Survivor 50 FOUR WORD GAME

 We have a new season of Survivor, the most anticipated since Winners at War, and with that, I have to do a new Four Word Game.  If you're new, it's where I (in the past) would talk about a player's game in four words, such as "Needs to find idol".  I would elaborate on it, however, in case the four words were not clear enough.  

For 50, I decided to only do two Four Word Games for each tribe rather than each player.  It would be a lot to do it for each player each week.  I will continue to do four word games for each player who leaves the game.  And, I will go back to going over each player once we get to the merge episode, even if we merge at 15 players or so. 

And, after this, I will indeed rank all remaining players, even when there are 20+ left in the game.  So, without further ado...

AFTER EPISODE ONE FOUR WORD GAME

Cila: Nerd alliance is amazing / Lines not fully clear
The Cila tribe, the one we saw go to Tribal Council, had some interesting groupings.  First off, there was what I'm calling the "nerd alliance" of Christian, Devens, and Emily.  It was too perfect.  Plus, seeing Christian and Devens fawn over each other was TV gold.  I live for that bromance.  But other than that, the alliance lines on this tribe are not fully clear, since the Jenna vote off was unanimous.  It seemed like potentially Joe and Savannah were with her, but it appears they decided not to go down sinking with her.  So to me, we have the nerd alliance, Joe and Savanah, and Ozzy and Cirie.  Which group will be targeted next?  Also, I wanted to throw out there, there were two subtle hints to Ozzy possibly hurting his back during the supplies challenge, so that's something to keep an eye on.

Kalo: Cohesion not clear yet / Girls group in trouble
We didn't see too much cohesion in this tribe, with the most notable grouping being the girls alliance, which also happens to be the three minorities on the tribe in Kamilla, Dee, and Tiff.  If they're too tight, they could be in huge trouble.  We saw Coach bond with Jonathan and Chrissy, Mike bond with the girls, so it'll be interesting to see how the groups shake out once they go to tribal, because with how many boots we need to get through, they are definitely going to tribal council.  If the girls can bring in Mike and maybe Charlie, they can run this tribe.  If not, they are in trouble.  Either the girls group will prevail from this tribe, or the Coach/Jonathan/Chrissy group will.

Vatu: Rotten luck for most / Great together, not individually
Vatu is the most interesting tribe to me.  Somehow, the five-person alliance of Colby, Steph, Kyle, Q, and Genevieve went from having five votes to two votes in the span of one episode--without EVER having gone to tribal council.  Crazy!  That's just rotten luck.  Colby and Q lost votes, and Kyle got medevaced.  Colby will have to bring in Rizo, but their first tribal should be interesting.  They seem to be doing very well at the tribe challenges, but individually, they are terrible, with Q and Colby each losing their respective "journeys".  How will they handle losing Kyle?  Hopefully for them, it's not the start of their downfall as a tribe.

And to our departed players...

Jenna: Too hard too fast
Jenna played too hard too fast, throwing out Cirie's name before they had even competed in an immunity challenge.  She should've slow-played her game, built bonds with other people, and if she does that, Cirie is a possible first boot.  It's a shame the Borneo representative is gone first, but someone had to be.

Kyle: Was positioned so well
It's a shame for Kyle.  A lot of fans pegged the winners as early boots, but Kyle was positioned so well on his tribe and did tremendously at the start.  I didn't see too much of a sentiment to get winners out, so Kyle was possibly going to be golden.  It's a shame what happened to his Achilles.  Let's hope he gets a third shot a few years from now.  

And now my rankings!  So, I didn't officially rank all 24 players before the season started, so I won't have any "movement" from them.  But I will say some players have already made jumps for me, while others have fallen.

22. Q
21. Rizo
20. Savannah
19. Angelina
18. Chrissy
17. Mike
16. Jonathan
15. Ozzy
14. Coach
13. Stephenie
12. Dee
11. Cirie
10. Charlie
9. Colby
8. Kamilla
7. Tiffany
6. Aubry
5. Joe
4. Devens
3. Emily
2. Christian
1. Genevieve

"What about Genevieve?!"  I started with Aubry was my #1, but Genevieve is now my new #1.  It worries me that she already lost a close ally in Kyle, but I bet she will recover.  The nerd alliance makes up the rest of my Top 4.  Joe somehow makes my Top 5.  He seems to be the kingpin of his tribe.  Aubry falls to 6 for me.  I think she had a pretty bad premiere episode.  Ozzy and Coach aren't too high--I worry about them both physically.  There's Ozzy's back, and there was a snippet in the preview for Episode 2 showing Coach struggling.  And until I see more legitimate gameplay from Q and Rizo, they will stay near the bottom.

AFTER EPISODE TWO FOUR WORD GAME

Cila: Voted out two bookends / Lacking in tribe cohesion
One thing I noticed was that after Savannah's ouster, they voted out the earliest player and the latest player on their tribe.  I wonder if that theme will continue?  And it looks like they were going to be the disaster tribe, which is funny because most fans thought it would be Vatu.  But there will be a tripe swap next episode, so all bets are off.  But this tribe just could not find it in them to work together.  The majority of them were pretty screwed if the tribe swap never happens, but it looks like the fans voted for a tribe swap.

Kalo: Lacking in game content / Women almost shut out
This tribe is definitely getting the least amount of content among the three tribes, with Coach, Jonathan, and Mike getting most of it.  It's a shame we won't get to see the alliance lines tested.  And a crazy stat I saw: The women on Kalo combined for ONE confessional in Episode 2, and it was from Dee.  And none of them got a ton in episode 1.  It makes me think we may have an underdog female winner out of nowhere like we had in All-Stars with Amber, HvV with Sandra, or Game Changers with Sarah, or perhaps none of them win.  We shall see.

Vatu: Looked in bag early / Somehow avoided tribal twice
Crazy how nearly everyone except Aubrey was in on looking through Aubrey's bag, and then a short while after, she receives a boomerang idol from Christian.  They just looked too early.  It's hard to tell how long after they looked that she received the idol, but I can't wait to see the surprise from one of them when Aubrey whips it out, whether it be to build trust or play it.  And then, somehow, the tribe always avoided tribal, even though they just lost Kyle.  They lost reward, but still managed to come in first in the immunity challenge, thanks to the great teamwork amongst Rizo, Angelina, and Genevieve.  Cila on paper is stronger, but Vatu clearly had better communication and teamwork, which is why they won.

And to our departed player...

Savannah: Needed the best fortune
Savannah needed to be on a tribe that won at least one, if not both of the first two immunities.  Unfortunately for her, they lost both, through little fault of her own.  She knew coming into this season she'd be a long shot, but could not turn down the offer to play on 50.  Don't blame her.

And before I get to the rankings, I want to do a new segment.  It's called Player of the Week, where I will pick one player I thought had the best episode.  I will do this for every episode UP to the finale (but not including the finale, since obviously the winner will be the player of the week).  And before I pick this week's player of the week, I want to mention who would have been my player of the week for episode one.  That would have been Ozzy.  He had the most confessionals, got Q to "sell" his vote, and got the vote on Jenna over his ally, Cirie.  He also did great in the challenges.  

And now, for my Episode Two player of the week.  That will be... Christian!  He may have gone to tribal, but in one episode, he crapped his pants, worked with Joe and had both shots of him through the hammock and him rocking Joe in the hammock, and he fell at tribal on purpose, distracting everyone from Rick planting a fake idol.  Pure cinema, as Rizo would say. 

I will keep track of the total "PotW" as it shall henceforth be known, to see if the player who wins the most of them ends up winning the season.  

Now, for the power rankings:

21. Stephenie (-8)
20. Q (+2)
19. Kamilla (-11)
18. Rizo (+3)
17. Angelina (+2)
16. Chrissy (+2)
15. Dee (-3)
14. Tiffany (-7)
13. Mike (+4)
12. Jonathan (+4)
11. Coach (+3)
10. Ozzy (+5)
9. Charlie (+1)
8. Joe (-3)
7. Colby (+2)
6. Cirie (+5)
5. Emily (-2)
4. Devens (0)
3. Genevieve (-2)
2. Aubry (+4)
1. Christian (+1)

Biggest rise: Ozzy and Cirie (+5), also Mike, Jonathan, and Aubry (+4)
Biggest fall: Kamilla (-11), also Stephenie (-8) and Tiffany (-7)

Steph falls for me.  She still has not shown a ton of game acumen, and she likely will be away from Colby, so if her tribe loses after the swap, she is in danger.  Kamilla falls a ton as well.  Skunked in the confessionals (zero in this episode), and that's very telling since we could have gotten a reaction confessional from her about Kyle being medevaced, but we didn't.  Tiff also drops; just not high on her chances post-swap.  Ozzy and Cirie move up.  I didn't like Cila for them, but even if they get separated, I like their chances of making bonds with other players.  Aubry moves up after receiving an idol and having a good episode, and Christian being my player of the week has to be #1 now.  He is just so likable and I can't see anyone wanting to blindside him, at least not anytime soon.  

AFTER EPISODE THREE FOUR WORD GAME

Cila: A rivalry is brewing / They may not lose
Loved the Rizo/Charlie banter and rivalry that is brewing.  The thing is, it's a one-sided rivalry as Charlie wants Rizo gone because Rizo told him he didn't vote for his number one.  Why would you do that, Rizo?  Crazy.  And I just want to see more from this tribe, but they are very well-rounded.  They have Kamilla for puzzles, Cirie for social strategy, and Jonathan for strength.  Everyone here outside of Cirie is fairly athletic.  I can't see them losing.

Kalo: A rivalry is reborn / Women outnumber the men
The Genevieve/Aubry rivalry continues, with them staying together on a tribe, although a different one now.  Who will emerge victorious?  Time will tell.  Didn't love how Coach handled Chrissy, that won't bode well for his long term prospects.  And the three older, loyal-focused men in Colby, Joe, and Coach, need to remember that the women outnumber them, so they really should be cozying up to them.  I could very easily see Chrissy siding with the other women in a vote.

Vatu: Messy, chaotic, disaster tribe / The trio will triumph
This tribe is not going far.  I hate to say it for Christian and Ozzy, who have lost every immunity so far, but I don't think they're winning again without ANOTHER swap.  They just voted out one of their stronger players.  Here's who is remaining: A 50+ pale man, a lazy 30+ mom, a 30-something nerd, an unathletic near 30-year-old woman, a washed-up 40+ man, and a 40+ mom that isn't as good as she used to be.  They are screwed.  But, fortunately for the David vs. Goliath trio, they have at least a tie against the trio of Ozzy, Steph, and Emily, so if they stick together, they can be the final ones left standing here.

And to our departed player...

Q: Chaos is very volatile
If you play chaotically, your placement in the game is volatile, meaning: you could go early or you could last a long time.  It's a very risky game to play, and I'm sure Q is aware of this.  But it's nothing if but entertaining, and he absolutely was worth bringing back.

My episode three player of the week isn't as clear.  I considered Kamilla, but she didn't do too much outside the challenge.  I'm going to go with a possible surprise: Chrissy!  She showed some emotion, got some content, and did well guiding her team in the challenge.  

So my PotW tally so far is:
Ozzy: 1
Christian: 1
Chrissy: 1

And now my rankings of all 20 remaining players.  Man, when are they going to really get people out of the game?  I would've thought we'd have a double/split tribal by now.  

20. Stephenie (+1)
19. Rizo (-1)
18. Tiffany (-4)
17. Kamilla (+2)
16. Angelina (+1)
15. Joe (-7)
14. Coach (-3)
13. Ozzy (-3)
12. Emily (-7)
11. Chrissy (+5)
10. Dee (+5)
9. Mike (+4)
8. Jonathan (+4)
7. Cirie (-1)
6. Charlie (+3)
5. Colby (+2)
4. Devens (0)
3. Aubry (-1)
2. Christian (-1)
1. Genevieve (+2)

Biggest rise: Chrissy and Dee (+5)
Biggest fall: Joe and Emily (-7)

Steph is likely the next to go on Vatu.  Rizo is the odd man out on his tribe.  Tiff only has 2 confessionals in 3 episodes, yikes.  Joe falls because I worry if they have to go to tribal, that Joe could be picked off by the women.   Emily also falls a bit because she's on a bad tribe, and her closest bond is to Christian, but that's it.  Chrissy and Dee rise as underdogs for me.  Yes, even Dee.  No one is talking about her.  Charlie jumps a bit with a good episode.  And Gen reclaims the #1 spot for me.  I can't see her losing the Aubry battle, and she formed bonds with virtually everyone on her tribe.  

AFTER EPISODE FOUR FOUR WORD GAME

Cila: Talent show was entertaining / Surprising zero confessional players
Cila didn't get a ton of content this episode, other than the talent show, which is likely why it was included.  Why didn't the women compete, too?  I guess they needed a set group of judges.  Also, there were three players who got zero confessionals this past episode from this tribe, and they surprised me: Jonathan, Devens, and Cirie.  A player who receives zero confessionals in an episode has not won since Season 41.  Will that streak continue?  Time will tell.

Kalo: Overly glazed Zac Brown / And she finds another!
The main talk of the past episode was Zac Brown and how much screentime he took away from other players.  I hope Survivor producers take note of the backlash from this.  It didn't help that players like Coach and Genevieve glazed him a ton.  And speaking of Genevieve, I cannot believe she found another idol.  Unfortunately for her, these are idols she has to give away.  But if she plays her cards right, she could end up with one or two of them.

Vatu: Chose to be disaster / Not a cohesive unit
I think the Vatu tribe chose to be the disaster tribe after voting out Q.  You don't vote out one of your strongest players in the first vote (post-swap).  They were not even close in the challenge.  And they're not a cohesive unit, either, especially after this last vote.  Angelina and Ozzy will be at odds with the rest, most notably Christian, and Emily, queen of chaos, sticks around.  Yikes.

And to our departed player...

Mike: Appeased only one ally
Mike did what he could to appease Angelina, and she was with him.  But he didn't with Christian.  All he did was remind him of Gabby in DvG.  In a way, he set him off.  Mike should've known Christian better.  He needed to be more tactful and graceful with Christian.  Oh well.  Another entertaining player gone.

And my player of the week this week is... Genevieve!  She found another idol, won immunity and reward with her tribe, and seemed (at least to me) to pull ahead of Aubry.  We shall see.  My PotW tally:

Ozzy: 1
Christian: 1
Chrissy: 1
Genevieve: 1

And now power rankings!  We will finally get a double tribal next week.  But for now, still 19 players.  Definitely have to move some around.  I'm going to denote certain players this week with an asterisk (or two), which I'll explain below.

19. Angelina* (-3)
18. Stephenie* (+2)
17. Tiffany** (+1)
16. Kamilla* (+1)
15. Jonathan* (-7)
14. Emily (-2)
13. Rizo (+6)
12. Joe (+3)
11. Ozzy (+2)
10. Chrissy* (+1)
9. Coach (+5)
8. Devens* (-4)
7. Cirie* (0)
6. Colby (-1)
5. Dee (+5)
4. Charlie (+2)
3. Christian (-1)
2. Aubry (+1)
1. Genevieve (0)

Biggest rise: Rizo (+6), also Coach and Dee (+5)
Biggest fall: Jonathan (-7)

So the asterisk means they had a zero confessional episode.  In Tiffany's case, she's had two now.  Yikes.  Therefore I had to rank most of them at or near the bottom.  The bottom 5 I all feel have zero win equity at this point.  Chrissy, Devens, and Cirie have some, and they would be higher if not for that zero confessional distinction.  Dee takes a huge jump for me.  Even as a past winner, I think people are forgetting about her.  And she has connections (Kamilla, Tiff, Jonathan).  I swapped Christian and Aubry because I feel like Christian's chances took a hit.  He either is a huge threat now, or he doesn't have enough allies, or both.  Gen remains #1 for me.  

AFTER EPISODE FIVE FOUR WORD GAME

Cila: Rizo won girls over / Bonds, alliance over target
Rizo won the girls of the tribe over by getting them to vote with him and take out Charlie.  He has a certain charm that won them over.  Charlie, meanwhile, should've focused more on building bonds and alliances over focusing so much on taking Rizo out.  Instead of asking what others wanted, his sole focus was Rizo.  I think it cost him.

Kalo: Too many avoiding tribal / Dark horse making moves
I just hate when we have disaster tribes, because there are always many players who avoid tribal altogether.  Case in point, every player on the swapped Kalo tribe has avoided tribal outside of Joe.  The swap helped slightly, but some players remained always on a winning tribe.

Vatu: Hindsight might have helped / No more Vatu loyalty
Had they known the "merge" is the next episode, they might not have voted out Angelina, since she appeared to be a loyal number.  Oh well.  And once this merge happens, I doubt many Vatu loyalties will be stuck to.  Steph will go back to Colby.  Ozzy will go back to Cirie.  Christian and Emily will go back to Devens.

And to our departed players...

Angelina: Should have memed harder
We needed more iconic meme-worthy moments from her this season.  Fortunately, she had a good full circle moment by giving her jacket to her tribe after they voted her out.  Great moment.  

Charlie: Laser focus rarely works
I feel like in Survivor history, if you are laser-focused on getting one player out, it hurts your game.  Even if you are successful and get to the end of the game, you can prop that move up, but what else?  By being so laser-focused, you aren't able to make other moves or expand your game.

And this week's player of the week is... Rizo!  He survived the vote, got the women on his side and formed bonds with them, and got to keep the idol.  Dude has balls of steel to continually be able to hold onto his idol and survive. 

Player of the week tally (All still in the game):
Ozzy: 1
Christian: 1
Chrissy: 1
Genevieve: 1
Rizo: 1

And, power rankings time!  We had three players get zero confessionals this past episode: Tiffany (again!  Third time!), Genevieve (RIP her chances), and Chrissy (2nd time).  How will that affect the rankings?  Again, the number of asterisks means the number of episodes they have received 0 confessionals.

17. Chrissy** (-7)
16. Tiffany*** (+1)
15. Kamilla* (+1)
14. Genevieve* (-13)
13. Stephenie* (+5)
12. Jonathan* (+3)
11. Devens* (-3)
10. Emily (+4)
9. Rizo (+4)
8. Joe (+4)
7. Cirie* (0)
6. Coach (+3)
5. Colby (+1)
4. Ozzy (+7)
3. Dee (+2)
2. Christian (+1)
1. Aubry (+1)

Biggest rise: Ozzy (+7), also Steph (+5), Emily, Rizo, and Joe (+4)
Biggest fall: Genevieve (-13!), also Chrissy (-7)

Chrissy falls in the rankings for me... I just feel like she's going to be a casualty soon.  She seems salty about the season so far online.  Genevieve fell what I believe to be a record amount for me, for two reasons.  One, she had a zero confessional episode, and two, I believe a lot more that she is losing to Aubry in their rivalry.  I'm still not FULLY on board the Rizo train, but I did have to move him up.  I believe he is going to be a target post-merge.  The girls may turn on him.  Dee somehow cracks my top 3 as a former winner.  Crazy.  Did not see that happening before this season started.  Aubry gets the #1 spot for the first time.  I like how she was able to work her way in with Coach.  See a lot of similarities between them and Coach/Sophie in South Pacific.  

AFTER EPISODE SIX FOUR WORD GAME

Side note: Back to doing individual players!  Yay.... 

Chrissy: Finally did something strategic
In pulling Jonathan to her side.  Definitely enough to have her move up my rankings...

Tiffany: From invisible to unmistakable
Crazy turnaround in screentime for her.  What brought this on?  I mean it's deserved, but why now?

Stephenie: Surprising new era acumen
Stephenie is adjusting surprisingly well to the New Era.  Maybe she was a New Era player in the Old Era the first few times she played, hence why she never won?

Jonathan: Likely chose correct side
Kamilla wasn't voting for him to win.  If Jonathan is able to get to the end against the likes of Joe/Colby and make these kinds of moves, he's got a shot.

Devens: Worried over absolutely nothing
He really did.  Genevieve had nothing but her shot in the dark.  Devens was so worried before the vote, but he didn't even get a vote since Gen played her shot in the dark.

Emily: 45 connection not mentioned
Yes, Emily was paired with Dee and their connection was shown, but it was never mentioned that they played together.  I thought that was both weird and interesting...

Rizo: Likely wasn't in trouble
Something tells me even if Ozzy doesn't yank him to Exile, Rizo is probably fine.  He has a few girls and now Ozzy on his side.

Joe: Was almost swap screwed
If, instead of Genevieve, Emily, Steph, or Tiff were swapped instead, Joe becomes the target and is voted out.  I just don't have a great feeling about him.

Cirie: Got rid of shield
Her hero meat shield, that is.  Why, though?  It just seemed perplexing for Cirie to target Colby over Coach.  Perhaps Colby asked her to (because of his injury), and we just didn't see it.

Coach: Saved by Colby's injury
I truly believe he was.  He made up a dumb lie about Emily and it almost cost him.  Then we see him in hot water next week.  Oh boy....

Ozzy: Finally safe from tribal
Took long enough, didn't it?  And with Christian winning immunity, Emily is the only person who has been vulnerable in every episode so far.  Clock's ticking...

Dee: Still not perceived threatening
Somehow, as the only winner left.  That's crazy.  And she's got some allies.  Definitely a dark horse winner pick.

Christian: In danger without immunity?
Possiby... Christian did make an offhand comment that he felt he was in trouble without it.  Hopefully he doesn't become a huge target at their first free-for-all tribal.

Aubry: Safe, but needs numbers
We've seen a small connection to Tiff and a moderate connection to Christian/Devens through the idol, but that's it.  She needs just a bit more of a coalition to really be a legit winner pick.

And to our three departed players...

Kamilla: Needed that number one
She didn't have a Kyle this season.  Sure could've used it.  Bit of a swap screw as well.

Genevieve: Most unlucky player ever!
It's just crazy to me how much luck plays a part in New Era Survivor and how a good player like Genevieve can basically stand no chance despite playing a good game.

Colby: Didn't get to play
He never got to vote.  He barely made the merge.  Doesn't make the jury.  I hope Jeff sees how Colby (a friend of his), didn't get to play because he just had to force someone to lose their vote, and that he perhaps stops taking away people's votes.

And now, my player of the week.  This one was tough.  But I think I have my first two-timer.  And that is... Chrissy!  She won over Jonathan, survived the vote, and nearly won immunity.  The tally now:

Ozzy: 1
Christian: 1
Chrissy: 2
Genevieve: 1
Rizo: 1

Lastly, my rankings.  Just 14 players left, how do they shake up?

14. Tiffany (+2)
13. Coach (-7)
12. Emily (-2)
11. Jonathan (+1)
10. Stephenie (+3)
9. Joe (-1)
8. Chrissy (+9)
7. Devens (+4)
6. Rizo (+3)
5. Cirie (+2)
4. Dee (-1)
3. Ozzy (+1)
2. Aubry (-1)
1. Christian (+1)

Biggest rise: Chrissy (+9!)
Biggest fall: Coach (-7)

Tiffany returns to last place, despite the surge in confessionals.  Could be a bad omen.  Coach falls a lot.  I think he's an upcoming target.  Don't feel great about him.  Chrissy rises as she gets a move she can put on her resumé.  The top largely remain the same, but Rizo cracks my top 6, and he keeps moving up.