‘Survivor: Cagayan’ rankings: With regards to Tyler Perry
There is no doubting that the “Tyler Perry idol” has changed “Survivor: Cagayan” by leaps and bounds since its discovery on the show last week. While whether or not it will produce a different endgame is to be seen, we can at least say with certainty now that this idol is going to wreck havoc on the next several episodes. Tony now has an extra muscle to go along with the millions that he already has (especially if you look at some of those cartoons he’s been putting up of himself on Twitter), and there’s no way at all that he will be voted out tonight. This is the first time that we’ve been able to say this before an episode about any castaway in years.
So with that in mind, the rankings also have to change … but what you may be surprised about is just how it doesn’t necessarily alter the fate of too many other players. Just because Tony has power doesn’t mean that he has the numbers, and he’s been on shaky ground ever since the LJ vote.
7. Spencer Bledsoe (last week: 3) – Tony called him a “young lad” last week, like he was a character in a pirate cartoon. It’s therefore only appropriate now that Spencer may walk the plank. He’s done an excellent job with the cards dealt to him most of the season, but he’s an immunity and strategic threat who’s on the outside of the numbers. It’s not looking good.
6. Tasha Fox (4) – A straight up Pagoning of the final two people outside of what is now the “top five” seems to be the most likely scenario now. It doesn’t really make sense for anyone to flip over to these two former members of the Brains tribe, given that either one of them may be capable of beating anyone else still in the game at the end. Unless you want to get zero votes at final tribal council and win third place, what’s the point?
5. Woo Hwang (8) – If Tony his safe, his closest ally is in jeopardy for a little while. We keep hearing “physical threat” all the time with Woo, but he’s only won a single immunity challenge and also has a sore butt from falling out of a tree. From the outside looking in, we actually see value taking him to the end, given that he hasn’t really made any move that he could argue other than going along with Tony and stealing Spencer’s idol clue. He is, however, ridiculously endearing and we could watch an hour of Woo confessionals in a row.
4. Jefra Bland (3) – Jefra has zero chance to win the game. The main reason that she’s ranked here is that it makes little sense for anyone to get rid of her unless Tony and Woo jump over to the Brains to target her. This would only make sense if they felt real danger from Kass, Trish, and Jefra to be voted out and Spencer / Tasha were willing to roll with them for a couple weeks. That’s a lot of “ifs” to put her any worse off than #4.
3. Kass McQuillen (1) – Kass is still not going anywhere for a while; heck, she’s probably the closest thing to a lock that this season has to a finalist. She’s just going to have issues selling her game, mostly because the way that she talks about it could rub the jury the wrong way. If it was interpreted that her moves were strategic rather than personal, then the jury probably would get over them. We don’t know if they would in this case given that the first two jurors in Sarah and Morgan are not Chaos Kass fans.
2. Trish Hegarty (2) – This was a tough decision for the top two, given that we’ve had a suspicion from the merge onward that Trish could be the winner, and she’s got the resume to back it up. Even this past week, she helped to ensure that Jefra did not flip and go over with the other alliance.
1. Tony Vlachos (7) – But Tony ultimately has that idol! While we still think that he has a harder road to the finale that almost anyone other than Spencer and Tasha, having that instant safety is, to quote a wonderful Tony meme from Rob Cesternino’s podcast, huge. He can’t go home next week, and just so long as he dodges getting voted out tonight, he’s in the final five. Given the strong case that he has to win the game if he makes it there, he may be in a situation where he is just a challenge win away from a million dollars come finale night.
We’ll have our full take on tonight’s “Survivor: Cagayan” episode over at the link here, so be on the lookout for that. Also, you can sign up now for further updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: CBS