Each week during this season of Survivor, I’ll be ranking the castaways in terms of best chance to win the game. Last week, Jessica was voted off after being ranked No. 9 of the 12 remaining players.
Week 8 Power Rankings:
1. Ryan (Last week: 2): Ryan is making the same moves as Chrissy, but yet he’s not being talked about or viewed as a target like she is. And now he’s in the majority alliance with good numbers — and has bigger targets with him, to boot.
2. Ben (Last week: 3): He was briefly in the middle, but now Ben has shown his cards by going against Yawa and siding with the majority Chrissy/Ryan alliance. That should protect him for weeks to come, because Chrissy seems determined to work with him and she’s actually a bigger target than he is.
3. Chrissy (Last week: 1): This is the most concerned I’ve been about Chrissy’s long-term game. She showed herself to be too smart last week, which got her a ton of votes, and then she was openly talking game with Ben at a group setting where he was basically trying to shush her. I hope she doesn’t get too cocky and sink her own game by becoming a target.
4. Devon (Last week: 6): He ended up in the majority alliance and showed he is willing to be a leader and make moves (there was one scene where he was sort of rallying the troops). Since he gets along well with people and isn’t a target, he could slip under the radar as bigger threats go home.
5. Lauren (Last week: 8): Even though she’s probably on the bottom of the new majority alliance, Lauren should be safe for a few more weeks now. And that might give her time to make some more inroads and relationships with her new group.
6. Mike (Last week: 4): It’s going to be pretty tough for Mike at this point since he doesn’t have the numbers anymore, but I’ll rank him the highest of those in the minority alliance because he seems like a guy who can scramble (and he still has an idol).
7. Ashley (Last week: 7): She ended up on the majority alliance in the merged tribe. That’s great for her and she’ll probably last a few more weeks, at least. But I don’t see her playing the type of game that would be rewarded by the jury in the end.
8. Desi (Last week: 10): Hey, she won immunity. Nice work! This is the highest she’s been in the rankings all year. But I still don’t see her making it to the end, especially now that she is in the smaller alliance. She seems full of surprises, though.
9. Joe (Last week: 5): Welp, Joe is back down the rankings after misplaying his idol and exposing himself as a target yet again. Now he has no protection and is in the minority alliance. I would guess they will come for him soon.
10. JP (Last week: 11): He ended up with the numbers because he’s a loyal guy, but I’m still keeping him toward the bottom of the rankings because he’s simply not playing the type of game that would result in him winning in the end. No jury would go, “Yeah J.P., we’ll give you the money.”
11. Cole (Last week: 12): This guy. Ugh…
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)