The game continues to shift and change in more ways than not on Game Changers. At this point, there would be a blindside to the audience if there wasn't a blindside on the show. Tonight, we saw why it is important to never get cocky on Survivor. You have to know how to deal with people that you are not in an alliance just in the case that something goes wrong. Debbie exhibited everything that you shouldn't do as a Survivor player tonight and that's why she got voted out.
Leading up to the vote, it was very clear that there was what thought to be a 6-5 split. On one side we have Brad, Sierra, Tai, Debbie, Troyzan, and Sarah. On the other we have Andrea, Cirie, Aubry, Michaela, and Zeke. However, Zeke's role is really not defined in this 5 and he is sort of on an island of his own because he betrayed Andrea and Cirie last week when Ozzy was voted out. Andrea didn't let this go either after that tribal as well. Sarah is also still a wildcard just like she was last week. Sarah was faced with another tough decision tonight. On one hand, she thought she might be on the bottom of the group of 6 because of Cirie getting in her ear when they lost the reward. Then when she is making all these plans with Andrea, she then gets an offer from Sierra to go to the Final 3 with Debbie and her which Sarah is ecstatic about. At least until Debbie tells Aubry that Sarah doesn't trust her. This leads to Sarah having to decide what to do at Tribal.
Debbie and Zeke are clearly a tight pair, however I don't think people realize this yet. While this offer of the Final 3 I am sure was enticing, Sarah saw this as an opportunity to make the big move her and Zeke were talking about all episode and really Debbie forced her hand to do this. Debbie was so cocky during Tribal council that the 6 were so strong, that Sarah saw that she could not align with someone like that this early on because it could end up hurting her game in the long run. This was a smart move on Sarah's part, but I don't think that this was in Zeke's best interest. Last week, he turned on the Cirie-Andrea alliance and now he has turned on the Sierra-Brad alliance. He also said that he didn't really want to work with Andrea, but he had no choice for at least one vote. Zeke has now dug himself in a hole and I think it is possible people are going to be pretty mad at him for this continuous flipping at some point.
The lead up to this vote though was amazing. First off, Cirie pitching to Sarah that she was on the bottom of the 6 was so masterful. I loved how she referred to Sarah first before herself as people being on the bottom. That shows volumes that you actually care about this person and working with them moving forward. Next, Aubry was also great. She gave that information that Debbie was lying about her in the perfect spot. Debbie thought she could control Aubry later, but oh boy was she wrong. Aubry did a great job of recognizing that Debbie made a mistake and capitalized on it.
It was also made known in this episode that a lot of people are fed up with Michaela, which I don't doubt. Her social game is awful at this point. From being rude to the people at the reward challenge to using the props at Tribal, it just is bad social game play. She is a great character and fun to watch, but she is not going to win anything doing that. It is very smart that Cirie has a Final 2 with her becuase Cirie will win agaisnt her hands down.
While there was a lot of different moments strategically tonight, the emotional moment still had to make its appearence. This was when Cirie was struggling hard to complete the Reward Challenge. Everyone, swam out and helped her for the last part of the challenge (a balance beam) and she did it. It was once again one of the great realities of Survivor and it actually made me shed a tear. I have watched Cirie in real time every time she has played and it was great to see her continue being strong in this moment.
The last point I want to touch on is Sarah again. Yes she made the move tonight, but she also got the hidden advantage of a vote steal which will be interesting to see if she is successful in playing it. I also think that she deserves a little bit more credit than a lot of people are giving her right now. I would have to say that she might be playing the best social game out there right now. She openly was affected by the whole Varner controversy and today she was the first one to swim out to help Cirie. Being a good person goes a long way on Survivor and she is definitely showing that in the game and at Tribal Councils. That is why tonight she is the MVP of the episode.
