Survivor 41 episode 12 power rankings: Three more to the Final 3
With (hopefully) the last dumpster fire of twist behind us, the Survivor 41 episode 12 power rankings look at who’s going home before the finale.
When Plan A and Plan B are made immune through challenges and twists, Plan C comes sweeping from around the corner and from where you least expect. Last week, I expected Liana to be a swing player between Ricard and Deshawn’s group, keeping in mind the potential she becomes the target as someone for Danny and Deshawn to get rid of and security a safety barrier.
However, she could not get over her beef with Xander, and both Danny and Deshawn remained immune because of winning a challenge and the Monty Hall Twist, respectively. Xander wanted to get rid of Liana so severely, he used his Extra Vote to ensure that Erika doesn’t flip, thus imagining an impossible world where Heather and Erika aren’t on the same page.
We’re now at the Final Six in Survivor 41, and things are pretty dicey. I’ve reworded the power rankings to look at who’s the safest, who’s closest designations as swing players, and who are the biggest potential targets left in the game. Let’s dive in!
Safest
Xander Hastings: Whether or not he’s a jury threat anymore (I’d argue that ship has sailed), Xander seems to think of himself as this big threat left in the game. With the propensity the producers have to protect the golden boys of the show, there’s logistically only one Tribal Council left to vote Xander out.
Two voting cycles remain, but Xander will assuredly use his idol to protect himself if he doesn’t win individual immunity this week. As such, he’s by far the safest player remaining.
Swing Players
Erika Casupanan: With Erika deciding to keep Ricard safe last week, it felt more a means to better position herself for the endgame. Right now, the duos are Danny and Deshawn plus Xander and Ricard, with Erika and Heather placed in the middle to target one group or the other.
Xander’s relationship with Ricard seems tenuous at best, but at the very least, he used his extra vote to protect him last week. Meanwhile, Deshawn’s still on the hot seat after a Do or Die twist covered him after almost throwing away 80% of a season’s worth of great gameplay.
There are too many players with bigger targets on their backs to target Erika right now, so now she’s in the driver’s seat for this one moment. It might result in her being targeted at the Final Five onward, but it’s also her best shot to brute force a winning resume.
Heather Aldret: Heather’s awkwardness at Tribal Council reflects the awkwardness of her game. Once again, she was the only player not to receive a confessional in one of the most critical episodes (narratively and mechanically) of the season, reflecting her entity as a specter, haunting over the players rather than an active participant of the game at large.
She’ll vote alongside Erika, and if she isn’t targeted at Final Five for taking another player’s Final Tribal seat, she will be dragged to the end by whoever wins the Final Immunity Challenge.
Potential Targets
Deshawn Radden: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; Deshawn should never have found himself on Day 21 of 26 playing a game of chance to remain in the game. Unexpected, last-second gameplay twists should not dictate a player’s fate, and though it kept him safe, it shouldn’t have been due to improperly understanding the Monty Hall problem.
As a result, because Deshawn chose 33% odds instead of 66% odds, he wasn’t eligible to be voted out at the Final Six. He’s still a potential target to go home this week, but with the editing protection he’s received all season long, he seems destined to make it to finale night.
Whether he does find the last eligible idol or earns immunity via a challenge, I still think there’s more game for Deshawn left. However, he will scrape through by the skin of his teeth!
Danny McCray: When he won his first individual immunity last week, it seemed necessary for the edit to include the notion that he is a challenge beast. Sure, the Luvu tribe never had the chance to make it to Tribal Council during the pre-merge based on the physical prowess he provides (and puzzle skills from others), but it’s not like he’s been JoeAno- I mean Joe Anglim out there.
In a season where everyone gets a montage to round out their personal content, Danny getting his so late in the season seems ominous. He was the one who committed the athlete’s “cardinal sin” in trying to throw a challenge and get Erika eliminated before she “kills us” at the merge. I’m afraid if somehow both Deshawn and Ricard are immune, he might be the one to take the first bullet.
Ricard Foyé: It seemed like the overwhelmingly obvious choice to take out Ricard when they had the chance last week. The challenge beast of Survivor 41 has the capability of making himself immune once more, as it seems like only Xander truly has him in his corner (and even then, only as a meat shield).
There’s no sense for Xander to keep him safe going forward, Erika wanted to take him out previously, and both Deshawn and Danny made a play to blindside him before Shan inevitably got the boot, so it seems like it’s the consensus choice for him to be voted out. He better hope to pull out a challenge victory in the clutch!
