Welcome to Season 49’s Next Time On Survivor weekly feature on the Inside Survivor site! If you’re new around here, I’m Steph from sunny, tropical, humid Singapore. This is a tiny space where I give my best attempts at understanding preview trailers and make my predictions for the show’s next episodes.
This week’s NTOS trailer begins with Rizo saying, “The lines are drawn, it’s an all-out war.” He’s shown in the background of the shot, with Steven in the extreme close-up foreground, suggesting that these two players are about to battle it out against each other. This checks out with what we know about their dynamics so far. Rizo and Steven have always been in opposing camps and on opposite sides of votes. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this continues for another episode.
CBS
In another part of the trailer, Steven declares, “This could be a last supper for them,” teasing that he has something up his sleeve that will change the game. Very likely, he’s referring to a plan involving the block-a-vote advantage that he won on the journey in the previous episode. I think he continues to mislead Rizo into thinking it’s a steal-a-vote advantage, letting him overthink and become paranoid.
However, I predict that Steven’s efforts may fall short. With only a few players left in the game, they must expect Rizo to play his hidden immunity idol. Even if he doesn’t actually play it, I feel like this threat is lingering big enough to make them second-guess any potential move against him.
I believe this rings true in the episode’s sneak preview, where Sophi talks about wanting to blindside Rizo and Savannah. She tells Kristina she wants to make a move, emphasising in a confessional that she needs to put something on her resume that is separate from her alliance with Rizo and Savannah.
CBS
Sophi also said this in the previous episode, and I’m still not convinced she will follow through. It seems like something she’s putting forth and suggesting in theory, but we don’t see her making any concrete plans to back it up. Personally, I feel like she’s going through some analysis paralysis, waiting for the best time to act, but will never find a good time to blindside her alliance.
Ultimately, I can’t see the next episode shaking up the game. I’d love to be proven wrong, but I’m convinced that we’ll just see either Steven or Kristina be voted out, simply because they are on the wrong side of the numbers. I don’t think the block-a-vote advantage will drastically change the votes because the remaining players seem pretty comfortable in their current alliances.
What do you think will happen in Episode 12? Leave your predictions in the comments!
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