The Boot List: Survivor Ghost Island Week 4
Who’s looking hot? Who’s not? And who seems to have what it takes to sip an ice cold mimosa on Day 39? It’s time to examine some Ghost Island resumes!
Survivor day has rolled around once again, and at TTHS we can’t wait for another slice of Ghost Island pie! Every Wednesday I’ll be updating the resumes of the remaining castaways, and ranking the players in order from most deserving of my hypothetical jury vote, to most likely to be sent to Ponderosa as the next boot. As the season progresses we’ll be able to track the players who have been building a strong case to win from Day One, and sort them from those who have merely been making up the numbers by hitching rides on the coat tails of the Survivor Gods.
The race is still wide open, although a few of the characters who are continuing to channel their inner ghosts will need to get cracking soon if they’re to have any hope of building a resume strong enough to impress a jury. I hope you enjoy tonight’s episode! I’ll be back on Friday to present my detailed recap and analysis. Happy Survivoring until then!
The BOOT LIST: Week 4
*Updated resume skills are highlighted in purple*
Michael 1
Last Week: 2nd
Primary Allies: Jenna & Stephanie +/- Sea Bass and Chelsea.
Resume: Well spoken, strategically creative, willing to gamble on the odds, attempted double idol bluff/Bradley coup; found James’ cursed idol; challenge strength, secretly being 18 years old.
Comment: Although the result ultimately went against him, Michael’s work at tribal council last week was simply superb. His intricate bluff inspired by Survivor folklore essentially guaranteed his own safety whilst enhancing the odds that his minority alliance would prevail. This is just the sort of play that jurors love to reward; it’s gutsy, entertaining and creative. I’m hoping that the seeds of division Michael was able to plant into the minds of Sea Bass and Chelsea are ready to blossom, because I desperately want to see more of this Survivor prodigy in action! He definitely has what it takes to win.
James 2
Last Week: 1st
Primary Allies: Libby, Laurel and Donathan +/- Chris and Angela.
Resume: Orchestrated the Morgan blindside, strategically gifted; kind, loyal, committed to the tribe.
Negatives: Struggling in challenges despite his athleticism.
Comment: James has had a quiet week, but he remains well positioned within his tribe. Laurel’s potential defection looms as his biggest danger moving forward, but he is still one of the main hopes.
Laurel 3
Last Week: 10th
Primary Allies: Donathan, Libby, James +/- Dom & Wendell or Chris & Angela.
Resume: Manoeuvring herself into the swing vote position, befriending the bottom feeders, learning about Domenick’s idol; challenge strength.
Comment: Fuelled by the power of knowledge, Laurel has a plethora of options at her fingertips. To win, I do think her best move is to jump ship with Dom and Wendell, but it just comes down to a matter of timing. It would be perilous to turn on her Malolo crew too soon. Has claims.
Libby 4
Last Week: 4th
Primary Allies: James, Laurel & Donathan +/- Chris & Angela or Domenick & Wendell.
Resume: Enacted the Morgan blindside as the swing vote; involved in almost every single conversation as an active listener, potential to work with anyone.
Comment: Libby is cruising along at the moment and in no imminent danger of going home. Lock and load for the merge.
Donathan 5
Last Week: 6th
Primary Allies: Laurel, James & Libby +/- Dom & Wendell or Chris & Angela.
Resume: Shielded behind Laurel as the secondary swing vote; compelling character, one of the main narrators, strategically underestimated, deflected the first vote onto Gonzalez.
Comment: The previews for this week’s episode have been setting up a dilemma for Donathan regarding picking a side in the ongoing Domenick vs Chris duel. Choice equals power in Survivor, so unless he does something unconscionable, Donathan will be safe for a while yet. He also seems to have safely navigated the challenge liability hump.
Jenna 6
Last Week: 5th
Primary Allies: Steph & Michael.
Resume: Fighting from the bottom; using Brendan, Michael and Stephanie as alpha shields
Comment: Building a strong suit of armour is a key component of success in Survivor, so despite her alliance being severely outnumbered on paper, Jenna is unlikely to be targeted next. Every day she survives is also another opportunity to woo Sea Bass – far from out of it yet.
Sebastian 7
Last Week: 7th
Primary Allies: Chelsea, Kellyn, Desiree, Bradley; option to flip to Jenna, Michael & Steph.
Resume: Wanted as an ally by the original Malolos; the provider and ultimate bro.
Comment: Both sides need Sea Bass as an ally, so a post merge run is almost guaranteed. However, if he wants to win, he needs to make a move and find a physical shield. Flipping to Michael and the Malolos seems to be the most sensible route forward.
Stephanie J 8
Last Week: 15th
Primary Allies: Jenna + Brendan and Michael.
Resume: Refusing to give up when outnumbered; flirtatious manipulator, milked Jacob before voting him out, only person to know about the existence of a legacy advantage, key player in keeping Donathan around at the first vote.
Comment: Stephanie is slowly growing on me and I loved her eye rolling response to Bradley’s arrogant “we shall see” antics on the beach last week. Her position is highly tenuous, but I have faith in her ability to eventually break down the Naviti stronghold. One to watch.
Kellyn 9
Last Week: 9th
Primary Allies: Naviti strong.
Resume: Forfeited her shot at a personal advantage to maintain a clear majority at tribal council, conveniently shielded behind Bradley; a key narrator; scored the first confessional of the season.
Comment: Bradley owes his life in the game to Kellyn’s decision not to risk her vote at Ghost Island last week. She is certainly playing the long game, but will need to invest some more energy into making Sea Bass and Chelsea feel safe if she wants to maintain the Naviti dominance. Yet to see her best.
Chelsea 10
Last Week: 12th
Primary Allies: Sea Bass, Kellyn, Desiree & Bradley; potential to flip to the Malolos.
Resume: A blank canvas.
Comment: We’re still yet to hear more than a few words from the island’s number one ghost – which means you can probably rule her out of both winning and going home next. To have any chance of long term success, NOW is the time for Chelsea to flip.
Domenick 11
Last Week: 14th
Primary Allies: Wendell +/- Laurel & Donathan.
Resume: Developing self awareness/toning back his brashness, leveraging his idol with Laurel; gifted Morgan’s cursed legacy advantage; found Andrea’s hidden immunity idol in the dark, revealed semi-fake one to Chris (and now almost everyone else).
Negatives: Terrible jump from the gates – set himself up to be an early target.
Comment: Until he defeats Chris in the ever impending showdown, Domenick will continue to lurk in the lower echelon of this boot list. However, his willingness to adapt his playing style is starting to impress me, as is his imposing collection of artillery. A true wildcard.
Wendell 12
Last Week: 8th
Primary Allies: Domenick.
Resume: Challenge strength, strong social game, great shelter building skills, strategically open, compelling secret ex-lawyer-turned-dreamchaser backstory.
Comment: Wendell is precariously exposed next to Domenick at the moment, although his perceived challenge strength continues to save his head from the chopping block. He needs to play on Laurel and James’ athleticism/keep the tribe strong mentality in order to scrape through to the merge. He has ability but is drawn poorly.
Desiree 13
Last Week: 11th
Primary Allies: Naviti strong.
Resume: Steered the Brendan vote; homeless backstory.
Comment: Desiree is still yet to impress me, but that could just be the result of her having played the entire game to date safely nestled within a dominant majority alliance. I need to see more.
Angela 14
Last Week: 16th
Primary Allies: Chris
Resume: A blank canvas.
Negatives: Not involved in any moves to date.
Comment: Just making up the numbers.
Chris 15
Last Week: 13th
Primary Allies: Sebastian on the other tribe +/- ex-Malolos +/- Angela.
Resume: Continues to bond with the Malolos; planted the seed for Malolo to take a strike against Domenick, Mum’s MS backstory, ability to draw inner strength from adversity; made the captain’s call to forfeit the first challenge in order to save the fishing gear, is in a power bro couple with Sebastian, and is rightfully suspicious of Domenick’s (fake) idol.
Negatives: Will continue to be a target as long as Domenick remains in the game.
Comment: I like Chris, but his chances of defeating Domenick in the ongoing duel are starting to diminish. For the time being, his destiny is largely in the hands of others.
Bradley 16
Last Week: 17th
Primary Allies: Naviti strong.
Resume: Villainous ‘leader’ of ex-Naviti crew.
Negatives: Alienates his opponents; annoying complainer, arrogant.
Comment: Although Bradley won the battle against Michael last week, his obnoxious behaviour very nearly sent him home. That is not good Survivor in my book, and I’ll be highly surprised if he doesn’t get usurped before the merge. It would appear that Bradley desperately needs to work on his jury management before graduating as a lawyer. See you later mate.
And that’s the state of the boot list heading into Week 4 of Survivor Ghost Island! Tune in to 9Go at 8:30pm tonight to see if our predictions are on the money. In the meantime, you can join the discussion below or chat with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Next up, we recap and analyse all the juicy moments from Episode 5. See you back here soon!
Survivor Ghost Island continues in Australia on 9Go
@ 8:30pm Thursday March 22
Tristan Kelly is a 29 year old ex-doctor turned writer, based in Perth, Western Australia. During his final year of medical school he famously watched and analysed every available episode of Survivor (all 368 of them at the time), probably making him more qualified as a Survivor commentator than he ever was a doctor. In between writing and editing, he now spends most of his time organising various schemes and fantasising about one day winning the game.