Survivor: Caramoan Power Rankings
Week 9
By Ben Willoughby
April 9, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
However, the smart move for the majority alliance to whittle down their opponents one by one – first by targeting outsiders like Michael to give them overwhelming numbers, and then to use those numbers to split votes and flush any hidden immunity idols. If that’s how things go, we should probably all check out until it gets down to six.
Here are the power rankings for this week.
1. Malcolm
So the vote didn’t go Malcolm’s way last week. He lost two members of his alliance, Corinne who was voted out, and Erik, who he thought was in his pocket, and who he never really expressed any doubts about. Even though the numbers are now 6-4 against him, it’s not all bad for Malcolm – he has a hidden immunity idol, and knows where the other one is. No one sees him as the leader of the breakaway alliance, so maybe he won’t be targeted before the “fans”. And if he is able to convince someone on the bottom of the majority alliance – like Erik or Brenda – to flip, and combine it with some crafty idol play, he could easily make it 5-4 in his favor next week. Unfortunately for Malcolm, it looks like he approaches Dawn.
Anyway, I’m leaving Malcolm at #1 for this week. He’s the brains behind his alliance, which has two hidden immunity idols. And he’s the player everyone not in his alliance should be fixing to get rid of.
2. Andrea
Andrea had a great week last week. At a moment of crisis, she came up with the plan to blind-side Corinne, told Phillip of the plan while making him think it was his idea and then convinced Erik to vote with them. If she can keep doing this she’ll go far. And if she’s able to get any credit for it, she could win.
3. Cochran
Cochran’s playing well enough, but he still hasn’t been challenged to fight for his place in the game. Looking inside his alliance, I think his biggest long-term threat is Andrea, who is also looking to win by being seen as the strategic player. As we saw last week, they are comfortable working with each other to keep their alliance on top, but if they’re not figuring out how to get rid of each other medium-term, they should be.
4. Dawn
Obviously Dawn had a huge impact on the game last week. Obviously she made the right call to tell her alliance rather than flip to #7 on a male-dominated side. But while the majority alliance was flexible enough to regroup and execute a perfect blind-side, I worry about her game over the longer-term. Dawn’s first move was to tell Cochran, but we didn’t see her involved in the next round of decisions. Cochran told Andrea, Andrea said she was ready for a blindside, and then they put together the numbers.
So Dawn is a great channel for information, but the editing suggests she is not part of the decision-making. I don’t think this is a one-off – it’s more or less what we saw the previous week when Dawn told Phillip what Julia told her, and Phillip’s immediate response was “she’s gone,” no discussion. In Dawn’s words, to win Survivor you “need to be a decision-maker. You can’t let the game happen to you”. I’m not convinced that Dawn is a decision-maker.
Looking further ahead, I also worry that Corinne will blame Dawn for her game falling apart, and choosing to appease Phillip rather than side with someone she likes. That won’t matter much in-game, but it could be a BFD at final Tribal Council. Dawn should be thinking hard about who she goes to the end with.
5. Phillip
Phillip’s alliance came through last week, but it’s telling that Phillip wasn’t in the loop at all. Corinne told Dawn, who told Cochran, who told Andrea, who told Phillip. The decision to target Corinne was already made a step before Phillip knew anything about it. I’m sure Phillip will take the credit for her ouster as part of his strategic masterminded-ness, but it’s not as though he actually won the Corinne-Phillip feud. We’ll see more of Phillip thinking he’s fronting his alliance while the real decisions are being made elsewhere.
6. Sherri
Sherri has had to shift from leading a failing tribe to playing the “available vote” strategy. Fortunately for her, she is the only “fan” on her alliance so time is on her side for now, and the “available vote” strategy will be even more valuable once it gets down to six or seven and the majority alliance fractures.
7. Reynold
Reynold, duped again! I look forward to several more over-confident interviews from Reynold. Anyway, he’s an obvious target for the next vote, but he has an idol which could shake things up. (I’m guessing it won’t, though.)
8. Erik
Erik’s brief moment of power is done, and he’s back to being a tag-along member of his alliance. On balance I think he made the best choice for his chances of winning, but I also think that was blind squirrel-nut coincidence. Erik made his decision on emotion and who he likes more, not strategy.
9. Brenda
Brenda continues her streak of non-existence outside of glamour poses at immunity challenges. We are not seeing her have an impact on the game.
10. Mike
Mike lost his champion and is a likely target for the next boot. Everyone knows that he doesn’t have an idol and that no one is likely to give him one.
11. Eddie
It’s a good thing Eddie’s got looks.
Anyway, tune in tonight to see if this season is still salvageable. And if it isn’t, come back for the recap.