Survivor
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As Rupert Boneham said, paranoia will destroy ya.
Before we get to Lindsays game-ending blunder, though, lets backtrack a little.
A week into the game, Vesi is returning from their second consecutive Tribal Council.
Jumping straight into the reward challenge, its obvious Vesi is completely over losing.
Pretty much the only rule is that winners cannot steal another tribes flint.
In a surprising turn of events, Vesi dominated this winner-take-all challenge.
Cody fires off some powerful shots, quickly obliterating the block formation.
Sami is right on his tail for Baka, but Coco is dead last the entire challenge.
The tribes appear pretty evenly matched this season, and yet again the challenge comes down to the wire.
Vesi wins the fish, but they havent had fire in days.
What is there to do with a basket of fish if you cant roast them up?
You dont like sushi?
Its a very effective swap for Vesi that Jeff accepts willingly.
Camp raids are something of a relic these days.
Its fun, dramatic, and personal to steal something needed and used by another tribe.
Its a lot to balance.
The obvious choice from where were sitting is to send Cody.
The debate between Baka and Coco is a little trickier.
Baka may have won the largest reward items, but Coco still has all six of its tribe members.
In the end, Cody heads to Coco and its like watching a timeshare salesman in all his glory.
Hes smooth-talkin and slimy and completely plays Coco.
Only after he leaves do Karla and Lindsay realize they fell right into his trap.
This kind of interaction is exactly why I see Cody leaving soon after the merge.
Hes certainly not someone you want to argue against in a Final Tribal Council.
Even against six people, he walked away with what he wanted.
Fired up about their recent victory, Vesi rocks up to the Immunity Challenge ready to win again.
As a puzzle-minded person, I absolutely love this design.
Once again, its a super close race down to the last moments of the challenge.
This moment is where Lindsays downfall begins.
No one takes the assist particularly well.
Theres talk of still being undefeated because theyrepositiveBaka wouldnt have figured out the puzzle without Vesis help.
Its a bad look.
In a way, this is the start of the game for Coco.
Lindsay immediately lets paranoia and rage cloud her judgment.
She was completely safe and had an alliance on her side that really trusted her.
Her name wasnt even going to be the other one written down!
Geo and Lindsay are positioned as two sides of the same overconfident coin.
Geo is so confident in his gameplay, he thinks no one would ever vote for him.
On the other hand, Lindsay is absolutely terrified.
This assumption really wasnt true until the moment it was.
As the day passes, Lindsays increasing paranoia creates a bigger and bigger target on her back.
Its tough to watch such an implosion from a player who had so much potential.
If she had made it through just one trip to Tribal, maybe she wouldve had some renewed confidence.
If they had gone to Tribal sooner, maybe Lindsay couldnt have sabotaged her game so brutally.
Maybe Karla and James couldve quelled her paranoia a little more effectively.
Burning Thoughts
Honestly, Jeff needs to be meaner again!
Ryan voted against Lindsay with Karla, James, and Cassidy, leaving Geo completely in the dark.
Seems like a new alliance is on the come-up, and thats bad news for Geo.
