Edgic is a weekly feature analyzing each player’s edit, mapping characters to their story-arc. Note that our focus is not solely to determine the winner, as is typical of other Edgic sites. For more information on how Edgic works read our Introduction to Edgic article.
You can read the Edgic for previous weeks here.
| 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 |
 Jeremy Collins |
CPP3 | CPP2 | CPP4 | CP3 | MOR3 | CP2 | MOR2 | CP3 | CPP5 | CP4 | MOR2 | MORP4 | ||
 Keith Nale |
MOR2 | UTR1 | INV | UTR1 | MOR2 | UTR1 | UTR2 | OTT2 | UTR1 | MOR3 | UTR1 | UTR2 | ||
 Kimmi Kappenberg |
MOR2 | UTR1 | INV | INV | CP5 | UTR2 | UTR1 | UTR1 | MOR2 | UTRP2 | UTR1 | MOR3 | ||
 Tasha Fox |
MOR2 | UTR1 | CPP5 | CPP5 | CPP3 | UTR1 | CPM4 | UTR1 | MOR2 | MOR3 | MOR2 | CP3 | ||
 Abi-Maria Gomes |
OTTN5 | OTTM5 | MORN5 | CPN5 | OTTN3 | UTR1 | UTR1 | UTR1 | UTR2 | UTR1 | OTTN4 | UTRN2 | ||
 Kelley Wentworth |
CP5 | MOR4 | MOR2 | MOR2 | MOR2 | MOR2 | CP3 | OTT4 | MOR3 | UTR2 | CP5 | MOR3 | ||
 Spencer Bledsoe |
CP4 | CPM5 | CPP5 | MOR3 | CPP4 | CPP5 | CP4 | UTR2 | MOR2 | CP4 | CP4 | CPP4 | ||
 Joe Anglim |
OTTP3 | OTTP2 | UTR2 | UTRP1 | MOR2 | MOR3 | MOR4 | CPM4 | MOR2 | OTTN3 | MOR3 | OTTM4 | ||
 Stephen Fishbach |
OTTN2 | MORN2 | MOR3 | UTR2 | CP4 | CPP4 | MOR2 | CPM5 | CP5 | OTTM4 | OTTM5 | |||
 Ciera Eastin |
MOR2 | UTR1 | UTR2 | INV | UTR1 | CPP4 | CPN4 | CP5 | MOR3 | CPP4 | ||||
 Kelly Wiglesworth |
OTTP3 | UTR2 | UTR1 | UTR1 | UTR2 | UTR1 | UTR1 | UTR1 | UTR2 | |||||
 Andrew Savage |
MORP3 | MORP3 | CP4 | OTTP5 | UTR2 | OTTM5 | OTTM5 | OTTN5 | ||||||
 Kass McQuillen |
MOR2 | CPP2 | UTR1 | CPP3 | UTR1 | CPM5 | CPN5 | |||||||
 Woo Hwang |
UTR2 | UTR2 | UTR3 | MOR5 | OTTP4 | MOR3 | ||||||||
 Terry Deitz |
MOR2 | CPP4 | UTR3 | UTR2 | MOR2 | OTTP2 | ||||||||
 Monica Padilla |
UTR1 | INV | UTR2 | MOR2 | CPN5 | |||||||||
 Jeff Varner |
CPP5 | CP5 | CPN5 | CPM5 | ||||||||||
 Peih-Gee Law |
MOR2 | MOR4 | MOR4 | |||||||||||
 Shirin Oskooi |
CP3 | CPM5 | ||||||||||||
 Vytas Baskauskas |
CPN5 |
What Does This Tell Us?
For the first time this season we have an episode with no visibility in the 1s or 5s. The visibility is calculated on a spread, so there almost always is at least one person with a 1 rating and one person with a 5 rating. The times there aren’t are usually when a group of players all received the same amount of air-time and number of sentences/confessionals etc.
For this episode, all it really means is that outside of Abi and Keith, everybody else was firmly in the episode around the same amount as each other. Nobody stole the show, and nobody was completely invisible. There was a lot of positive tone because of the loved ones visit but not a whole lot of strategic complexity, which made for an overall mediocre episode.
Under The Radar
There was one stand-out line from this episode that sums up Abi-Maria’s story arc of the season. It happened at the end of the reward challenge when Abi failed to spell the correct word: “I was going for redemption”. She was wrong – about the challenge and her second chance experience. Abi will not have redemption. She is still the villain.
She continued to be the evil heckler, mocking people at their lowest. She was shown laughing when Joe talked about seeing stars and passing out. “To see Joe the amazing lose to a 52-year-old man; it was awesome.” Abi relished in the fact that Joe collapsed and couldn’t win immunity. The way the edit portrayed Joe’s challenge fall was meant to make the audience at the very least respect his effort, if not feel sympathetic. So to immediately show Abi gloating about it definitely cemented her as the villain.
“Sitting next to Abi (at the end) would be easy money,” Joe said about her. That is the feeling amongst her fellow tribe-mates, which certainly gives Abi a negative tone for this episode. She is perceived in the game just how the edit portrays her – an unpredictable irritant that people want to sit next to at final tribal council. “Don’t look at others. Get the job done!” was the other line that stood out; shouted by Abi’s mother at the reward challenge. It’s doubtful that there was great intention behind it, but it does tie in nicely with how Abi has played this game. She has played without caring about the feelings of others.
Also, a side-note, during her confessional when she was laughing about Joe losing, she compared it to a “crazy soccer match… Brazil against Germany”. The funny thing is, the last time Brazil (her home country) played Germany was in the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup, and they were destroyed 7-1.
Keith remains the yang to Abi’s yin. The UTR player that is well liked by viewers and players alike. He is the last remaining player that didn’t receive an opening confessional in the premiere. It is understandable why Keith never received an opening confessional, as he has never taken control of the game nor a single vote-off. Actually, he was completely outside of the vote in this episode.
He did achieve his goal of “killing” the “golden boy” though when he outlasted Joe in the immunity challenge. It was a short-term goal and had no real long-standing impact and therefore Keith continues to be UTR.
“This will get me over the hump now,” he said, when he saw his wife at the loved ones visit. Is that foreshadowing that he will make it over the hump? Could he improve on his previous fourth place finish and sneak into the final three? It is possible that Keith is a lovable final tribal goat. But perhaps even more likely is another fourth place finish due to not changing his gameplay.
“I don’t know what it is… I don’t know what it is, Jeff.” Keith made it to the end of the reward challenge but was stumped on the puzzle portion. Like Abi, this challenge quote really summed up his game. He got to the end and had no idea what was going on. That is his position right now. He has made it to the deep end of the game but has no idea what is happening – exemplified by his stray Tasha vote at tribal council.
Middle of the Road
There is an argument that could be made for giving Kimmi a CP rating for this episode. She did, after all, come to the realization that she was a pawn. However, there just wasn’t quite enough complexity to her strategy (most of which was taken over by Kelley Wentworth) for her to be anything more than an MOR rating. Either way, she escapes out of the UTR leagues for a week.
“I didn’t come out here and leave my family just to be somebody’s pawn. I came out here to win.” This line validates our reading of Kimmi’s edit throughout the season. She has been a mere pawn – a tool – in the plans of others (namely Jeremy). She has finally recognized this. We have never heard her talk about winning. Her official stated goal at the beginning of the season in her opening confessional was to make it to the end, which was then re-emphasised in Episode 5. Can we take her new goal to win seriously this late in the game?
In order to change her goal, she needs to change her game. But her new game plan that she has picked up is one that already failed when Monica tried it. “If we get rid of Joe, that’s four women, and we’d have the upper hand,” Kimmi said. She was suddenly on board with an all-girls alliance – “out of the blue” as Wentworth described it in a confessional. We saw her get Wentworth on board, and Abi as well. But Tasha simply nodded, and then later we were shown Tasha ratting the girls-alliance out to the boys.
What this seems to tell us is that it is all too little too late for Kimmi. It has taken her too long to realize she has been a pawn, and now this is the most strategic she is capable of being. It’s not only somebody else’s idea, but it is shown to be not working properly (due to Tasha). Her goal was always to get to the end, and that was still possible in the previous episode, but now with this sudden “I came here to win” change of plan, it really muddies the waters and makes both options seem unlikely.
We talked last week about how Kelley Wentworth’s winner chances were slipping away due to her toneless edit. On the surface, this was a good episode for Wentworth. She won both the reward challenge and immunity challenge, spent time with her dad, and was on the right side of the vote. But below the surface, in terms of the edit, it didn’t do a lot to change her standing from last week.
She was shown to be the leader of the girls. It was her who Kimmi went to pitch the girl’s alliance idea. And she was shown corralling Abi and telling her, “Tasha, she’s in.” However, this was directly contradicted later in the episode when we saw Tasha’s reservations about the girl’s alliance and then ratting it out to Jeremy and Spencer. As we have mentioned before, winners are very rarely shown to be wrong. Once could be written off, but this is at least two times now the edit has shown Wentworth to be mistaken about people being on her side (Keith in Episode 7 and now Tasha in Episode 12).
What is worrying about this for Wentworth and her chances, is that it deviates from the game she has been playing all season. Throughout the season Wentworth has played from vote to vote, flipping to the majority whenever necessary and going with the flow. She has played that role beautifully and to great success. Now the edit paints her as putting too much weight in this girls alliance.
“Kimmi wants to do an all girls alliance so bad.” “If the girls are willing to work together, there’s nothing Jeremy, Keith or Spencer could do.” “Once we get him out of here, the girls are in control of this game.” “The tides have turned… and then we decide what’s best for us.”
The faith in this plan, or alliance, is highlighted as a bad sign by the edit; we are shown Tasha being non-committal towards it. Wentworth even recognized this later in the episode when she saw Jeremy and Tasha talking, and in her paranoia, she asked Kimmi “What is that pow-wow about?” Although, the fact she noticed that pow-wow probably gives her a glimmer of hope. But overall, the edit has told us throughout the season that “alliances” don’t hold – especially all female ones.
As for her tone, she remains toneless despite winning the loved one’s reward challenge. We said last week how her reunion with her dad could be the opportunity for the edit to give her some emotional depth to match her with the other two winner contenders, Jeremy and Spencer. But we still didn’t get it. Jeremy and Spencer got big emotional reactions upon seeing their loved ones and confessionals during the scene. Wentworth didn’t even get to talk about her dad at the challenge. Instead, Dale spoke about his feelings.
What does this mean? It means the edit has intentionally kept Wentworth game focused throughout the season. Her goal was to have a better game, and she has had a great game. She has achieved her goal, and with an idol still in her possession could further cement her second chance game. It does not, however, point to a win when you compare her edit to that of Jeremy and Spencer.
Last time, we discussed how Jeremy likes to be in the middle of the power group so that he can “clean up” after each tribal council. He re-emphasised those points in Episode 12. “I don’t feel comfortable with anything” and “I like to be in the middle of everything.” As far as Jeremy is concerned, if he can get back in the middle of everything, he will be fine, if not, then he’ll be going home.
Jeremy had a very positive edit and was in the middle of critical strategy discussions, but he didn’t speak about his own strategy with enough complexity to warrant a CP rating. The MORP seems a better fit for him in this episode. He had positive SPV from Joe: “Jeremy’s a smart guy”, and of course the reunion with his pregnant wife Val was played up as a big, positive emotional moment. There was lots of reiteration that he is there to win for his family.
But the lack of strategic depth from Jeremy in this episode is interesting. We talked last time about the battle between Jeremy and Spencer for control. In Episode 10, Jeremy clawed back his power by using his idol on Stephen and halting Spencer’s plan. In Episode 11, Spencer flipped and voted out Stephen, getting his way and the control back from Jeremy. In Episode 12, fresh off his Stephen blindside, Spencer remained in the power position within his relationship with Jeremy.
It’s like Jeremy and Spencer have reversed roles. Now Jeremy was looking to Spencer for guidance. Jeremy talked about feeling in trouble. He asked Spencer what the plan was. He was even shown to be unable to convince Tasha to vote a different way. He went from being the cool, confident leader to playing second fiddle. If the winner contenders are Jeremy and Spencer, then this episode was definitely a hit to Jeremy.
The positive is that Jeremy was shown to be able to quickly mend his relationship with Spencer, despite voting on opposite sides last week. It appears that this relationship/battle is now the most important story of the season; especially given how the edit focused mainly on Jeremy and Spencer during the family visit to camp – two players that didn’t even have their loved ones there.
Over The Top
The story of Joe, the challenge guy, came to its natural conclusion in Episode 12. Much like Kimmi, his story was never about winning the game. His opening confessional from the premiere was about wanting to make it to the loved ones visit so that he could bring his dad out to the island. Anyone that has followed Edgic or writes about Edgic has pretty much been in agreement, that as soon as Joe had his reunion with his dad that his game would be over, and that is exactly what happened.
From his “best friend” talk with his dad, to passing out at the challenge, there was no way his rating couldn’t be OTT for this episode. And while his crying after fainting and his “I just want it so bad” talk would lead you towards a positive tone rating, you have to take into account the negative content and negative SPV too. When Joe talked, the cameras made sure to focus on Wentworth rolling her eyes and saying “Oh my god.” Abi referred to Joe as “mold”, “a bad apple”, and a “clown”. That gives Joe a mixed OTT edit.
At the reward challenge, we were shown Joe tossing his ropes and sand on Keith, on two occasions: “Oh, sorry Keith.” This is an example of how Joe has been playing the game like there aren’t other people there, just him in his own challenge minded world. Tasha called Joe the biggest threat and that if he made it to the end, it would be because he was also a social threat. However, Spencer and Wentworth both wanted Joe out specifically because he kept winning challenges: “Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile.” “Joe pushed himself until he passed out… I can’t compete with that.”
At tribal council, Spencer said “…when this person that you’d love to sit next to doesn’t actually help your chances of getting to the final three, that’s when it becomes a problem.” At first, it seemed like he was talking about Abi, but Spencer voted for Joe; therefore it appears he was actually referring to Joe. Meaning, he would want to sit next to Joe at the end if he were guaranteed a spot in the final three. This confirms that Joe was eliminated due to being “the challenge threat,” not a strategic or social threat.
“There’s just no safety in Survivor. It’s a tough, tough situation for me,” Joe said, which is kind of funny given that he broke the record for the number of days with safety this season. It was clear that this was Joe’s downfall episode. There were clues throughout. “I went into the last tribal without the necklace, and I’m still here. So I’m pretty confident that I can do it again.” That line was Joe’s death knell. He didn’t understand that he didn’t do anything to survive last time, he was simply used as a distraction to take out Stephen. Now that he was no longer needed, he was thrown aside.
We mentioned last week how Joe and Abi had become very similar characters. Both believing that they were the big targets, despite both being safe last episode. It was confirmed this episode when Jeff Probst asked “…who feels like they’re on the chopping block?” and Joe and Abi both raised their hands, with Joe stating “I always feel like I am.” Again, despite having safety for 27 days and not being the target last week. However, for once Joe was right, he was on the chopping block, and his head was chopped off. He left with one last example of his supposed stellar social game, with a dismissive remark aimed at the women – “Best of luck boys.”
For his overall season rating (which we have now started adding for the eliminated players), Joe is OTT. If he were on the DVD cover for the season, it would be because he was remembered for dominating the challenges, catching fish and building hammocks. It is a very Ozzy-like legacy: amazing at challenges but not so great socially and strategically.
Complex Personalities
Tasha probably had her best edit since her days on Angkor when she was running the strategy on the tribe. It wasn’t quite at that level here, but she at least got to explain her thought process going forward.
The girls all assumed Tasha was in on the girl’s alliance plan. But in a confessional, Tasha confirmed that she had two options: roll with Jeremy and Spencer and their final three plan, or join the girls and take out the boys. That definitely makes her more CP than it does MOR and it finally puts her back in the loop, although, not yet back in control.
The imagery used with Tasha was interesting in this episode. When Jeremy asked her “What do you want?” we were shown a shot of a slithering snake. When she ratted out the girl’s alliance to Jeremy and Spencer, the music was very ominous with big “dun-dun-dun!” stings. However, she did get to explain her reasoning for telling Jeremy and Spencer about the all girls plan and was perceptive that it back-fired a little and made them suspicious – again, this gives Tasha complexity. Her read of their suspicion was validated when we were shown Jeremy and Spencer talking about being “terrified” as Tasha braided Abi’s hair.
Tasha’s edit had been on a downward trajectory, so this sudden late-game CP edit is intriguing. Is she suddenly going to return to her Tasha Queen of Angkor edit and regain control? It is unlikely with only two episodes remaining. Perhaps more likely is that we are about to see the reason for her “at the end I’ll pray for forgiveness” opening confessional. Tasha has set herself up in the middle of two alliances, and she is more than likely going to have to side with one and betray the other. That could upset a lot of people and cause her to beg for forgiveness.
If Spencer had a good edit in Episode 11, then he had a great edit in Episode 12. In the Previously on segment, he was given sole credit for the Stephen blindside: “Stephen thought he could get everyone on board to vote out Joe, but Spencer had plans of his own… Spencer got his way.” Even though in the episode we saw that this was a joint effort by Spencer and Wentworth, only Spencer was given credit, and it was referred to as a “big move” throughout the episode.
Like Jeremy, Spencer had a very positive tone. He got the soaring, heroic music in his “I love you” confessional. The story about his girlfriend and his inability to tell her he loved her was something that was set up way back in Episode 3, and it finally culminated here. We talked at the time about whether Spencer was simply getting a “journey edit”, and that reaching this point would mean he had achieved his goal of showing genuine feelings. If that was all we got from Spencer this episode, then I could have believed that was the end of his arc. But that wasn’t all we got.
Unlike Jeremy, Spencer also got a complex strategic edit to balance his positive emotional aspects. As we said, the roles are now reversed. Compare these two quotes:
Jeremy about Spencer in Episode 3: “I think we could definitely have a bond. I’m not sure how long we’ll keep him, but we can use him for right now. You know, I’ll take that.”
Spencer about Jeremy in Episode 12: “Even if Jeremy isn’t someone I want to go to the end with, he’s someone that I need to keep a relationship with.”
There is clearly a parallel there and one the edit intentionally highlighted. It was Jeremy asking Spencer what’s the next move. Spencer was the one that proposed Joe – it was Spencer’s move. With his blindside of Stephen, Spencer had gained real power for the first time in his Survivor career, and as he said throughout this episode, he was making sure to keep hold of that power. “There’s no option at this point but for me to get my head back in the game and do everything in my power to win,” he said, while most of the tribe were hanging out with their loved ones. That immediately led to him proposing a final three deal with Jeremy and Tasha. Again, Spencer was in the driver’s seat.
You may think that there was some contradiction with Spencer proposing a final three deal with Jeremy after stating that he didn’t want to go to the end with him. But in this game of shifting alliances, there is no guarantee that Spencer will stick to this agreement, nor that he intends to. He already showed his reservations over whether Tasha was truly on board or not. After going a little quiet early at the merge, these past two episodes have been fantastic for Spencer. All of his pre-merge work is now paying off late in the game.
That is it for Week 11 of Survivor Second Chance Edgic. Please let us know in the comments how you would have rated each castaway based on Episode 12.
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About the Brazil x Germany thing, I think that’s exactly what Abi meant, Brazil (Joe) being the dominant at the sport loosing horribly to Germany (keith), it isn’t a perfect comparison but she was talking about the same fact that you mentioned.
I really think you have it all wrong about Joe. It seems like you just want to bash him without being objective. First of all when he was woted out, he first said “good luck to all” and later “best of luck to boys” not because he’s against the women, but due to his ealier speech about how men are going to be picked out one by one if they vote him out – and since that’s what they did, luck would be much needed. You seriously think it was a downfall episode for him? He reached his prime goal, he pushed himself to the point of fainting in the challenge whitch was very impressive and was shown as impressive, he lasted much longer than in Worlds Apart. It’s kinda ridicoulos to point to the scene with Keith during the challenge as something negative – it’s pretty common in survivor that people interfere with each other in challenges. He was totally lost in the challenge and focused on winning, just like everybody, in situation like this you don’t look around to make sure nobody’s in your way. It’s not like he did it on purpose. Abi making sharp comments, Kelley rolling her eyes – pretty much just sheds light on them. Especially since Abi was enything but right – if someone should be called “moldy” it would be her. reading your egic throught this season i wonder if we’ve been watching the same survivor. Comparing him to Abi, seriously? I get it that Joe doesn’t strike as very strategic, but i think he’s doing the best he can given his circumstances. You keep saying that Joe is a threat pretty much only in his own mind and that it was only Stephen who wanted him out – thats just bunch of bull**it. Everybody wanted him out – episode 11, Kelley, Tasha, Keith, evrybody was on board. Plans changed, yes, but still – Joe is well aware of being a threat and he’s right. It’s pretty obvious, just because they don’t show people talking about it all the time doesn’t change the fact. Joe IS a huge social threat. He is very likeable. He had relationships with pretty much everybody. You keep saying he did not do anything in ep 11 to stay in the game, witch is again bunch of bull- as Fish said it himself, Joe played it really cool, did not scramble, making people believe he in fact did have an idol. Fish also mentioned it was Joe who manipulated Abi into running around and freaking people out. You will probably keep saying that joe is just an arrogant and paranoid challenge boy, but i still have to say this – Joe being a threat that he IS, played the best way he could – he could not afford to dominate the strategic game or make big moves (you’ll probably say he couldn’t even if he tried), already having a huge target on his back. Also, just because he did not go home ep 11 doesn’t mean he was safe – it was supposed to be him. anyways, that’s pretty much it, I really wanted to comment on your views regarding Joe after reading your articles this season, but only now i kinda got fed up with your attitude.
Edgic is all about reading what is in the actual edit. There are hundreds of hours of footage, so the parts the producers and editors decide to put in the 42 minute episodes definitely have intention.
Yes he did say “good luck ya’ll” first, but the edit didn’t focus on that. It focused on the “best of luck boys” line and made sure to show Kelley’s reaction afterwards. That shows intention in the edit.
When I say downfall I just mean the episode where the person was voted out. I always use the word downfall for the eliminated player. Of course he achieved a goal, as I mentioned, and we were meant to respect his challenge performance, as I mentioned.
The throwing ropes at Keith wasn’t to show him as negative, but the editors left it in there for a reason. It was to show he was totally lost in the challenge and focused on winning – as you and I both said. He is challenge focused.
Abi’s comments do indeed shed light on her, as I discussed in her section and hence why she has negative tone. But that doesn’t remove the fact she made those comments about Joe and it doesn’t matter who is making the comments, negative SPV (second person visibility) is a mark against that player – hence Joe’s mixed tone. As for Kelley, she hasn’t been portrayed as a negative character in the edit, so it doesn’t shed badly on her as much.
The comparison with Abi is not in personality but in how they view themselves in the game. How can you look at their scenes in Episode 11 when they were both saying “If it’s me I’m ok with it” and not see the similarities?
You mention things like the episodes not showing people talking all the time about Joe as a threat. You mention stuff that Stephen said in interviews about Joe and manipulating Abi etc. But this is about reading what is in the edit – the episodes didn’t show us that stuff and they didn’t show it for a reason.
In Episode 11, the edit did not show us Joe saving himself, it showed us him begging Spencer and Kelley to keep him and them telling him that THEY had a plan. This episode Spencer was given all the credit for the plan and was even shown saying that he simply used Joe last week just to get Stephen out. The rest of the talk was about how Joe was a challenge threat.
I know when you’re a fan of someone you want to see the best all the time. That’s fair. But this is about looking what is in the edit.
I get you’re point, although i still think you may be misinterpreting some stuff from the edit. I’d still argue about said similarities to Abi – while she’s clearly been totally paranoid since day once and many times without a reason, Joe’s perception of his situation in the game when he’s not immune is in my opinion correct. Thx for reply!