Survivor 47 Episode 9 - Positives and Negatives of Remaining Players & Ranking Winner Contenders

*Jeff voice* Alright. It's been a week. Thanks to a certain chaotic gremlin (Rome), the entire Survivor community has been thrown into a tizzy. Spoilers are a-flying, and I was among the poor unfortunate souls who had to see the alleged boot list, including the supposed winner of the season. Now, did that throw me for a loop for a few days? Absolutely. But, the harder I thought about it, the more it seemed like something wasn't adding up. So, in honour of my middle name (delusion) and the small chance that it isn't real, I'm going to keep that spoiled boot list on the backburner, and continue to analyze the season and the player's edits as I normally would, just in case Rome was trolling us or things were swapped around. I don't want to get blindsided thinking I knew the whole outcome. 

As always, I weighed out the positive and negative aspects of all the players' edits, and ranked them based on who had the best ratio of positive vs negative, all while trying to be as objective as possible. Last week, I ranked Sol last (with a rather depressing 3:5 score) and to my surprise, he actually went home. A disappointing result, since I had high hopes for his alliance with Rachel and Andy, but let's see if the pattern holds for this week.  

#1. Andy (15:9) 

Positives 

• got a mat chat 
• is shown last in the opening credits with a beaming smile (like Dee in 45) 
• "i see this as a numbers game" confessional early on in premiere 
• gained strategic prominence at the merge 
• has a web of allies and connections (the charming assassin) and is always being pulled into plans (by Genevieve for Sol and Sam for Sue)
• plenty of emotional content/growth arc (transformation montage)
• fits all the themes (finding a community, forging his own path away from Gata, being underestimated by everyone)
• successfully blindsided Sierra and swayed the vote to do so 
• has told us his strategy of pretending to be pathetic to lower threat level, is shown doing it 
• has titled 3 episodes
• high confessional time (15:34 mins) and has narrated a lot of key events 
• gets some positive SPV from Genevieve and Rachel post-merge
• flashback sequence clearly establishes him and Rachel as the complex duo of the season 
• is in a power position so much so that Rachel is forced to have to align with him after initially refusing pre-merge 
• wasn't clowned on in Episode 9 at all (challenge flub was glossed over) 

Negatives 

• had a really, really bad Episode 1 that could've damaged his social credibility for the rest of the game
• was clowned on really heavily in the pre-merge (more so than any other New Era winner to date)
• negative SPV from all his Gata tribemates pre-merge  
• uncertainty if he's respected strategically by his castmates/potential jury (he could honestly just be delulu about his position) 
• schoolyard pick monologue about being last picked was cut 
• no backstory package yet 
• hasn't talked about winning in any of his confessionals (instead talks about his growth and writing his story) 
• increasing villainous tone that could spell a downfall (is he too overconfident now?) 
• overexposure could be a negative (is he too big of a main character? would the winner really be that obvious?) 

#2. Rachel (10:8) 

Positives

• "we won as a community" quote 
• from the complex tribe (gata) 
• gained strategic visibility during the merge 
• gets a lot of advantages and is shown using them in smart ways, like the shot in the dark move which she then got to explain fully with flashbacks in the next episode 
• high confessional time (12:10 mins) and gets to narrate some big events 
• positive SPV of people telling us she's a threat 
• plenty of emotional content/underdog story (playing from the bottom, fighting to survive) 
• flashback sequence clearly establishes her and Andy as the complex duo of the season
• tiny bit of personal content with her chat with Sol about their families owning stores
• production went out of their way to recreate rice moment because it told us something about her 

Negatives 

• late confessional in premiere 
• opening credit shot is super brief and she's looking away 
• no personal content or backstory package yet 
• edit feels hollow outside of advantages 
• on the bottom and already a target 
• struggles with social game (doesn't have a lot of allies, should've gone home if it wasn't for the Safety Without Power, just lost another ally in Sol and doesn't trust Sam anymore) 
• relying entirely on Andy as an ally (when Andy has been shown as cutthroat and lethal - could he cut her and will she catch on to that in time to save herself?) 
• struggling to see how she connects with the themes (has no clear community/allies, hasn't forged her path/made any clear strategic move, and isn't underestimated) 

#3. Genevieve (8:7) 

Positives 

• "breathe in" shot in the opening minutes 
• voice over confessional opens the premiere
• really good shot in opening credits (beaming smile) 
• good strategic game (is very cutthroat, makes moves) 
• the kishan breakout episode was legendary
• titled an episode ("Scales Be Tippin'") 
• decent confessional time (9:44 mins)  
• some emotional content in sneak peek 

Negatives 

• super invisible in the premiere 
• has a 0 confessional episode 
• no personal content or backstory package yet 
• the Sol vote could've been a big mistake for her game 
• andy is spinning a narrative against her (shown in sneak peek) 
• social game is a little odd (cutting her allies might be a bad move) 
• not quite fitting the themes (except for forging her own path) 

#4. Caroline (7:4)

Positives 

• decent intro shot (tucking hair behind ears, facing forward) 
• a solid strategic mind (likes to be in control of the vote, made the smart move of telling everyone she didn't have a vote) 
• a big strategic threat but few people are clocking her right now
• good social skills (hyping people up, people seem to like her) 
• strong alliance with Sue and Gabe 
• "I decided to keep playing Survivor" quote 
• confessionals are few but very insightful 

Negatives

• introduced too late in the premiere
• really bad pre-merge content 
• little to no personal content 
• not really hitting the themes (underestimation, community, forging path)
• atrociously low confessional time (4:58 mins)
• hasn't titled an episode

#5. Teeny (7:5) 

Positives

• got a mat chat 
• got a lot of focus in the premiere 
• great intro shot 
• gets a lot of narrative content even when it doesn't directly involve them 
• gets lots of emotional content (we're shown how they feel a lot) 
• likeability is super high, great SPV 
• has a high confessional time (10:43 mins) 

Negatives 

• has lost everyone they've tried to work with (had to vote out their #1 ally) 
• their dream all-women's alliance is for sure not happening 
• not much strategic content yet (never gets their way. ever) 
• no personal content or backstory package yet 
• has only hit one of the themes (community, trying to find one but failing) 

#6. Sam (6:5)

Positives 

• was introduced in the opening minutes of premiere
• "wolf in wolf's clothing" 
• member of the complex tribe (gata) 
• great intro shot 
• lots of confessionals (15:32 mins)
• his story with Andy seems to central to the season

Negatives

• already on the bottom at F10 
• made a hilariously bad move blowing up the Sol plan when Rachel trusted him with the info
• doesn't have a lot of personal content outside of the opening minutes 
• didn't get his strategic way (his plan to get Sue failed) 
• hasn't titled an episode  

#7. Gabe (6:6) 

Positives 

• got a mat chat 
• wants to be the head on survivor mount rushmore 
• strong strategic edit 
• strong alliance with Sue and Caroline 
• is portrayed as the mastermind
• lots of confessionals (12:42 mins) 

Negatives 

• strong negative tone (villain edit) 
• no personal content. at all. 
• very quiet confessional time for six episodes 
• hasn't really had a breakout episode yet 
• not really hitting any of the themes except for forging his own path (hasn't really been shown doing it)
• was almost voted out if it wasn't for him winning immunity 

#8. Kyle (6:7) 

Positives

• was introduced with a backstory package in the opening minutes of premiere
• nice people can win quote 
• has some personal content and funny moments
• really good social game  
• edit credits him for the rome boot/great merge episode 
• survived even without winning immunity 

Negatives 

• got a 0 confessional episode 
• very low confessional time (5:34 mins)  
• has gone very quiet in post-merge confessionals-wise 
• grossly misreads Genevieve in his confessional (says she's not a thinker when she's clearly shown to be a thinker) 
• still an immunity threat  
• muddy in the opening credits & looking away 
• hasn't titled an episode

#9. Sue (6:8) 

Positives 

• "i'm 59 and i beat all your asses" quote
• victory pose in opening credits 
• narrative story of being underestimated by men
• some personal content (pilot)
• strong alliance with Caroline and Gabe 
• making inroads with a lot of key players 

Negatives  

• backstory package was cut 
• had a 0 confessional episode POST-MERGE in an ep where it was a TUKU ONLY TRIBAL
• idol still hasn't been brought up 
• negative tone with her being treated as Gabe's sidekick
• has gone silent in post-merge (very little confessional time) 
• could be seen as an inspirational threat later
• could be seen as an immunity threat later 
• was already targeted by Sam