Survivor 49, Episode 2 "Cinema" Gameplay Analysis

 "The aura was great."

-Rizo Velovic

This episode confirmed what I suspected last week; this cast is full of Looney Tunes.  What a goofy bunch and a really fun episode.  There was a lot of bad gameplay this week, but I enjoyed ever minute of it.  Let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

We'll start over on Hina.  I have to give major props to the entire tribe for not only overcoming the Challenge Disadvantage played on them by Jawan, but getting 1st place.  It was extremely impressive all around.

Steven, Kristina, and MC all got into a potential majority alliance of four.  If they want to go this route, they have the numbers to do so.

I'm not sure how I feel about MC telling so much information to Sophie S.  She could use that info and turn the game on MC.  I guess it depends on MC's read of and relationship with Sophie S, so I'll trust her and leave her in the net positive.  Good job for Sophie S though for having a good enough relationship with MC to get that information.

Moving over to Uli, Nate, Rizo, Savannah, and Shannon all got into a majority alliance that seems pretty strong.

Sage didn't get into the majority, but at least she seems to have a solid social game.  People like her and find her funny, which surprises me.  I think I would find her annoying.  She could be doing better and is in danger, but she's okay for now.

Who Sucked:

Going back over to Hina, I really don't think anyone should be volunteering to go on a Journey unless they are in a truly dire position.  Not only did Matt volunteer to go, but he lost the challenge as well.  His attempt to bring MC in as the 4th member of his alliance also could have gone better.  She doesn't trust him and feels like she's at the bottom of the alliance.

Over on Kele, where to begin?  Unless there's a tribe swap, I think Kele could end up being the next Matsing.  All of these people need to be trying to figure out who the Malcolm and Denise of this tribe are, and if it's not you, change it up.  It's clear that Jake is one of the two, but it's less clear if he would take Sophi B or Alex, but now that Alex has the Idol, I think that puts him higher up in the pecking order.  If that's the case, I think Sophi B and Jeremiah should have take the opportunity to team up with Annie and taken out Alex with an Idol in his pocket.  I don't know if it would be possible to pull off, but I think that would have been the best move for those three.  I think it's worth it to sacrifice challenge strength to get into the top two in a tribe this bad.  They weren't winning anyway.

Sophi B and Alex were embarrassingly bad on the puzzle.  They blew an absolutely massive lead and lost to a tribe carrying 20 pounds of coconuts on their backs.

Jake also volunteered to go on the Journey and lost.  Plus I really don't like the shoe hiding thing he's doing.  However, taking out Annie benefits him the most.

Similar to the Journey, I don't think you should take the Beware Advantage unless you're in a really bad spot.  Alex shouldn't have taken the Beware Advantage.  He caused his entire alliance to lose trust in one another and put a big target on his back because everyone knows about his Idol.  I think he also might have been better off taking out Sophi B or Jeremiah and keeping Annie.  He'll probably survive this madness, but he didn't help himself.

Over on Uli, I don't mind that Jawan went on the Journey.  I don't know if he knows it, but he's in the worst spot on his tribe.  He went and he won.  All of that is great, but he made a bad move in taking the Challenge Disadvantage.  First of all, it failed, but even beyond that, I don't think it bought much, if any, goodwill in his tribe.  Making that decision isn't going to save him from being picked off.  I think he had a lot more to work with with the Stolen Vote.

As for Annie, she was way too confident and had a bad read of everyone on her tribe.  She thought Alex was her number one, but she wasn't Alex's number one.  Her bossiness didn't help either.  

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Nate Moore.  There wasn't much spectacular gameplay in this episode, but Nate got into the majority alliance and he had the most difficult path to do so because of the age difference.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Alex Moore for taking the Beware Advantage, getting an Idol that everyone knows about, blowing the Immunity Challenge, and losing a close ally in Annie.

Wow, that was a lot.  This might be my longest write-up ever.  I think that's the mark of a good episode though.  I can't wait to see what lunacy these people come up with next.