Survivor Ghost Island: Episode 9

We're post merge and post Chris so this show blew wide open for potential storylines beyond the super dull civil war that was happening between Dom & Chris. Dom must have read my mind... or I guess last week's blog, because he basically stated what I did, which was that he blew a lot of resources to get rid of his nemesis. His laying low strategy seemed to kind of work, even, in that all eyes were on Wendell rather than Dom this episode.

Wendell is playing the game well, including not playing his idol at the past 2 tribal councils where I was convinced both times that he would go home if he didn't play it. Thanks for giving me a few extra gray hairs on those ones, Wendell! But Laurel is a gamer too & her reasons for not trusting him seem pretty valid to me.

Laurel & Wendell look like they will be the titans of both the physical challenges & potentially also the strategy. They won the guac reward challenge basically single-handedly. They're both reading the other players well & at least Laurel seems to be weighing all her decisions carefully. Wendell could be in trouble if he just assumes his final 4 is locked in & solid... but he does seem to be working hard to maintain those relationships.

Then, in the second half of the episode, Angela comes out of nowhere and decides to hurtle Eric's team into 2nd place in the standings. Her "disrupter" role was played to perfection. Not one person suspected her of throwing Michael under the bus, and my respect for her grew & grew until we reached the immunity challenge. Then she started acting like a crazy person, and despite winning immunity, I think her prancing around may have a negative effect on her other tribemates ability to take her too seriously.

Michael saves himself with a clutch idol play, and in the end it's Libby who goes home. I'm not sure she still knows why. And quite frankly, I'm not sure I know why either. Was she really that strong of a player? Or did that female alliance just see an easy target?

The Teams:

Bagginses: 81 points

• [Stephanie (-5 pts)]
• Wendell (25 pts)
• [Libby (26 pts)]
• Laurel (19 pts)
• Donathan (16 pts)

Eric: 75 points

• Michael (17 pts)
• Michael (17 pts)
• Angela (20 pts)
• Angela (20 pts)
• Desiree (1 pts)

SuperDreg: 60 points

• Chelsea (4 pts)
• [Chris (26 pts)]
• Chelsea (4 pts)
• [Chris (26 pts)]

Michal & Ben: 58 points

• Wendell (25 pts)
• Jenna (5 pts)
• Laurel (19 pts)
• Sebastian (8 pts)
• Desiree (1 pts)

MoonBee: 38 points

• [Brendan (-6 pts)]
• [Libby (26 pts)]
• Kellyn (7 pts)
• Jenna (5 pts)
• [James (6 pts)]

Doug & Bri: 30 points

• [Stephanie (-5 pts)]
• Sebastian (8 pts)
• Donathan (14 pts)
• Kellyn (7 pts)
• [James (6 pts)]

Phil: 24 points

• [Brendan (-6 pts)]
• Dom (14 pts)
• Dom (14 pts)
• [Bradley (1 pts)]
• [Bradley (1 pts)]

Power Rankings:

1. Michal and Ben - I'm sticking with my girl Laurel to win this whole thing, so I'm keeping us in 1st place for now. Jenna & Seabass are looking like dead weight, but hopefully that means they rack up points going deep as coattail riders...
2. Bagginses - Baggins is down 1 player but could have 3 of the "final 4" if Wendell's plan actually happens. Is that a long shot to happen? Probably. But it's the only "final 4" that we know of now which I think lends it a little extra importance this season. 
3. Eric - Wow, Eric, nice run this episode! Really strong play from your team this episode. Now the question is if they can follow it up with another solid episode. Michael needs to get the target off his back ASAP for this team to have a legit chance. On the plus side, I think he's capable of pulling that off.
4. Doug and Bri - Doug & Bri are leading in the 2nd tier of teams, but things really aren't looking great for any of this group. I see the most potential with this team though.
5. Phil - Dom's solid reflection on his situation gives this team some hope. If he can pull out some idol plays, immunity challenge wins, etc. the double point value could put this team back in contention. But there is a LOT of ground to make up, so he needs to get on that fast.
6. MoonBee - With only Kellyn & Jenna on this team, MoonBee is pretty much toast this season. 
7. SuperDregs - Chelsea is sticking around which means each player voted out ahead of her will continue to be docked 1 point until she goes home. Which will inevitably happen in some kind of collateral damage scenario. 

Douche of the Week:

There were a few good options, but I'm going to give it to Wendell for not even trying at the immunity challenge.