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Previously on Survivor, the Villains finally did the right thing. As we had explicitly stated in the premiere recap, Boston Rob was THE most dangerous player in their tribe due to his skill set. A dominant challenge participant, Rob also has the ability to control a tribe through sheer force of will. Early on this season, he had almost single-handedly driven his Villains tribemates to victory in several key early challenge wins. He was also by far the hardest worker around camp. In short, Rob as the total package was someone whose presence could not be allowed deep into the game. We had been waiting for his opponents to realize this for some time. The executioner's axe finally fell in the most recent Tribal Council.

How the participants got there is the fascinating aspect of the story. Boston Rob had created a tight alliance of four players consisting of Tyson, Sandra, Courtney and himself. Coach and Jerri were also in the mix, but the former player is too erratic while the latter isn't good enough at this competition to be a useful component of a winning alliance. As such, their positioning was tenuous right up until the moment when Tyson failed to follow the basic instruction to vote for Russell. Had he done this, that quartet of Villains would be in complete control of this game. Instead, Tyson went off on his own for no particular reason (he has admitted as much in post-game interviews) with the end result being that he effectively voted himself out of the game, something the rules of Survivor are designed to prevent.

With Tyson gone, Jerri made the bold decision to go out on her own, aligning with her least favorite player in the game, Parvati, as well as her troll doll of a companion, Russell. Coach theoretically did not join them as he honored his promise not to vote against Rob. The end result was the same, however, meaning that Coach had a hand in Rob's demise. Did Jerri and Coach make the smart play? We're going to find out starting this week.

What is undeniable is that Rob's early success is the primary reason why there was not an initial insurgency against him. Similarly, his early success dictated that he be eliminated at the first opportunity wherein his absence around camp would not be too great an impediment for his tribemates. Rob was the one who made fire, built their shelter and readied the components for most of their meals. He was by definition their meal ticket. Now that the cord has been cut, the others will be motivated to show that his absence is not the detriment we expect it to be. If this does not prove to be the case, the tightly aligned Heroes tribe may yet snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. If JT and Sandra are given the opportunity to work together, they could still gain the requisite numbers to usurp Parvati as the power player in the game. Of course, we think it's more likely that Sandra is the next player voted out. Tonight's episode promises great expectations straight down to the title. Let's see if it delivers on said promise.

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