Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, Episode 8 "Double the Fun, Double the Demise" Gameplay Breakdown

 "Tiny, extra large, medium!"
-Christian Hubicki

What's this!?  Survivor has a brand new, game-changing twist that I actually liked!?  This is madness!  In all seriousness, I actually did dig the new "double duo demise" twist or whatever it's called.  Yes, it's a new mechanic that really shakes up the game and maybe screws over some players, but, unlike other big twists, this one is primarily a social twist.  There are so many new layers to the vote here and the connections to other players becomes even more important.  The more I think about it, the more I like this twist and I would like to see it again.  For now, let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

Taking out Coach and Chrissy was absolutely the right move for the majority of the players.  Both of them were alleged members of this pre-game alliance and pillars in this honor and integrity group.  If the other players didn't make a move here, the honor and integrity alliance could have dominated the rest of the game.  So, for everyone who wasn't in that group; Aubry, Christian, Cirie, Emily, Ozzy, Devens, Rizo, and Tiffany, this was the right move.

Cirie was the one who got everyone else's heads on straight and marshalled this vote.  I also like that she volunteered to be the odd person out.  This decision led to her getting Immunity.  She also completed the challenge on Exile Island to get her vote back.

Tiffany was in a bad spot after Dee's elimination, but she came back strong in this episode.  She made alliances with both Ozzy and Joe, won Immunity, and helped take out Coach and Chrissy, two of her key adversaries.

Joe had a mixed night, but ended up being net positive.  I liked that he branched out to make an alliance with Tiffany.  Plus he won Immunity.  Losing Coach and Chrissy is tough for him because those were probably the two people he had the best chance to beat, but by the time Devens finished his fake Idol ploy, there wasn't anything Joe could do but go with the majority.  I don't think he can win, but I'll give him a net positive for this episode.

Stephenie was in a similar situation to Joe, where losing Coach and Chrissy is bad for her game, but there wasn't anything she could do except vote with the majority.  I think she can still win though.  For making the best of a bad situation, I'll give her a net positive as well.

I loved Devens' fake Idol maneuver at Tribal Council.  It was an utterly inspired play.  I don't think he and Aubry were the ones going home, but I think this ensured their safety by scaring the living daylights out of everyone else.  I do think his threat level has skyrocketed because of this, but he made it through this twist, which is the most important thing.

Finally, we have Rizo, who made the right move in going after Coach and Chrissy, but I do question his insistence on filling in Joe on the plan.  If I were him, I wouldn't tell Joe anything, ever.  If anyone in Joe's alliance had an Idol or anything, they would have played it with this information.  Now, I get Rizo wants to leave the door open to work with Joe in the future and everything worked out, but it's not what I would have done.  I'll still give him a net positive though.

Who Sucked:

The only remaining player I have in this category is Jonathan.   He ended up on the wrong side of the vote and he's the only person left in the game where that's the case.  Plus he got kinda snippy with Devens.  It's pretty rich that Jonathan said Devens was showing his true colors when Jonathan was voting for Devens.

As for Chrissy and Coach, both of them lost due to their social games.  They had a good alliance going, but both of them had pissed a lot of people off who were on the outside of their alliance.  They were trying to control too much while also being not much fun to be around.  That made them both very appetizing targets for the rest of the cast. 

Verdict:

Since two people went home, I'll give out two Best Players of the Episode.

For Best Player, first I'll give one to Cirie Fields for volunteering to be the odd one out, getting her vote back, and directing everyone to take out Coach and Chrissy.

My second Award goes to Tiffany Nicole Ervin for making alliances with Ozzy and Joe, winning Immunity, and taking out Coach and Chrissy.

I only have one Worst Player of the Episode and that's Jonathan Young for being on the wrong side of the vote.

I'm really glad the honor and integrity alliance has been decimated.  I think the rest of the season will be much more interesting this way.  That said, I'll miss Coach.  It was great having him back, even if he isn't great at Survivor.