‘Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites’ rankings: Malcolm Freberg’s idol an asset
What is really going on the Favorites tribe on “Survivor Caramoan”? That is actually a good question, since we’re really not seeing much of them despite them being Favorites. Basically, all we got from this past episode was that Phillip likes to talk about basketball, Corinne is now a target, and Brandon may be in a slightly better position.
We’ve used this information to change up our weekly rankings slightly, but we’re also basing this on strategy, overall edit, and hos these castaways’ past history in the game could help or hurt them.
9, Corinne Kaplan (last week: 3) – It was a rough week for Corinne, wasn’t it? We still don’t know why exactly Andrea wants her out of the game except to maybe have Malcolm to herself, especially when it comes to potentially replacing her with Brandon. While he’s a loose cannon and a proven bad person to have in an alliance, she knows how to hold her tongue. Terribly move by Andrea, since she could do this in a few weeks and be just fine.
8. Brandon Hantz (9) – Even if he does get ingratiated in this alliance of six, we have no confidence at all in Brandon’s ability to actually keep things together. Phillip has already referred to the guy as “middle management,” and as long as he is in power with this alliance, we can’t see the guy sticking around.
7. Brenda Lowe (6) – Where in the world is Brenda? We’re not seeing her, so we really have no idea at all right now what her strategy is right now outside of lifting weights of rocks while Phillip is on the beach. She may be viewed as a threat thanks to her past in Nicaragua.
6. Phillip Sheppard (8) – The Specialist is still the Specialist, and just for being such a big character alone, we imagine him having some trouble at some point. Plus, if he makes it to the end this time, he could actually make a good argument to win so far.
5. Erik Reichenbach (5) – From a physical standpoint, Erik’s worth keeping despite being in the minority alliance of the tribe right now. Plus, unlike Brenda, we don’t think anyone sees him as a master manipulator. It’s still too early to tell where the guy stands with his tribe, though, since we have barley seen him the past few weeks.
4. Andrea Boehlke (7) – For now, Andrea is in a pretty good spot … but in the long-term, we think she will regret trying to cut out Corinne from her alliance. Since you can’t trust Brandon to not melt down, this feasibly puts your six-person alliance at five, and if you are playing a numbers game, makes your odds far worse. Plus, everyone will have seen you cut out a part of your team and start to trust you a little less.
3. Dawn Meehan (1) – The closer to the merge Dawn gets, the more of a threat that she becomes, which explains her slightly lower ranking this week more than anything else. We did not really see much of her last week, so we have to presume she is safe.
2. John Cochran (4) – As for Cochran, he is a little less of a threat than Dawn after the merge based on his reputation more so than anything else. The Favorites are proving to be challenge beasts, so we’re not as concerned about him being a liability given that he can now sit out of a challenge if needed.
1. Malcolm Freberg (2) – While Malcolm may be close to losing a big-time ally in Corinne, he also has an immunity idol. To us, this pretty much guarantees him now a spot at the merge, and from there it will be up to the other castaways to find a way to blindside him with the thing still in his pocket. We think it can be done, but the fact that no one else knows that he has it right now helps him.
Who do you think is in the best position now on the Favorites? Be sure to share your thoughts below, and you can check out our recent interview with the recently-eliminated Hope Driskill over here.
Photo: NBC