Peih-Gee Law (Angkor Tribe, original Ta Keo)
As I suspected, Peih-Gee revealed herself to be far too shifty to her new tribemates. By contrast, Abi-Maria continued to be up-front and rather blunt about it. For experienced players like Tasha and Savage, they would rather play with someone who will tell them like it is than someone who might be polite but is still willing to throw a former ally under the bus. The trend of eliminating contestants who have not learned their lessons from previous season continues.
Tasha Fox (Angkor Tribe, original Bayon)
Tasha was quite impressive in stirring the pot after the immunity challenge and then seizing upon the paranoia it created at camp. This was her episode to shine, and I look forward to seeing her continue to stir the pot. I imagine that she can work with several of the remaining original Ta Keo to create a majority alliance after the merge, provided that her current tribe can avoid too many immunity challenges before the merge into one tribe.
Abi-Maria Gomes (Angkor Tribe, original Ta Keo)
I am enjoying watching Abi-Maria's struggle between playing nice yet still remaining true to her blunt "tell it like it is" attitude. She has won over her tribemates despite how she might still be rather unlikeable. In the end, these are veteran players who know what they signed up for. They would rather keep someone around who is willing to show her cards, such as Abi-Maria did with Peih-Gee, than someone who is willing to tell lies through a smile and false shows of support.
Woo Hwang (Angkor Tribe, original Ta Keo)
Woo needs to wake up and realize that loyalties shift very quickly in the game. Just because he aligns with Peih-Gee does not mean that everyone else will or should. Woo must be willing to talk both short term and long term strategy with everyone instead of simply just asking what the vote is and what his should be.
Andrew Savage (Angkor Tribe, original Bayon)
Savage was able to draw upon his experience as an attorney to make persuasive arguments to the majority Ta Keo alliance in the newly formed Angkor Tribe. The original Bayon Tribe won in all aspects of the three-tribe split, having a numerical advantage in the new Bayon and Ta Keo Tribes, and having two of their smarter and also most likeable members joining a foursome of original Ta Keo members with noticeable fractures. I am sure that it did not take long for them to see the divide between Abi-Maria and Peih-Gee. Savage's words fed right into Jeff's thinking, leaving everyone but Woo united against Peih-Gee.
Jeff Varner (Angkor Tribe, original Ta Keo)
Varner made a bone-head move by attempting to send signals to Kelly Wigglesworth in front of the remaining 16 castaways. As much as he may have seen that occur in past seasons of Survivor on television, he should have known that, if caught, it flies in the face of Survivor etiquette. He weakened his own original tribe by having to find a way to take the focus off of him. While he was fortunate the Abi-Maria/Peih-Gee conflict gave that to him, his gestures will be a source of concern for all original Bayon members going forward.
Spencer Bledsoe (Bayon Tribe, original Ta Keo)
Spencer got a reprieve from being the next eliminated by realigning with a new tribe and fellow strategist Stephen Fishbach. He also got to show his personal side to Jeremy in a genuine conversation. Spencer still comes off as somewhat phony to me, because his analytical side comes across in too many of his conversations with tribemates. I am sure Fishbach will throw him under the bus the moment it serves his interest. The Bayon majority will gladly remove him before Kelly Wiggleworth.
Jeremy Collins (Bayon Tribe, original Bayon)
Jeremy, much like Kelly Wentworth, achieved the double success of finding the Hidden Immunity Idol clue and then securing the idol (presumably without anyone else noticing) during the challenge. I fear that, unlike Wentworth, he will reveal it to an ally too early, and it will ultimately become known by everyone that he has it. So he will be targeted. Jeremy did not benefit from the tribe split/swap, as his team lacks physical strength.
Stephen Fishbach (Bayon Tribe, original Bayon)
Like Spencer, Fishbach received a reprieve from being at the bottom, as the original Bayon members in his new tribe will use his allegiance to protect themselves rather than vote him out as I imagine they had designs on doing. Nonetheless, Fishbach has already proven to be untrustworthy and compassionless, and it is really just a matter of whether he will be voted out of a minority alliance or kept all the way to the final tribal council where he would once again receive no votes.
Kimmi Kappenberg (Bayon Tribe, original Bayon)
Kimmi continues to fly under the radar. I am sure she remains close with Monica and could pull in Kelly Wigglesworth as a comrade from the very early days of Survivor. As I have discussed in previous posts, the original Bayon women are a strong group who could prove to outlast most men.
Monica Padilla (Bayon Tribe, original Bayon)
Like Kimmi, Monica continues to fly under the radar. She is in a group of solid female players on the original Bayon Tribe who all seemed destined to be on the jury barring a dramatic event that changes their fortune.
Kelly Wiglesworth (Bayon Tribe, original Ta Keo)
If Kelly has any chance to make it to the jury now, she must be willing to become a pawn in the long-term plans of the original Bayon women. The men on her current tribe do not strike me as long for the game under any circumstances. Her biggest mistake would be to think that eliminating the women puts her in a more prominent position in the overall landscape of the game. It does not.
Joe Anglim (Ta Keo Tribe, original Bayon)
Joe receives good fortune by becoming aligned with other physically dominant men, which hopefully will shift the focus of voting for those reasons to those other men. He will continue to exhibit the strategy that he displayed in the previous episode, whereby he curries favor through good deeds and showing his all-round skills to future jury members.
Terry Deitz (Ta Keo Tribe, original Ta Keo)
Despite the good will that winning a challenge created, Terry is still in a bad position in his tribe, as his skills and leadership are expendable to the other members. Even Kelly Wentworth realizes that Terry is the number one target and will not stand in the way of voting him out to preserve her own life in the game. I see very little opportunity for Terry to break through unless he can make a very convincing argument to Ciera and Kass to align with him over Joe and Keith.
Ciera Eastin (Ta Keo Tribe, original Bayon)
I will enjoy watching Ciera and Kass co-strategize within a smaller tribe. Both of these women have the acumen to go deep into the game. As much as they see themselves in a good position by staying within the original Bayon alliance, these two are not above changing things up if they see long-term opportunities with Terry and Kelley Wentworth. I wonder if they will be able to discover that Wentworth has the Hidden Immunity Idol.
Kass McQuillen (Ta Keo Tribe, original Bayon)
See above entry for Ciera.
Keith Nale (Ta Keo Tribe, original Bayon)
Keith is in a good position as being the third most prominent physical threat among men on his tribe. There is little chance that he will be voted off in an upcoming vote, unless his mouth gets him into trouble, which he has yet to display as a possibility.
Kelley Wentworth (Ta Keo Tribe, original Ta Keo)
Kelly Wentworth finds herself in another intriguing position, specifically about whether she will need to use her Hidden Immunity Idol sooner than expected. I imagine that she will not share it with Terry and will count on her new tribe being strong enough to avoid tribal council until all the tribes merge into one tribe. It remains not in her best interest to share the idol with anyone, as she can then be perceived as a power-player too early.
