‘Survivor: Philippines’ preview: Lisa Whelchel’s finally in the game

After spending all season wondering what was the sort of move that would be ethical for her to make in the “Survivor” game, Lisa Whelchel is thankfully opening her eyes a little bit to something that is more important if she wants to be a million dollars richer: doing what is smart. She has been able to land in the final five without her name really being a target once, and that is with her even making a few big attempts to go after a serious threat in the game in Malcolm.

On Wednesday night’s new episode, she is going to be going after Malcolm yet again … albeit in a way that is a little bit more indirect. As the preview video below shows us, Lisa has realized that going to the end with Abi-Maria and Skupin is far preferable than taking either Malcolm or Denise, mostly because she has little chance at beating either one of them. Abi, meanwhile, is the perfect jury vote since her only possible votes would be her former alliance partners in Pete and Artis (and that is not even much of a guarantee).

As we pointed out in our contestant rankings over the weekend, though, there is a roadblock standing in her way of making this dream final three happen: the immunity idol. If either Malcolm or Denise wins the immunity necklace, they are both pretty much guaranteed safety for the next tribal council. Therefore, the only other logical move is getting rid of Abi-Maria since it otherwise means that their own alliance is in serious jeopardy.

We’ll have our official prediction up before the episode airs on Wednesday night; for now, be sure to check out our list of likely all-stars from this season by clicking over to the story here.

Photo: CBS