By John Powell – Binge News
We got two for the price of one this week with the newly-formed Niu Nai tribe walking not one but two castaways off the plank. Apparently, Niu Nai means “cow’s milk” or just “milk” in Mandarin Chinese. You learn something new every day. Since the tribe was separated into two teams to compete in the immunity challenge and to vote at tribal council we don’t have a complete picture of how the tribal politics are shaking out.
What we do know is that heading into the final phase of the game and the finale on Wednesday, May 21st, there are these alliances in place:
Mitch and Chrissy
Kamilla and Kyle
Shauhin and Joe
Eva and Joe
Muscles ‘R’ Us: David, Joe, Eva, Kyle and Shauhin
Star and Eva
The curious link here is that Kyle is part of the Muscles ‘R’ Us alliance which may allow him to protect Kamilla from being targeted and voted out. Clearly on the outside of any major group is Chrissy, Mitch and Star. Mary is to a degree but she seems to have slithered her way into the sphere of the decision-makers. Muscles ‘R’ Us doesn’t look like it is rattling or breaking down any time soon. If anyone is going to make a rogue move it might be Kyle but that could be his undoing.
You can check out more of my thoughts on how well I think the remaining Survivors will do in my Mid-Season Report Card for Global TV here.
Cedrek made the jury this week and in my chat to him he did mention this when I asked what factors did he consider in voting for a winner: “It really came down to the moves that people made, why they made those moves. That will carry weight for me.”
You can check out the rest of the video interview here.
…or the written one for Global TV here.
When I spoke to Sai, she hit back at her haters.
“Honestly, to me, if you play with clowns, you become a part of the circus. I genuinely could care less what clowns have to say about me. I’m playing the game you WISH you could play, baby! I loved every moment of it! This comes from my heart, when people say things about me, I do not care,” she said.
My Global TV interview is here.
Here’s CBS’s preview of next week’s show: A Rift Between All of Us” – Bonds are revealed when castaways are forced to divide into pairs for this week’s immunity challenge. Then, the challenge reward meal isn’t the day’s only prize – one castaway finds an advantage hidden among their food.
On with this week’s Survivor Stock Ticker:
Cedrek is a really, really smart dude. Although he will argue he didn’t, he appeared to play the game with his heart not his head a lot of the time and that lead to chaotic gameplay which is not something you want around when you are nearing the Survivor finish line.
The Survivor gods linked Sai and Cedrek’s games from the very start. It was like they were destined to enter and leave the game together. Sai, well, there isn’t much to say. Her strong gameplay and very independent attitude made her a target for quite some time.
We saw the power of Shauhin’s social game at this week’s tribal council. The editing made it appear that he was in massive trouble at tribal but he ended up only getting one vote and that was from Cedrek who is now on the jury. He continues to be my pick to win it all.
Did you count how many people approached Joe about establishing trust, picking his brain about strategy or just touching base to see what the plan was? He is the most influential person on the island and people are rallying around him.
He is on the outside looking in. Unless he somehow weasels his way into a better position he might not last that much longer.
I could be wrong but the promo for next week led me to believe that Kyle might start making some moves, start shifting things. That could be bad for his and Kamilla’s game.
Who’s next to go?
The preview indicates that “bonds are revealed” on the next episode. I take this to mean that Kyle and Kamilla become exposed. Mitch is a challenge threat but he isn’t a tribal politics threat. I am leaning towards Kyle or Kamilla going home with Star taking his place in Muscles ‘R’ Us.
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