‘Survivor: Worlds Apart’ rankings: How Sierra Dawn Thomas, Carolyn Rivera rise to the top

“Survivor: Worlds Apart” is definitely the most polarizing season we have covered, and it may be the most polarizing season in general (and we say that as someone who has seen almost every episode over the years). There have been some truly terrible things that we have witnessed, and while there have been some really interesting gameplay moves, you also still have to recognize that most of the game since the Kelly vote at the merge has just been a fancy Pagonging of the No Collar tribe plus Shirin. Kelly only left because of Jenn’s idol.

While this is not our favorite season, there’s enough strategically to be intrigued by over the weeks to come. Plus, we still hold firm to the belief that in one way or another, Dan and Will are going to get what’s coming to them for their behavior.

As always when we rank castaways, we take into considering strategy, screen time, challenge ability, threat level, and their perceived ability to make a decent argument at the end of the game. Let’s dive in!

7. Dan Foley – There are a multitude of reasons for putting Dan last. He has no immunity idol, he’s going to be upset after the votes went to him this past episode, and that vote doubler isn’t going to save him unless it still works in the event of a tiebreaker. We don’t know how that works. Also, next to no chance of winning.

6. Mike Holloway – He’s got one week of safety guaranteed by the idol, but we have a hard time envisioning him making it any further than that unless he somehow figures out a way to either win a ton of immunity challenges or convince someone in that seemingly-tight four-person alliance to flip.

5. Will Sims – The only reason Will gets this spot is because he has a good chance of making the final three and winning a little money. Given his deplorable actions against Shirin and his lack of gameplay, though, he’s definitely not winning the million.

4. Tyler Fredrickson – The target has been put on Tyler now much more than it has before, and maybe if Mike wins immunity, Rodney can actually be convinced into going after him. He probably has the best chance of winning other than Mike, but he has a somewhat-tricky road to get there unless his alliance stays tight until final four.

3. Rodney Lavoie Jr. – Rodney has actually done some good moves this season, and he has covered up his lies in the game well. With that being said, is there really any chance at all for him to win this game being such a hot-tempered, emotional guy? Him throwing a tantrum on this upcoming episode may not help.

2. Sierra Dawn Thomas – We’re starting to think that this season could be more the story of how someone loses (see Dan and Will) more so than how someone wins. Sierra seems to be a subscriber to the idea that no moves are better than big moves. She may not like everyone in her alliance, but if she can get to the final three with anyone other than Carolyn, Tyler, and Mike, how does she lose? She may even have a chance against Carolyn if she can articulate that she stayed with people she knew she could beat. Sure, her edit has been fairly invisible, but we’re not completely buying in to the whole winner’s edit thing anymore.

1. Carolyn Rivera – We’re still giving Carolyn the slight edge here, mostly because Sierra’s not in that four-person alliance and because she both has an immunity idol and an immunity win under her belt. She probably wouldn’t get every vote in the final three, but she is probably smart enough to realize that she can cut Mike and Tyler along the way and have a really good shot at winning it all.

Now, we come to the part where you share your own pick in the comments / the poll! You can also head over here to read our recent exit interview with Shirin, and sign up here to get some other TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)