Welcome to Season 47’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 Survivor auction is back! It’s a favourite from the old school days of the show that has only appeared once since Survivor: Worlds Apart. The last time the auction was seen was on Survivor 45 and there were no advantages up for grabs. Players were also incentivised not to hog their money as the player with the most money left at the end of the auction would lose their vote at the upcoming tribal council.
However, we should expect something different this time. Episode 8’s description states, “One castaway bites into a little more than food, which leads to a game-changing opportunity.” Unlike Survivor 45, this hints that there’ll be an advantage hidden in one of the food items at the auction. I’m guessing there may not be a disadvantage meted out at the end as well, as this sort of twist would usually be exclaimed in previews.
Next in the NTOS trailer, we see Sierra propose to Rachel, “Let’s just knock out Tuku,” extending from the challenge reward in the last episode where the players from Lavo and Gata discussed getting Tuku out. The Tuku players were also aware of their target as the majority compared to the other two pre-merge tribes, and this was part of their considerations during tribal council.
In a sneak peek scene from Episode 8, Gabe reflects on how Rachel’s safety without power advantage “forced the Tuku five to cannibalise itself,” revealing how he had initially wanted to stay Tuku strong. After the live portion of last tribal council, I think most of the Tuku players would be even more wary of sticking together and will seek to solidify their relationships with non-Tuku players. As such, I don’t think this “knock out Tuku” plan will play out that straightforwardly.
Next, Andy excitedly gives Caroline a high five, saying, “I’m looking to change my fate.” In a confessional voice-over, he states, “They’re not going to see me coming,” while we’re given a slow-motion shot of him to conclude the trailer.
There’s been lots of focus on Andy recently — a post-tribal conversation between Andy and Sol, and a scene of Andy and Genevieve forming an alliance. He’s definitely an interesting player to watch, an entertaining character with the head knowledge of how to play Survivor, but clumsily navigating the tribe dynamics and game as a whole. I think the focus here nudges us as viewers to root for him, somewhat as a comeback-type character from his poor showing in the season premiere.
On Andy’s mind now is to get his revenge on Gata, and I think he’ll be successful. Gata is far from united, which makes them a good target for everyone else. The Sam and Sierra pair has been highlighted plenty since the pre-merge, which indicates to me that they’re going to be taken out because people fear the threat of a close duo. They’re going to be easy targets at this stage of the game, as Sierra herself predicted.
In another promo trailer, Genevieve suggests that an 8-person alliance is forming but doubts it’ll succeed. She’s been giving pretty accurate and reliable reads so far, and it’s a very realistic call to make. If I were to guess, this eight includes her newly formed alliance with Andy and the connections he’s looking to develop—Sol, Teeny, and perhaps Caroline as seen in the NTOS trailer. Genevieve’s in a good position staying away from the noisier personalities on the tribe and seems more or less regarded as someone players want to work with rather than vote out.
My prediction is that this 8-person alliance will target a Tuku player as an easy vote after Episode 7’s events. However, Genevieve, Andy, and maybe even some aligned Tuku players will take charge and blindside someone from Gata. I can’t help but feel that Genevieve’s confessional in the promo trailer—”What are the odds all eight of us agree? Slim to none”—plainly indicates that she’s about to blindside the eight with a plan that benefits her more. If this pulls through, I can see the vote being Sam or Sierra, since Rachel seems willing to vote them out after the Anika blindside.
What do you think will happen in Episode 8? Leave your predictions in the comments!
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After the previous tribal I think Rachel is more likely to go after a tuku then revenge for Anika. Cause Gata didn’t vote her. Tuku was clearly going to vote her. Tuku got the worst possible out come. They voted out one of their own while looking like a tight group. So while I Andy might want to go for revenge against Gata for not having his back when others suggested him I think the rest of the non tuku will go for a Tuku. From what we have seen so far I don’t get the feeling Andy will succeed in his revenge, at least not fully. Maybe he ll get Sierra but I don’t think he’ll get both of the duo. I don’t feel like Andy will succeed in what he wants from his edit. He gets the goofy