Survivor 47: Episode 11 "Flipping the Win Switch" Gameplay Analysis

 "Genevieve, are you displeased or just thinking?"
-Jeff Probst



Man, I loved the Journey that Rachel got to go on in this episode.  This is by far my favorite incarnation of the Journey twist that we've seen in the new era.  A puzzle to get an Advantage is good on its own, but having the puzzle and Advantage dragged into the ocean via anchor if you're not quick enough is incredible.  It felt the Pirates of the Caribbean mixed with a trap from Saw.  On that note, I think Jigsaw would make an excellent host for Survivor if Jeff ever retires.  More of this stuff Survivor!  I love the over-the-top mechanics.  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked.


Who Played Well:

We get a new underdog alliance in this episode.  It starts with Andy, Rachel, and Teeny and they end up bringing in Caroline and Sue.  I think this is a really solid group to go through the next couple of votes together.  It's smart that they all decided to gang up on Kyle, Genevieve, and Sam.  Sure, there was some disagreement on who to vote out, but they ended up working together to take out Kyle and they should be able to get Genevieve next time.

Caroline and Sue were also able to smooth things over after Caroline didn't clue in Sue on the Gabe vote.  Caroline explained herself very well and opened herself up and explained the emotional reason behind the vote.  I think that's what connected with Sue.  Sue also really needs Caroline at this point, so they need to stick together at this point.

Rachel had a stellar episode even apart from forming the new majority alliance.  She went on the Journey and prevented any of the big threats from going, she solved the puzzle, got the Vote Blocker, and won Immunity.  I'm a little worried people are going to start seeing her as more of a threat and less of an underdog, but she killed it this episode regardless.

Finally, we have Sam and Genevieve, who had a good idea in trying to protect themselves and Kyle, but it didn't have much chance of working.  They did what they had to do and turned on Kyle.  Live to fight another day is sometimes they only move.


Who Sucked:

I don't have any of the remaining contestants here.


As for Kyle, he wasn't great at threat management and probably should have tried to take a more proactive approach to working the social and strategic side of the game.  And I really do think turning on Gabe in the previous vote was a bad move for him.  I also have no idea why he voted for Teeny.  He should have been trying to turn the vote onto Genevieve.


Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Rachel LaMont for forming a new alliance, getting the Vote Blocker, and winning Immunity.

I'm not giving out a Worst Player of the Episode.  Kyle isn't eligible because he was eliminated and I think everyone else had a net positive episode.


This was a really fun episode, especially with the excellent Journey mechanics.  This was a truly inspired moment from production and I hope they do more of this in the future.

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