Each week during this season of Survivor, I’ll be ranking the castaways in terms of best chance to win the game. Last week, Lauren was voted off after being ranked No. 2 of the seven remaining players.
Week 12 Power Rankings:
1. Ben (Last week: 3): Everyone wants Ben out of the game, and yet none of them seem to be able to do it. Now, with Lauren gone, does Ben actually have an opening to make something happen? There are two strong pairs — Chrissy/Ryan and Ashley/Devon. So it feels like Ben and Dr. Mike are suddenly in the middle. If Ben and Dr. Mike can team up, they potentially could have a say in how the final three ends up — which would allow Ben to pull off an improbable victory after everyone gunned for him in the final weeks.
2. Devon (Last week: 1): Losing Lauren was a major blow to Devon’s chances of winning this season. Now he’s down to a tight alliance with Ashley, is on the outs with former ally Ryan and saw his once-great bond with Ben dissolve. So now what? He needs to rally and do some damage control. Devon can win if he gets to the final three, but he can’t let Ben get there with him.
3. Ryan (Last week: 5): It’s certainly not looking great for Ryan, but he’s hanging around and still has an outside shot if things fall the right way. I can almost see his game being somewhat similar to Adam, who won a few seasons ago in part because the bigger threats kept taking shots at each other.
4. Chrissy (Last week: 6): I’m still down on Chrissy, although her chances certainly improved with the shocking Lauren elimination. But she’s taking things too personally and not playing with her head on straight, so it might be too late to craft enough of a resume to where the jury would recognize her game as winner-worthy. Would she be willing to work with Ben for one vote?
5. Mike (Last week: 7): You can never count out Dr. Mike, as he reminded us once again in the most recent episode. But here’s the thing: Has he really done enough to win? Aside from being unpredictable, like throwing Lauren’s idol in the fire (#wow), what is he really doing strategy-wise that would result in the $1 million? I think he could get to the final three, but there’s little chance he could actually win.
6. Ashley (Last week: 4): Lauren’s departure might hurt Ashley more than anyone. Now she has no choice but to play second fiddle to whatever Devon decides, and there aren’t any big moves she can orchestrate by herself. Even if she wins out on the rest of the immunity challenges, the jury isn’t going to reward her with the Sole Survivor title.
Eliminated:
Week 1: Katrina (ranked No. 6 of 18 remaining players)
Week 2: Simone (ranked No. 17 of 17 remaining players)
Week 3: Patrick (ranked No. 16 of 16 remaining players)
Week 4: Alan (ranked No. 13 of 15 remaining players)
Week 5: Roark (ranked No. 10 of 14 remaining players)
Week 6: Ali (ranked No. 5 of 13 remaining players)
Week 7: Jessica (ranked No. 9 of 12 remaining players)
Week 8: Desi (ranked No. 8 of 11 remaining players)
Week 9: Cole (ranked No. 10 of 10 remaining players)
Week 10: JP (ranked No. 9 of nine remaining players) and then Joe (ranked No. 7 of nine remaining players going into the double episode)
Week 11: Lauren (ranked No. 2 of seven remaining players)