The Pre Merge Boot List: Survivor Ghost Island
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 clearly just been coasting along as disposable pawns.
The time for courting and passive play is over; the merge is upon us, and the game is ready to enter the next dimension! Who will be able to emerge from the pack to cement their name in greatness as the 35th sole survivor?
With five advantages in play and a cast of elite players, we can expect this week’s episode to be full of chaos! Historically the first vote post merge dictates the remainder of the game and is a key turning point in the winner’s journey. When the dust settles on Thursday, we will likely be able to draw a line through all but a small handful of winning candidates. The excitement is palpable, so let’s dive into our special pre merge edition of the Survivor Ghost Island Boot List!
The Pre Merge BOOT LIST:
*Updated resume skills are highlighted in purple*
Michael 1
Preseason Prediction: 10th
Primary Allies: Free agent +/- OG Malolo.
Character Archetype: The likeable underdog/fighter.
Resume: Found Ozzy’s f*ing stick idol; successfully entered self preservation mode when devoid of other options to outlast Stephanie and then James; 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: Michael has skilfully navigated an unfortunate run of cards in recent episodes to make it to the merge with an idol in his pocket and an impressive looking resume. He’s likeable, has been writing his own narrative since Day one, and has also been consistently referencing the theme of Ghost Island. The 18 year old prodigy is certainly a central Survivor character and I am quietly confident that he can go all the way.
Wendell 2
Preseason Prediction: 6th
Primary Allies: Domenick +/- Laurel, Donathan, Jenna & Seb.
Character Archetype: Under the radar schmoozer.
Resume: Found Erik’s cursed immunity necklace; patiently awaiting his chance to play/shielded behind Domenick and Chris; challenge strength, strong social game, great shelter building skills, strategically open, compelling secret ex-lawyer-turned-dreamchaser backstory.
Comment: For the majority of the season Wendell has been awkwardly drawn next to Domenick. However, he has shown enough promise to suggest that he’ll become a major player in the stage of the game that matters the most. Importantly, he was set up as a primary character in the opening episode and was also given a fair whack of air time last week to remind us of his presence. Big chance.
Domenick 3
Preseason Prediction: 15th
Primary Allies: Wendell +/- Laurel & Donathan +/- OG Naviti
Character Archetype: The likeable villain.
Resume: Pulled the trigger on Bradley; 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: Given that the mantra of this season is ‘one bad decision can haunt you forever’ it appears that Domenick has been set up to either confirm this statement (by putting up his hand to dis Chris in Ep 1) or to instead prove that you can indeed ‘reverse the curse’. He enters the merge with two live idols in his pocket and is central to the dramatic conflict of the season. He would have to make a disastrous run of errors to go home any time soon.
Kellyn 4
Preseason Prediction: 2nd
Primary Allies: Purple power.
Character Archetype: Conflicted hero.
Resume: Won an extra vote on Ghost Island; co-leader of the Purple Five; 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: Kellyn’s Survivor narrative has been centred around ‘trusting her gut’ on the background of her personal external struggles. The dilemma surrounding gambling her vote on Ghost Island last week provided a perfect example of this central state of conflict. I’m not a huge fan of Kellyn’s game at this stage be she is certainly one of the main contenders to feature at the end. I would expect her to be confronted by a challenging strategic decision in the near future… If she can listen to her gut and make the right ‘big move’, her heroic redemption story will almost be complete.
Laurel 5
Preseason Prediction: 11th
Primary Allies: Wendell/Dom or Seb/Chris +/- OG Malolo.
Character Archetype: Under the radar calculator.
Resume: Enters the merge with no enemies; entered the swap with multiple options; manoeuvring herself into the swing vote position on her initial tribe, befriending the bottom feeders, learning about Domenick’s idol; challenge strength.
Comment: Laurel has used her time on the undefeated third tribe to boost her social game, and enters the merge with plenty of options. I rate her highly as a player, but from a story point of view she’s not quite yet walking in the same company as the four A-listers above. Hopefully she’ll start to feature more now we’ve reached the second act. Chance.
Donathan 6
Preseason Prediction: 5th
Primary Allies: Libby/Laurel +/- Dom/Wendell/Chelsea.
Character Archetype: The loveable ‘outcast’ who wants to prove people wrong.
Resume: Untested connections to every player on Naviti 2.0; shielded behind Laurel as the secondary swing vote; compelling character, one of the main narrators, strategically underestimated, deflected the first vote onto Gonzalez.
Comment: Although being strategically underestimated in Survivor can be a great tool for making it deep, it also has the potential to become a fixed negative perception of the jury… So I’m starting to think that Donathan is being set up for a runner up position. His winning chances are starting to slip away, so now is the time for him to take control of his own destiny.
Jenna 7
Preseason Prediction: 13th
Primary Allies: Sea Bass/Laurel/Wendell +/- OG Malolo.
Character Archetype: The dangerous understudy.
Resume: Flirting with Sea Bass to save herself over Stephanie; fighting from the bottom; using Brendan, Michael and Stephanie as alpha shields.
Comment: Jenna has spent the first stage of the game under the wings of other players, but would be able to argue that this was a deliberate tactic to qualify for the merge. I’m still sensing a bit of a Sophie Clarke vibe from Jenna so I’ll include her as my final smokey to still be in the running for the win.
Sebastian 8
Preseason Prediction: 9th
Primary Allies: Jenna, Wendell, Chris +/- OG Naviti.
Character Archetype: The chilled out clown.
Resume: Forming a relationship with the outsiders (mainly Jenna), no enemies entering the swap – options a plenty; wanted as an ally by the original Malolos; the provider and ultimate bro.
Comment: Sea Bass enters the merge in a fantastic position with multiple allies and strategic options. However, his character development throughout the season has been superficial at best , so I can’t see him winning the game. Comic relief only.
Desiree 9
Preseason Prediction: 3rd
Primary Allies: Kellyn / OG Naviti.
Character Archetype: The hero’s sidekick.
Resume: Bag searcher; steered the decisions to vote out Brendan and Stephanie; engaging backstory.
Comment: I was expecting a lot more from Desiree entering the season, but she has disappointedly fallen into a safe supporting role beneath Kellyn. If she wants to have any chance of winning she’ll need to slay the head of the snake and start dictating her own journey. Not for me.
Libby 10
Preseason Prediction: 7th
Primary Allies: Donathan, Michael.
Character Archetype: The red herring.
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: Most of what we’ve heard about Libby so far is from other players describing her as the “Southern Belle” or a “Parvati 2.0”. She’s being painted to be a threat but is not telling her own story. I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets the boot within the next two episodes.
Chelsea 11
Preseason Prediction: 4th
Primary Allies: Sea Bass, Kellyn, Desiree, Domenick.
Character Archetype: Superfluous support act/potential goat.
Resume: Safely nestled within the Purple Five for the entire first quarter.
Comment: The editors have not been kind to Chelsea… Zero backstory, minimal strategy talk – absolutely no chance of winning.
Angela 12
Preseason Prediction: 18th
Primary Allies: OG Naviti.
Character Archetype: The unpredictable goat in a constant state of turmoil who’s primarily playing for external growth.
Resume: Realigned with the purple crew to vote out James.
Comment: Angela simply doesn’t have the skills to contend with this cast. Her Survivor story is not about playing the game, but rather about processing events in her real life and re-entering the world in a state of renewed inner peace. She could be cut at any point.
Chris 13
Preseason Prediction: 20th
Primary Allies: Sebastian +/- ex-Malolos +/- Angela.
Character Archetype: A confused Brad Culpepper 2.0.
Resume: Continues to bond with the Malolos – leveraging similar personal backstory to connect with Donathan, challenge domination, spoken word/rapping skills; 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: Chris’s edit has been extremely confusing so far – it’s hard to tell if we’re supposed to be rooting for him, laughing at him, or being repulsed by his male model arrogance. He’s basically playing both versions of Culpepper’s game simultaneously; a player who should have no chance of winning but almost manages to pull it off. I personally like him but the odds are stacked against him in the upcoming duel with Domenick. I would love to see the two of them join forces but sadly I think the time has come for Chris to fall.
And that’s the state of the boot list heading into the all important Survivor Ghost Island merge! 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’ll be presenting our new weekly feature: The Next Move on Survivor Ghost Island. See you back here soon!
Survivor Ghost Island continues in Australia on 9Go
@ 8:30pm Thursday April 12
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.