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“Favorites”

1. Phillip

I considered putting Phillip down the batting order this week because his position in the game took a beating last week. It was the “fans” first real look inside the dynamics among the “favorites” and what they saw was Phillip being the guy in charge. His unconvincing denials only enhanced this. If Phillip ends up on a tribe which is a majority of “fans” plus Erik and/or Brenda, he could be in trouble.

But instead I am putting him up top, which is probably overdue. Within his own tribe, Phillip is consolidating his power. He dealt coolly - at least to Brandon’s face - with the smack talk about how no one believes in Stealth R Us and everyone is laughing at Phillip behind his back. But at the same time they were valid points, and he is reconsidering his position - which is why we see him interviewing about getting Corinne out. Getting rid of the person who takes him least seriously will mean everyone left takes him more seriously.

2. Malcolm

Malcolm has been invisible since he found the idol, but things turned out his way last week. Phillip was outed as being in control of the “favorites”, making him the obvious future target for any “fan”-led vote. He’s more indispensable to his tribe in challenges now that Brandon is gone.

3. Cochran

I wonder what Cochran, the Survivor super-fan, thought of last week’s episode? I bet it wasn’t “Oh man, I can’t wait to watch this on TV!” If Cochran’s finding something else to do on Wednesdays at 8, CBS has problems. Anyway, Cochran’s quiet, unthreatening game is working for him so far, and he seems to have done well in building links with everyone on the tribe, which should make him less of an outsider in a tribe switch. Looking forward, his main issue is going to be his history – how is he going to get rid of people who won’t get him further in the game without being seen as a weak traitor by the others?

4. Dawn

We’re still not seeing a lot of Dawn, aside from some controlled breathing. She is certainly the most stressed-out of the remaining “favorites”. I wonder how she would perform in a final Tribal Council? Anyway, she is in a good position under the status quo, but a tribe switch would probably have more downside for Dawn than upside.

5. Andrea

With Brandon's exit, so went Andrea’s ill-advised plan to bring him into the Stealth R Us alliance. The emerging ructions between Phillip and Corinne could give Andrea just what she wanted – an excuse to get Corinne out – but will she get it? And if Phillip is seen as leading the alliance, and becomes a target because of that, Andrea may have to find a Plan B.

6. Corinne

Corinne didn’t have a good showing last week. She had the horrible job of being tribe spokesperson, she was called out by Brandon during her speech about having no respect for the “fans”, and later she was saying “we didn’t all deserve to have our beans and rice dumped," implying that maybe Phillip did deserve it. For all her talk about wanting Phillip gone, there is no way she will be able to get the numbers for it.

7. Erik and Brenda

A Corinne elimination and/or a tribe switch would give much-needed leverage to both Brenda and Erik – whether by working their way up the corporate ladder at Stealth R Us or flipping to join the “fans”. But we haven’t seen them do much of anything yet – thanks editors! – so I’ll keep them at the bottom.

Anyway, here’s to tonight’s episode being the tribe’s Etch-a-Sketch moment where the castaways start playing the game in earnest, and we can forget all the unpleasantness that has passed since the beginning of the season.

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