Survivor: One World, The Big Picture, Episode 7 – Stick to Those Guns

Still, as a known outsider, Christina might well be approached by Mike or Troy for some insurance. Heck, if Alicia's smart enough to see the danger she's in, she might resort to Christina as an ally. What she's got going against her is that Jay included her in his list of people who sit around doing nothing – Like Leif, this doesn't fit with what we see of her, but other players' perception is nine-tenths of Survivor law.

But the players who are really in the driver's seat are Kim and Chelsea, or more specifically Kim who is becoming notable for how she sticks to her guns. She was willing to let somebody else choose the target, but once Jonas was put in her alliance's sights, she made sure to keep him there. While the rest of her tribe dithered about maybe sending off Tarzan instead of their best provider, she held firm.

She talked about that on Insider, admitting it was going to be hard going voting out Jonas with twenty days left in the game, but strategically, he was more likely to lure Troy and Jay away from Salani than Tarzan or Leif would be. Judging from everything we've seen, she's right on the money. This isn't the first time, of course, that she's talked her allies into staying the course: for Salani's second Tribal Council, she had to persuade Sabrina and Chelsea to stick with their alliance.

Generally speaking, flexibility in Survivor is a good thing, but having the courage of your convictions is also important. Kim knows herself to be in a good position, so she's wise to stick to her guns and not be swayed by others. Remember Jonas' rueful observation of how easy it was to go with what everybody else was saying? Kim might have more of a backbone than any of the men this season. (Yes, I considered putting in a joke about the immunity challenge and balls here, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do it; feel free to make up your own.)

What is Kim's position? The most Survivor-knowledgeable player on her original tribe, with an immunity idol and a loyal ally in Chelsea. Only how loyal is Chelsea?

Chelsea's Insider clip relates to the immunity idol and her determination that those who didn't go on the reward not know about it. Interestingly, she never mentions Kim once. Does it go without saying that she will, of course, tell Kim? Or does she want an idol of her own, to put herself on an equal footing with her partner?

While I don't tend to give Chelsea too much credit for strategy, she does intend to play the strategy side of the game. I don't think that's going to stretch to backstabbing Kim, but I'm often wrong!

Speaking of the idol, I really hope some of the players who did not go on the reward had a look for it while the reward winners were away. I would have expected Jonas, Kim, Michael, and Tarzan all to have guessed that the note would relate to the idol and from there, realize that it would most likely have been hidden while they were at the challenge. They might have considered that the idol would be at the reward, but if given the chance, a look around camp would not have hurt.

Finally, Kim has numbers. She's got an alliance with Chelsea, Sabrina, Troy, and Jay on the one side (Sabrina's inclusion confirmed by Jay), and an alliance with Chelsea, Sabrina, Kat, and Alicia on the other (plus Christina). She's quite possibly got a deal with Michael as well. If she keeps on wielding the level of influence she's had so far, she really can pick and choose her path to the finals.

At this point, I would really love to know how the other players see Kim. But she's staying out of the drama, and if anybody's talking about her, it's not being aired. Can she really slide through to the endgame this effortlessly?

My final note is reserved for Kat, who isn't really anything more than a number this week. But she's watching the game and thinking about it. Thinking about it quite a lot, actually, and not really coming to any conclusions, judging from her Insider clips. She's fallen off the radar for most of the players, and that makes me wonder how far she'll go. Basically, could Kat win? Well, Fabio did. I could see Kat pulling off a win in similar style... I just hope she doesn't.

And on that gloomy note, I'll leave you for this week. Hopefully, by the next episode, I'll have finished mourning Jonas and got myself firmly in Kim's corner. She's my last remaining finalist after all!

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Sarah is a legal alien, toddler wrangler, and armchair psychologist, who welcomes email discussion so long as no spoilers are involved. She also blogs about parenting and can be found on Twitter.

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