Danielle and Candice are coattail riders that would get creamed in a final three. I don’t think I’ve seen either one have an original thought the entire season and the way Sandra destroyed Danielle at the last TC, she’s lost all respect among the rest of the Villains.
I’m calling Danielle for the ‘stealth win’!
How do you figure Russell as a coattail rider?
Because Parvati’s playing him for a sap. He’s the evil public face of their alliance, but she’s the one doing all the scheming and the plotting. If he makes it to the final 3, that’ll come out and he’ll be screwed.
But I think Parvati’s going to dump him any time now.
I don’t think Russell is a coattail rider in any sense of that term. He engineered the Tyson ouster with a masterful use of the idol and planting a “Russell seed” that caused Tyson to switch his vote at the last moment. This move resulted in the deconstruction of Boston Rob’s alliance, that was previously in control and was trying to get Parvati out. I give Russell credit for this game changing move, not Parvati.
When Sandra tried to oust Coach, she went to Russell. If Parvati is pulling the strings, Coach would have stayed. Since Coach was voted out, that means Russell is influential in his alliance and therefore not a coattail rider.
Russell has not received as many votes as Parvati. So if anyone is the evil public face, it’s Parvati. Unless you are bringing in your preconceptions from the last season.
The problem with that idea from JT’s perspective is that it doesn’t get rid of an immunity idol that has become a hot potato to him (because he was caught looking for it). In JT’s situation (as it stood last week), keeping the II is just asking for a blindside in TC.
And giving it away isn’t? I don’t see how that vindicates him from being caught finding it. I mean, I see what you’re saying that it’s a bit of a problem for him, but it’s still better to have it than not. Worst case, he plays it at the next TC if he thinks he’s a target. And with the merge imminent, there’s a good chance he won’t face another TC before then.
JT was trying to get rid of the idol so he could get the target off his back. But any way of getting rid of it would make him vulnerable, so why not do it in a way that is most likely to redeem himself? Getting rid of it in a way that benefits and protects his own team would have been a much better way of redeeming himself IMO. The Heroes could have used the idol to protect one of their members from the Villains’ vote, while the Heroes voted in a bloc to try to oust one of the Villains. And with a little bit of snooping they could have figured out who in the Villains’ camp could best help them in their scheme. With just a little effort the Heroes would have quickly and easily figured out that they could pull Sandra over to help them in their schemes. They also could have attempted to stir the pot in the Villains camp to cause a rift in the supposed girl alliance. The Heroes could have planted a false seed in the Villains camp that the Heroes had a false rift that divided them. But JT’s giving the idol to his enemies as an attempt to show his own team that he is faithful to his own team just strikes me as a dumb move no matter how I look at it.
Or just think of what would have happened if Cirie was still there. There’s just no way she would have ever allowed JT to give that idol to Russell, because she would have instantly seen the huge flaws and vetoed that plan in a very loud and strong protest.
And the way the Heroes made assumptions, assuming there was a Villains girl alliance, and openly telling the Villains their assumptions, was just like giving the Villains an open invitation to lie to them. The Villains didn’t even have to work hard at lying or making anything up. The Heroes handed the lie to the Villains on a platter, openly made the wrong assumptions, and the Villains only had to say “yup, that’s just how it is.”
FTR, When Coach was voted out, Russell/Jerri/Coach voted for Courtney and Parvati/Danielle/Sandra/Courtney voted for Coach.
The thing is though, in Survivor you can often win by being a coattail rider for most of the way, as long as you also have enough moxie to stand out at the end. I think Danielle and Candice both fall into this category.
For example, let’s say after the merge, it shakes out that the heroes start losing. If the Villains are voting out the strongest first, it’ll be JT and Colby first. Candice, being the quietest, has a good chance to be the last Hero voted out. That gives her a decent chance to stay in the game by winning an Immunity challenge here or there or getting the Villains to start backstabbing each other. If she slides into the final 3 with two villains, she could easily win.
I’m just thinking people like Russell, Parvarti, and JT might have too big of targets on them to actually win - which opens the door for their coattail riders to take over at the finish line.
Danielle and Candice don’t seem like the type that can argue their way into winning anything.
Danielle got outworked when arguing Sandra.
Candice cried because Amanda was all up in her shit for being sneaky and kinda a loner, then they hugged and forgave each other or what not.
Both of those moments pretty much says they can’t win shit when push comes to shove. Sandra perhaps can argue anyone out. Russell will argue so hard and so brash he’ll be painted as a prick. Parv can sweet talk her way to a million. Rupert, ffs I hate hearing his voice and i bet the other Survivors too, so he ain’t winning shit. JT won’t make it anywhere imo cuz of the HII handoff idea. Colby and Jerri are too old school and have no clue how to play Survivor anymore. And we all know how bad Amanda is in the final 2 or final 3, and she probably hasn’t learned jack shit because she’s been so bad not keeping her crying in check.