‘Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X’ rankings: Chaos swirls around final nine

Tonight, “Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X” is switching back to a one-hour format for the latest new episode, and it’s one that we’re really excited about just to see if there is a way that the tables turn once more. Do we really see the alliance of Zeke, Sunday, Bret, Will, and Jay making it all the way to the top five? It’s hard to imagine that, especially when on the other side you’ve got David, Adam, Ken, and Hannah, four extremely-compelling characters who’ve all been extremely well-developed.

Then again, other than Will and Sunday, are there any people left this season who are under-developed? There’s a lot of parity this time around, which really does add a lot to the table in terms of fun. It also makes judging these rankings based on edit a lot more complicated. With that, we’re looking at these mostly in terms of strategy, challenge ability, and how big of a threat someone is at the end of the season.

9. Ken McNickle (last week: 6) – Why put Ken last instead of David? There are a couple of different reasons. First, Ken will be seen as a challenge threat more so than David, even if they both have a single immunity win between them. Second, there could be perception that David’s went and found another idol, and until you build up enough for a majority so that you can split the vote, maybe it makes some more sense to take out one of his lieutenants. If you do this here and then get rid of a Hannah or an Adam, you can then split the votes at the final seven if you’re really worried then.

8. David Wright (2) – We do think there is a smart case to be made here for someone like Zeke to keep David around for another couple of episodes, mostly because of the sole fact that he, like a Spencer in “Cagayan,” is a big target that minimizes the target on himself. If you keep him until the idols are invalid, then you just need to have confidence that you can beat him in the final immunities. The risk that comes with that is that David’s an enormous jury threat at the end of the game, just like Spencer was in that said.

7. Will Wahl (11) – As good of a spot as Will is in at the moment, we just have an incredibly hard time imagining that Will’s going to have the fortitude to be able to go out there and actually win the game. Will seems like a nice guy, but there’s not a whole lot being presented to us.

6. Sunday Burquest (5) – We’ve heard people like Chris mention that Sunday is someone he’d take to the end based on a perception that she’d ridden his coattails to get there, so we should be looking at an endgame player this season. However, we’re not sure there is anything that can be said beyond that in terms of her odds to win. She’d need to make it there with two people who the jury is extremely bitter towards. (We’re assuming there’s a final three this season, given that we don’t know how the remaining numbers work otherwise.)

5. Bret LaBelle (9) – Over the two hours last week Bret emerged as a really great character, and the sort of guy who could easily win at the end just because people like him so much. Unfortunately, that likability is probably why he won’t get there and could be gone within the next couple of episodes. We also don’t think that he’s particularly well-suited for some of these endurance-based immunity challenges.

4. Adam Klein (10) – A huge rise for Adam this week just because he completely vanished off of the radar for people. David’s almost surely a bigger target than him on his side, and he’s still got that immunity idol he can play at any time. With the amount of buzz the show is giving that whole family visit drama with his advantage, we’re starting to think that this is meant to throw us off the trail.

3. Hannah Shapiro (4) – The only dangerous time for Hannah to be voted out is with weird votes like the ones we just saw, where there is some fear of an idol being played. Otherwise, we do think that Hannah is becoming an Aubry sort of figure in this game. She’s not as aggressive, but there are scenarios where we could see her using some of her social connections to make moves and with the right people at the end, she could stand a shot at winning.

2. Zeke Smith (1) – It’s risky putting him this high because he is such a threat, and we think that he and Bret going after David for his anxiety probably wasn’t the best look. However, what’s great about Zeke is that when in his natural state, he’s got this great ability to put people at ease that’s similar to a Jeremy Collins in “Cambodia” or a JT Thomas in “Tocantins.” While his alliance may now want to get rid of him at some point, it doesn’t benefit anyone to flip this week to go from at worst fifth on his side to fifth on the other.

1. Jay Starrett (8) – Some people may hate this spot for Jay, but hear us out. The biggest thing he’s got going for him right now is the immunity idol, which he had the guts to keep secret. The next thing is that the alliances seem intent to pick off each other. If he lets the two groups clash against one another and sits idly by, we could get to a scenario where he’s at the final six or so with very beatable challenge opponents and he could go on a run there. He’s a better version of Fabio, and that works perfect for a season that’s basically an evolved version of “Survivor: Nicaragua.”

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Who do you think is at the top of the rankings going into tonight’s “Survivor”? Let us know in the comments, and head over here to get some other news right now in regards to “Survivor.” (Photo: CBS.)