Thursday, 19 April 2018

Chill Chat: Survivor: Ghost Island Midway Point Predictions


Survivor: Ghost Island Midway Point Predictions

          We’ve reached (roughly) the halfway point in Survivor: Ghost Island, so it’s time once again for me to give my thoughts on the season thus far and some updated rankings on who’s going to take home the million-dollar prize!

          Overall I’ve really been enjoying this season, especially last week’s episode. The epic Chris vs. Dom feud culminating in possibly the funniest Tribal Council ever was a complete majesty to witness from start to finish. Ghost Island has also been a lot of fun, though it isn’t the focal point of the season that I was expecting it to be, and more of an entertaining extra that shakes up the game every now and then. It’s been nice visiting several crucial points in Survivor history through advantages, including Erik’s infamous lost immunity necklace and Ozzy’s “f-ing stick”, which isn’t what it sounds like. I really hope we see more of these as the season goes on.

          But you don’t want to hear about that. You want me to tell you about where I think everybody’s standing and my updated charts of who I think is going to win. So let’s start with…

          MICHAEL: Michael had a rough night last night. After losing the Immunity Challenge to a woman with no gag reflex, Michael managed to pull himself back from the brink of extinction by playing Ozzy’s stick idol at Tribal, negating six votes to keep him alive in the game.

          But now Michael has lost his idol and one of his allies, leaving him almost completely alone in the game right now. It’s no secret that he’s a big threat going forth, boasting strong games in the social and competitive aspects of Survivor. What he needs now is to align himself with another strong alliance that can hopefully bring him to the end.

          DOMENICK: Dom had a big win last week, when he finally took down his biggest rival in the game: the notorious Noble One. This week however things started to look a little less promising for him. Laurel and Donathan took notice that he and Wendell are running things, and with the fact that has an idol perhaps the worst-kept secret of the season, Dom will need to play strong from here on out to stay in the game.

          WENDELL: My Day 1 Winner Pick has consistently impressed me since the season began, being perhaps the best camp builder the series has ever seen and stealing the award for Best Voting Confessional Ever from right under Rob Cesternino’s nose. “You’re trash…at rapping.”

          But here’s the problem: Wendell runs the risk of being too good. He’s probably the most consistent challenge performer out there right now, and it’s easy to see that he’s pretty popular among the camp. It’s a similar situation to Zeke in Game Changers: if he makes it to the end he’s almost certainly winning, but he’s so likeable that it’s going to be a rough road getting there.

          KELLYN: Perhaps the biggest female player this season, Kellyn hasn’t done quite as many huge moves as some others, but she’s been a very consistent player overall. She’s been on the right side of every vote she’s been involved with, and she managed to nab herself an Extra Vote at Ghost Island.

The only thing I find really unusual about her is that she hasn’t been as spotlighted as I think someone like her usually is. Maybe it’s just because she hasn’t done a truly big move yet, but I’m doubtful she’s going to go much further because of this.

DESIREE: Much like Kellyn, Desiree hasn’t had too much screentime overall, but has had a pretty influential role in the season going forth. Her alliance with the Naviti women (Kellyn, Chelsea and Angela) has gone pretty under the radar, but she used it to take down Libby, her biggest rival, last night.

But she’s also got a few flaws. One thing is that, much like Kellyn, we haven’t seen too much of her yet. Judging by the next week preview it looks like she’ll have a lot to do in a week, but for now she is seriously lacking in interviews and one-on-one time to really get to know what kind of person she is. I’ve liked what I’ve seen so far, but I don’t know if it’ll last.

SEA BASS: I have no idea what this guy’s doing on this season but he makes me laugh. He’s served no real purpose and been little more than an extra number in people’s alliance, but man are his analogies funny.

DONATHAN: Poor Donathan’s kind of fallen off the radar in the last few weeks. He looked like he was going to be a confessional golden boy early on, but once the second tribe swap happened he basically fell off the face of the Earth. He pops up from time to time but he’s not the heart of the season like I thought he would be.

The good news is that the fact that he’s so invisible right now might mean he’s going to go pretty far. We got a lot of background about him early on in the game, meaning that the editors clearly want us to like him. We’ve also been dealing with a lot of big personalities over the last few weeks (Dom, Wendell, Angela, The Noble One), and with Donathan acting as sort of an observer lately there hasn’t been much reason to go see what he’s been up to. If he keeps playing quietly, there’s a good chance he makes it to Final Tribal and wins this thing.

LAUREL: Laurel has something of a breakout episode last night in that she finally played a part in a vote. While she’s sort of been an extra member in various alliances for a while (mainly with Wendell), things got interesting in her story early yesterday when Wendell revealed the existence of both Dom’s and his own idols. Not a great move by him, but it puts Laurel in a great position.

Information is EVERYTHING in Survivor, and knowing about not just one, but two idols currently in play is an amazing extra tool in your belt. Revealing that information to another core alliance like Desiree’s could get Laurel a head up on the competition and an easy ride to the end.

However, Laurel is another person that we really haven’t seen much of until now. She was practically invisible in the pre-merge, only popping up once to say she wanted to work with Wendell. If she does make it to the end I wouldn't be surprised if she’s this season’s Troyzan who’s only there to deflect votes from another potential winner.

JENNA AND CHELSEA: These are also people on this season.

ANGELA: Last but not least, perhaps last night’s other breakout player was Angela. Otherwise known as the lady with no gag reflex, Angela hasn’t exactly had an easy time out there. Other tribemates have said that she’s not an easy person to trust, and she was one vote away from being voted out instead of Morgan early on.

Last night she preached a bunch about her military training and wanting to cause chaos, but I just can’t see her winning. Even if she makes it to the end a huge part of Final Tribal is explaining to the people you voted out why you deserve a million dollars. Angela has made very few true bonds with anybody, instead acting as sort of a free agent that swings wherever she wants. This can only last her so long.

Okay, that’s everybody! After careful consideration, here’s this season’s chart:

WHO’S GONNA WIN?
High Chance: Wendell, Donathan
Mid Chance: Michael, Domenick, Desiree, Kellyn
Low Chance: Sea Bass, Angela, Laurel
No Chance: Jenna, Chelsea
King of Rhymes: The Noble One

          I’ll be back when the season’s over to give my overall thoughts on the winner and the season as a whole!

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