Matt Liguori analyzes the Survivor: Island of the Idols cast each week to pick out which players make up his top three and bottom two, as well as identifying one player we should keep an eye on.
Survivor: Island of the Idols Week 2
Previously on… Sur54
Last week’s top 3 consisted of Tommy, Missy, and Karishma. Karishma was nowhere to be found. Missy was looking just as good this week as she was last week. The brief time we spent at the Orange camp was with Missy as she chased down Aaron to ensure he wasn’t feeling on the outs. Missy knows the women’s alliance is still in her corner but now she’s got some extra protection with Aaron by her side. Tommy had a big decision to make this week and I think he couldn’t have gone wrong either way. He’ll have some damage control to do when they get back to camp, but I think he’s in a sweet spot right in the middle of things. Again, there’s so much drama happening on Tommy’s tribe with him mostly uninvolved I have to imagine that’s still going to keep him safe for a bit.
Our outgoing bottom two consisted of Vince and Noura. Noura‘s performance in these three days was exactly as was expected based off those previews. She seems terrible to live with and in 9/10 seasons, Noura gets voted off on day 6. This season has some big-time gamers who aren’t sitting back and letting the game play out like it usually does, so for now she was spared. If she’s going to create this kind of drama every week, I’m all in on Noura sticking around longer.
Outgoing one to watch… Elizabeth. Hard to watch when you’re not on screen! (Aside from the half-second where she couldn’t make a fire despite Boston Rob and Sandra teaching her 24 hours prior.)
The big story here is a similar story if you were reading the 3-2-1 during David vs. Goliath. My preseason top 3 back then included that season’s second boot as well, as Jessica Peet was voted out after a pretty strong premiere showing. So you’re saying I’ve learned nothing and let the same thing happen to me only one year later? Yup. Molly was a pretty high draft pick amongst a lot of fans, so I think we’re all pretty surprised to see Parvati 13.0 (or Alexis 2.0?) go home so early. Molly had real promise and I certainly would not be mad to see her back in the game someday.
As always, check me out on Twitter @mattliguori and let me know your thoughts!
Lauren
Lauren had the most impressive showing this week. Do we know what season was shown at Ponderosa before the game? One might imagine it was Heroes vs. Villains to make sure everyone knows who Rob and Sandra are, and if so they definitely know who Parvati is. HvV‘s early game was all about how Parvati was such a big threat and needed to go (but never did), so if Lauren got her hands on those tapes it’s no surprise to see her gunning for Molly so early.
Regardless, Lauren was incredibly bold in sticking her neck out this early and putting together the votes to take her shot. The King, Queen, and the Jack were looking really tight and feeling on top of the world. Breaking that up early prevents them from sticking together into a tribe swap where they can build on that alliance and grow stronger by the time they come together at a merge. Lauren’s thinking long-term and I’ve got to respect it, as sad as I am to lose Molly.
Kellee
Luck is a huge part of doing well in a game like Survivor and this week there was a ton of it working in Kellee’s favor. Getting selected by random draw to go visit Rob and Sandra island was huge enough as it is. But then getting a couple of softball questions to earn herself an idol for the next three Tribals was a dream come true for Kellee early on in this game.
Back at camp, Kellee stuck by Lauren and Janet’s side as they put together a plan to blindside Molly and break up the powerful trio. Oh and of course… SHE HID AN IDOL IN HER HAIR! Legend. Game changer.
Jason
Just like Jamal described at Tribal, Jason played the position he was in perfectly. Jason made a mistake by idol hunting early and obviously. But according to Molly’s exit interviews, Jason went to work after realizing what he’d done by taking every single tribe member aside and apologizing. He worked hard to make sure everybody felt comfortable with him despite his mistake. By the end of Tribal Council, he and his closest ally were both safe against all odds while the big alliance turned on itself.
Aside from all the work he did to save himself, Jason kept Noura calm and controlled. Noura is going to need Jason by her side in order to survive for the time being. She needs someone to tell her to stop dancing when she gets excited about a vote and to keep her at ease when she’s getting worked up over someone not helping with the fire. Jason has impressed me a lot so far and I think he’s more than capable of keeping things turned around like Nick did early on in David vs. Goliath.
Vince
Things were seemingly quiet on the Orange beach during days 4-6, a welcomed change after having to go to Tribal Council on day 3. This season is the first time since Millennials vs. GenX where the first tribe to lose immunity didn’t also lose the second challenge (thank you Mike Bloom). Despite the lesser airtime, we did get a peek into their tribe dynamics at the start of the episode and I think it’s pretty bad for Vince that we saw Missy roping Aaron back in. If the women stick together, it’s either Aaron, Vince, Tom, or Dean out next. Missy is close to Aaron. Elaine has Tom, and if Dean were in trouble we would’ve at least been introduced to him by now, right?
Jamal
What a bad week for my preseason top 3 as Molly gets knocked off the board and Jamal takes a big hit, landing in the bottom two this early! I don’t necessarily think Jamal is in the most danger to go home next, but he’s lost a lot of ground. He was feeling pretty on top of the world, not even bringing his bag to Tribal Council (people still make that mistake?) and showing just how confident he was. Jack will head back to camp and potentially fall back into Tommy’s arms, but where is Jamal going? I can’t imagine he’ll be too happy and I’m worried his reaction to this blindside won’t be what it needs to be.
Jack
I was feeling good about Jack last week after he linked up with Tommy, but Jack and friends got too comfortable this week and paid the price via a major blindside at Tribal Council. Between Jack and Jamal, I’ve got more confidence in Jack to rebound and regain footing within the tribe. Tommy is a smart guy and if Jack can return to Tommy’s side and figure out where to go next, there’s no reason why he can’t get back in the numbers. The way he handles this blindside will heavily dictate the future of his game. It’s way too early to come back to camp as heated as Aaron did on the other tribe.
