“We bust this game wide open” was an ominous prospect posed by Nick Wilson last week at tribal council on “Survivor: David vs. Goliath.” Over the past two weeks the original David tribe members have been able to overcome being down in the numbers to level the score against the dominant Goliath tribe. This numbers swing could blur the lines between the original tribes and begin a whole new chapter in this game of Biblical proportions.
Nick went on to explain, “We change the numbers, and say ‘Play who you want to play with and who you trust.’ Forget about the buffs we put on day one.” This helps explain why Nick is currently leading the Gold Derby prediction center to take out the season at 19/5 odds. Nick is the most prepared to take advantage of a potential new dynamic, as we enter Thursday night’s double episode.
At the start if the game the Goliath tribe were individuals who had used advantages in life to excel. The Davids were underdogs who have had to overcome obstacles in life. When the tribes merged, the Goliath tribe had lived up to their reputations, holding a number advantage. They were able to get the Davids on board and, for the first time in “Survivor” history, the merge vote was unanimous, sending Elizabeth Olson home. The Goliaths then had a 7-5 numbers advantage.
Where did the Goliaths go wrong?
Just like a Biblical giant, one of the greatest liabilities for a game of “Survivor” is hubris. And I believe this easy vote set the Goliaths up for a fall. The appeal of working with the Davids seemed less necessary. So they moved to take out the most likeable person on the island, Christian Hubicki. They thought they were in control, and failed to account for hidden advantages used by an organized David outfit.
How did the Davids rally?
The Davids were aware they could not afford to make a mistake, or lose another number. They had also found some idols and advantages to help mitigate their deficit. Davie Rickenbacker played his idol to save Christian. And they knew to split the vote so a Goliath idol play would be useless. This sent world wrestling champion John Hennigan home. Next, Nick used a vote steal to flip the numbers and Carl Boudreaux played the show’s first ever idol nullifier to send Dan Rengering home. Just like the Biblical shepherd, well coordinated and executed weapons were used to overcome size.
Who’s going to strike the next blow?
I think it is more likely we’ll see Goliaths wanting to jump their sinking ship. We even saw Alec Merlino and Kara Kay vote against a Goliath ( Angelina Keeley) after Nick played the vote steal last week. Christian also still has an idol, which will give the Davids an edge, if tribal lines stay in tact.
This is probably why in Gold Derby’s prediction center, of the six most predicted people to go home in the first hour of this week’s episode five are Goliaths, with Angelina being most likely with 10/11 odds.
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