Next Time On…Survivor is a little blog I’m doing here on Inside Survivor, predicting the events of the next episode based on hints from the previous one as well as the preview trailers and commercials.
100-percent spoiler free speculation! Let’s do it!
Part 1: Previously On… Survivor
It hurts. It hurts so badly.
1. “Psychological warfare” doesn’t split up the girl as much as it does unite them against Scot and Jason even more.
Grade: It didn’t come down to Jason and Scot’s ridiculous sabotaging, but the girls did in fact splinter. It was her own fault, but Debbie was voted out for being a liability. D-.
2. Julia will vote with Michele and the rest of the women despite having been “swooped” after the reward challenge.
Grade: This was the only thing I was spot on about. Julia did end up voting with the girls (and Joe), it just wasn’t for the expected castaway. And the concern of her mutiny came directly from her willingness to be on Jason, Scot, and Tai’s reward challenge team. Giving myself an A!
3. Tai will be voted out with an idol in his pocket.
Grade: He sure ain’t now. F.
Winner pick: Debbie.
Grade: No. NO. NO!!
Part 2: The Super Idol
The Dara tribe has been divided into two, clearly defined sides: one just happens to have two hidden immunity idols (or one super idol depending on how you view it). At the end of Tribal Council last week, Tai was given both of these idols, essentially giving him a second life if he were to be voted out. Or, as I am sure the other men are expecting, the ability to save either Scot or Jason if one of them were to be voted out.
The teaser at the end of the episode shows Aubry trying to convince Tai to walk towards the light and away from the “despicable” former Brawn tribe members whom Tai has aligned himself with. And really, that’s all Aubry can do. If Tai is going to keep his super idol and play it as needed for his alliance, all anyone can try to do is get him to keep it for himself while the rest of the tribe votes for either Scot or Jason or maybe even Julia.
Tai has repeatedly been shown as unsure about his ties with Jason and Scot but has followed their lead in sabotaging the camp and in voting. Is a plea from Aubry enough to pull Tai back over?
No. I don’t believe that is enough. What I do believe is enough is the possibility to link back up with Michele and Julia inside of the larger alliance of Aubry, Cydney, Michele, Joe, and Julia.
And this, friends, is where I believe the slew of Michele winner predictions may begin to be validated from a strategic perspective and not just edit reading.
During the commercial spot, we see Scot promising Julia a place in the final three with him and Jason if she goes along with their plans. That’s a big promise, and certainly not one they can easily keep especially with the super idol floating around in Tai’s pocket. What would stop Julia from talking to Tai and mentioning what Scot told her? She has shown a willingness to be open with information if she believes it could help her game; this could seriously unsettle Tai and be the final push necessary to get him to hang onto his super idol while Jason or Scot is eliminated.
Beyond this, Julia has a sincerely deep connection with Michele. If given the opportunity to organize a final three with her, she will likely take it. Essentially, this is how I think the next few weeks are going to go in a nutshell:
Julia and Tai will “escape” Jason and Scot’s evil clutches and vote one of them off (likely Jason for being more of a final tribal threat than NBA player Scot) with the rest of the tribe. Following this, Michele, Julia, and Tai will pull in the leftover Brawn man to take out Aubry, Cydney, and Joe. Michele and Julia with the help of whichever Brawn they kept around will then vote out Tai for being too big a jury threat, leading to a Michele victory in the final tribal council.
Of course, this is all loose speculation that doesn’t involve the super idol, the possibility of a final two, nor any other medical evacuations. Hell, I feel like I could argue that Michele’s edit is one of a medevac due to her continuous stream of unnecessary, pointing-out-the-obvious confessionals. That said, I see a clear path to her victory now where I didn’t before, and it all starts with being part of the rally to convince Tai to hang on to his super idol.
Part 3: Hello, mysterious advantage
A quick scroll through the press photos for next episode reveals the potential to receive a power of some sort at the reward challenge. It appears the castaways will be allowed to choose from food, love and an advantage.
I have absolutely no idea what this advantage is, nor a clue of who is going to win the challenge. Both Cydney and Tai have proven to be monsters at endurance challenges, so if either of them won, I wouldn’t be surprised.
As for the advantage, I suppose your guess is as good as mine. I suppose the most likely thing for it to be is the ability for the challenge winner to steal a vote from another player at Tribal Council like we saw Stephen do in Second Chance. Technically, we are living in a world where that hasn’t happened yet since Kaoh Rong filmed beforehand. If not that, perhaps it’s an opportunity to practice the immunity challenge before everyone else even sees it. Truly, I’ve got nothin’.
Tweet at me at @JacobDerwin if you have any more interesting ideas than those stated because I am clueless!
Part 4: Wrap-up
1. Tai will not vote with Jason and Scot at the next Tribal, nor will he give either of them the super idol when they need it.
2. Julia and Tai will abandon ship and begin working with Michele, Aubry, Cydney and Joe.
3. Jason will be voted out.
Current winner pick: Marc the Chicken will be the winner of Survivor: Kaoh Rong.
Actually, I’m jumping on the Michele train for now as her path to victory appears the most doable to me.
Written by
Michelle could be getting this edit because she is in Final 2 or 3, but it still doesn’t mean she will win.
You keep talking about Tai having the Super Idol. According to ‘Rob Has a Podcast,’ they had a source who said that Tai gave Jason his half of the idol back when they left tribal council. I don’t recall what that source was, but Rob’s podcast is usually pretty reliable.
If this is true, does it change any of your predictions?
It would take away A LOT of the power Tai has over Scot and Jason. If he did give it back, the play to take out Jason would have to be a lot sneakier. If one of the Brawn guys is taken out, the rest of the prediction stays the same, basically. That said, we’ll see!
If Tai did that, he truly needs to go.
The source was Jason Kyle on twitter.
Let us not forget what the potential second twist to this season was rumored to be (I’m trying to keep this as “spoiler-free” as possible so I’ll just post the link) http://insidesurvivor.com/survivor-kaoh-rong-another-twist-7730
Could this potentially be the advantage shown in the press photos?
I had forgotten all about that twist. I hope that is true. I would love to see what that would do to the game. I have some suggestions on how I would like to see it work to be fair, but I won’t divulge those here to avoid any more spoilers.