‘Survivor: Cagayan’ rankings: If there’s a Woo, there’s a way
“Survivor: Cagayan” has been a great season for so many reasons. You’ve got a phenomenal cast (our favorite of all newbies since the clusterf**k that was Gabon), some crazy twists (even though the Tyler Perry idol, that “special idol” that Perry apparently suggested the Jeff Probst via text message, threatens to ruin it), and also people trying hard to play the game. Even if not every move is a good move, it’s definitely at least making things more interesting than seeing a straight-up Pagong situation. Hopefully, that’s not on the horizon now that we’ve seen two straight Aparri people go home.
As always, we’re basing the rankings on effectiveness, strategy, and edit to this point … and don’t assume that Woo is ranked that high because of the title. We just thought it was fun.
9. Jeremiah Wood (last week: 4) – The big drop for Jeremiah is the product of three things: The former Solana alliance sticking together, Spencer finding the immunity idol, and Spencer not likely giving it to him. If there is someone Spencer may help out, we would think in theory it would be Tasha … but we don’t even think that he’d do that.
8. Woo Hwang (6) – We fear for Woo. He’s a great challenge competitor, and he’s of the sort of body type that can win almost any challenge like an Ozzy. He also showed last week with the immunity idol hunt that he is also trying to play the game, even if we don’t exactly feel like he handled it that well. Plus, Tony seems to be targeting him in the previews … and being targeted by Tony rarely ends well.
7. Tony Vlachos (7) – Then again, Tony’s problem is just that he’s a high-risk, high-reward player. As entertaining as he is to watch (the guy’s a lock for at least get an invite for a future season), it’s hard to ever feel like he’s safe. We’ve heard a lot of comparisons between him and Russell Hantz, but here’s the real difference. While both are constantly thinking about strategy, Tony has friendships and seems very well-liked. He’s a huge threat to win if he makes it to the final tribal council, and he’s going to need to pull some more rabbits out of a hat to get there.
6. Tasha Fox (9) – Tasha was our preseason pick to win, but the way she’s disappearing lately has us worried. If the alliances stand pat, she is facing a situation where there is a 3-3-3 vote, Spencer plays his idol, and then the Solana group votes her out in a tiebreaker. This season seems so crazy that that feels unlikely, but it could happen. She just needs to convince two people (Kass and Woo?) to jump ship.
5. Kass McQuillen (8) – Spencer is probably right about Kass’ chances to win the game, but she has a good chance of making it that far. She’s not going to win any challenges, and the only real danger is that you don’t know where her head is at. What we would actually do at this point if we were in that Solana alliance is tell Kass that we’re getting rid of Spencer, hope that he plays his idol, and then get rid of her. Eliminate the variable, especially since you don’t really need her anymore if you trust your “top five, baby.”
4. Spencer Bledsoe (10) – We give Spencer a shot here for a little while since he can always plays his idol tonight, and then try to find a way to make a move in the future. While he comes across at times as a little indignant, he’s a smart guy and a pretty good player. He see him fighting hard to go far, but the problem that he runs into is that in between idol speculation and him just winning an immunity challenge, he is far from under the radar at this point.
3. Jefra Bland (3) – The top three are going to fee very familiar right now. Jefra, for example, is not going anywhere. She has a great chance to get to the end of the game, even if she probably won’t win unless people are insanely bitter and/or crazy. There’s not really much else to say here.
2. LJ McKanas (2) – LJ is the easy person to predict as a winner. Morgan may try to poison the jury against him (she’s not a fan, judging from our interview), but he comes across pretty well on the show, isn’t the main target in his alliance, and is capable of winning challenges (especially puzzles).
1. Trish Hegarty (1) – If Trish is able to articulate herself at the final tribal council (which may be her biggest roadblock since not everyone likes her), we still feel like she’s got a good shot at this. She’s one of the main reasons why the alliance with LJ formed, and the reason why Kass flipped. Sure, the Lindsey quit was probably not intentional, but it still benefited her. She’s made more actual moves to benefit her game than anyone else remaining. Even getting the rice over the immunity clue in the beginning turned out to be smart.
Who do you have at the top of the rankings? Share in the poll below, and come back later tonight for our full “Survivor” review. You can also sign up to get more TV updates from us via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: CBS