Season 48 Episode 9 Power Rankings and OOO Awards Announcement
I want to note, I’m going to stop doing the Outwit, Outplay, Outlast award recaps. Going into the season, I thought they were a good idea for a shorter-form recap of each episode, rather than the longer summary I used to do. They stuck with the words of Survivor, and I expected them to be enjoyable to write. However, the OOO format was a bit constraining. I realized pretty quickly that whoever engineered the vote-off or played an advantage/idol would clearly be the “Outwit,” the individual immunity challenge winner was basically impossible to go against for “Outplay,” and whoever managed to get the vote off themselves or reduce their threat level became the “Outlast.” It got stale even just within this season, and I didn’t feel it brought out enough of my writing style or why I enjoy writing.
Thus, I’m not going to do them anymore for Season 48. I will keep doing the power rankings because I enjoy them, and come Survivor 49, I will think of a new format that isn’t as long as the 47 recaps (which also mainly repeated information you saw while watching the episode) but maintains creativity and is intriguing, unlike the 48 OOOs.
But for now, here’s my power rankings after episode nine! Here are my criteria for making power rankings: it takes into account many factors, including alliances, advantages, idols, strategic resume, position in the game, and future threat to determine a player’s current “win equity.” This doesn’t mean I think the person at the top will win, nor does it mean I believe the person at the bottom will be the next person voted out. What it means is, from now to the end of the game, who is best set up to make it there AND win. Some person may have made a lot of great moves, but in a precarious position that may drop them. Another person may be very safe, but with no real winner possibility, they’re more of a goat and also may find themselves further down the list.
Kyle (+1)
Eva (+1)
Shauhin (+1)
Kamilla (+2)
Mary (-)
Joe (-5)
Star (+1)
Mitch (+1)
X – David (was 7)
On the Top
And just like that, Kyle is back on top. He got his way with David, swayed Joe to his side, and deepened his connections with the people still on the island. He retains his mostly secret alliance with Kamilla, while bringing Shauhin into this group of three where Shauhin doesn’t realize he’s so far on the bottom he might as well be a 2023 movie starring Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott. I digress. Kyle is in control of this game, and it’s going to take other people realizing it in time for him to be prevented from winning it.
Eva takes my second spot, now holding a safety without power and an idol. Additionally, she seems to be in everyone’s good graces still. No one is mad at her, and they’re more likely to try and cripple her through Joe due to his challenge fortitude and clear likeability than go straight for the woman who can screw up your entire plan with her advantages. Shauhin moves up for me too. Someone who seemed like the first target of the strong alliance once things got down to it is now straddling the middle and drops his threat while maintaining bonds. Kamilla rises as well for me, taking a much stronger position with her biggest ‘opp’ gone. I also want to note, despite not changing places, I think Mary is in a much better spot without David, and this could really benefit her game.
On the Bottom
Let’s start with the faller, Joe. The vote went right for him, he won individual immunity, his No. 1 ally just got another advantage they could coordinate together, and Shauhin clearly trusts him by telling him when Eva snuck out. But, he made the worst strategic and end-game decision I could imagine. David was right — strong guys are shields. They’re dangerous, especially when they’re as likeable as Joe with a publicly super-tight No. 1 ally. And he just got rid of his biggest meat shield.
Congrats, Joe, now you’re the strongest one and the obvious boot out when one of the people on the bottom wins a challenge, or even if people feel it’s the right time for a big move. You had the best story, and you had a goat in David that would have taken you right to the end if he could — with Eva at that. You’d have had your perfect final three, and now you have a bitter juror who will refuse to vote for you and you’ve broken any aspect of truth and honor that you tout by your word. You and Eva are the target now. She can get out of it, you can’t, and you harpooned your jury management.
Star and Mitch are still here. I hope they do something to make me care, to bring them off the bottom. I just don’t see any win equity right now unless they start building something crazy.