‘Survivor: Philippines’ prediction: Can Mike Skupin be saved?

We are presumably inching ever closer to the merge happening on “Survivor: Philippines,” and if we were one of these tribes at this moment, we would be thinking about one thing: who is not going to help you later in the game, and who is going to an incredible physical threat? This is why if we were on Tandang, would would write down Malcolm Freberg’s name in a second. He’s strong, he’s smart, and he surely has both his and Denise’s best interest in mind more than any of yours.

However, for whatever reason this tribe (who has yet to lose a challenge) has still embraced the guy as the second coming, and their returning player in Mike Skupin remains in the crosshairs. So is he going to be the person leaving the game tonight? Read on for our take, and don’t worry, as there are no spoilers included.

Biggest mover and shaker – Really, we actually don’t see one. Most of the alliances really set to be set in stone at this point in time, and unto a merge, we don’t see there being a way that any person who is currently on the outs can turn it around.

Idol watch – It’s crazy to think, but we’re also starting to imagine a merged tribe where there are three immunity idols still in play. Even though we could see Kalabaw possibly going after Jonathan Penner being that it is discussed in the preview, we think this is really more Jeff Kent just messing with the minds of the women on this tribe. Both Malcolm and Pete Yurkowski seem to be good as their golden buffs for at least a little while longer.

Likely elimination – If Tandang loses, we could see Skupin really get himself in trouble unless he somehow forms an alliance with Lisa Whelchel, RC Saint-Amour, and Malcolm to take out Pete, Abi-Maria Gomes, or Artis Silvester. Somehow (maybe thanks to Lisa), we still see RC going before him thanks to Abi’s irrational hatred of her.

Ultimately, though, we still think that Kalabaw is going to be the losing tribe here, and that it would be Katie Hanson’s time to turn in her buff. She’s not in the male alliance, and she’s a weaker competitor than Denise Shipley. Plus, they know that she would probably not work with them in the event of a merge, so what’s the point of keeping her? Make no mistake, though, that Penner and Jeff are going to be in big trouble come a merge.