Welcome to Season 49’s Next Time On Survivor weekly feature on the Inside Survivor site! If you’re new around here, I’m Steph from sunny, tropical, humid Singapore. This is a tiny space where I give my best attempts at understanding preview trailers and make my predictions for the show’s next episodes.
The game’s getting changed up again with the tribe swap! Watching the promo trailer, we can make out from shots of the challenge that the players will be split into two tribes. From the quick shot of the water challenge, where each team drags along a boat, we can just make out the new tribe lineups.
On the new yellow tribe are Nate, Savannah, Jawan, and Rizo, who were formerly from Uli, along with Matt and Jason from Hina, and Sophi, one of the two players remaining from Kele. On the new red tribe, we have Sage and Shannon, formerly from Uli; Kristina, Sophie, Stephen, and MC from Hina; and Alex from Kele.
Right from the get-go, I think the tribe swap is going to be great for Alex and Sophi, the two players from the Kele tribe. After being the only tribe that lost players so far, I feel like they’re in a good position to start afresh with a new group of players who seem to be open to making new alliances. I predict that the two will be able to align themselves with an alliance that could use them as a number.
Looking back at Episode 3, I find myself expecting a Uli versus Hina match, especially becuase of how the yellow Hina players have been portrayed. Even though there were small comments made about planning potential targets if they went to the tribal council, they largely look to be staying together and keeping their numbers intact.
This is somewhat affirmed in the NTOS trailer. Steven (Hina) comments about how Shannon (Uli) “is a shark in a spiritual guru’s body.” In the next scene, Savannah (Uli) tells Jawan (Uli as well), “he’s cutthroat,” while the shot cuts to Matt (Hina). These are just a small fraction of the new tribe dynamics, but I do believe it’s interesting to note how the lines here are still drawn according to the original starting tribes.
As such, my prediction is that we’ll see the original Uli and Hina players keep together, both sides trying to pull Sophi and Alex into their alliance. On the new yellow tribe, I think Jason will be targeted for being a challenge threat. In the immunity challenge last episode, he was highlighted prominently for his puzzle-solving skills that have helped Hina win multiple times thus far. With such a hint, I think it’s a matter of time before he gets targeted, so my bet is that he will be voted out next episode if the new yellow tribe, which has an original Hina minority, goes to tribal council.
What do you think will happen in Episode 4? Leave your predictions in the comments!
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