Each week during this season of Survivor, I’ll be ranking the castaways in terms of best chance to win the game. Last week, Desi was voted off after being ranked No. 8 of the 11 remaining players.
Week 9 Power Rankings:
1. Ryan (Last week: 1): Guess who is playing the best game the last few weeks and now has an idol to go along with it? I’m feeling better about Ryan’s chances as Ben and Chrissy show cracks in their game.
2. Lauren (Last week: 5): It’s pretty clear there’s a Ryan-Chrissy alliance and a Lauren-Ben alliance now, and Lauren made a good move with her voting advantage last week. By the way, how in the world did the other players not notice there were only 10 votes cast instead of 11? Math genius Chrissy? Hello??
3. Chrissy (Last week: 3): Keeping her at No. 3 against my better judgment. She’s shown some serious cracks in her game recently. I wish she’d stop playing so cocky and doing things like whispering in front of other players. She is smart, but now everyone knows she’s smart. Fortunately, she has a strong alliance to keep her safe for now.
4. Ben (Last week: 2): He’s getting sidetracked by being drawn into yelling matches on the beach with Joe. I understand why he wanted to defend himself, but how often do you see Survivor winners engaged in such antics? It typically doesn’t work out well.
5. Devon (Last week: 4): He’s playing a solid game and I don’t see him being a target anytime in the next couple weeks. The key for Devon is to stay under the radar as long as possible.
6. Mike (Last week: 6): He flipped on Joe/Desi — along with Cole — and seems desperate to integrate himself into the majority alliance. Perhaps he has done that now, but he’s still probably on the bottom — though he does have that idol.
7. Ashley (Last week: 7): There’s no reason to get rid of Ashley at this time, so she’ll probably continue to stick around. That said, what’s her long-term future in the game?
8. Joe (Last week: 9): Joe is pretty much screwed. Even Dr. Mike and Cole flipped on him last week. However, Joe as a wild card could still make something happen, and he could find another idol. I’m not ruling out some more craziness before he gets the boot.
9. JP (Last week: 10): Here’s how clueless JP is about what’s happening in the game: He sees Ryan frantically digging in the sand and walks by like it’s no big deal. He will probably make the final three but get no votes.
10. Cole (Last week: 11): This bum finds a clue to the idol, leaves the plate for other people to find (under a napkin!) and then immediately takes a potty break after he gets back to camp. Then he pretends to have found it after the wrestling battle in the sand. Why?! 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)
Week 8: Desi (ranked No. 8 of 11 remaining players)