The upcoming
Survivor: China merge is going to be awesome. With the current group of castaways, there an infinite amount of ways things could play out. Will the original tribes stay loyal to each other? How important will the immunity idols be? Will there be two clear alliances? Three? Four? The
Survivor merge is always an exciting time, at least for me. I love individual immunity, and the initial tribes always feel like a preamble to the true action of
Survivor that starts when it gets down to every person for themselves. The remaining six members of Fei Long are definitely not united, as last week's
Survivor episode made clear. Will the castaways continue to splinter as the the merge approaches?
#6 – Jean-Robert Bellande
I know everyone thinks he's an arrogant jerk (and he might be one), but I felt really sorry for him during the last tribal council. No one should get called a terrible person simply because of their personality, especially when the only thing wrong with their personality is that it annoys people. The rest of the tribe wants him gone, or so it seems, but if the merge happens on Thursday, then he gets his old buddy James back, and that friendship could move him further in the game.
#5 – Courtney Yates
Oh, Courtney. Why so mean? Her call out of Bellande last week was unprovoked and unnecessary, as was her insistence on not voting for Sherea. If Courtney was really playing the game, she would have kept the party line and gained the trust of her fellow Fei Longs. Now, she's separated herself from the group and has no real alliance. As ridiculous as it seems, the best move for Courtney right now could be to align with her nemesis Jean-Robert.
#4 – Denise Martin
I don't know about Denise. Still. She's had more interaction over the past few episodes, but she's still a relative mystery. I don't think she's really aligned with anyone. I could see her floating her way through the game, but that can't last forever. Her and James have some kind of bond, and she could ride his coattails far if she makes it happen.
#3 – Michael 'Frosti' Zernow
Catching Todd and Amanda finding the immunity idol was the best thing that could have happened to Frosti. Now he's in on the secret and could conceivably align with those two. Once he gets to the merge, Frosti is a threat to win every immunity challenge, so I could easily see Todd and Amanda trying to vote him out sooner rather than later. It'll be interesting to see how loyal he remains to Peih-Gee, Jaime and Erik if/when they're reunited.
#2 – Todd Herzog
I put Todd at number two because he's made himself something of a target. Once the merge happens, Todd should have both the immunity idol and James in his pocket, along with the strong alliance with Amanda. If their alliance crumbles, I think Todd will be the first to go of the two, because he might be perceived as the bigger threat.
#1 – Amanda Kimmel
Here's why I'm giving Amanda an early endorsement as the favorite for this season: If Amanda knows what she's doing, and I think she does, this should be her plan: Keep her alliance with Todd. When James returns with the immunity idols, bring him in as a strong third, promising immunity protection to the final three. They should also make a deal with one of the weaker players (perhaps Courtney) to go to the final three or four. That alliance, if it secretly makes it through the next couple weeks, will be poised to strut into the final four. At that point, Amanda and Todd have to pray James loses one of the next two immunity challenges so they can vote the grave digger off. Then, I like Amanda's chances in any challenge against Todd and Courtney and, if she were smart, she'd take Courtney to the final vote instead of Todd, ensuring herself a million dollars.
How's that for an endgame?
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of CBS)