‘Survivor: Philippines’ rankings: Is Lisa Whelchel the new mastermind?

In thinking back over last week’s new episode of “Survivor: Philippines,” there is really only one thing that we realized: Lisa Whelchel could light a match and burn down the camp, and we still don’t think this merged tribe would send her home. She’s got this total “nice lady” game down pat, and we’re not quite sure that there has ever been a celebrity in this game who has ever played it better. Even when she makes mistakes, she somehow gets out of them to where there is absolutely no blood on her hands.

We’ll get back to Lisa in a moment, but we have other castaways to rank! Just a reminder: there are no spoilers here, and these rankings are based on everything from strategy to their status within camp to even their edit and amount of screentime.

9. Jonathan Penner (last week: 10) – It’s hard to see Penner’s story playing out any differently this week. He did a great job winning immunity and buying him another week of safety, but you have to believe he will be target #1 if

8. Carter Williams (6) – Carter, you are done. There’s no other way to say it. He’s a physical threat, and nobody wants someone to win their way to the end since juries can respect that. The only hope the dullest cast of the season has is if one of the alliances decides to use him as a number; and even if they do, they will cast him off in a few weeks when he no longer has a purpose.

7. Pete Yurkowski (7) – The fact that he has received votes two straight weeks shows you just how tight Pete’s status in the game at the moment is. He has the numbers for now, but both Lisa and Skupin have considered flipping in the past. All it takes at this point is the two of them making a new alliance with the other side, and he’s the first one out.

6. Michael Skupin (9) – Just as a returning player alone, Skupin is going to have a target on him. The one thing really going for him  is that he is really not showing himself as someone who has a great deal of power in the game. Lisa seems to be in part protecting him by cluing him in to what is going on around camp, and he’s so accident prone there’s always a chance he’ll injure himself out of here again.

5. Abi-Maria Gomes (3) – There was no logic whatsoever in Abi announcing to the world at tribal council that she has the immunity idol. Now, she has to be paranoid about playing it, and it will be putting herself at a big risk to give it to someone else. We still see her a potential finalist, if only for the sole fact that she is someone no one will ever vote for and she’s the right person to drag to the end..

4. Artis Silvester (5) – You can make the same argument with Artis at this point. What’s his contribution to the game at this point, save for sitting around and complaining? The only reason he would be targeted before Abi or Pete is if the castaways want to flush the idol out, while still voting for someone that Abi will probably not give it to.

3. Malcolm Freberg (2) – Abi may have made her biggest blunder in the game in more or less saying that Malcolm is not part of the Tandang alliance. He already has Denise, and if he pulls in Penner, Carter, and even just one of Lisa and Malcolm (or probably both), he has both the numbers and the immunity idol. The guy is just in a really good place right now.

2. Denise Shipley (4) – Where in the world is Denise now? Since the merge, she’s all but disappeared from the game … which helps her chances at making the final three, but hurts them when it comes to winning. Outside of doing well in challenges and having a good alliance, she has yet to make the sort of big move that she would need to make.

1. Lisa Whelchel (1) – Lisa, on the other hand, has come to life. She completely exposed Malcolm’s immunity idol, and yet no one even remotely thought about targeting her. There’s also something kind of fun about how honest she is, and how that brings a different dynamic to the game that you can own up to scheming and still be an effective player. The only thing that may actually work against Lisa is if she makes the final three, Skupin reveals who she is, and everyone is suddenly bitter that nice Lisa lied to them about this one thing.

Who do you think is in the best position to win this game right now?