Last week we finally hit the merge, and we’re now down to just six more white rice Wednesdays left of the season. The battle between Chris and Dom is now over, but we can’t overlook the fact Chris played a terrible game. I’m trying to think of all of the scenarios that went through his head that made him not want to play the idol, and I can’t figure out a single one that would be smart for his game. The idol was only good for two tribals, he didn’t have a vote last week, AND he knew Dom was after him. It just doesn’t make any sense why he confident enough to not play it. But even after watching his bad gameplay all season, there’s no question his Ponderosa music video was hands-down the greatest Ponderosa video ever made.
Let’s say Chris did play his idol last week, then Libby would have gone home, and the Chris vs. Dom battle would have rolled on. Even then, I don’t think those two guys could ever co-exist together, so I think Dom would have ended up playing his idol in order to finally get Chris out. Libby seemed to be in the middle of the two sides last week, while also being a potential target to both sides, which I feel is a flag to her departure happening soon. Which brings me to this week’s episode…
This week’s preview doesn’t offer a lot of juicy detail but last week was a pretty revealing episode that provided a lot of foreshadowing that we can break down.
First off, when looking at both previews, it seems like everyone wants to hop on Dom and Wendell’s boat now that they won the battle. And do we actually see Angela have a confessional? It looks like Angela is finally becoming a part of the show and she seems to be the one tossing out names for tribal. Wendell, Angela, and Chelsea are seen on the beach when Wendell says “Michael?” but he sounds kind of confused and unsure. Angela is then seen next in a confessional saying, “I want to see the battle of all battles,” which makes me assume she is the one who is naming Michael as a candidate for tribal while Wendell thinks there are better and more threatening options.
For the last couple of weeks, Libby has been a hot name going around as an option to vote out, but that play never happened. Honestly, from my point of view, I don’t understand why everyone believes she is such a threat just because she voted out Morgan. All she did was stick with her original tribemates since Day 1 and vote out a Naviti. That doesn’t make her a threat. But as always, us viewers don’t get to see everything that is happening on the island, so maybe there are behind the scenes actions that happened that actually make her out to be a threat.
‘Too much power’
I’ve been saying for awhile that the power trio between Wendell, Dom and Laurel would affect on this game since they introduced that alliance during an early part of the season when they didn’t even have a real chance to work together until the merge. To me, it was just awkward timing, and it didn’t make sense why they were a major part of the episode when they didn’t even attend tribal that week or the week after, and then weren’t even together for the second swap. But this week it looks like Laurel realizes just how much power her other two alliance members hold. Do I think she will flip on them this week? No, I don’t expect her to turn her back on them. I think that is a diversion in the commercial just to get viewers attention. I really think they will go into the Top 5 together at least.
Change of edits
Now that we’re at the merge, players that were basically irrelevant and played no part in the pre-merge game start to have bigger edits, and that’s a red flag. Both Angela and Chelsea can fit into this situation. While Chelsea still is irrelevant, we saw her involved in the vote against Bradley. Coming into this week, we see her going back and forth with Angela and Wendell at the same scene they were discussing Michael. And now with Angela, she has had a bit more of an edit than Chelsea, but she is still pretty invisible. Now all of sudden she wants to work with Wendell and Dom and wants to watch the battle of all battles happen. I’m feeling pretty confident that the time is coming to a close pretty soon for these two.
Predictions
Who is on the chopping block this week?
While we see Michael’s name called out in the preview, I don’t think the commercial would be that obvious for him to go home. So with that being said, I think Michael is safe, but three others who may be on the chopping block are someone like Libby, who is seen as a threat on both sides, and someone like either Chelsea or Angela based on their edits. But overall I’m leaning more towards Libby because of her being the target to go home twice now, being in the middle, and being considered a threat by basically all of Naviti.
Who goes to Ghost Island?
Looking at the press photos, it seems like the reward challenge is broken into two teams:
Orange – Michael, Dom, Sebastian, Jenna, Des, and Kellyn.
Purple – Wendell, Chelsea, Donathan, Laurel, Angela, and I think that’s Libby, but she’s hidden a bit.
By looking at the two teams, I’d guess the orange team wins, and I think they may go to rocks to decide who on the purple side goes to Ghost Island. If orange wins, this could be the time when Wendell, Chelsea and Angela talk on the beach about Michael. The two people we don’t see is Laurel and Donathan, so one of them could be on Ghost Island.
Will an Idol or Advantage be found?
I probably get this prediction wrong every week, but I’m going to stick with it and say no advantage will be found on Ghost Island, for the sake that we won’t continue to have a million idols in play in the game.
Will an Idol get played?
I think an idol will only get played if Michael is on the hot seat and he’d play it for himself. I don’t think he’d play it for someone else this time.
Who wins immunity?
Immunity this week is the food eating challenge, and I think the preview is pretty explanatory to show who doesn’t have a strong stomach. Chelsea is definitely not winning this one, and Michael is gagging a bit too. I think the top competitors for this challenge will be Angela, Laurel, Wendell, Dom, and maybe Des.
Winner Prediction After Episode 8
Wendell’s story and gameplay has been developing a lot recently, and he’s one of the few people left to have been introduced well in the first episode. He isn’t the biggest and most obvious player in the game, but he is up there in that category. He’s definitely become one of my favorites (that are still left in the game. Brendan, Stephanie, and James won’t be replaced by him).
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