‘Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance’ spotlight: Will Abi-Maria Gomes perform better than in the Philippines?
If you enjoy entertainment, it is hard to dispute the presence of Abi-Maria Gomes on “Survivor: Second Chance.” She is one of the reasons why “Survivor: Philippines” proved to be such an entertaining season and one that we credit in part for helping to get the show back on the right track. think of the four seasons that came before it in “Nicaragua,” “Redemption Island,” “South Pacific,” and “One World.” While there are bright spots here and there in those seasons, we consider that run to be one of the darkest of the dark ages of this game. Abi-Maria was an aggressive social and strategic player, and to go along with that she was funny and also upfront. These are attributes that many “Survivor” players lack.
Of course, these two attributes going into this season make her one of the biggest wild-cards out there. If she’s on your side, she’s a great ally since she’s never one to really minimize a target on her; however, if she’s not on your side, she could be far from the easiest person to live with.
History lesson – 5th place, “Survivor: Philippines.” She was a part of the Tandang tribe, which we’d consider one of the best pre-merge tribes in the history of the show. After the merge? Not so much. She did outlast most of her former tribe members other than Lisa Whelchel and Mike Skupin, and she used a variety of different tools to get there. She found an immunity idol, she had a few solid alliances, and she was very good at framing someone in RC in a way that she was always the biggest threat when the two played together. We know there are claims that she was pretty bad in the challenges, but what you wouldn’t know from watching the season was that she was injured for a good majority of the game. What she was very good at was insulting people.
What worked last time – Abi is pretty sneaky, and she’s also really good at getting under a players’ skin and getting them to occasionally do something that they probably wouldn’t normally do. Had Tandang actually gone to tribal council before the merge, we feel pretty good that she would have been okay even though she was having to sit out many challenges. We know that looking back she does get a sort of “villain” reputation, but she did have allies. She also showed many times that she had a strategic mind, even when trying to make an argument late in the game that she should be taken to the end because she could be defeated. She does what she needs to in order to survive.
What needs to change – While there are a lot of things that she does that we find really fun, it probably is good on “Survivor” to have a filter. If you get too many people frustrated with you early on, they may want to get rid of you. She’ll have to prove to everyone that she’s a much better physical player than we saw, and that she can work well with others without there being any drama or potential arguments.
Potential obstacles – As we’ve mentioned, perception is a big obstacle and probably the biggest one. She’s not from a season that is extremely well-represented here, so she doesn’t have to worry so much about that. The same goes for any fear that she will be a huge threat after the merge. In looking at her Ta Keo tribe, our big concern is this: Would she get along with people like Woo, Terry, or Kelly Wiglesworth? We could see her maybe getting along with people like Shirin or Kelley Wentworth who would get her sense of humor, but we could see her easily getting on the wrong side of the numbers.
Prediction – We’ve had a hard time figuring this one out. Either Abi leaves relatively early, or goes pretty far into the game. We’d have a ball watching her pitch her game at a final tribal council! We still feel like the likely scenario is that she lands on the outside of an alliance and is out before the merge, but we’re giving her a small chance that she is on show more or less the whole season.
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