His game is probably the most erratic because he has gone to a few extremes. It’s also tough to distinguish between the David we see in confessional and the David he shows to the other players. I have to eliminate what I’ve seen in confessionals because the Jurors don’t see that until AFTER they’ve cast their final votes. David has done a good job of earning trust. He got into majority alliances at the start of the game, at the swap and at the merge. He endeared himself to some by talking about his love of romantic comedies and how he’s playing because he wants to start a family (but he contradicted himself at the swap, telling Eva his girlfriend broke up with him over money). His physical performances helped him attract alliance partners too. However, he has also shown his cocky side, once saying “I can make fire with bamboo if we don’t have flint for some reason. I’ve done it quite a few times.” He didn’t make a fire. He also bragged that he could catch fish then came back empty-handed.

David has also shown he can chip away at those strong connections too. At the start of the game, he connected well with Kyle, who even called David his #1 once. But last week, he got into a fight with Kyle over targeting Kamilla. Initially, David’s closest partner was Chrissy. But he abandoned her at the merge and never considered including her in his new alliance. Then he got into a fight with her as she was voted out. David sent someone to the Jury with a bad impression of him. What does he think Chrissy is gonna say to Cedrek about him? That’s a huge red flag. He knows the value of a good social game, then doesn’t play one when things get stressful. Kamilla correctly called him out for his horrible Jury Management. David has time to improve his approach, but he’s not getting Chrissy’s Jury vote. I’ll give David a C minus. He needs to learn how to play well with others. His social game has already cost him two votes, and it’s threatening to cost him Joe, Kyle and Kamilla’s too.

David’s signature lines:

• “I don’t want to be a shield. I think everybody’s tired of being shields. This year, we deserve it, men. I’ve had enough of being lied to, manipulated and used.”
• “Let’s have a season where we put someone on the podium who deserves to be there.”
• “We don’t need anybody else to work with us, that’s the thing…Trying to work with Kamilla moving forward, it just can’t happen.”

Eva has endeared herself to the fans for sure. She has earned trust and loyalty from several players. She’s got many (Joe, Shauhin, Star, David, Mary, Kyle) bringing information to her. Joe, David, Star and Shauhin are also deflecting votes away from her. Producers are on her side too. They hand-delivered an Advantage (perhaps a second Idol?) to her in a note placed by her assigned seat at last week’s Reward. Eva can win this game. She could win it even without help from the Producers. She’s got strong relationships with six potential jurors. But on the negative side, she doesn’t seem to have any relationship at all with Cedrek, Chrissy, Mitch, Kamilla or Mary. In most seasons that would be a very bad thing, but Eva’s personal story could be enough to overcome that.

The concern I have for Eva is her ability to talk herself into votes. She’s bordering on being perceived as riding Joe’s coattails and not making her own decisions. Also, everyone knows who her closest partner is. The temptation to break them up can only get bigger. Last week, we watched her push hard and early to remove Chrissy. But she was easily convinced to go after Kamilla instead. That’s who she was pushing for when the votes shifted back to Chrissy. Eva’s partner Joe has had a stronger voice in voting decisions. Eva will have to change that if she plans on going to the end with Joe, but right now, that appears to be her plan. Eva has already been targeted by a few players, but lucky for her, none of them (Sai, Charity, Chrissy, Star) had enough pull to gather votes against her. Since Chrissy wanted Eva out, it probably means Chrissy respects Eva enough to give her a million-dollar vote. I’m not sure about Cedrek. I’ll give Eva’s game a C plus. She hasn’t chased any votes away from her, but she’s not in a better position to get a majority of them over Joe yet.

Eva’s best line: “Why is everything (in the voting booth) shaped like Garlic?”

Eva’s signature line: “I was stressed because I was gonna be away from Joe and Shauhin – those are my people. So, I’m glad I found another person (David) I can relate to.” That line sums up her follower image.

I don’t think Joe is playing the best game this season, but he’s probably in the best position to get the win. He’s easily the most respected player. He has been in the know at every post-merge vote. He has been in a majority alliance for the entire game. And even though he has had sharp disagreements with David and Chrissy, he has avoided getting into a fight with anyone. Sometimes that’s all that’s needed to get a win. But Joe has done more than just avoid fights. He appears to be leading his alliance’s decisions without anyone calling him the “leader” yet. He’s got multiple players bringing information to him, and so far, the only ones who’ve lied to him are Kyle and Kamilla when they pulled off the blindside on Thomas. Luckily for Joe, most pre-merge moves don’t influence a lot of million-dollar votes. On the negative side, Joe has been a little preachy about “Playing with honor and integrity.” If he makes the finals and claims “I never lied,” would Cedrek agree with that when he thought Joe was gonna vote for Shauhin? We already know Chrissy doesn’t buy into the “honesty and integrity” theme Joe has been pushing.

Joe doesn’t appear to have a smooth path to the end though. Everyone knows how close he is to Eva. They’re bound to take a shot at one of them. Eva has an Idol and can protect herself. I’m sure she’d be willing to play it for Joe too. Will Joe sacrifice some honor and ask her for it? Nobody who has been saved by an Idol played for them by someone else has ever won Survivor. Does Joe know that? What will Joe do if David or Shauhin take aim at him? Kamilla and Kyle have already fooled him once. They can do it again. How will Joe’s perception change if he only stays in the game because Eva saves him? Overall, I’d give Joe’s game a B mostly because he’s on good terms with every potential juror.

Joe’s signature line “I do want to be that player that when I walk away, people say ‘Joe’s a good dude.’”

I already said it last week, but I’ll say it again. Kamilla is the smartest player this season. She chose the most dependable partner in the game in Kyle, who has been bringing information to her and running interference for her all game. She excels at coming up with strong strategic plans too. Kamilla pulled info out of Star she used to make Shauhin and Joe suspicious of Thomas. It was Kamilla’s idea to fool Thomas, Shauhin and Joe into thinking she and Kyle weren’t close. She also did a great job of keeping her cool as she watched Shauhin searching Kyle’s bag. She knew to act surprised when Kyle played his Idol. That alone might be why Joe and Shauhin STILL don’t know she’s tight with Kyle. When Kyle wanted to fool the guys into thinking Shauhin was coming after him, it was Kamilla who made the pitch more believable by telling David she thinks Shauhin has an Idol. David still hasn’t figured that one out. Kamilla also knew when NOT to take action. When Kyle warned her that David was targeting her, she realized that scrambling would expose their partnership. She trusted Kyle to keep her safe and we’ll find out soon enough if that’s indeed what happened.

Kamilla has stayed out of conflicts and took advantage of the chance to expose David and Chrissy’s spat as bad Jury Management. Kamilla has been very good at puzzles, which could help her win a key Immunity down the stretch. Remember, she’s the one who solved Kyle’s Idol puzzle for him. On the negative side, Kamilla’s game might be a little too stealth. Who besides Kyle knows what she’s done so far? She might have to put Kyle on the Jury to tell the other jurors how well she’s been using her brains. He won’t do that if he’s sitting with her in the finals. Then again, Rachel was in the same position at this point last season. Kamilla used her Extra Vote effectively, but didn’t see a way to keep that Advantage to use later on. Kamilla didn’t rub Chrissy or Cedrek the wrong way, so she can still get both of their votes. I’ll give Kamilla’s game a B.

Kamila has had several good one-liners. Here are the best ones for me:

• “Finally, I get to run around, cause chaos and have fun while doing it.”
• “I’m throwing Charity’s name under the bus. I’ve been reversing that bus, running her over and over. My plan to get suspicion cast on Charity worked way better than I thought it would.”
• “In internet slang, a “Chad” is one of those big, muscular manly men. They’re all muscle, they’re tall, and get all the ladies. That’s who we have on our tribe.”
• “David s just so stupid. He shouldn’t have signed up for Survivor. He should have called up Joe and Eva and said ‘Guys, let’s enter the Olympics together’ because he wants to do all these fucking challenges with them.”

He’s probably the second-smartest player this season. His game almost mirrors Kamilla’s. He has also picked the best possible partner. He’s got multiple players bringing valuable information to him. He was smart enough to roll with Kamilla’s spontaneous plan to fool Joe, Thomas and Shauhin into thinking they weren’t close. Who knows why nobody has figured them out yet, but it’s still working. Kyle has come up with strong strategic plans too. It was his idea to put some suspicion on Shauhin. His strong social game earned him quick trust from David, Kamilla and Chrissy. It also had Joe, Thomas and Shauhin trusting him more than Kamilla at the swap. It looks like Kyle’s idea to use Joe to push the votes back to Chrissy worked too. He and Kamilla have the best partnership in the game. But Kyle hasn’t been a blind follower.

Kyle has taken a few risks – some good some bad – that has separated him from Kamilla. He’s had some good luck that got him past some mistakes too. Kyle should never have volunteered to go on that day 1 Journey with Kevin. Then he broke his bottle and lost to the guy with a dislocated shoulder. Kyle was lucky his tribe won Immunity and got their supplies. Kyle invited everyone to help him find the Idol after he got the Beware Advantage. Normally that would make people target you, but Kyle had three people trying to help him solve it and get an Idol. He was lucky nobody on Civa decided to target the Idol holder like Vula and Lagi members did. And speaking of that Idol, Kyle hiding it in his shoe wasn’t smart. He got very lucky Shauhin didn’t think to look in Kyle’s shoes which were sitting right next to his bag when Shauhin searched it. Kyle took another risk last week when he pushed back hard against David’s plan to boot Kamilla. Time will tell if luck is still on his side with this one. Kyle’s social game with Chrissy and Cedrek was just fine. He’s still in contention for their Jury votes. Kyle’s game gets a B.

Kyle’s best line (after Mary’s dog park analogy): “If I’m looking at it, everybody’s sniffing butts (Probst cracks up). Finally, I got you (Probst) to laugh. 14 days I’ve been trying.”

Kyle’s most appropriate line: “I don’t have the greatest relationship with Kamilla.” That lie told to Joe, Shauhin and Thomas has been the theme to Kyle’s game.

Mary’s game is intriguing. In pregame, I speculated that Mary was a “Just there for the adventure” type of player. I still think that’s her prime motivation, but she’s also playing strategically. I just don’t know what her plan is. It’s clear from her confessionals that part of her plan is keeping herself off the radar. But we haven’t seen her explaining how she’s getting that done or how it will help her get to the finals and win. She narrowly escaped being the first boot when Stephanie put her foot in her mouth. When she lost her vote on a Journey, she foolishly told her tribemates the truth when she returned, even though she knew she was on the bottom. Then Mary saved herself by playing her Shot in the Dark. But it was luck that it actually hit. She masterfully fooled Sai into thinking she had an Advantage at the next vote by NOT scrambling like Sai expected. That kept votes off of her. Keping yourself safe when you don’t have a vote is very impressive. Then Mary did a great job at the swap by bonding so well with David he was willing to dump his original #1 partner Chrissy. She’s even being included in voting discussions. (Did she take Shauhin’s place too?)

But is she planning on riding David’s coattails to the finals? If that plan works, how is she planning on beating him? Did Mary set David up to anger his alliance by planting the “boot Kamilla” bug into his ear? Mary also convinced Shauhin to agree to be a decoy vote to fool Cedrek. People are comfortable writing his name down in part because of Mary. There’s a Courtney Yates-esque apathy aspect to Mary’s game that I think allows her to play without showing stress or concern. It also helps to keep her cover. Players tend to target those who are too aggressive or scrambling, and Mary doesn’t do that. But is that because of a strategic plan or is that just Mary being Mary? Her closeness with David could boomerang on her, but if it does, it would probably be more because of David than because of her. Since we know so little about her intent, it’s difficult to identify her mistakes or smart moves. Maybe she’s just winging it and depending on her instincts, which appear to be pretty strong.

Mary is good at challenges and can win her way into the finals. We also saw her spark a fire quickly, so she can win the fire challenge if she’s in it. Mary has made everyone laugh, which means she’s got a shot at Chrissy and Cedrek’s votes. I can’t give Mary’s game a grade, so I’ll cop out and say it’s “above average.” She can win, but she can just as easily be discarded in a move to weaken David. Mary has busted out the best one-liners. That alone could bring her back for season 50.

• “I’m glad everyone saw me make fire. However, in the New Era, people don’t give a fuck about that. Just because I made the first fire doesn’t mean they’re not gonna vote me out.”
• “I thought we were all gonna vote for Sai, however, I got got, but I didn’t got ... I didn’t get as got got as Stephanie did.”
• “And you’re gonna win a dishonest game by being honest? That feels dishonest to me. It feels more honest to me that I’m saying I’m going to play this game dishonestly.”
• “As upset as I am that I’m on the bottom, at least I don’t have to worry about are they telling me the truth or not. They’re not. In that sense, it’s a win. I got no fake friends here anymore.”
• “This game is so much fun. I get to evade people chasing me. I get to play this mind game and be a version of myself that I never am. This is why I came out here. I’m so glad I got to play with Sai. It’s just hella fun.”
• “All I have left is this mind game, and a lot of life is committing to the bit. I’m committing to this bit, to this false reality that I have an Idol and I’m safe.”
• “Why not swim? Why not enjoy as much of the Fijian beauty as I can. Just because what’s gonna happen is gonna happen.”
• “I have knots in my stomach just thinking about playing with Sai. I want to scrub green off of me. I’m only wearing this because I can’t be naked on national TV.”
• “Charity and Sai are both dangerous in their own ways. But to me, Sai is a venomous snake. Charity is like a turtle. I’m not scared of a turtle.”
• Kyle: “You’re gonna take some bites (if you fight a Hyena), but if you get it at the right angle…” Mary – “Maybe it’ll bite off your wart.”
• (As she’s holding the pole in the Immunity Challenge) “I’m pretending this is my boyfriend.”

I feel bad for Mitch. His intentions have been pure, and he has played a pretty clean game. He’s got a great story to tell – both to the other players and to the audience. He’s a loyal, dependable ally who can be counted on to vote with the majority without making waves. His only problem is he’s just not very good at playing Survivor. Oh, he’s very good at the challenges. He’s pretty good at earning trust, too. He’s just not very good at knowing when he’s being lied to, and doesn’t read the room very well. At the start, he secured a #1 partner in Charity but didn’t realize she was the outsider on his tribe. He also didn’t get himself into a strong majority. Mitch didn’t seem to realize he needed three more partners. He thought he was good with David and Chrissy, but he was wrong. He went on a Journey and won a Block-A-Vote, but then immediately weakened it by telling everyone he had it. He approached Kyle about a partnership but didn’t know Kyle had already secured three other partners.

At the swap, he admitted he’d never had a strategic conversation with Chrissy at all, yet assumed she was with him 100%. But he bonded quickly with Cedrek, who happened to also have been a stutterer as a child. Mitch didn’t appear to make a connection with Sai or Bianca and was fooled by Bianca who didn’t tell him she’d lost her vote. Then when Cedrek found out Bianca didn’t have a vote, Cedrek told Chrissy but not Mitch. Even if Cedrek had limited time to act, there’s a reason he sought Chrissy out instead of Mitch. Mitch wisely used his Block a Vote to guarantee Sai’s departure, but didn’t realize telling Cedrek about it meant he couldn’t bluff about having it later on. Then at the merge, Mitch just assumed his original Civa tribemates would stay loyal. His read on David, Kyle and Kamilla was terribly wrong. He was fooled again when Charity was blindsided with seven of the 13 votes. He was still pitching the loyalty angle after she left.

Mitch is on the bottom, and he knows it. But he doesn’t appear to have any idea how to improve his position. Eva said she hasn’t talked strategy with Mitch at all. He approached Joe and Shauhin, but has he approached Mary or Star? He could get Chrissy and Cedrek’s votes but would probably need another finalist to chase their votes away first. I have to give Mitch a D, but he's still got time to turn things around. Several (No Jelinsky, not seven) have played worse than Mitch and still won the game.

Among Mitch’s most appropriate quotes:

• “I don’t know what Sai was thinking but girl, be quiet. You can have an opinion, and you don’t have to totally share it.”
• “I want to move forward with the original Civa 6. We have the numbers and on top of that, I have a secret Block A Vote. We’re in a great position.” That quote says more about Mitch’s bad reads as anything. He wasn’t in a majority six and his Block A Vote was never secret.

Shauhin has played a pretty good game, but he’s not set up as well as some of those he has aligned with. At the start, he had a solid alliance with Joe and Thomas in the “California Girls” alliance with fringe members Eva and Bianca. He placed himself in a role where all of them were bringing him information and discussing strategy. If something was gonna happen, Shauhin would know about it. At the swap, Shauhin stuck with Joe and Thomas, but got fooled by Kamilla and Kyle into thinking they weren’t close. Shauhin even searched Kyle’s bag while Kamilla watched. Even after Kamilla and Kyle voted together against Thomas, Shauhin still didn’t suspect they were working together. Then Mary fooled him into agreeing to be the decoy vote when his group booted Cedrek. He caught another vote when Chrissy left.

People are getting used to seeing his name on parchment. Shauhin needs to change that. He also needs to either put Joe on the Jury or raise his own strategic profile higher than Joe’s. Shauhin was noticeably absent last week in the intense debate/argument between David, Joe and Kyle over who to vote out between Kamilla and Chrissy. Shauhin is bordering on getting a follower status. These players know he’s smart, and he has been seen getting insight from Wardog’s log quite a bit. But if he wants a win, he needs to show them just how smart he is. He has Chrissy and Cedrek’s respect, even if he didn’t spend much time in camp with them. I’ll give him a C.

Here are Shauhin’s signature quotes:

• “Kamilla and Kyle don’t seem tight at all.” That one bad read could cost Shauhin the game.
• “I haven’t drank a gallon of milk in the last year. That’s a 7-year old’s drink. I can just imagine Joe gets to the Fire House and ‘(burp) what’s up boys? Nothin’ much, what’s up with you boys? I just finished a gallon of milk.’ Maybe that’s where he gets his pecs from. Those things are immaculate.”
• “It’s (a 13-person merge) a huge house party when you’ve been used to very small dinner parties. You’re watching what’s going on, but you don’t know who’s snuck off to the bathroom together.”
• "I’m in pretty good control of the tribe. If I can maintain that control, I’ll win this game.” Shauhin’s position in the game vs his perceived position are often in conflict.
• “Kina wau watta, ina mao sucka. Yeah, bro.” Shauhin’s Survivor challenge chant was my favorite moment of the season so far.

Star hasn’t been making great reads, but unlike Mitch, at least she’s making strategic reads. Star began the game as a loner, spending most of her time looking for a Beware Advantage, then trying to solve it. She didn’t prioritize getting into an alliance and made herself an obvious first boot from her tribe. She was fortunate they didn’t lose Immunity. After finding the Advantage, she tried to use it to form alliances, first approaching Thomas and Bianca, then later pitching Joe and Shauhin. But because she spent so much time away from the group, she didn’t know Thomas had already aligned with Joe and Shauhin. It just didn’t occur to her that the other players would talk to each other and realize she was a sitting duck without a vote. She made another mistake by immediately targeting Eva without knowing how close she’d become to Joe.

Then at the swap, she made another mistake and told everyone about her Advantage and asked them to help her solve it. Eva eventually solved the puzzle for her, then Star did something shocking. She immediately gave the Idol to Eva. Many have said this has actually helped Star because it took the target off her back and put it on Eva’s. The problem I see here is that this wasn’t Star’s intention at all. I don’t believe for a second Star was thinking about the strategic implications. She just sincerely believed Eva did the work and deserved to have the Idol.

It’s hard to evaluate Star’s strategy because like Mary, we haven’t seen Star discussing her intentions much at all. Star hasn’t done anything to prevent Cedrek or Chrissy from voting for her, but she hasn’t done anything to make them choose her over anyone else. Like Mitch, Star would need another finalist to make a mistake to get a win. But since Star has made so many basic mistakes, I’m giving her a D.

Star’s most quoteable quotes:

• (While holding her Idol puzzle) “I have it, I just don’t know how to do it.” That explains her game pretty well.
• “Some people are scared to say a name. Unfortunately for me, I’ll say a name any day of the week. Now granted, my brother-in-law told me not to say no names, but Robert, I gotta say names, so yes, I said ‘Charity.’
• “I can also say there’s family that I don’t like, so respectfully, there are big happy families and you don’t have to like your Grandma Titi or your Auntie Nicole. Everybody knows the middle child gets no love. But that doesn’t mean they’re not still your family.”
• “Damn, I wish these things had subtitles.”
• “...then you see a single one person laying down and you’re like ‘Oh, nobody’s talking to you, huh?’ I’ll be damned. When you got no vote, you got nothin’ but time.”

If my math is right, Star has spent 10 out of the 15 days without her vote, and as a result hasn’t been able to influence anything. She’s been forced to be a follower.

• Screaming at the Screen - S47 index
• Pre-season: The best Survivor winner's moves ever
• Pre-season: Two Jeremys, a Devon, and another Rome?
• Ep1: First impressions can be deceiving
• Ep2: Big move-itis strikes again
• Ep3: What did I just watch?
• Ep4: Cirie-level manipulation
• Ep5: The unpredictability factor, or Why you don’t get cocky
• Ep6: How to talk yourself out of Survivor
• Ep7: The merits of dishonest integrity
• Ep8: Survivor: Game of Thrones ... and one-liners
• Ep9: Mid-season progress report cards