I'm not rewatching the fucking episode... Even w/ Coronavirus, and even w/ this season being mostly fantastic, I got better things to do. So here's a very hasty, probably very inaccurate Edgic based on a single viewing I did half a week ago.
Merged Tribe
Michele- UTR2 - Yeesh. Michele's slide under the radar continues. As the story of her and Nick is eclipsed by the story of Tony and... uhh... Tony... Michele's narrative of a "lesser" winner becoming a player to be reckoned with just can't find any air. Her alliance with Jeremy, noted by other players, is perhaps tellingly never seen by us viewers, and when Tony went to make his big blindside move, it might be revealing that Jeremy was considered his liason, not Michele. Yikes.
Nick - UTR2- Though Nick got in a funny comment about being called"Vampire Donathan" (which is totally dead on!), he still was underused in this episode. He increasingly seems like a tool used by other, better players to accomplish their ends (see how quickly and easily he acceded to Tony's Fire Token plan). With no longstanding, meaningful alliances, I think it's only a matter of time before Nick is deemed... Well, a tool... Who has lost his usefulness.
Kim - CP2- Kim has become the strategic force contra-Tony in "Winners at War," and I suspect their rivarly, which has been hinted at in previous episodes, will come to a head at some point this season. From humble beginnings, she has become a player we are meant to view as a scrappy, intelligent underdog. I think she's got the second best chance of winning, but I don't think she's had enough content to pull off a final upset.
Denise- MOR2- We got some decent strategy talk from Denise here, who is playing double agent along with Kim. Still, she is routinely shown to be a player in league with other players, not one who is changing the flow of the game. She's likeable and smart and she looks like she could kick your ass. But she's not gonna win this thing, no way.
Jeremy- CP3- Jeremy was the swingiest of swing votes this episode, and we got a lot of strategy talk out of him as he tried to figure out... well, Tony. He's a consistently engaging narrator, and clearly viewed as a threat-- the early part of the episode highlighted his advantage-play at the last Tribal Council, as well as his burgeoning rivalry with Ben. Still, it's tough to say what's driving him, or where his narrative is going. At this point he seems like just another "meat shield" in the story of another player...
Tony- CPP5- Tony turned in one of the greatest single-episode performances of Survivor I've ever seen. He thoroughly dominated this episode, finding an immunity idol, being "extorted" by Parvati and Natalie (and somehow finding a way to extort his alliance members to help him out), winning the immunity challenge (having narrowly escaped being denied a chance to participate), and successfully pulling off a truly devastating blindside. Throughout it all, Tony seemed very much in control of the situation, making his moves with characteristic energy but also, an impressive amount of savvy and social play. He's the clear winner edit at this point, but now he's sure to have a very big target on his back.
Sarah- MORN2- Another odd episode for Sarah. Again, she's contrasted with Tony, and again, she seems to get a slightly negative coloring. Her fashion show as fun, but it was predicated on some perhaps overinflated (though probably tongue-in-cheek) ideas about herself. Like her advantage-give to Nick, it again showed her as a played who's thinking about things other than "the game": in Survivor, this attitude is death.
Sophie- MOR1- Sophie's compelling but finally underedited run ends here, when Tony, who recognizes game when he sees it, singlehandedly decides to take her out. This episode largely left out Sophie's voice, perhaps to intensify the effect of the (rather shocking) blindside. She had a nice, graceful finish though. Her story of a "lower tier" winner commanding respect from others and making a nice go of it got a fitting conclusion.
Ben- UTRN2- I got a distinctively negative tone from Ben here, who's paranoia came to a head in conversations with the more rational, more thoughtful Jeremy, and who was caught making a very damning (though accurate, if you consider inflation) side-comment about how a million dollars just doesn't get you far any more. Shades of "Obama's just gonna tax it anyway" baseball man... Never, ever a good look to be criticizing the game itself. Hate the players, not the game, Ben!
EOE
Natalie, Amber, Danni, Ethan, Rob, Parvati, Yul, Wendell, Adam, Tyson
A curious trip to the Edge, in which Tyson, in conversation with Wendell, claims that losing the game "does things" to people, making a point to say that Adam is going to take it hard. Why single out Adam for further humiliation? A very interesting, possibly loaded choice. Parvati and Natalie also found an advantage, which they used against Tony. Not sure if this reflects anything about Parvati or Natalie's respective edits.
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