‘Survivor: Game Changers’ spotlight: Enter Hali Ford, one of game’s biggest enigmas

If you’re thinking on paper about “Survivor: Worlds Apart” contestants you’d expect to see on a second season on the show, Hali Ford may not be the first name that comes to mind. You’d probably think more about Mike Holloway or Carolyn Rivera. Heck, Max Dawson was on the “Second Chance” ballot, and Rodney Lavoie Jr. was a huge character for most of the season.

So to see both Hali Ford and Sierra Dawn Thomas back on the same season in “Survivor: Game Changers” was a bit of a shock. Yet, at the same time there is some logic from a casting point of a view to getting Hali back out there, especially if you pause for a moment to consider it. Her biggest detriment the first go-around was that she wasn’t integral to the story of the season, but she had some good character moments and did seem eager to play the game. She just wasn’t around long enough after the merge to make a big impression. Also, we like how she admits to being unhappy with her game in the video below.

In this latest edition of our castaway spotlight series below, we’re going to do our part to detail why she could fare much better this season, and be one of those returning players who turns “under-the-radar” into one of their biggest strengths.

Past performance – 11th place (“Survivor: Worlds Apart”).

Historical perspective – When thinking about her as someone who “changed the game” of “Survivor,” what do you go on here? She may have loved the Constitution more than anyone on her season, which was ironic given that she was on the No Collar tribe a.k.a. the tribe without rules. She may be the most ironic two-time player in history when it comes to casting. Maybe that’s why she’s changing the game…

Strengths – Hali doesn’t have a single defining moment strategically in her game the first time around, but that’s why she could be set up really well here. In “Survivor,” the devil you know is almost always worse than the devil you don’t, and nobody thanks of her as a devil. She’s good enough in challenges to not be a liability, and she’s aware that nobody will come after her in the early going. She can easily stay quiet until the merge, and we do think that she’s pretty intelligent and will pick up from there on what she needs to do — especially if that includes flipping on a minority alliance like the one she was in last time.

Weaknesses – Does she have another gear to her game, and that killer instinct to cut people when the going gets tough. This is what seemed to kill the No Collar tribe’s game on “Worlds Apart” — they weren’t cutthroat and couldn’t get any momentum going. It also feels like because she was so quiet her first season, she’s going to have to overcompensate for it this time to earn the respect of some of the three and four-time players out there. Both Amber and Sandra when they won their returning-player seasons benefited heavily from being at the end against people who were beatable opponents for the way they acted in the game.

Prediction – The jury’s still out on if Hali can win the game, but we feel more confident right now that she’s making the final three than any other person this season. There’s no reason for anyone to go after her until the final five or so, unless for some reason she just falls on the wrong side of the numbers. She’ll just needed to balance playing harder than last time, but not too hard that she sticks out like a sore thumb, if she wants a chance at winning. She has the tools on paper, even if she was so under-edited her first time in the game that we didn’t always see them.

How are you feeling about Hali entering this season of “Survivor”? Share in the comments, and head over here to get some further news when it comes to the show, including further spotlights! (Photo: CBS.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjBrBDVfPhE