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Despite what “Next Time On Survivor” says, I’m not convinced that we are going to see anyone flip over to join the Three Amigos. Reynold, Eddie and Malcolm are seen as huge immunity threats, and after the last Tribal Council they are seen as a tight threesome. Anyone joining them would be very obviously on the bottom rung of that alliance and most likely be out in fourth or fifth place. When they are already guaranteed sixth and leadership of the alliance is up for grabs, it’s not much of a carrot.

The other thing on any flipper’s mind will be “What will it look like if I make it to the final Tribal Council?” Any flipper would be faced with a jury dominated by Stealth R Us alumni. I think every one of the Stealthers would prefer to play the “I remained loyal to my alliance” card than “I flipped, and doomed almost all you guys sitting over there."

So I think it’s more likely that Phillip’s departure won’t shatter Stealth R Us. I’ll get into more detail in the power rankings, but my prediction is that Stealth R Us will pick up the pieces of their alliance, and everyone in it will quietly dump their stupid codenames and reassess who they will be taking to the end now that Plan A is gone.

Here are the power rankings for the week.

1. Andrea

We know Andrea and Eddie have a good relationship, and I’m convinced that Andrea and Cochran are going to square off against each other at one some point. So does that make her a good candidate for a flip? It would be a risky move, and I don’t think Andrea has much appetite for risk. And while she could have a budding showmance with Eddie if she wanted one, Eddie’s bromance with Reynold has been set in epoxy since Day One.

I think it’s more likely that Andrea and Cochran (with Dawn and Sherri) will realize they share a common interest in keeping their alliance for the time being, and work on keeping Brenda and Erik with them.

2. Cochran

Cochran’s plan is pretty locked in with Stealth R Us. We’ve seen him rebuild trust with Dawn, which must have been pretty tentative after their last season together, and with the newly-departed Phillip. What we haven’t seen is him build a relationship with anyone outside that alliance. So he’s not going to flip, and he’s going to do his best to convince other castaways not to flip either.

One thing that will change with Phillip gone is this: who is going to be Cochran’s fall guy now? My money’s on Dawn.

3. Malcolm

Malcolm had a moment of triumph last week, controlling the vote at the last Tribal Council to oust Phillip. But he also had to burn through two hidden immunity idols to do it, and that’s pretty much all the leverage he had left in the game. So I guess he’ll be out in the jungle looking for more idols to play, and failing that, trying to win immunity.

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