‘Survivor: Cagayan’ finale preview: Four different games, one winner
The final four of “Survivor: Cagayan” is so interesting now when you look at it, since we’re not quite sure that there has ever been four more-different players to make it to the end of a single season. You have a guy, for example, in Spencer Bledsoe who Jeff Probst said before the game had zero chance to win, and now he’s the favorite if he wins his way there! Also, you have someone in Kass McQuillen who came in with an interesting gameplan, but for a lawyer has played things a little more personally than anyone felt that she could.
The May sweeps swallowed up a traditional review last night, so in lieu of that we’re going to do something a little different with an in-depth look at the finale action next week … specifically via game analysis! There is something to be learned from looking at how all of the final four players got to this point.
Tony Vlachos – The Enforcer. Tony has gotten to the end by playing his butt off. His game almost may be best described by the way that he was throwing around those puzzle pieces on the challenge last night. He’s ridiculously entertaining, but also reckless sometimes with his moves … and not all of them have worked in his favor. Why not play the idol for Trish last night? He’ll still be one of our favorite winners ever if he pulls this off, mostly because we have so much respect for someone who loves to play the game this much.
Spencer Bledsoe – Meanwhile, Spencer is doing the same thing metaphorically that he did with his own puzzle. He waits, he examples the board, and then he moves. He and Tony both have to be all-star candidates just for the way that they have played, but what’s crazy is that despite how almost nothing has gone his way this whole game, Tony and Spencer are close to being on the same playing field. Idols are no good anymore, but with Spencer, his concern is going to be trying to win out. He has little chance otherwise unless people start losing their minds.
Kass McQuillen – Kass is playing what is in some ways an effective game, at least when it comes to making herself $100,000 richer. We like the “Chaos Kass” persona, and there was some potential value in what she did to Woo last night. The reason that Kass probably comes off so unlikable with the fans is probably just that she has done some things that are outside of the game, like making fun of Trish’s appearance and flipping her off as she left the game. This is also not the first time she’s gone with the personal attacks. Maybe there’s a final two with Kass and Woo and she has a shot, but while we don’t particularly care for the way that she has gone after some people, she’s also made some good moves for herself and you have to give her props for making it so much further than anyone thought she would pre-game. She may also get another shot at this someday.
Woo Hwang – Meanwhile, Woo has about zero chance of returning for another season, and he has a slightly higher chance of winning the game. If he is up against Kass, he’s got a good shot, but what else has Woo done, save for coining Ninja Stealth Mode and helping to get rid of Trish? His biggest asset right now is a threat to keep Spencer from winning immunity, but even still, he has only won a single challenge (which we guess is still more than either Tony or Kass).
No matter who you support, we still feel like this is going to be a great finale to one of our two favorite seasons of the post-“Heroes vs. Villains” era. It’s going to come down to either this one or “Survivor: Philippines” as the best depending on the finale.
We’ll have our interview with Trish Hegarty up this weekend at the link here. Also, be sure to sign up now for more updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: CBS