Survivor S44E12: I'm the Bandit

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Survivor sets up the finale with a fairly expected vote out with a twist or two.
by Jeremy Fogelman

The latest episode of Survivor is called “I’m the Bandit”, but it’s also what Carolyn calls herself as she gratefully unloads about all of her knowledge and game moves. I get that she’s relieved to stop pretending, but as Yam Yam notes, as she continues to talk about it, she continues to reveal herself as a smart player.

Carolyn has always been a bit awkward and an emotional player, and has fared poorly overall in challenges, but she’s friendly and has tremendous loyalty to her two allies -- and she’s actually quite good at picking up on vibes. Even in this episode, Carolyn notices the talk and realizes it might be about her -- which it is partially is, to be fair. She still admits to us that she knows Carson can’t really be against her in the final vote, but cares about him too much to think overly much about it.

Yam Yam has the same sort of feeling, except about Carolyn -- he considers her the major threat at the end of the game. For his part Carson is noted as being beloved by everyone, and would likely win the game -- quite a feat for the youngster. But he also seriously considers voting out Carolyn, who is still fiercely loyal, because he too admits she’s a strong threat.

Is anyone talking about Yam Yam being a threat though? He jokes about how everyone that put his name down was voted out -- but it’s true. He’s won one immunity challenge despite not being a physical threat -- who knows what else he can pull off in the end? He’s aware that his best bet is likely against Heidi and Lauren, but will he actually be able to bring himself to do it? Will Carson or Carolyn either?

Heidi finally plays her idol this episode when it was least important to do so, but at least it makes certain people know she’s playing hard (if not that well overall). I just can’t imagine her winning over anyone -- I think Lauren is more liked and has a better “story” if she was playing against Heidi in the final three.

That last firemaking challenge is still one of those twists that could go any way at all, so I’m not sure at all how that will affect things. But the fact that we got a trio of interesting players allied (more or less) from start to finish is quite a feat -- no people here that have no game ability, just strengths and weaknesses.

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I’m actually pleased about that in the end, because in recent seasons, the only way to win was to play very under the radar, and that’s not so compelling. Having these three work so well together has made the latter half of the season far more interesting than the meh start of it -- I’m actually invested in the outcome, which wasn’t always the case this season.

I think I’d feel okay about multiple people winning this time, not really like last season’s disappointing final three players (no offense to their likability, only to their game ability). So this season is at least a step up.

I’m not surprised Jamie was voted out -- she had an ally left in the game, unlike Lauren, and didn’t have an idol. Despite the foreshadowing, Carolyn survived and now it’s almost anyone’s game.