Survivor is Reality TV, and sadly in real life, unfortunate events happen to people. It was regrettable to see Colton removed from the game due to suspected appendicitis. All that planning and plotting had eventually led to an anti-climax, and we have been deprived of much more intriguing deviousness that could have provided great entertainment. But the show must go on without him and his several alliances.
With the tribes merged into a new tribe of size 12 (minus Colton) there are a lot of possible ways for the game to develop, but it appears that it could easily become as predictable as the past two seasons once some invincible alliance has been established. The point of swapping tribe members seems to be to break up alliances of five members that people devised to establish control. Did it work here? Perhaps, but only because of Colton's departure.
The misfits from the start were Leif, Jonas, Tarzan, Troyzan, and Colton. Troyzan was temporarily separated from the others but would almost certainly rejoin them. And two of the muscles remain: Michael and Jay. They might as well join forces with the misfits since they cannot survive on their own anyway. On the women's side, the alliance of Chelsea, Alicia, Sabrina, Kat, and Kim remains perfectly intact, assuming Alicia rejoins the four she was separated from, which should be the case since her ally Colton is out. Chelsea and Kim (with the idol) are in the strongest position as they are also apparently allied with Michael and Jay.
And now Christina becomes the central player. She was likely to be competing with Alicia to escape the next eviction, but fortunately for both of them Colton had to withdraw at that precise moment, and both were saved. They are obviously not very friendly towards each other, though. Christina is surely the odd one out, and a female equivalent of a misfit. With some persuasion (and Jonas has already begun the necessary work) she might join the male misfits.
It should be a men versus women vote as there are two strong alliances that will need to acquire just enough members to tilt the balance in their favour. It all depends on Christina. If she joins the women, the vote is tied and it could go either way. Even if the women were to vote out all the men, Christina would only come in sixth as the non-member of the alliance. So she could easily become this season's equivalent of Cochran and help vote out a woman, then join whichever alliance dominates from then on.
The tribal swap has failed to damage any alliance, so some alliance could go all the way. Perhaps it could be the five girls. Or the four misfits and Christina. It is not looking good for Michael and Jay, who would be prime targets. Their alliance with Chelsea appears to be a mere illusion.
It is really too bad that Colton is no longer around to run the show. Who knows - he might have joined the women and complicated matters. We can only mourn his loss and merely theorise about what might have been.
Tho I couldn't stand Colton ((because of his bullying)) and his somewhat snobbish attitude I do agree the game would have been far more interesting if Karma haden't bitten him in the ass !! hahah!! While I agree the tribal swap didn't change alliances for now...I think due to some really strong personalities we'll see things change up here pdq!!! Should be fun watching!!! Omggg!! Philomena I have missed these girl!! Sorry I missed the first one!! Love you!!!
