We’re down to six players left in the game—Xander, Deshawn, Heather, Erika, Danny, and Ricard. After the last two episodes, it seems that Danny and Deshawn are in trouble at the bottom of the merged tribe. However, this week’s Next Time On trailer offers some hints of hope for them.
First, we get a confessional from Danny, “If there is an idol on this island, I hope I find it.” As he says this, we see him searching for an idol and then a quick shot of a wrapped idol or a clue highlighted by the editors in post-production. Since Naseer and Shan exited the game with an idol each, it’s not unheard of to think that another idol or two has been rehidden.
This season also features twists that sends players to a separate island, for exile or to make the prisoner’s dilemma choice for advantages. Perhaps Danny will be sent away, and he then hopes to find an idol while separated from the rest of the players.
It’s an interesting sequence that, to me, stands out from the average idol hunt scenes we are normally given a preview of. Yes, we see the idol, and we see the search happening. However, this time we also get a preview of what seems to be a scene that happens afterwards. Ricard states, “There’s something about the vibe that shifted that scares me,” while the visuals show Danny acting shifty with a weird grin on his face.
Taking this NTOS sequence at face value suggests that Danny finds the idol, and perhaps Ricard senses that he’s acting a little too confident for someone that’s a potential vote. However, I don’t think the trailer would give away the episode so cleanly. I’m inclined to think that Danny doesn’t find the idol, and Ricard is actually referring to something else that happens at camp.
This segues nicely to the second portion of the trailer, where Erika tells Deshawn, “We want to keep you,” and then confesses that “new plans are put on the table.” Erika was the swing vote in the last episode, deciding between getting Liana or Ricard out, and I think she sits safely in the middle of the tribe and seems to have many options ahead of her. We then see Deshawn telling Xander, “You and Erika, that will be a good final three,” shaking hands to perhaps cement a new alliance.
I feel that this new alliance of Erika, Xander, and Deshawn, is what Ricard is referring to when he says that the vibe has shifted. And I feel like it’s an alliance that will follow through in the episodes to come. I think that it’s in Erika’s interest to form an alliance without Heather to set them apart. Similarly, I think Deshawn will do the same to differentiate himself from Danny. These two pairs have been playing together since the start, and as the number of players dwindles, I feel like Erika and Deshawn will end up cutting Heather and Danny, respectively.
However, I think that their priority will be to get Ricard out first. My prediction is that Ricard gets eliminated in Episode 12 if he doesn’t win the immunity challenge. Though I’m really rooting for him, I don’t think he’ll be able to squeeze himself into an alliance with the remaining players who have rightly identified him as a threat to win the game. If Ricard wins immunity, I think Heather will be voted out this coming episode.
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What do you think will happen in Episode 12? Leave a comment with your predictions!
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I agree.
Ricard is playing on borrowed time at this point.
TEST 1
Editing on SURVIVOR for trailers and for pre-tribal votes is always intentionally misdirecting. Most likely none of the strategies shown in the clip will happen and somebody like XANDER gets voted out with an IDOL in his pocket. Safest analysis is to watch the trailer’s social interactions and say okay now we know those plans are not going to be impactful.