Survivor: Guatemala - Who Will Go in Episode 7?

The streak is broken! With several flicks of a marker, Margaret’s teammates on the Nakum tribe have given me my first correct prediction. Granted, I was wrong about Brandon, but as of right now I could care less. Chalk up one in the win column, please!

Now before I begin predicting this week’s boots, I’d like to mention that I received more mail last week than I have in quite a while. And apparently my daughter’s predictions are a hit with you all. That said, I must point out that I can out-guess a baby, so I must be doing something right. Her predictions were incorrect for both tribes. However, in her defense, she was very close with her guesses, having picked Judd and Bobby Jon (both of whom received votes) and almost picking Brian for Yaxha.

So in the spirit of fairness (and cuteness), I plan on making my daughter’s predictions a weekly event. Remember, she will be using the always effective hand-to-mouth method of prediction. After I spread small headshots of the remaining Survivors on the floor, she will crawl towards them, and the first Survivor-head to come into contact with my daughter’s tongue will be the next one booted from his or her tribe.

On that note, let’s begin. We start with Nakum. The pictures are scattered, and she’s off! A look of wild ferocity has come over her face. She’s heading directly for them, and this time she knows exactly what to do. She reaches out and grabs Jamie’s head. Slowly she raises it towards her mouth—but wait! There’s another one. Before Jamie’s head touches her tongue, she suddenly reaches out with her other hand, grabs Stephenie’s headshot and shoves it in her mouth! Wow! Way to psyche me out, girl. So by the skin of my daughter’s teeth, Jamie has been spared and Stephenie is her pick to go this week.

Now it’s Yaxha’s turn. I’ve scattered the heads, the wild child is released, and once again she careens across the room towards the pictures. This time she grabs Danni and waves her around near her mouth, but just like before she stops and heads forward again. Danni’s still in her hand though. She stops again, and before she reaches for another head she lifts Danni back up to touch her tongue. Ooooh, double-psyche that time.

I could stop there, but the promos for the show do indicate that “one tribe will invade another tribe’s territory.” Is it a merge? It’s possible. Though there’s never been precedent for an eleven-member merge before, we have had merges apart from the standard ten persons. Thailand managed an eight-member merge after some cohabitation between the two tribes. All-Stars merged at nine. And Palau did as well. Okay, well actually Koror just sort of absorbed Stephenie, but you get the idea. It’s not likely, but just in case we see the first ever eleven-person merge. My child and I are prepared.

I’ve scattered every Survivor on the floor, placed my daughter down, and... and... and she’s doing an excellent job sitting and staring at me. Still, with a little coaxing, she begins to move and heads straight for... the cat. No! Don’t grab the cat’s tail! He hates it when you do that. I manage to shoo the cat out of the room, and with an almost resigned look my child picks up Jamie’s head and places him in her mouth.

So the child has predicted once again, and I must say she’s really gambling high stakes this week with Stephenie, Danni, and Jamie. Nevertheless, if there are any major twists, she might just be the only one to get them all right.

But let’s take a look at this week rationally for a moment. Nakum offers an interesting situation. On the one hand we have Judd, who’s clearly sold his soul to Jamie and Stephenie but acts like a raving lunatic when he thinks he’s safe. On the other hand we have Cindy, who now seems to be taking notes from Vecepia’s Guide to Invisible Player Strategy. And while it seemed out of place when Vecepia tried it, I must admit that it appears to be rather solid gameplay for Cindy now that it’s been proven to work.

Cindy may have originally been the next in line on the Nakum chopping block, but I really think she’s managed to build friendships and forge alliances in ways that Margaret never even considered. Judd, however, is so blindly comfortable with his blatant loyalties that he doesn’t realize there are other aspects to tribal dynamics, such as social graces. If Nakum loses immunity, Cindy will end up gelling with the tribe, while Judd’s antics will continue to ooze under everyone’s skin. Judd will be headed home. The only way he can avoid the boot is to scale back his yelling and calmly remind his tribemates where Cindy’s loyalties originally lay.

Yaxha has become quite the anomaly of late. First Old Nakum kicked off their numbers advantage by getting rid of Blake. Then Old Yaxha gave that advantage right back by kicking off Brian. It seems clear to me that Old Nakum and Old Yaxha are no longer existent in this tribe. It is simply Yaxha now. That said, Danni, Brandon, and Bobby Jon seem too tight at this point to split. Gary, however, appears to have some type of alliance with Danni and/or Bobby Jon.

The promos suggest that Gary’s job might be revealed this week, which would make him a clear choice to be voted off. But I’m willing to bet that’s probably just a setup for his actual boot in another couple of weeks. If the tribes are still together, then Yaxha will still value his strength.

Of the remaining tribemates, Amy is the weakest. Despite her tenacity, I don’t think she can recover from the reinjury to her ankle nearly as quickly as before. And really, if the tribe values strength as much as they appear to, who could really be kicked off before her? I might have said Brandon before he proved himself in the rope-cutting challenge a couple of weeks ago. Amy will fall this week due to diminishing returns.

Her only hope is to prove her value by being the dominant factor in a challenge and redirecting the weakness focus towards Brandon or Bobby Jon.

And if there’s a merge? Man, I literally have no idea. I’m barely keeping track of who was on whose tribe before the tribal shuffle. If they throw them all back into one pot again, I’m not sure if old or new alliances will stick. So, let’s say that Gary gets the boot for being a challenge-threat.

Judd for Nakum, Amy for Yaxha, or Gary in a merge. Who will go? Find out with me on Thursday’s Survivor!

Wesley is a writer and English teacher from Tulsa, OK. He thinks he may be the only RNO writer who’s actually convinced that Vecepia HAD a strategy on Marquesas, and he can be reached with questions, comments, or snide remarks at Musnud@Gmail.com.

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