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. Now, for the last time this season, lets Edgic!
Survivor Edgic – Cambodia Episode 14
| 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 | CP3 | CPP4 |
 Spencer Bledsoe |
CP4 | CPM5 | CPP5 | MOR3 | CPP4 | CPP5 | CP4 | UTR2 | MOR2 | CP4 | CP4 | CPP4 | CPP4 | CPN4 |
 Tasha Fox |
MOR2 | UTR1 | CPP5 | CPP5 | CPP3 | UTR1 | CPM4 | UTR1 | MOR2 | MOR3 | MOR2 | CP3 | CPP5 | MORP2 |
 Kelley Wentworth |
CP5 | MOR4 | MOR2 | MOR2 | MOR2 | MOR2 | CP3 | OTT4 | MOR3 | UTR2 | CP5 | MOR3 | CP3 | CPP3 |
 Keith Nale |
MOR2 | UTR1 | INV | UTR1 | MOR2 | UTR1 | UTR2 | OTT2 | UTR1 | MOR3 | UTR1 | UTR2 | OTTM3 | OTTP3 |
 Kimmi Kappenberg |
MOR2 | UTR1 | INV | INV | CP5 | UTR2 | UTR1 | UTR1 | MOR2 | UTRP2 | UTR1 | MOR3 | UTRP1 | CPN2 |
 Abi-Maria Gomes |
OTTN5 | OTTM5 | MORN5 | CPN5 | OTTN3 | UTR1 | UTR1 | UTR1 | UTR2 | UTR1 | OTTN4 | UTRN2 | OTTM4 | |
 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?
The season finale of Survivor: Cambodia – Second Chance cemented one of the season’s main overarching themes – personal bonds and relationships. This theme told us why Jeremy won and why the others lost. Spencer was the key narrator of the personal growth and human relationships storyline over the season. However, in the end, the edit told us that Spencer mismanaged those relationships, and it cost him the win.
Likewise, Kelley Wentworth didn’t have strong enough bonds with the remaining players to convince them to take her to the Final 3 and her closer relationships on the jury made her a threat. Jeremy had built his relationships early and cultivated them throughout the season. His story of family helped connect him even further to the jury, and they rewarded him with the win.
Also, worth noting is that the only people we got a confessional from every episode this season were: Jeremy, Spencer, and Wentworth. Those were the three players reinforced by the edit as playing the best game as stated by Keith when he said that he didn’t want to go to the end with them. Also, it was those three players and Tasha, who made up the Final 4, that featured in the center of the full intro title sequence:
Kimmi Kappenberg
Kimmi started the finale episode talking about how it was “…the perfect opportunity to swoop in and make my dreams happen.” Her dream, of course, was to get the end which she told us in the premiere. However, like we have stated the past couple of weeks, it was all too little too late for Kimmi. To “swoop in” in the finale and expect to take control was naive.
Concerning complex strategy, this was Kimmi’s best edit since Episode 5. “These guys trust me. They’re letting their guard down, and now’s my chance to shine.” Her plan was to use the trust she’s built with them this whole game by being their pawn to trick and betray them. That gave Kimmi her complexity for this episode. She recognized that she was on the bottom and even acknowledged her season-long role at tribal council – “Apparently I’m a pawn.” The question was, will her strategy work?
She told Keith, “Right now they would not expect it.” But this was juxtaposed with Spencer informing Tasha that Kimmi was flipping. They did expect it, and therefore Kimmi was shown to be wrong. The edit was reminding us that Kimmi’s realization had come too late. She received negative SPV from Tasha: “I think it makes her feel good to, like, play” complete with air quotes and laughter. Tasha viewed Kimmi’s late emergence as a strategist as surprising as the viewers did. Tasha also called her a “rat.” Abi also sneered at Kimmi at tribal council. All of this created a negative tone to her CP rating.
Back in Episode 1, Jeremy said it would be “so dumb for someone to mess this up,” referring to his Bayon strong alliance. That line came back in a big way in the season finale when Jeremy was concerned about Kimmi flipping. “Our games are on the line right now. If you’re jumping, it’s gonna mess up everything.” Even though Kimmi is shown fooling Jeremy by pretending to be emotional, the line was prophesying Kimmi’s demise, not Jeremy’s.
Kimmi does flip, and it does mess everything up – for her. She is ultimately voted out and for the second time in Survivor history, somebody wags their finger in Kimmi’s face. “Kimmi, Kimmi, Kimmi. So disappointed,” Jeremy said as he wagged his finger.
Despite her CP exit, Kimmi’s overall season rating is UTR. Her edit went through large patches of UTR content and even invisibility at times. Her legacy will be that of a pawn that didn’t realize they were a pawn until it was too late.
Keith Nale
Keith has provided comic relief throughout the season, and he still fulfilled that role in the finale. But he also got to leave a hero. You only have to watch the final six tribal council to see where Keith’s OTTP rating comes from.
“I tell you what, she’s a mama,” Keith said in what was a crazy tribal council that came down to a choice between him or Kimmi. “You’re going to give up your spot?”, Kelley asked. “Yeah,” a choked up Keith replied. Kimmi teared up, and all the jury were shaking their heads “No!”. This was a hero scene and is exactly why Keith has positive tone for the finale. Even though he eventually decided to keep his spot, he didn’t receive any negative repercussions for switching his vote.
“If it looks like it’s going south I’ll say something.” Keith continued to be clueless until the end. It was clearly going south, and he was obviously the next target. But he didn’t say anything, and he didn’t attempt to make a play with the fake idol Wentworth had made him. He was clueless leaving the final six tribal, “Go figure that out!”, and was still clueless going into his last tribal.
“I feel like I’m in a coffin, and I got about three nails left til they put me six feet down.” That line pretty much sums up Keith’s game this season. He has been hanging on. He is an outsider. He has been fighting from within a coffin – i.e., he wasn’t playing the game but was along for the ride until the real players put the final nails in. Keith had just been waiting for that tuk-tuk to come and drive him off into the sunset.
Keith’s overall season rating is UTRP. He wasn’t very present for the majority of the season but when he did appear he made us laugh and smile. His story was the guy who was just along for the ride and made it a little more enjoyable for us and the others.
Kelley Wentworth
Kelley Wentworth came onto this season with a goal to play her own game. After surviving until the final four with no real solid alliance, she certainly now has a game she can call her own. She made the big moves she wanted to and was a serious threat to win.
For a lot of the season, her edit revolved around idols, and that was no different in the finale. “Wentworth how do you keep finding all these idols,” Spencer asked, completely ignoring that Jeremy had also just played his second idol of the season. Tasha called her the “Idol whisperer” at tribal council, again, as if Jeremy hadn’t also found two. Wentworth’s idols tied into her goal of wanting to make big moves. Go big or go home. She went big and almost made it all the way to day 39.
But for the first time, Wentworth’s edit went beyond just Kelley the player. She received her first tone of the season. “Your emotion says I might have just fallen a little short,” Jeff Probst told her at the final immunity challenge when she broke into tears. “I just knew I had to win today because these three are clearly very tight. I’m just mad at myself. It was on me to win and I didn’t.”
She also received SPV from Keith (mentioning her name alongside the end threats Jeremy and Spencer), Spencer (“I’m voting for you because I think you’d kick my ass.”/”She’s played the best game with this jury.”) and Jeremy (“She’s an underdog.” – credit for why she could win). All of this contributed to Wentworth’s first positive toned edit.
It all came too late, though. We have said the past few weeks that winners usually have a significant amount of tone to their edit and Wentworth never had any. It made her an outside shot edgically speaking. Her edit instead was focused on being her own player. That is ultimately what cost her as she couldn’t break the bonds of Jeremy, Spencer, and Tasha. She was on her own the whole game, only relied on herself, and she fell a little short of winning. It tied into the theme of the episode: you have to be able to lean on others to make it all the way. Nobody can “mastermind this game alone” per Spencer’s words at camp.
Wentworth’s overall season rating is CP. While the majority of her ratings were MOR, we have to take into account how she will be remembered. “Time to go work.” She never gave up, and that is what her legacy will be. Wentworth will be remembered for being a scrappy, underdog player that never stopped fighting and almost won the game.
Tasha Fox
Tasha’s edit over the past two episodes was on an upward trajectory. She had returned to her former Queen of Angkor position, calling shots and taking control. This makes her finale edit doubly weird because not only was she MOR but she was barely visible. For someone that made the final three, her role in the finale was irrelevant.
“If one of them has an idol what can we do?” That was Tasha’s attitude throughout the finale episode. Defeatist. Let fate play its course. “If Jeremy decides to go with Wentworth, our game is over.” She fully gave her game up into Jeremy’s hands, which completely goes against her attitude from the previous episode where she took control from Jeremy. The edit made it very clear that Tasha was not a contender to win heading into the final tribal council.
She did receive positive tone during her crying confessional where she talked about making it to the end – with an accomplished musical cue. But other than that moment, Tasha had the worst edit out of the final six in this episode. “And no one has mentioned you, Tasha,” Probst said at the final four tribal council. “I’m just gonna sit right here and shut up.” That was her presence in the entire finale: not present.
Tasha had some great moments throughout the season, namely her rise to power on Angkor. But she did not end the season on a strong note. She rode her bonds to the end but wasn’t offered any respect or admiration. She talked in her opening confessional in the premiere about praying for forgiveness in the end and at the final tribal council she wasn’t given any forgiveness and instead received zero votes.
Her overall season rating is CP. While Tasha’s second chance journey may have ended on a quiet note, she did play a significant role in many of this season’s eliminations. Edit wise, she was given credit for the boots of Peih-Gee, Jeff Varner, Kass, and Abi – which I think is more overall “kills” than anyone else. She will most likely be remembered for surviving and thriving on Angkor yet being unable to continue that success post-merge.
Spencer Bledsoe
What is this? Spencer with his first ever negative toned edit?! That’s right, for the first time in his two seasons, Spencer received a CPN rating. It all happened rather suddenly, but given his mostly positive edit throughout the season, it was necessary to show why he ultimately lost.
His edit in the finale episode started off okay. He was able to explain why he voted for Abi – because people would rather go to the end with her than Spencer. He was also the one that caught Kimmi’s betrayal and was able to inform Jeremy and Tasha. He was shown being wrong when he assumed that Wentworth nor Jeremy had another idol. However, he explained that he was biased because his neck wasn’t on the line due to having immunity and so for him it was a better play not to split the votes.
At the final six tribal council was when Spencer’s edit started to turn and his downfall began. When Wentworth played her idol, Jeremy got to one-up Spencer, “I told you.” Spencer was shown to be stubborn and unwilling to budge: “Jump on board with us or draw a rock and maybe go home.” He was dictating the vote and giving Kimmi an ultimatum. Even though his call was correct, it led to negative tone because the focus was on Wentworth’s offended reaction. Kimmi said she felt “threatened.” Spencer then mouthed to Wentworth, “You’re fine”, but she and the viewer knew that he was lying. All this is prime villain edit material.
“Who would have guessed this: Wentworth and Keith with four pieces, Spencer with nothing.” Jeff Probst’s line during the puzzle portion of the final five immunity challenge acted not only as a commentary on the challenge itself but on Spencer’s fast descending position in the game. He was back to nothing while Keith and Wentworth were surprisingly beloved and threats to win. At the next tribal council, Spencer said: “Maybe in a season of blindside after blindside… sticking together becomes the new big move.”
But this change in attitude and strategy was too little too late. Jeremy had almost always stuck with his people while Spencer had played the middle and flipped a lot. While that was lauded all season and made for a more fluid game, Jeremy will be rewarded for the “big move” of staying loyal.
The theme of building relationships was still strong and ultimately Spencer succeeded in that goal. “To have it all come down to one vote with my fate out of my hands, in Jeremy’s hands…” Spencer had control of his destiny for most of the post-merge up until now, and for the first time it was out of his hands. He talked in a confessional about how the game isn’t just about the times when you control it. It is also about the relationships you build to carry you through the times you are not in control.
“This is a test of whether the relationships I’ve built are strong enough that, without control of my fate tonight, I can wake up here tomorrow and have a shot to fight and win this game.” That was Spencer’s theme this whole season. If he made it to the end, his second chance journey would make sense. It would be complete. His bonds carried him through each day so he could continue fighting. Juxtapose all of this with Wentworth’s game where she made big moves, also showed loyalty to “her girls” (back to Savage idol play) but unlike Spencer and Jeremy, didn’t build the necessary bonds to carry her through to that last day to fight.
So in terms of completing his second chance goal and arc, Spencer succeeded. But in the actual game he lost. Why? There was a shot of a snake inhaling a big breath, puffing up its chest, with “dramatic” music playing underneath. That shot led to a scene between Spencer and Wentworth discussing who she was planning to vote for. “If you go to tribal today and say everyone vote Spencer, I’m not going to hold that against you…” he said from his throne in the final three. He wouldn’t hold it against her when she is on the jury and he is still in the game, when she is the one who would be in the position to hold stuff against him. The snake was Spencer.
“It’s not about closeness right now. It’s about who’s likely to win,” Spencer told Wentworth when she reacted with a fake single chuckle. Spencer basically told Wentworth she was wrong and spoke about the game from a matter-of-fact, chess piece standpoint while Wentworth was being human. He reverted back to gamebot Spencer. “I think I have a pretty good case.” He told someone that he is about to vote out that he had a good case to win rather than being human about her going home. Wentworth then mocked and mimicked Spencer in a confessional about his shot at winning – “Do you? Interesting.”
We were shown more and more confirmation that Spencer wouldn’t win. He had flipped too much. He continued his stubborn attitude at the final four tribal coucil: “If you made the game mistake of letting her be here tomorrow, I would vote for her, and I would spend all of my energy making sure she won.” Big musical cue. This was essentially a mic drop moment and everyone’s eyes bulged. “I think I have a good shot to win, I do.”
These were the arrogant moments that the jury later referred to. “I’m so nervous, I cannot see straight.” We were given an explanation for why he lost it in his last few tribals. He was nervous, and his reaction was arrogance. He later confirmed this in his response to Savage’s jury question: when he is insecure, he covers it up with arrogance. This was the other big theme of why Spencer lost.
Despite ending his season with negative tone, Spencer’s overall season rating is still CPP. He will be remembered for embodying the second chance theme and learning to grow emotionally. The edit protected his overall edit from negativity despite his reversion to Cagayan chess piece Spencer in the finale. We were told that that was okay because he still grew out there and he succeeded in forming bonds that took him all the way to the end.
Jeremy Collins
Jeremy has had a strong winner’s edit ever since he found the second idol in Episode 9 and had that grandiose confessional about playing for Val and his family. For the past few weeks, the battle has been between Jeremy and Spencer, and even though Spencer overtook Jeremy at certain points, the final episode explained why Jeremy won over the young lad.
His edit in the finale was actually the reverse of Spencer’s, he started off badly and then improved. In the first part of the episode, Jeremy didn’t believe that Kimmi was turning on the alliance. “I don’t think Kimmi is trying to do anything.” He couldn’t see what was happening right in front of him. “I don’t want to risk it.” He didn’t want to take risks in the game – “I’m trying to be safer.” And like Spencer, he was also stubborn – “You’re not giving either!”. This is all fascinating because winners are very rarely shown to be incorrect, and Jeremy was not only shown to be wrong but blatantly wrong and in the finale episode!
But at the final six tribal council he was able to take some power back. “I told you,” he said to Spencer regarding Wentworth having an idol. He might have been wrong about Kimmi, but he was right about the idol. He wagged his finger in Kimmi’s face and told her he was “disappointed” in her, to which she replied, “Ugh, really.” That moment, coupled with the jury’s reaction when he was shown skipping to the voting booth, laid the foundation for the arrogance question at final tribal council. But unlike Spencer, Jeremy was able to explain away his negative tone from this moment by telling the jury that Kimmi used family and emotions to betray him and his family. He justified his reaction.
At the final five vote, rather than doing nothing like Tasha, Jeremy dictated the opposing votes by telling Keith to vote Spencer. It was a great, subtle move that demonstrated Jeremy regaining the control that he had lost over the past couple of weeks. And he was able to maintain that control when he won the final immunity challenge.
“That’s the most emotion I’ve seen from you in any of the days you’ve played Survivor,” Probst told Jeremy after his challenge win. This scene was up there with his second idol find scene. An emotional Jeremy was talking about his family and the win. “I feel like I’ve been through this already. This is all about Val. This is all about Cameron. This is all about Jordan.” Family! “This is for my unborn son.” Jeremy’s edit became less about his gameplay and more about his family. He received a winner confessional when he talked about having to decide who to take with him because he didn’t want second or third – “I want to win.”
The edit tried to create some doubt heading into the final four tribal. “Who’s the best person that I can sit next to to win a million dollars?” Jeremy said as the camera cut to Wentworth’s angry face. Rather than the edit meaning Wentworth was the best person for him to sit next to, I think the edit was telling us here that Jeremy was really willing to play the game and cut ties if necessary, not just take the easy path.
“Gotta finish this game, get that money, and bring it home for my family.” Jeremy further cemented his goal and story-arc. That is what he was playing for. That was his second chance story.
His overall season rating is clearly CPP. Jeremy created an alliance based on family values and was playing to win for his family. That theme was hammered home throughout the season. Unlike Spencer and Wentworth, Jeremy didn’t really grow or change in his second chance journey. He will be remembered as the player that loved his wife and had a newborn son on the way and was able to win the money for them.
Thank you all for following Edgic this season, I hope you have enjoyed our thoughts and analysis. We will be back in February for Season 32 – Survivor: Kaoh Rong!
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”Her legacy will be that of a pawn that didn’t realise they were a pawn until it was too late.”
im quite sure the majority wouldnt remember kimmi for that, she’s the sourprise of the season
Yeah, I completely disagree with the statement that Kimmi’s legacy was the pawn who didn’t realize she was a pawn until it was too late. She was the old school player who tried her best to adapt to new school gameplay, but ultimately failed against more savvier players.
Her legacy will be that of a pawn that didn’t realise they were a pawn until it was too late.
except everyone thinks the exact oppostie
Edgic is about the edit. In the edit Kimmi’s story was that of a pawn for Jeremy and his alliance. She stated as such herself. She realised that and tried to change her fortune but it was too late and she was eliminated.
Safe to say, Tasha became Cambodia’s own Sherri Biethman: gameplay peaked early and simply coasted on her glory days of yore.