Welcome back to Inside Survivor’s 50 For 50, a semi-regular feature highlighting 50 former castaways who we think should be considered for a spot on Survivor 50. In a snake draft, the Inside Survivor team selected ten players each, with the only rule being they couldn’t have played more than twice.
PROFILE
Name: Hai Giang
Age: 32
Season: Survivor 42, 2022
Finish: 8th Place
HIGHLIGHTS
At the start of Survivor 42, data scientist Hai had the chance to participate in a new twist alongside Drea Wheeler and Lindsay Dolashewich when the three of them each acquired an Advantage Amulet during the opening challenge. Starting on the Vati tribe, Hai thrived socially, built a close relationship with Lydia Meredith, and looked to form a working relationship with Chanelle Howell and Daniel Strunk.
Chaos struck Vati at their first tribal council when Chanelle and Mike Turner both lost their votes, leading to a 2-2 tie between Lydia and Jenny Kim. After it tied again on the revote, Hai went head-to-head with Daniel, never backing down and ultimately convincing him to vote out Jenny over Lydia. Following this vote, Hai took advantage of the situation and pulled Mike into his alliance with Lydia, and the three of them ousted Daniel at the last tribal before the (fake) merge.
At Mergetory, Hai was vulnerable, but Omar Zaheer shifted the vote to his ally Lydia instead, and he was forced to vote out his closest ally. Despite this loss, Hai remained confident in his position and worked with the majority alliance. At the split tribal, Hai pushed for a Rocksroy Bailey vote against Mike’s wishes.
At the Final Eight, Omar took advantage of Mike’s frustration with Hai and lied to him, telling Mike that Hai referred to him as his “puppet.” Lindsay, in turn, revealed the Advantage Amulets to Mike and Omar, and a plan was set in motion to blindside Hai and give Lindsay’s amulet more power. Hai, believing Jonathan Young was the consensus vote, was blindsided by his own alliance in a 6-2 vote.
WHY HE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED
Hai showed a lot of potential at the start of his season, demonstrating a strong strategic mindset and an effective social game. The way he handled the tense revote at the Jenny vs. Lydia tribal and his ability to use the aftermath of that vote to build a long-term strategic relationship with Mike highlights his strengths as a player.
However, Hai played a little too aggressively and became overconfident when he shouldn’t have in the post-merge. He was never quite a full-on villain, but his outspoken strategic approach still caused conflict, especially in his relationships with Romeo Escobar and Mike. This conflict ultimately put him in a lot of danger at critical points in the game.
If he returns for Survivor 50, Hai has a lot of unfinished business, having been blindsided brutally by his own allies. Will he approach the game the same way, or will he try to lay low to avoid putting himself in the same position he found himself in Survivor 42? And if Omar (who spread a lie that ended his game) or Mike (who believed the lie and turned on him) happens to end up on the cast with him, will Hai be able to bury the hatchet or forgive and forget?
I’ll be the first to admit that as we’ve gotten deeper into the New Era, the impact of a player like Hai has certainly diminished with time, and a return from him seems less and less likely for 50. I won’t be shocked if he’s not on the cast. But I’d still like to put him forward as a strong potential candidate for the season, especially if one of Mike, Omar, or even Lindsay is also cast on the season to carry on some of Survivor 42’s storylines.
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