Survivor: Blood vs Water - Power Rankings
Week 8
By Ben Willoughby
November 5, 2013
If Next Time On Survivor isn’t lying (for once), we have a merge this week. Also, the people left in the game after the Redemption Island duel will make up the final three and the jury for this season – and therefore should be considered “date-worthy.”
How the merge is going to shake out is a little more complicated than in past seasons, because of the tribe switch and the loved ones, but going into the merge everyone seems to be thinking that the original alliances of old and the new tribes are going to stick together.
1. Aras
Everyone still sees Aras as being the one to beat, and now there is a definite plan to get rid of him. The new Tadhana alliance led by Tyson has five votes, and while they need a sixth, they have ties to both Laura? (who presumably would be happy to vote for Aras) and John that they can work with. We haven’t seen if Aras is aware of the burgeoning threat on his own tribe, but then again since everyone else is ready to vote him off, who is he able to voice any concerns to?
2. Tina
Tina has been running the votes on the new Galang for the last couple of episodes, but things are going to change a lot with the merge. Fortunately for Tina, she has options. Option A is getting the original Galang alliance of herself, Aras, Tyson, Gervase and Monica back together, and adding loved ones Katie and Vytas. But even if that is possible, seven is too many people in an alliance at this stage, and it would inevitably fracture. Option B is taking the opportunity to vote out Aras at the merge, and then building new alliances over the coming episodes. However, this is super-risky and will only happen if Tina sees an Aras boot as inevitable. Option C is building a new alliance with Katie, Aras and Vytas that would also include Monica (who has nowhere else to go) and one other. That has its challenges, because who can they tempt into an alliance of six with two pairs and Monica? Still, I think Option C is the most likely.
3. Tyson
This looks like this week will be Tyson’s week, where he either redeems himself for his past Survivor Bonehead Moment and succeeds in getting rid of Aras, or he over-calculates and gets completely blind-sided. Honestly, I’d be happy with either one.
4. Gervase
Gervase is one of the new Tadhana alliance, but he continues to play a quiet game. He seems convinced of the need to get rid of Aras at some stage, though he has let Tyson take the lead at this stage, which makes me think he’s following his own agenda. If there’s anyone on that Tadhana five who could be convinced to flip on Tyson, Gervase seems to be the most likely candidate.
5. Vytas
Vytas’ meditative powers have been working so far, but with the merge and his presumed Aras pair-up he is not getting to be any less of a target. He is fast running out of dummies who will shoot themselves in the foot before others get a chance to vote for him and frankly, I don’t think anyone left in the game really trusts him. I think they all like him, but I think Vy-“your skin looks great”-tas is a little too transparent.
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