Survivor: Game Changers spotlight: How will Caleb Reynolds fare after previous evacuation?
Thankfully, he was able to recover fully, and now he’s back to give playing the game a second shot to see what could have been. While his odds of winning last time didn’t seem particularly high from our vantage point, Caleb was a threat to make it far then … and he’s also a threat to make it far now.
Past performance – 15th place (Survivor: Kaoh Rong)
Historical perspective – Didn’t we already set this one up already? Caleb’s better known for being Beast Mode Cowboy on Big Brother 15 than his first time on this show, which he was mostly known for having a funny relationship with Tai Trang and for what ended up happening to him in the end. The bigger question to ponder is if this is the right season for him, and we’d argue no. For the record, it made sense for the show to bring him back given what happened last time, but it makes more sense that he did so for a season like Philippines, where there was a theme around people returning after previous evacuations. He mostly changed the game last time because he went too hard in a challenge and nearly killed himself.
Strengths – He’s a physical machine, and he seems to have even more muscle mass this time than in the first game. (Maybe it’s the tank top.) He’s someone who will help tremendously around camp, and being on Big Brother in the past may help him to see the game a little differently than anyone else. If he can go against the grain, or use some strategic insight that he picked up from Derrick or someone else in that game, he could be a stealth strategic assassin. He needs to capitalize to a certain extent of the perception of him as a guy who got played on his first reality show. Don’t try to appear like you know what’s going on when it comes to strategy.
Weaknesses – Caleb’s biggest issue to date has been thinking he’s in a better spot than he is. He’s incredibly loyal, definitely to a fault. He also doesn’t know how to cool off, which we clearly saw the first time he was out on the island. Even aside from the challenges, though, he’ll need to take a step back, and maybe also really work on relating to other people. He had a decent social game in Big Brother, but there were a few people who occasionally had issues with him.
Also, in this case it’s easy to imagine him being on this season with three other cast mates hurting him. He’s by far the most physically threatening of himself, Tai, Debbie Wanner, or Aubry Bracco.
Our prediction
Caleb is a very interesting guy interesting this season because he’s a total wild-card. He’s got less game experience than anyone else on this season, though he’s also bee on another reality show before. He may be able to make it far just based on the fact that he won’t appear like a big threat strategically. The best hope that he has is to lure someone into a false sense of security, and then strike when the iron’s hot. Even still, he’s still not someone we’re sure can win the game, but he probably can make it very far.
Before you go, we invite you to check out all of our other spotlights when it comes to the season. (Photo: CBS.)
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