried to get too cute here, especially since we're only in the premerge.  I understand wanting Rome out, but he may have been better served keeping it simple and taking out Sol.  And he definitely shouldn't have suggested Genevieve as the backup vote to her closest ally.  You can't win the game in the premerge, but you can certainly lose it and I think Kishan tried to do too much too early.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Genevieve Mushaluk for realizing what Kishan was up to and turning the game on her, while saving her closest ally in the process.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Andy Rueda for losing his Shot in the Dark and making himself appear untrustworthy to Sierra. 

I can't wait to see the fallout of this vote on Lavo next week and I'm very curious to see where the Rome/Sol dynamic goes from here.