Let's start off with Julie. Julie has no shot in winning this season. Though she has been involved in conversations, she really has not spearheaded any game decisions. She's likable, but her being saved in tribal councils comes at the help of others. I haven't really seen her add agency in the game, but I do like Julie. I think she is a wonderful person, and her freaking out at tribal this season will be one of the highlights of this whole journey for me.
Gavin is an interesting player. I think he has played a decent game, but like Julie, I think he is very dependent on others. I think his social game is impeccable, but I think that is all he has going for himself. On tonight's episode, he had to go to Victoria to basically ask permission to make a move. I don't know if I respect that. I feel as if he is playing for others rather than himself. Like Julie, I do enjoy Gavin on the show. His episode last week with his wife was very emotional, and we know how much Survivor loves to make their winners have emotional content. I just do not see Gavin winning this season, though.
Victoria or should I say Cutthroat Victoria has played an interesting game this season. I mean the edit hasn't shown anything of her for many of the post-merge episodes. That does not mean that she is playing a bad game. She spearheaded the Ron blindside last week, and she had Gavin on her side tonight where he gave her information on what Lauren was planning on doing. Also, she gave a great pokerface to Aubry on her elimination episode which was brilliant. However, I just do not see Victoria winning this season based on the little content she has had. I really like her, though, and I think she would be a decent winner if she won the season.
The person who I think has played the best all around game this season is Lauren. She found an idol and still has it in her possession. She was a key figure in the Kelley, Wardog, and Lauren alliance even though people just like to think she rode Kelley's coattails. I think it only looked that way since Kelley was a veteran and she had a bigger personality than Lauren does. Lauren has made social bonds with Victoria, Gavin, and Julie where I think the Julie bond came in handy in tonight's episode where Julie thought she could still trust Lauren to a certain extent. Lauren was a key figure in getting Gavin to vote out Ron in last weeks' episode. I also think people forget Lauren was the one who got out Rick the first time. So, yes Lauren should win this season. No, she isn't a mastermind, but she has played a strong game similiar to Denise in Survivor: Philippines.
Now, let's get to Rick. Has Rick played a good game? The answer to this question is: hell no. I think Rick has played the worst game by far this season. The only good move he had this whole game was in this episode, but I cannot even credit him with that move because I think Lauren, Gavin and Victoria were going to go with Aurora anyways. And of course he takes credit once again for a move he did not spearhead. Rick is just a terrible player. He proved that by being voted out fourth, by being on the wrong side of the votes over half of the merge. He proved that by running around tonight and playing hide and go seek instead of trying to wiggle his way into an alliance with someone, instead of using social strategy to make amends with his tribemates, but he failed to do that because he is just horrendous at Survivor. I laugh at these Facebook cat ladies and these idiots on Reddit who say Rick would be a good winner. Rick would be worse than Ben and that is saying something. It's actually sad that Ben looks like a mastermind next to Rick, and Rick is the biggest threat to win because this jury cannot analyze good gameplay. And I swear to God if I see one more advantage or idol come into Rick's lap, I'm gonna vomit. Remember the days when Jonny Fairplay had to flip Sandra and Christa to vote out Tijuana by lying in Pearl Islands? Remember when Rob C. flipped Heidi and Jenna into voting Christy out in The Amazon? Remember when Sandra created an alliance to counteract Burton and Jon? Remember when Tina convinced Colby to put her as his number one ally in The Australian Outback? What do all of these players have in common? Strategy and manipulation without the influence of idols or advantages. Those are what you call good players. Not someone who goes on immunity idol scavenger hunt or who calls five out of eight players left goats or who even has to put on a show for the jury to get their attention because their social and strategic game sucks. So no, Rick should not win this season of Survivor, and if he does, it just proves that you don't have to outwit someone in the game anymore. It would also make Survivor jump the shark once again because it happened after Ben winning, after the "purple" edits of the people on Ghost Island, and after assembling a cast called "Game Changers" when half the cast flopped in their original season. We can thank Jeff Probst because of that.
Those are my thoughts on the five remaining castaways and my feelings on them as the winner of the season. Hopefully, the EoE returnee goes right back out after they get back in because they have no business being back in the game after all of that time missed. This season has had high highs and low lows, and I'm just praying it ends on a high because I really do love this show. It is an escape from my anxieties, so I don't want to dislike it, but I am going to be truthful in my opinions.
Thank you for reading my Survivor: Edge of Extinction Finale Hopes. Who do you want to win? Leave a comment!
