Welcome to Season 44’s Next Time On Survivor weekly feature on the Inside Survivor site! If you’re new around here, this is a tiny space where I give my best attempts at understanding preview trailers and make my predictions for the next episodes of the show. Let’s jump right in!
Only six players are left in the game, and the preview trailers don’t reveal much at this point. The NTOS preview begins with Carson pointing out, “Somehow we are finally in the majority, and now we can run this game,” referring to himself, Yam Yam, and Carolyn, three players from the original Tika starting tribe.
Indeed, the Tika trio has navigated being in the minority at the merge, taking out players from Soka and Ratu while sliding past vote by vote. From the many scenes we’ve seen of them discussing strategy and their plans to get to the end, they’ve always stuck to the alliance despite having disagreements.
Just last episode, Carolyn bounced back to work with Carson and Yam Yam again right after being utterly blindsided by the Frannie vote. My prediction is that they are going to stick together at least for the next final 6 vote because it just makes sense for their individual games. If they hand over the majority to the other players, I’m sure they will get picked off since the other players have made it clear that they see Tika as a threat to win. Jaime’s “We are outnumbered, we have to break that up” confessional comes just a little too late.
Though I believe the Three Stooges will continue working together in the next vote, it isn’t all smooth sailing and certain. Yam Yam seems to be having doubts about the alliance, telling Carson, “I think Carolyn can win.” And in a teary confessional, he says, “I need to take Carolyn out. Breaks my heart a little bit.” This may be one of the ideas Yam Yam considers, and rightfully so, as on the surface read, the two of them have played fairly similar games. He may be concerned that the jury will equate them too much if they both get to the final tribal council.
Other players are also keen on targeting Carolyn, perhaps due to her surprise idol play last tribal council. Lauren states that “Carolyn plays like she’s clueless, but she’s fooling all of us.” Even though there is support to vote Carolyn out, my prediction is that Yam Yam floats the idea to Carson but is not able to get Carson’s support to put the plan into action. As mentioned, it’s rather unwise of them to give up their majority position at this stage, as I’m sure Heidi, Jaime, and Lauren would like to vote them out.
Finally, a portion of the NTOS preview highlights the players searching for the hidden immunity idol. This will probably be the last time to use it at the final 6, and an idol may have possibly been rehidden after Carolyn played hers. As Carson rightly points out, “Everyone knows if they find the idol, it could change the entire course of this game.” My wild guess is that Carolyn finds it again, ensuring her safety in the next tribal council.
Speaking of hidden idols, we’ve been teased and reminded of Heidi’s idol, which she found after Danny played his. She may consider using it to make a move with Lauren and Jaime to blindside one of the three Tika players. However, what’s more likely is that she uses it simply to save herself. As the last player from Soka left standing, I think she’s not that trusting of Lauren and Jaime and thus would not risk her individual safety to work with players that have tried to get her and her alliance out for a couple of episodes now.
All in all, I predict that either Lauren or Jaime will get voted out in Episode 12. I’m leaning towards Jaime just because I feel like we don’t know Lauren all too well, which makes for easy storytelling for the final 5 vote later on in a packed finale episode. I think Heidi likely looks out for herself and aligns with Carolyn, Carson, and Yam Yam.
Who do you think will get voted out in Episode 12? Leave your predictions in the comment section below!
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I agree with almost everything you said except I think it will be Lauren to go home. And I think Carson finds the idol
I personally would like Carolyn gone! “Nuf” said!