‘Survivor: Cagayan’ castaway spotlight: Is Tony Vlachos leaving the law and order behind?
For a guy who is technically a cop, doesn’t Tony Vlachos have a name that sounds almost immediately like a villain in a “Rocky” movie? This is a guy who has a job that requires him to be on the good side of the law, but on “Survivor: Cagayan,” he says that he is going to leave almost all of that behind and play whatever sort of game that he needs to in order to win the grand prize, and take home the money for his family.
The issue of how well Tony is going to on this season is going to largely depend on one thing, based on just about every bit of promotional material that we have seen of this guy so far: Whether or not he is actually going to be able to take a chill pill long enough to relax within the game, and not get caught up in being some sort of villain or mastermind.
Name – Tony Vlachos
Age – 39
Location – Jersey City, New Jersey
Occupation – Police officer (who that in our mind seems like the guy who goes undercover and then bashes people’s heads in, a contrast to fellow cop Sarah).
Tribe – Aparri, otherwise known as the Brawn tribe.
What he brings to the game – A devious mind, and that is a good thing on its own. He’s really the only person on this tribe who is going to be a villain from the get-go, and the fact that he is such an imposing presence could make him a hard guy to get rid of. We know that everyone on this group is athletic, but let’s put it this way: Would you rather have Tony than a huge guy in Cliff, who may require a ton of food to get going and may not fit in the shelter? It just seems like he’s a good asset early in the game, despite whatever shortcomings he may have.
What could get him in trouble – Many things, really. For example, Tony seems to think that his experience as a cop is going to make him perfect for this show. We feel like he may be far too aggressive, and that will get him in trouble pretty early on in the game. He’s not going to be likable to many other people in the game, and almost immediately after the merge, he is the sort of huge personality that is going to be a target. We don’t know how well he’d even really do in some of challenges (big guys tend to suffer in endurance tasks), but he’ll get attention, anyway.
Past “Survivor” comparison – Somewhere between James Clement, Russell Hantz, and Shannon Elkins. He reminds us a little bit of all three, and then also maybe a little bit of Judd from Guatemala. He’s a huge guy who is going to try to be devious, and it may or may not blow up in his face.
Prediction – We’ll say that Tony will probably survive early, but is going to be in huge trouble come either a tribal swap or the merge. We don’t think he’s going to be as clever as he thinks that he is, and too many other players will catch on to the fact that he really cannot be trusted.
How well do you think that Tony is going to do on “Survivor: Cagayan”? Share some of your thoughts below, and head over here in the event that you do want to see even more spotlight articles related to the show. Also, sign up now if you want to get even more updates sent to you weekly via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: CBS