Survivor 47: Episode 10 "Loyal to the Soil" Gameplay Analysis

 "They can't trust me, but I want them to."

-Sam Phalen

Another fun episode of Survivor 47 in the books!  There was definitely some questionable gameplay tonight, with everyone giving up their Shot in the Dark being at the top of the list.  I don't think any of them should have given them up.  Even a safety net that only has a 1 in 6 chance of saving you is better than no safety net.  I disagree with Sam; this was a hill to die on.  You can eat rice after the game.  But that's a criticism that I'm leveling at everyone, except for Rachel of course.  Anyway, apart from everyone throwing away their shot, let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

We'll start with Genevieve.  I feel very vindicated in my criticism of her move to take out Sol last week.  Everyone knew it was her move and it made her a huge target.  However, that was last week.  This week she managed to survive and knock out Gabe instead.  I think voting out Gabe was the wrong move for the majority of the tribe, but it was very much a good move for Genevieve.

This was also a decent move for Rachel and an actively good move for Sam.  Neither of them have had much power in the merge and this was a bounce back episode for them in terms of controlling the game.  It's a better move for Sam than it is for Rachel, but it's still good for both of them.

Finally, Andy was well served by Gabe going home, but I think it also would have been fine for him if Genevieve had been the one to go.  He's in a good spot either way.  We got a lot of content with Andy making connections with many different people on the tribe and I greatly enjoyed how he poured more fuel on the fire of Sue's hatred of Kyle.  I think he's sent up very nicely going forward.

Who Sucked:

Sue really needs to let her dislike of Kyle go.  She also lost her closest ally and was completely left out of the vote.

Good for Kyle for winning Immunity again, but I don't like that he took out Gabe here.  With the safety of Immunity, he should have pushed for Genevieve.  Gabe is a great shield for Kyle and he even said so himself in a conversation with Rachel.  I also think Kyle needed to go to the end with Gabe to have a chance to win.  At this point, I'm not so sure Kyle can win the game.

Caroline also turned on Gabe too early.  Yes, she does need to separate herself from Gabe's game at some point, but she just lost a number.  I think if she had pushed for Genevieve, there were enough other people who would have gone along with that plan.

Finally, I think this was a huge missed opportunity for Teeny.  She had a strong emotional reaction after the Sol vote and her relationship with Genevieve was definitely damaged.  That by itself isn't great, but I think she had the opportunity to turn it around and immediately take out Genevieve.  That would have been a huge move for her and with the massive target on Genevieve's back, it definitely could have been done and I don't think it would have hurt Teeny's game much, if at all.  This could have been Teeny's signature move of a winning game and she didn't go for it.

As for Gabe, he just had his neck stuck out too far as the leader of the Tuku group.  His gameplay and personality made him an obvious threat and someone easy to take out.  He needs to work on his threat management if he does indeed play again.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Sam Phalen for controlling the vote in a way that helps him, but hurts many of the other players and really getting himself back in the game.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Teeny Chirichillo for being too emotional after Tribal Council and not taking the opportunity to take out Genevieve.

This was a fun episode, even if the gameplay wasn't great.  I'm excited to see some more fireworks from Sue in her hatred of Kyle and maybe Andy's rise to total power.  If Andy wins the game, two people owe my Taco Bell, so I'm really rooting for him now!