Survivor 48has been nothing short of entertaining in the first five episodes thus far. Historic Tribal Councils, tense Immunity Challenges and emotional personal stories have been the primary themes throughout this season, but how castaways have reacted to these events has been game-changing.
Players make small decisions that affect the competition on a day-to-day basis, but specific contestants have alreadymade risky choices that will likely come back to haunt them in the near future.The merge isset to transpire inthe next episode ofSurvivor,and the three castaways below are definitely in the hot seat following the decisions they’ve made up until this point.
3Cedrek McFadden
Will Regret Not Eliminating Sai Hughley
Cedrek McFaddenhad two opportunities to vote out Sai Hughley this season, but elected to keep her in the game, and eliminated tribe-mates who were willing to work with him.Justin PioppiandBianca Rosesexpressed interest in aligning with McFadden, but both were sacrificed by him in order to keep Hughley in the game. It initially seemed that McFadden was already fed up with Hughley’s actions and attitude during thehectic Tribal Council that took placein episode 3,and wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate her if given the chance again. However, the next time both castaways went to Tribal Council together, McFadden had the perfect opportunity to align with Roses, butwrote her name down on parchmentafter discovering she had lost her vote.
McFadden was presented with two allies who were willing to pledge their loyalty to him, which is rare inSurvivor,but his relationship with Hughley continues to interfere with possible alliances. Unbeknownst to McFadden,Hughley has secretly been plotting how to eventually blindside him if need be,often expressing in confessionals that she’s not afraid to cut him loose if it benefits her game. McFadden might not have a third chance to eliminate Hughley with the numbers behind him again, and if he fails to win Immunity Challenges going forward, he will likely come to regret his decision to keep her in the competition.
2Star Toomey
Gifting Eva Erickson Her Immunity Idol Was a Mistake
After opening up to her cast-mates abouther struggles with autism afteran emotional Immunity Challenge victory,Eva Ericksonwas given an idol fromStar Toomey.Erickson hadn’t been shy about her journey with autism to the viewers watching at home, but decided to keep her story a secret from the rest of her fellow castaways, except forJoe Hunter,who she trusted and told during the first episode. However, after struggling to control her emotions after experiencing an “autism episode” during the challenge,Erickson gave a heartfelt speech about living life on the spectrum,one that was inspiring to her cast-mates and fans watching around the world.
Later that day, Erickson decided to assist Toomey with solving her Beware Advantage, which the latter had failed to decipher since the beginning of the competition. In order to gain an Immunity Idol, Toomey needed to solve a word puzzle which would then unlock the advantage, and Erickson was the contestant to finally guess the correct term. To commend her for solving the puzzle and sharing her personal story hours before, Toomey gifted Erickson the idol, despite finding the Beware Advantage herself. There’s no doubt that Toomey’s kindness will not go unnoticed, but giving up the ability to be in possession of an idol will significantly hurt her game in the long run. In addition, Toomey was already struggling to connect with her tribe-mates on a personal level, and hadn’t taken charge of any strategic moves, meaning thatthe idol could’ve been her only safety net moving forward.Although Erickson helped her gain access to the idol,Toomey should have kept it for herself,especially with Erickson being a physical threat and a player that contestants will resonate with after sharing her emotional story.
1Charity Nelms
Underestimating Her Competition
Charity Nelmshas played a quiet game up until this point, as she’s been able to navigate through the competition without being involved in too much conflict and has yet to attend Tribal Council. Additionally, Nelms has been egotistical about her position in the game, feeling overconfident with her current relationships and assuming that she has power over her opponents.
She specifically believes that she has control over her tribe-mate,David Kinne,despiteexplaining to her fellow castaways that they were “thick as thieves.“However, behind Kinne’s back,Nelms claimed that she can “boss him around,” and that he’s “not very strategic,“believing that her number one alliance member needs her in the game to survive. Similarly to McFadden, Nelms is unaware that Kinne has already begun planning her elimination. Despite assuring Nelms that he is her number one alliance member, Kinne hasn’t trusted her since the beginning of the competition, and would take the “first opportunity” to vote her out.Nelms is also unawarethat she has already lost the trust of Erickson,who called her “fake” after earning the opportunity to visit The Sanctuary following a Reward Challenge. If Nelms continues to play the game, being unassuming of Kinne or rubs anyone else the wrong way post merge, she’ll likely have her torch snuffed in the near future.
It remains to be seen how McFadden, Toomey and Nelms’ decisions will affect them going forward, especially with players like Erickson and Hughley looking to play more individually now that the merge is on the horizon. At the very least, Toomey could hopefully build a trusting relationship between Erickson and herself now that she’s given her the idol, but McFadden and Nelms could be fighting to survive in the upcoming days, asHughley and Kinne don’t seem to want them in the game much longer.It also doesn’t bode well for the three contestants thatthe merge is happening early this season, with less immunity protection available to save them from their previous decisions.
Keep Reading:‘Survivor 48’ Debuts Inspirational Stories As Some Castaways Play Hard Too Fast
