Hello all, welcome back to the Edit Bay! This weekly feature takes a dive into the edit of the latest Survivor episode, analyzing the key stories, main characters, and top winner contenders.
For those new to The Edit Bay, it is a condensed version of Edgic, highlighting some of the stand-out story beats from the most recent episode. It also includes my weekly Edgic ratings for each castaway at the end of the article.
OVERVIEW
As we head into the season’s home stretch, it’s time to regroup and look at each of the remaining ten players and see where they currently fit in the story and their chances of winning.
ANDY
Andy got his revenge on Sam and Sierra last week when he flipped on his old Gata tribemates and joined the majority in sending Sierra home. This story had been set up in the pre-merge, with all the foreshadowing of Andy being a detriment to Gata in the long term. This was reemphasized at the merge after Andy found out Sam & Sierra were happy to use his name as a backup at the Rome vote.
This past episode leaned heavily on this story, showing how Sierra, in particular, underestimated Andy. In confessional, she talked about having Andy in her and Sam’s back pocket and how they would tolerate him until they no longer had to. At the same time, Andy was plotting their downfall, having his She’s All That transformation moment.
I think the edit wanted the audience to be on Andy’s side here, focusing on Sierra’s overconfidence. However, I’m not sure Andy’s edit holds value as a rootable winner. His edit is still very OTT, and he’s often made to look foolish. In this past episode, he talked about sucking at challenges, and we saw him failing to find any money during the auction money run. His transformation montage was also extremely OTT.
The question for Andy now is whether his transformation sticks. Will the silly goofball stop in favor of a more strategic, cutthroat player? If that happens, there is possibly a world where he could win. Yet, my gut tells me he will continue to dip in and out of OTTness. I can even see a world where Andy is a final tribal council loser.
Another positive for Andy is that he has multiple relationships that could branch off into future stories. He now obviously has a rivalry with Sam, but he’s also had one-on-one alliance talks with Sol and Genevieve. In addition, he had a heavily emphasized relationship with Rachel in the premiere, which still feels like unfinished business.
So, there is plenty of narrative juice left in Andy’s edit, and I fully expect him to continue being a driving force of this season. But I’m not convinced that Andy is a top contender with the edit we’ve seen up until this point.
CAROLINE
Caroline’s edit has certainly had an uptick in visibility since the merge, though she remains at the bottom of those remaining in terms of content. While her duo with Sue has been well-established since the premiere, Caroline’s post-merge edit has become a story of failing to make a move.
Coming into the merge, Caroline wanted to keep her Tuku tribe together. This fell apart after Rachel removed herself from tribal, forcing the Tukus to turn on each other and vote out Tiyana. Of course, there wasn’t anything Caroline could do about this, but it was the start of her being unable to take out Rachel.
This past episode saw Caroline continue to talk about how big of a threat she deems Rachel. She talked with Genevieve about voting out Rachel, preferring to take her out over Sam or Sierra. Again, though, this didn’t happen. That is now twice in a row that Caroline has failed to get out Rachel. There was even a heavily emphasized line from Jeff at the challenge, where he said, “Caroline, trying to make a move!”
So where does she go from here? With how much the edit has focused on her going after Rachel, I can only see it ending in one of two ways. Either Caroline eventually takes Rachel out, or, more likely, her fears come true, and she is voted out at Rachel’s hands. Maybe even the result of an idol play?
GABE
This was a mixed episode for Gabe. He started off licking his wounds after last week’s tribal, which he described as a “disaster.” He then commiserated about having yet to win a reward and how he wanted to make his money count at the auction, only to end up bidding on a coconut.
That said, later in the episode, he noted how he viewed Sierra as the head of the snake and wanted her to go over Sam. Ultimately, he got his way, which can’t be said for the likes of Caroline, Teeny, and Genevieve.
Overall, this episode didn’t do much to change my thoughts on Gabe’s edit. I still see a downfall in his future, whether it’s in the form of a blindside or a FTC loser. He has been shown to be overconfident and underestimating his fellow players, which spells doom one way or another.
GENEVIEVE
I put Genevieve as a top contender last week, and I can still see a path to victory, even if this past episode was a little shaky. We got a lot of thoughts from Genevieve in this episode, whether it was about the auction or her strategic plans. We learned how she’d prefer to work with the Tuku members over Teeny’s preference of working with Gata, and she ultimately got her way in that regard.
Genevieve led the strategic talk with Caroline and Sue, where she put forward the idea of working together and taking out a Gata. She then explained why she’d prefer Rachel to be the first Gata to go, noting how she saw her as the biggest threat. Of course, like with Caroline, Genevieve failed to take Rachel out, which is a hit against her.
The plus for Genevieve here, and something which Caroline didn’t get, is that she got to soften the blow of her failed attack on Rachel. In the final confessional of the episode, she acknowledged that trying to get eight people on the same page was a difficult task and that the chances were “slim to none” of everyone agreeing on the target. So there is a bit of a get-of-jail-free card there, as long as she gets to discuss the vote in the next episode.
Genevieve’s biggest issue will always be her first three episodes. She was way under the radar and didn’t really emerge until the fourth episode. The defense for that is that her fourth episode was so strong that it could counteract the weak start. Since then, she has remained a focal strategist and is clearly portrayed as a strong gamer.
KYLE
I don’t have a great deal to say about Kyle. His edit has always been fairly lackluster, and his post-merge edit very much seems to be the challenge threat who will be voted out once he loses immunity. On the plus side, this episode showed that Kyle is at least aware of the target he’s building for his own back, and he had a brief bonding scene with Sol.
However, we didn’t get any follow-up from Kyle on the Tiyana vote despite her being his closest ally. Even the smallest of explanations as to why he sided with Gabe and co would have been welcome. Instead, we are left with this likable family man, who gets little bits of personal content (vegetarian stuff at the auction) but contributes little to the overall arc other than being a challenge threat.
RACHEL
Rachel’s edit has come alive more than anyone’s in the post-merge as she sets forth on an underdog comeback story. Following the Anika boot, she told us she needed a fresh start, which came in the form of the merge. While she is still fighting from the backfoot, she’s doing so with a renewed game awareness and a highlighted sixth sense.
The good thing about Rachel’s edit is she has a clear story now. She acknowledged that she was blindsided by the Anika boot, but since then, she has tried to be more wary of what is going on around her. We saw that last week when she sensed Gabe was lying to her with his decoy “vote Caroline” plan, leading to her playing the Safety Without Power.
This happened again in the latest episode when she sensed something was off heading into tribal council (she also correctly sensed she’d won a burger at the auction). “I want to feel good in this kind of Gata-Lavo, like, union. But they’re still having a lot of conversations with people,” she said. “You just don’t know what’s gonna happen, but what I do know is that I have an idol that nobody knows about. Now, the pressure’s on that I know when and if I need to play it.”
That confessional tied into tribal council, where Rachel played her Shot in the Dark. The camera focused on Rachel looking and reading her fellow tribemates, presumably to work out whether or not she needed to play her idol. Ideally, Rachel will have a confessional talking about this move in the coming episode.
Earlier in the episode, Rachel found out that Sol was the one who sent her the Safety Without Power advantage, and there was a scene of them bonding. What I found interesting here is that Rachel said, “I finally have someone that I can look at and be like, “I think at least for now, I could trust you.” The “for now” stood out, and I’m wondering if this suggests Rachel will lose trust with Sol after he voted against Sierra last week.
In addition, there was more SPV (second-person visibility) about Rachel being a huge threat, someone who is dangerous and sneaky. This sneakiness was backed up when Rachel successfully retrieved the idol from within the tarp. Caroline’s line about how the sneaky ones get through and stop them from making it to the end felt like ominous foreshadowing. This sneakiness was also threaded in from the pre-merge, with the rice stealing scene in Episode 2.
Finally, there is unfinished business between Rachel and Andy from the premiere. There was so much emphasis on that relationship that it must surely have meaning beyond the premiere. We haven’t really had a follow-up on that yet, other than Andy siding with Sam & Sierra over the girls back on Gata, but that was more focused on Anika than Rachel.
If you were looking for a counterpoint, you could say Rachel’s increase in content in the past two episodes has been circumstantial. She was the target at the split tribal when she was given the Safety Without Power, and then she found the idol this past episode. If Rachel’s visibility spike was merely due to circumstance, then it will be interesting to see what kind of edit she receives in this coming episode.
SAM
Sam’s edit has certainly taken a hit in the post-merge, with a large part of his story focused on his underestimation of Andy. Now that Andy has made his move and taken out Sierra, all eyes are on how Sam reacts. The next episode is vitally important in telling whether Sam’s game will burn down with Sierra’s or whether he can bounce back to make a deeper run.
On the plus side, we always know where Sam stands. He told us last week that he wanted Gata to work with Lavo to take out the Tukus. And even though this didn’t end up panning out, it made us aware of where Sam’s head was at in the game. Sam is in need of a big regroup episode this week, with an explanation of his strategy moving forward.
SOL
Sol has had an increase in content over the past couple of weeks, and last week, he explained his strategy. He told us how he’s been portraying this kind of goofy guy to hide his strategic side. This led to his scene with Rachel, where he told her he was the one who gave her the advantage.
I’m not sure how much stock to put into the Sol and Rachel partnership just yet, given that Rachel said she can trust him “for now” and Sol referred to his alliance as “Sol’s Secret Agents,” which doesn’t exactly suggest a mutual partnership. We also know that Sol voted with the majority last week and left Rachel out of the vote.
Sol’s edit is still recovering from being so heavily tied to Rome in the pre-merge. He’s in search of a story of his own. That could be his bond with Rachel, but I’m going to need to see more.
SUE
Sue’s edit has taken the biggest crash in the post-merge compared to the pre-merge. She was riding a lot of momentum coming into the merge, with a nice mix of personal and strategic content and firmly established alliances and relationships. However, she’s all but disappeared over the past two episodes.
Last week, I said we needed to hear from Sue regarding the Tiyana vote-off, especially after not having a single confessional in Episode 7. Yet, we heard nothing. In fact, Sue only had one confessional in this episode, and it was a post-challenge-win inspirational type. This was a positive look for Sue, but there was nothing of substance here other than her proving she is not to be underestimated again.
There is a severe lack of follow-up in Sue’s post-merge edit. Not only did we not hear her thoughts on the Tiyana vote, but it’s been a while since she’s had a proper check-in with Gabe. We also haven’t heard an update on her feelings towards Kyle, someone she previously had beef with and is now working with.
I still feel like Sue’s edit has longevity, and I’m not completely writing her off if she can have a big comeback episode this week. But she’s starting to feel more like a losing finalist than a winner.
TEENY
Teeny remains a consistent presence, someone the edit always checks in with to get their strategic thoughts. This episode we heard their thoughts on the Gata-Lavo alliance, plus their preference for the target between Sierra, Sam, and Rachel. The problem is that Teeny lacks power.
“I would want Sam to be the Gata who goes home tonight. My hope is that I can convince everybody to vote Sam out,” Teeny said after explaining how she’d bonded with Sierra. However, as the vote proved, Teeny was unable to convince the others to take out Sam over Sierra.
Now, Teeny did have an out when they said, “I don’t want to take the reins and be too pushy about anything.” But this comes back to a common theme with Teeny’s edit, which is that they lack that killer instinct and ability to strike. We saw this with the emotional conflict over the Aysha boot and their blindside over the Kishan boot.
I could see Teeny making the final episode, perhaps even as the last Lavo standing. It’s telling that they were presented as the Lavo tribe’s main narrator, and so that must mean something. But I’m no longer seeing the path to victory.
CONTENDERS
Top: Rachel
Middle: Genevieve
Bottom: Sue
EDGIC CHART
| Name | EP 1 | EP 2 | EP 3 | EP 4 | EP 5 | EP 6 | EP 7 | EP 8 | EP 9 | EP 10 | EP 11 | EP 12 | EP 13 | EP 14 |
 Andy |
OTTN5 | OTTN4 | CP2 | OTTN3 | CP4 | MOR3 | CPM3; | OTT3 | ||||||
 Caroline |
UTRP1 | MOR3 | UTR1 | MOR2 | CP3 | MOR3 | CP3 | MOR3 | ||||||
 Gabe |
CP5 | CPN4 | CPN2 | UTR1 | MOR3 | UTR2 | CPN4 | MOR3 | ||||||
 Genevieve |
UTR1 | INV | UTR2 | CP4 | CP3 | MOR3 | CP2 | MOR3 | ||||||
 Kyle |
UTR1 | UTR2 | CP4 | UTR1 | UTR1 | CP4 | MOR3 | MOR3 | ||||||
 Rachel |
MOR4 | OTT2 | UTR2 | UTR2 | UTR3 | MOR3 | CPP5 | CP4 | ||||||
 Sam |
CP3 | CP5 | OTT3 | CP4 | CP4 | MOR3 | UTR2 | MOR4 | ||||||
 Sol |
UTR1 | UTR1 | MOR3 | MORP3 | MOR2 | MOR3 | MOR4 | CPP3 | ||||||
 Sue |
MOR2 | MOR4 | MORN2 | CPM3 | MOR2 | MOR3 | UTR1 | UTRP1 | ||||||
 Teeny |
CP3 | MOR3 | CP4 | CPP4 | CP4 | UTR2 | MOR3 | MOR3 | ||||||
 Sierra |
UTRP2 | MOR2 | MOR2 | CP4 | CP3 | UTR2 | UTR2 | MOR3 | ||||||
 Tiyana |
UTR2 | CP4 | UTR1 | UTR2 | MORN3 | MOR3 | CPP4 | |||||||
 Rome |
OTTM4 | OTTN3 | OTTN5 | OTTN5 | CPN3 | OTTN5 | ||||||||
 Anika |
MOR2 | MOR3 | MORN4 | UTR1 | MORN3 | |||||||||
 Kishan |
UTR1 | UTR2 | MORP3 | CPN4 | ||||||||||
 Aysha |
MOR4 | UTR1 | MOR3 | |||||||||||
 TK |
MOR4 | OTTN5 | ||||||||||||
 Jon |
CP5 |
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