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Previously on Survivor, there was a bunch of terrible communication that resulted in Nick being sent to the jury. Too bad, because he was a terrible player of the game, and I would have liked to see him go out at the peak of his hubris.

To his credit, Nick took his vote-out well, admitting in his post-boot interview that he deserved it. I’ve been down on Nick since the beginning of the season, but I will say that it seems a fair-sized chunk of Nick’s douchiness may have been him giving the producers what they wanted. Still, if you’re the type of guy who says “I’m going to be ‘that guy,’ you know, for entertainment,” then deep down you really are that guy.

Last week’s antics mean that the alliances have completely up-ended. We seem to have a loose alliance of six or seven with the three remaining Brains, Cydney, Michele and Julia and possibly Tai. Jason and Scot are on the outs, but the thing about quickly-formed alliances of convenience is that they are formed to get rid of a threat, and once that threat is gone there is a lot of jockeying for position.

Here are the power rankings for this week:

1. Cydney

Cydney made a good resumé-building move in being the architect of Nick’s ouster. If he had been saved for a later vote, it would have been Jason and Scot’s move. However, she’s gone against her alliance and may be stuck with an all-new one filled with people she doesn’t really know, and the only one in that alliance who isn’t part of a pair. For a great player of Survivor, making yourself the swing vote in a majority alliance is a brilliant move. It remains to be seen whether Cydney is a great Survivor player.

2. Michele

Michele said she was conflicted over getting rid of Nick because she was in an alliance with him, but obviously decided that it would be in her best interests after all. Michele seems to have some idea of how to play, but she's so low-key that I can't see her doing better than "person on the jury that no-one votes for."

3. Debbie

The original plan for last episode was for Debbie to be voted out after the vote was split between her and Aubry, but I think that means some people are really, really tired of her.

4. Aubry

Aubry was hit by self-esteem issues last episode, which hopefully hit their nadir when she described herself as “Cochran’s dream girl.”

5. Julia

We actually heard from Julia last week, and not only that – we learned she has opinions and stuff! She even said something at Tribal Council, saying there would be opportunities to switch things up later on, before voting to switch things up immediately. So that was nicely played.

She also talked about how she wanted to remain loyal to Scot, presumably because he saved her from being voted out a few weeks ago. So, next week’s previews show her getting into trouble for playing both sides.

6. Joe

Last week, we learned that Joe normally wears hearing aids, which he left at home. I’m assuming he’s telling the truth but if not, that’s a level of deviousness unseen since Johnny Fairplay. (You can tell I’m really scratching for things that would make this season interesting.)

Unfortunately for Joe, he is target #1 within his alliance – its success is going to rely on keeping balance between the Beauties and the Brains, and of the remaining Brains, he is the most expendable.

7. Scot

We didn’t see much of Scot last episode, aside from his explanation that all the money he makes goes to supporting his family - but as I said one or two columns ago, I don’t think anyone actually loses votes at the end of the game for being rich. So Scot’s streak of irrelevance continues.

8. Jason

Jason started out quite well in defusing the situation with Cydney, by saying that it was Nick on his own who went to talk with Julia, and not part of some guys' alliance. This appears to be true as Nick has said post-show that while he, Scot and Jason seemed tight on-screen, Jason and Scot were stringing him along, and vice versa. But then Jason screwed everything up by telling her “and then YOU blew up.” If you want to keep people on your side, you can’t blame them for everything even if it is their fault (which in this case, it wasn’t really). Anyway, in the end the vote didn’t go his way and from next week’s preview, we get that old Brawn negativity back again.

I can’t really make a link between last episode’s gameplay and Jason’s tattoos, so I’ll just say this - Cadillac logo.

9. Tai

Michelle said twice last week that it’s only once you get to Tribal Council that people see what kind of player you are. Tai has been to Tribal Council once before, but we learned that he is really not a good player, cracking under pressure at the mildest questioning from Probst and blurting out the secret of the super-idol for everyone to hear. People who let secrets like that slip out don’t find many people willing to play Survivor with them.

Also, Nick helpfully cleared up Tai’s vote for Jason in post-show interviews – apparently the vote was going to be for Jason and then got switched to Nick, but Tai somehow didn’t get that message. Which, based on how Tai’s Tribal Council went, might have been the best decision that group made.

Next time on Survivor, Jason and Scot demonstrate their weak position in the game by hiding stuff at camp.