Last week, we watched Kamilla and Kyle completely fool Joe, Thomas and Shauhin into believing they weren’t close and weren’t sharing information, when in fact they’re probably the strongest duo in the game. The week before, we watched Cedrek vote for Sai twice only to have Sai convince him to keep her in the game.

Kamilla and Kyle used their wits to extract important information they could use to control the vote. They learned the California Girls alliance was gonna vote for Kyle, who protected himself with his Idol. And Kamilla likely came out of it with the guys thinking Kyle is the bigger threat. Sai figured out why Cedrek made decisions and exploited it to protect herself. She no longer trusts Cedrek, but he still trusts her completely. These are examples of what I call “Cirie-level manipulation.” But then I realized I haven’t written about some of Cirie’s greatest Survivor moments. That ends this week.

To pull off a move worthy of being called “Cirie-level,” one must convince another player to make a move that is of huge benefit to yourself that is simultaneously bad for that player…without that player realizing it’s a bad move for themselves. A Cirie-level move always improves your position in the game. Sometimes the manipulated player even thinks they came up with the idea themselves. Simply put, Cirie is a natural at Survivor. She always gets an accurate read on her situation and is a master at figuring out how to improve her position. Unfortunately, Cirie has also had the worst luck in Survivor history too, falling victim to the worst twists of fate the game has ever seen, which is why she has never won. Cirie is a prime example of why its accurate to say the best player doesn’t always win the game. She played the best in 3 of her 4 Survivor seasons. Here’s a look at some of moves that earned Cirie the title of greatest manipulator in Survivor history, and a top 5 overall Survivor player in my eyes.

S12: Panama - Exile Island

The Survivor Gods dealt Cirie a blow on day 1 when the tribes were divided by gender and age. Cirie ended up on the 4-person “Older Women’s” tribe, even though she was only 35. Their tribe was doomed to lose Immunity Challenges. Cirie was also the least equipped to survive in the wild. Her tribemate Tina, who was a log roller (aka Lumberjill Tina) said in confessional “Cirie hasn’t had a lot of outdoor experience. We wanted some leaves to use as a cushy bed, and she said she hates leaves. Did anyone tell her what show she was going on? Leaves are the least of your problem.”

When the women lost immunity, it seemed like a no-brainer to vote Cirie out first. Melinda said in confessional “There are a hundred reasons to keep Tina. She’s a workhorse, she caught a fish today. I do think Cirie is the weak link right now.” Cirie’s talent would be tested immediately, but she didn’t blink. She invented a reason to save herself. In confessional, Cirie said “I don’t want to feel like I’m gunning for anyone, but I don’t want to go home, so we’re gonna try to get rid of the lumberjack lady.” First, Cirie gutted the fish Tina caught, then she told Ruth-Marie “I asked Melinda ‘Do you think you can beat Tina in any challenges?’ She said no. I like her and everything, but I’m trying to win. Melinda says she’s with us. I think Tina is starting to aggravate her a bit. She is kind of loud.” It worked. Tina was voted out 3-1. Cirie convinced a majority to vote out their strongest member and food provider. Melinda and Ruth-Marie never knew what hit them. And now Cirie was calling the shots. Cirie-level manipulation.

After a swap, Cirie found herself in the minority again as Shane, Aras, Danielle and Courtney had aligned together. Cirie, Melinda and Bobby were on the outs, but Aras was tight with Bobby. They lost Immunity and a naïve Aras who wanted to be honest told Cirie and Melinda he’d be voting for one of them. Melinda was voted out and replaced by Bruce from the Older Men’s tribe. Cirie was still on the bottom, but she picked up on the animosity between Courtney, Danielle and Shane. Cirie gained Aras’s confidence by becoming the workhorse, while Aras watched Shane throwing tantrums while Danielle and Courtney lounged around camp. When Danielle refused to help dig a new fire pit, Cirie said in confessional “THAT should have been my cue to start walking, but noooo, I had to stand right there. The four of them is like some sick psychotic joke and seems to be unraveling little by little. Yay!”

Cirie also noticed the growing tension against Bobby after he and Bruce drank a bottle of wine the tribe won in a Reward Challenge. There were cracks all around her. They lost Immunity again. Shane wanted Bobby gone but then swore to Bobby on his son’s name he’d vote for Bruce. Aras wanted to remove Bruce. Danielle was pushing to boot Bobby but couldn’t convince Shane to break his word to Bobby. Cirie and Danielle pulled off the first 3-2-1-1 vote split and controlled the vote to remove Bobby. Aras and Bobby voted for Bruce, Bruce voted for Courtney, and Shane intentionally threw his vote away on Aras so he could keep his word to Bobby. And all of them thought Cirie was voting with them. Shane ended up being furious at Danielle for making an emotional decision. None of them realized the role Cirie played in working them all against each other to remove the vote she couldn’t influence. Cirie gathered all the info she needed to keep her cover and boot the person she wanted gone – just like Kamilla and Kyle did last week. Cirie-level manipulation.

At final 7, Cirie pulled off a nice double play. First, she won the Helicopter Reward. Aras, Danielle, Shane and Courtney were all sure Cirie would take them with her. Shane was crushed with Cirie picked Aras and Danielle. Shane vented “You are sorry. I’m devastated. I’m not talking about Aras, I’m worried about the Danielle call. You made the wrong call.” Whie on the Reward, Cirie got even closer to Aras and Danielle by saying she didn’t want to ruin their helicopter trip by including the moody Shane. But she knew she’d have some damage control to do with Shane when she returned. But again, Cirie was prepared. After returning, she swore on her children’s lives she, Shane, Courtney and Aras were going to the final 4. Cirie’s vow worked, and Shane was back on her side. Placating an angered ally and maintaining their trust – Cirie-level manipulation.

Then when Terry won the next Reward and took Danielle and Courtney along, Shane made the mistake of telling Cirie how easy it would be to beat Courtney in the finals. Cirie realized this meant Shane wouldn’t go to the finals with her if Courtney was still in the game. So, when Terry won Immunity again, Cirie pulled off another 3-2-1, convincing Aras and Danielle to vote out Courtney. Terry and Courtney voted for Aras, and Shane was left out on his own again in voting for Danielle. Cirie removed the biggest goat which improved her own chances of reaching the final 2. Cirie destroyed Shane’s strategy and again, kept his trust. Cirie-level manipulation.

Cirie blindsided Shane next. He left the game more angry at Aras than at her, which means she was more likely to get his Jury vote. Cirie went out at final 4 after losing a surprisingly close fire making tiebreaker to Danielle. After the season aired, Shane gave Cirie perhaps her most complimentary nickname calling her “A gangster in an Oprah suit.”

S16: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites

Cirie’s second season is probably her best overall. Almost every move she made improved her position and weakened those aligned with or against her. Only a medevac-influenced switch from a final 3 to a final 2 spelled her doom this time around.

At the start Cirie found herself on the outside of two foursomes. James, Ozzy, Parvati and Amanda connected. James and Amanda had played together in China, and Parvati and Ozzy did the same in Cook Islands. Then Penner, Ami, Eliza and Yau-man aligned. Surprisingly, both groups tried to recruit Jonny Fairplay to their side, but when he quit, Cirie found herself in the middle. Cirie knew she’d be on the bottom with either foursome, but she was determined to strengthen her position. Both groups recruited her, but when Yau-Man betrayed Cirie with info about an Idol clue, Cirie knew she needed him gone. Ozzy and James wanted the annoying Eliza gone, but Cirie told Parvati and Amanda she’d only join them if they booted Yau-Man. They agreed and Yau-Man was gone. This move had multiple benefits for Cirie: 1) Removed a player she’d labeled as “too smart to compete against”; 2) Bonded her with Parvati and Amanda, who’d now vote how Cirie wanted; and 3) Gave her influence over how James and Ozzy voted. This was confirmed by James in confessional who said “Cirie is killin’ me. You can’t be the boss of everything, and everybody just let her go. She went from the swing vote to the one who's deciding what's going on for the whole group; that can't happen. It feels like I'm in China again messing with a bunch of dumbasses." Cirie took control of the voting decisions. Cirie-level manipulation.

Many Survivor fans mistakenly credit Parvati with executing two of Micronesia’s most famous moves. Here’s why credit should justifiably go to Cirie.

Blindsiding Ozzy: After finishing second in Cook Islands, Ozzy came into Micronesia cocky, arrogant, and tragically overconfident. He even got into a showmance with Amanda and didn’t think it would affect his game. He bullied Cirie into taking a canoe trip with them into deep water, ignoring her clearly stated fears. Ozzy found the Idol and told his alliance about it. When Eliza left, she accused him of having the Idol, and he proudly admitted it. When Cirie made her second trip to Exile Island, she said in confessional “There’s nothing to gain by being on Exile Island. There’s no Idol to be found because Ozzy has it. Ozzy’s a huge competitor, and then to have the Idol on top of that? That increased his target tenfold. Maybe I’ll have to work on getting rid of Ozzy and his Idol.” Cirie called her shot.

Cirie knew this would be tough. Amanda was falling for Ozzy, Parvati was probably his most trusted ally, and James was committed to his alliance. But Cirie also knew Ozzy was drooling over the chance to blindside Jason, who was Ozzy’s toughest competition for immunity. So, Cirie went around Ozzy’s alliance when Parvati beat Jason for immunity, saying in confessional “We all guaranteed Jason we wouldn’t vote him out tonight, but I think Ozzy wants to vote him out anyway, which makes this a perfect time to get rid of Ozzy and that Idol because he’ll never see it coming. Ozzy is a huge threat in this game. So, if Jason, Parvati, Natalie, Alexis and myself vote Ozzy, Ozzy’s goin’, Idol’s gone, clean slate.”

Cirie made her first pitch to Alexis, Natalie, and Parvati, making them all swear not to leak the plan to Amanda, James, or Erik because they’d warn Ozzy, who’d then save himself with his Idol. Parvati knew Ozzy could beat her in the end but wanted to ride the safety of both of her alliances longer. In confessional, Parvati said “if I went to the final 5 with Ozzy, Ozzy would win this game.... On the other hand, I made an alliance with Ozzy, and he protected me a bunch of times.... So God, what do I do?” Parvati was undecided. She knew betraying Ozzy could destroy her preferred alliance and put three potential Jury votes at risk.

But Cirie knew how to force Parvati’s hand. She sent Alexis and Natalie to secure Jason’s vote. Once Parvati found out Jason was on board, there was no turning back. Ozzy was blindsided while holding an Idol in a 5-4 vote. James and Ozzy were furious with Parvati. Amanda and Erik felt betrayed, too. Cirie had gained more trust from Alexis, Natalie and Jason, and more importantly, she didn’t anger Amanda, James or Erik.

In one vote, Cirie removed the best challenge performer, and an Idol, strengthened her ability to influence the voting, and kept herself in a good position to get every Jury vote.

Cirie-level manipulation. How could she top that?

Blindsiding Erik: At final 5, Erik had become the new Immunity threat. Cirie, Parvati, Amanda, and Natalie all knew Erik hadn’t angered any jurors and had a good chance of winning if he got to the finals. They prioritized voting him out, but he won his third Immunity in a row. As Erik walked off alone, the women commiserated by the water. Amanda shared that Erik was worried about everyone thinking he was a liar. Natalie wanted the women to be honest and just say they were voting her out. Amanda and Parvati confirmed Natalie’s fear. Then Cirie got her idea and started this chat:

Cirie “I wonder if he would give Natalie his necklace? Probably not, huh?”

Amanda: “Oh my God!”

Cirie (to Natalie) – “Do you think you could talk him into giving you the necklace?”

Amanda: “Natalie, work your magic, you can convince him to give it to you.”

Natalie: “How would it benefit him to give me the necklace?”

Amanda: “Say ‘We’ll convince ... I’ll convince the jury not to ... they’ll know everything you’ve done. They’re not gonna vote for you anyways. Everyone’s mad at you. This is one way you can redeem yourself.’ Just go off.”

Cirie: “Natalie, tell him if he gave you the necklace, that would redeem him, and we’d vote for Amanda.”

Natalie: “Who would fall for that?”

Parvati: “Jason, Ozzy, and Erik.”

Natalie: “I feel stupid listening to you guys.”

Parvati: “He belongs in that trio.”

Amanda: “You’re good at this Natalie.”

Natalie: “Yeah but, I mean this is just ridiculous. I’ll try it. I’ll say I talked to Cirie about it and she’s down for voting Amanda.”

Cirie: “But the only way I’ll do it is if he saves you, ‘cause I don’t believe him. I have to see him save you to believe he’ll vote Amanda because of all the stuff he’s been sayin’.”

Natalie pitched Erik, following Cirie’s instructions to the T. Erik approached Cirie, who then closed him by confirming she’d vote for Amanda when Erik saved Natalie. Cirie even instructed Amanda and Parvati to give Erik a verbal beatdown at Tribal Council. Everyone played their roles exactly as Cirie described them. Erik gave his Immunity to Natalie, then they voted him out. Erik left the game more upset with Amanda and Parvati for their verbal abuse than at Cirie. At Ponderosa, Erik started lobbying for Cirie to win. Alexis was already telling the jurors how Cirie planned Ozzy and Jason’s blindsides. Cirie’s jury profile was improving with every vote. Cirie-level manipulation at its finest.

Make no mistake, this was 100% Cirie’s plan. She came up with the idea, figured out how to make it work, and gave specific instructions to Natalie, Amanda and Parvati on how to execute it. Cirie was perfectly positioned to win in any final 3 combination.

But the Survivor Gods intervened again. The multiple quits (Fairplay, Chet, Kathy) and medevacs (Penner and James) threw the schedule off and forced a switch from a final 3 to a final 2. Cirie’s shaky hand cost her final 3 Immunity, and she joined the jury. Natalie, Alexis, Erik and Eliza all told Cirie she had their votes had she made it to the finals. That was enough votes to win had there been a final 3.

S20: Heroes vs Villains

By the time Heroes vs Villains came around, Cirie’s reputation proved too intimidating to overcome. Everyone knew how clever she was. Stephen Fishbach recently said he warned J.T. about Cirie before he left to play. Certainly Amanda, Parvati and James knew how good she was. Fireman Tom hadn’t been a part of the Survivor community after his win in Palau but even he knew how good Cirie was. Cirie really had no chance at all this season, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have a highlight.

Turning Amanda against Tom: At the Heroes’ first vote, Sugar became the target for being as annoying as she was in Gabon. Cirie tried to flip the vote to Tom or Stephenie, saying in confessional, “Word on the street says Sugar is going. Why Sugar? Yeah, she’s annoying, but that’s an even better reason for me to keep her around. As long as there’s somebody annoying and somebody less strong than me, that takes the target off of me. If we could get one of the stronger players out like Tom or Stephenie, that would be better for me.” She lost out on that vote, which probably hinted her reputation had caught up to her.

But at the second vote, Stephenie found herself as the target. She and Tom separately asked Cirie and Candice to help them vote out Amanda instead. Stephenie was voted out, but Colby and Tom voted for Amanda.

Then Amanda spotted Tom hiding an Idol in his sock. Tom knew he’d been caught, but kept his mouth shut ... until the Heroes lost Immunity. Tom pitched Amanda on voting for Candice, promising to share his Idol with her and James as a “committee Idol.” Amanda was sold, and even hugged Tom. Then she spoke to Cirie who told her, “That is the dumbest thing. Did he give it to you? Oh Amanda, these are the same people that wanted you gone desperately. And now you’re gonna save them? This is so stupid. We’re talking Tom and Colby, and they’re a much bigger threat than she is! Oh my God.” Cirie set Amanda straight, but unbeknownst to both of them, J.T. remembered Fishbach’s warning and was eavesdropping outside the shelter. He promptly reported back to Tom who knew he had to protect himself with his Idol. Tom declared Cirie was too smart to compete against. Cirie got voted out 3-2 when Tom saved himself with his Idol, negating the 3 votes against him. Even though she ended up leaving, Cirie changed Amanda’s mind and kept her ally loyal.

S34: Game Changers

After her demise in Heroes vs. Villains, Cirie shouldn’t have had any prayer of making another deep run. Once again, the odds were stacked against her when the Game Changers cast included both Ozzy and J.T., who still had fresh motivation to want her gone. It looked even worse when both of them landed on her original tribe, and Probst called her “legendary” on the first day. Ozzy even admitted to Sierra he was scared of Cirie, then in confessional said “My competition is fierce ... Cirie helped get me out of (Micronesia). I’m not sure if I can trust her. So, this time, I need to be the master of blindsides. If we lose, Cirie is gonna go.” Cirie offered Ozzy an olive branch on day 1, and Ozzy appeared to accept it. But after she watched Ozzy talking to Tai, Cirie followed up and asked Tai if Ozzy was cool with her. Tai’s silence spoke volumes, and Cirie knew she had more work to do.

Cirie pitched partnerships with J.T., Debbie and Sarah. All three accepted, but J.T. and Debbie admitted in confessional that Cirie was still their biggest worry. However, the Survivor Gods were smiling on Cirie for a change. Because of her tribe’s strength, she didn’t go to Tribal Council until day 21. She was even swapped with Ozzy on day 11, but by then he was no longer targeting her. Then J.T. was booted. A second swap put her on a tribe with Michaela and Aubry, with whom Cirie bonded quickly.

When the 13-person merge came, Cirie quickly noted it was the first time in Survivor history that two black women had made it to the merge. While she didn’t take that distinction to the extreme like Maryanne and Drea would in Survivor 42, she wanted to keep Michaela around. After debating between Michaela and Hali, Brad, Ozzy and Troyzan had decided Michaela should be the merge boot. In confessional, Brad said “My #1 goal is reconnecting the bonds I had with people I haven’t been with for a while. If I’m thinking about who I can play best with, I don’t feel good about Michaela. Her reputation precedes her. I don’t trust her. I’m getting everyone on the same page. Michaela would be the first gobble-up after the merge.” The guys got Zeke, Tai, Sarah, Sierra and Hali on board. When Cirie and Aubry got the word from Sierra, they did the right thing and agreed. But that’s not what Cirie wanted.

Cirie and Andrea realized they were in a power struggle with Brad and Sierra for control. First, Cirie met with Michaela and tried to eliminate the reason so many didn’t trust her, saying “You’re a very smart girl. You have to control your emotions, and you can’t shut down when everybody else is talking. You can’t have that (stone face) exterior .... You have to let that go and be as regular as you possibly can. Because if you make any tension – it don’t take a lot here for them to look at you. Your reputation follows you, and people’s perception is their reality. It don’t matter what reality is, it’s what THEY think, that’s what’s real to them.” Michaela took Cirie’s advice.

Andrea won Immunity. Then Sierra told Cirie there would be a vote split between Michaela and Hali because she suspected Hali had an Idol. So Cirie went to work. First, she convinced Zeke that Sierra wanted Michaela gone so she could use Hali as a number. Zeke was sold. Cirie even convinced Michaela to vote for Zeke. That way, Cirie would keep her cover. Nobody would know she and Michaela were working together.

Michaela confirmed her trust in Cirie saying in confessional “My name’s on the chopping block, but I don’t want to explode at all ‘cause that’s not gonna help me in this situation. I’m super thankful to have Cirie here. My life is completely in Cirie’s hands, and I trust it there.”

Hali ended up being the merge boot, and Cirie had her army assembled with Andrea, Zeke, Sarah, Michaela, Aubry and herself. She controlled half of the votes, and nobody knew she had Michaela in her pocket. Cirie-level manipulation.

Sarah found a Steal-a-Vote Advantage and was bouncing back and forth between the battling alliances. She knew she hadn’t completely secured Cirie’s trust, even after she helped vote out her closest ally (Zeke) at Cirie’s request. So, Sarah gave her Advantage to Cirie at final 7 to lock up that trust. Cirie wanted to remove Tai and was lobbying Sarah to help. Cirie tried to steal Sarah’s vote with her own Advantage, but it was non-transferable. The blatant betrayal should have convinced Sarah to turn on Cirie immediately, but Cirie thought fast on her feet and told Sarah “I haven’t lied to you yet. I was gonna save you because you wouldn’t listen to me.” Sarah used her Advantage to steal Tai’s vote, but didn’t vote for Cirie or Tai. Instead, she looked to Brad who mouthed “Michaela” and Sarah put both votes on Michaela, who left instead. While Cirie’s plan blew up, she remained in the game. She still had Sarah’s trust.

Cirie’s ability to think fast on her feet was explained perfectly by Debbie of all people in a quote from that season’s “Jury on Tribal Council” videos. Debbie: “So Cirie has an Advantage that someone has ‘given’ her. Whether she read the instructions or not is irrelevant, she can’t use it and it’s given back to Sarah the ‘owner.’ Cirie is then forgiven for trying to pilfer an Advantage. Does the ‘owner’ Sarah then use the Advantage to vote out Cirie? Oh no. Cirie with her ... its gotta be genius, like this nefarious intelligent streak. It’s an evil genius. Not only does Cirie convince Sarah that ‘I was taking your Advantage for your own good.’ This is equivalent to ‘I was only sleeping with your husband for your own good.’ This is how brilliant this move is. Cirie just won a million dollars as far as I’m concerned. She just swiped a vote that she couldn’t use, gave it back with a BS excuse that ‘It was for your own good.’ Sarah bought it, used the Advantage, but not to take out Cirie. Cirie’s up there with, I don’t know, some evil mastermind who’s gonna kidnap the moon and hold it ransom for a million dollars. Anyway, I thought Cirie was awesome.”

But sadly, the Survivor Gods turned on Cirie again. She went out next at final 6 when she ended up the only one who didn’t have an Idol or Advantage to protect her – a circumstance now known as Advantagegeddon. Brad won Immunity, Sarah had a Legacy Advantage, Troyzan had an Idol. Tai had two Idols (both of which he inexplicably held onto when Sarah stole his vote) and used one for himself and one for Aubry. Cirie was eliminated even though she hadn’t had a single vote cast against her the entire season. For someone with Cirie’s reputation, that’s nothing short of amazing.

This season, so far nobody is playing as well as Cirie always does. But if Kamilla keeps it up, I won’t be surprised if I use the term “Cirie-level manipulation” for her again. And who knows? Kamilla might just get the chance to square off against Cirie herself in season 50 if they’re both chosen to play.

Now for a couple of notes from my rewatch of the last episode. In pregame, Eva said she’d be reluctant to working with the women who were still wearing earrings and make up. She just got swapped with both of them – Mary and Charity. Star said she hoped she be on the same tribe as “Captain America (the man with all the muscles). She got swapped with David. Chrissy said she got good vibes from “The African-American man with glasses who smiles a lot.” She just got swapped with Cedrek. What will the ripple effects be when they all see Thomas is gone? Do the Lagi members embrace the original Vula members and unite against Civa? Will Mitch use his Block A Vote to maintain Civa’s numbers? Would he consider trying to slip it to David, Charity, Kamilla or Kyle should they lose Immunity? Let’s find out.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. In a Secret Scene, David and Mary bonded quickly. Mary appreciates the way David provides for the tribe, and David said “Seeing Mary and knowing she’s been to Tribal Council 3 times already, and I know she’s a good person, I just want to protect her. I want to throw my arms around her and say ‘Nope, she’s off the table. You can’t vote for her, she’s not going home. I like her as a person. I’m definitely gonna try to work with her.”

And away we go ...

---

As it turns out, Kyle did use Kamilla’s Extra Vote last week as protection against a 3-3 tie. If they have to go to Tribal again, they’ll all be tested now.

Kyle comes up with a decent cover story about being spooked by Shauin’s bag search. Kyle thinks the guys don’t believe Kyle and Kamilla are tight, but come on, they just voted together! Shauhin and Joe would be idiots to believe anything they say. The clear play for everyone is to look for a re-hidden Idol. We already know Sai’s Idol is already somewhere in camp.

Kyle and Kamilla are patting themselves on the back a little too hard in confessional. There’s a lot of game left, and they both just stuck their heads up. They had no choice of course, but they’re big enough fans to know you should never get cocky. They should have had a damage control plan in place before they went to Tribal.

But instead, we go straight to a Reward Challenge? I wanted to see more fallout. Oh well.

I remember this challenge from Ghost Island. Chris Noble killed it on the sandbags.

Bianca is open-mouth shocked to see Thomas is gone, but Charity can’t stop smiling. There’s that cocky side again.

Sai overacted when she heard donuts were part of the Reward. I know they’re coached to act excited, but that was ridiculous.

Eva grabs the spotlight role for Lagi, and Shauhin does it for Vula as they roll their balls first. This is Shauhin’s 4th. Mitch can’t stay out of the spotlight roles (this was his 3rd), but since his tribe lost he wasn’t as big of a star.

Mary mouths off about the win: “We’re the first team to go to the Sanctuary, and we still have fruit left.” But Sai didn’t look good with her “You should win with more tactfulness ... being mindful is important” speech, either.

Mitch: “I don’t know what Sai was thinking, but girl, be quiet. You can have an opinion, but you don’t have to totally share it” Sai would be better served by sharing her feelings in more intimate two- and three-person chats. Blowing Mary up in front of everyone just makes everyone think Sai would do the same thing to them. Mitch expressed my thoughts perfectly.

Chrissy: “Sai sat out and the first thing she did when we came back was eat some fruit. She’s digging her own hole.” Chrissy expressed my thoughts perfectly.

Mitch: “Sai is causing so much chaos there’s no way I want to work with her.” See the end of the previous 2 paragraphs.

Sai thinks she’s got Bianca and Cedrek in her pocket, but she’s so stuck in her own head she hasn’t even considered either one of them could have different plans. What happens in a 2-2 deadlock vote when the person in the middle can’t vote? I still say Bianca should keep her mouth shut. Let the first vote be tied. That seems to be the best way to keep herself safe. Sure, she’ll have some explaining to do, but she’ll be in the game to do that explaining. Then again, Mitch can block somebody from voting. If he doesn’t use it on Bianca, this could be a very short Tribal Council if they lose.

Ok, we know David likes milk, but what’s with the romantic music playing while he’s drinking? For a second, I thought we were gonna hear Lionel Richie’s “Hello.”

I wonder what it is about Charity that turns so many people off? It seems like the only one who likes her much is Mitch. Is she saying things that are so volatile they can’t be included in the edit?

Hearing about the hardships endured by Kamilla, Shauhin and Joe’s parents was touching, but a lot of it felt like filler. As strongly as these four feel about each other now, they’re gonna have to turn on each other. Both pairs still have viable options with their original tribemates.

Mitch gives the Idol back to Probst and says, “See you in a little bit.” Last week, Vula lost after they made a cocky prediction. Mitch is tempting the Survivor Gods.

Hee hee, Jeff put one of the Idols down backwards.

Cedrek is sitting out for Civa. That’s a good call. He did well in the Reward Challenge but hasn’t done well for Immunity yet.

There are no spotlight roles in this challenge. Everybody has to do every stage. Why isn’t Charity helping carry the crate?

Having a large muscular guy like David or Joe means their tribes have to dig a larger hole to get under that log.

I’ve got to think this challenge took forever. The learning curve for that table was huge.

Damn, Kamilla killed it in her second try. And I think Mary did it faster than Kamilla! I loved Mary’s “Yeah, I do this shit every day” expression too.

Probst: “Sai is feeling the pressure.” Sai “I don’t feel any pressure.” Sai, when you’re talking back to Probst, you’re not focused on the challenge.

Will Joe blow his cover and start trying to calm Eva down?

Eva pulls it out, and Joe kept his cool.

Probst bails him out by asking Joe to give her a hug. But seeing how he calmed her down has got to expose them now.

But then Probst straight out blows them up. He looked straight into the camera when he said, “I felt it was ok for me to suggest they hug.” Even though it was 100% sincere, I’m not crazy about how Probst nudged Eva into telling her story. And unfortunately, I don’t think Joe or Eva has any chance of winning the game now. The likability for both of them just went through the roof. How can anyone sit next to either of them in the finals and expect to win? Joe and Eva even moved Probst to tears. How can you vote against either of them? Even worse who do you pick if they’re both in the finals?

But now we’ve got a very interesting Tribal Council. How will Bianca play it? We’ve got more than a half hour left in the episode. Maybe we’re in for another Survivor first. If Mitch trusts Bianca, and it appears he does, Sai is a goner. Mitch just has to decide which vote to block. It seems unlikely Chrissy will betray Mitch at this vote.

How much better would Sai’s position be if she never told anyone she had an Idol? She could have made it to the swap with that Idol and controlled this vote.

I’ll say it again. Even though it’s totally sincere, it feels like Survivor is using Eva’s autism as an “Aren’t we doing a good thing?” moment, similar to Zeke being (outed as) transgender (Game Changers), Chad having a prosthetic leg (Vanuatu), Christy being deaf (The Amazon), Ben being a war veteran (HHH), Wendy having Tourette’s Syndrome (Edge of Extinction), and even Carolyn being Carolyn (44). Am I being too cynical here?

Does this episode make Eva a lock for Season 50?

Eva solves Star’s puzzle, and hands Star an Idol. Good for Eva for solving a problem, but she weakened her position by helping Star. Now Star has an Idol and gets her vote back.

Star: “What a day for Eva!” My thoughts exactly.

But Star gives the Idol to Eva??? Wow, I didn’t see that coming. Just the same, it’s an Idol everyone knows she has. The target on Eva’s back got even bigger.

Bianca is playing both sides against each other. Not a bad plan, but then again, it’s really her only plan.

Cedrek still can’t see why he can’t stick with Sai long-term. I agree with Chrissy: “If he sticks with Sai, he’s out of his mind.”

Cedrek: “At some point (Sai's volatility is) gonna be a liability.” Dude, that point was two votes ago.

Bianca comes clean to Cedrek. I’ll quote Q again: “Big mistake.” But at least she did it at the last minute so maybe he didn’t have enough time to put a counterattack in motion. But he can still blow her up at Tribal. And I think Cedrek is just unsure of himself enough to do it.

Dealing with Cedrek is why I often say playing Survivor is tougher with people who don’t understand the game than it is with knowledgeable superfans. Cedrek’s unpredictability makes the game much more difficult.

Bianca put Cedrek in a tough position. Now that he knows Bianca is a sitting duck, if he boots Sai, he could easily be the next boot because he’s outnumbered.

But Sai puts her foot in her mouth again by subtly reminding Cedrek she got burned when he didn’t give her all the information on Vula.

Cedrek didn’t blow up Bianca’s admission. She got lucky.

Once again, it’s up to Cedrek. He was indecisive last time. Will he be the same way tonight?

But Cedrek turns on Bianca. Never mind my comment about being lucky.

Chrissy: “There was only four votes in there. Bianca didn’t have a vote.” Cedrek blew up the wrong person.

Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.

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Recap

Bianca has nobody to blame but herself. She never should have come clean to Cedrek. Keeping her secret was the only chance she had to survive.

But Cedrek screwed it up too by not including Sai in his decision. If he had time to tell Chrissy and Mitch that Bianca didn’t have a vote, he had time to tell Sai.

Mitch looked a little surprised to see the vote for Bianca. Is it possible Cedrek warned Chrissy but not Mitch?

Then again, I wonder if Cedrek actually made a decent decision? Is he planning on using Sai as a shield of volatility? Flipping it on Bianca certainly earned him more trust with Chrissy and Mitch. They can connect him to more people than Bianca could have.

I’m curious as to why Mitch didn’t make it a unanimous vote on Bianca. What’s the point of angering Sai when Bianca is a sitting duck and can’t even play her Shot in the Dark? Sai won’t forget Mitch wrote her name down, either.

With the merge coming next week, Cedrek’s decision seems even worse. He openly admits Sai is not a good long-term ally. He had Bianca’s trust. Now he runs the risk of having Sai on his jury. I’m torn on this one.

And speaking of the merge, this season is overflowing with strategic options. On one level, original Civa comes into it fully intact. Every member has made a strong connection to someone on another tribe too. Does Charity even know she was on the bottom at Civa? If she does, it’s a no brainer to stick with her merged tribe. But I don’t think she knows it. I don’t see Joe and Shauhin fully trusting Kyle and Kamilla, but those two original Civa may not be the first target for the guys now.

I get the feeling Sai is gonna talk herself out of the game first at the merge like Rome did last season, but what happens after that? This season is the widest open in recent memory What do you think? Who has themselves in a good position moving forward? Will the New Era “tradition” of short women winners be kept alive by Kamilla or Mary? Let me know in the comments.