The Daily Write Off

Season 49 of Survivor has been dominated by three players.

Sophie Balerdi was perhaps the standout of the pre-merge portion of the game, and once she linked up with Rizo and Savannah at the swap, they formed an unbreakable bond that has now carried them all the way into the final five.

This has been a throwback to older seasons of Survivor. For the first time in what feels like awhile, it’s a trio of players almost unwavering in their loyalty toward one another, ready to go all the way to the end together.

In my previous post, I called them one of the greatest alliances of the new era. But truth be told, they should never have been allowed to get this far.

They are all exceptional players. But the opposing alliance have essentially made them look like Boston Rob, Parvati and Sandra.

Nevertheless, all three deserve immense credit. Sophie played phenomenally in the pre-merge to escape her starting tribe and immediately integrate herself with Uli. And since the merge, Savannah and Rizo have managed to escape death in the game time after time to now see their alliance through all the way to the final five.

And as I say they all deserve immense credit, I can’t help but feel like the credit will go, and has been going to, Savannah. Savannah is the oldest head in the group, gives off boss girl energy, and has kept herself safe with now three individual immunity wins when it mattered most.

But, almost unnoticed to the players around him, it’s Rizo who has actually propelled this alliance to the final five.

Let’s take it back to the start of the merge.

Jawan and Sage sit in the power position between Uli and Hina. They side with Hina, turning their backs on Savannah and Rizo.

Only, they can’t take a shot at Savannah or Rizo. Because of one looming threat: Rizo’s idol.

It’s Rizo’s idol that saves them that first tribal council, with Nate going home instead.

After that, both Savannah and Rizo maintain open doors with Jawan and Sage. But it’s Rizo again who better navigates those doors and the conversations around who to vote out next.

When they get to the final ten, Rizo is dead to rights. He either plays his idol or goes home. Except, after Savannah jumps into the mix, he’s able to leverage Savannah’s voting power to turn Yellow Sophie against M.C. I’m sure Savannah put in work here too. But what we saw on the show was Rizo being the one to pitch the plan to Yellow Sophie.

Rizo, Savannah and Soph all then do fantastic work to keep Yellow Sophie on side, where they blindside Alex. Then in the move of the season, they take out Jawan.

Yellow Sophie’s role is key here. But it’s Rizo doing a lot of the work to maintain that relationship with Jawan right up until he’s voted out. It’s Rizo doing the leg work to get Alex out of the game.

It’s Rizo using the threat of his idol as a constant thorn in the side of the opposition, where at any given moment, he could play it for himself or Savannah.

At final seven, it’s again Rizo going back and forth with Steven, trying to gain information about the advantage. It’s Rizo pitching to Steven and Kristina on the reward that Steven can save his advantage, and they can all take out Yellow Sophie instead.

And he’s able to follow through every single time. The people he votes out are people that have first already turned their backs on him. Jawan, Alex, and Yellow Sophie were all voted out the moment they re-sided with Hina.

So despite some posturing in front of the jury, they can’t have anything to complain about.

And now we find ourselves in the final six, where again everything funnels through Rizo. It’s him continuing to put in the work with Steven to find out that they want to vote for Sophie, not him.

And, more impressively, it’s Rizo who comes up with this brilliant lie that his idol expires at six. That simple lie essentially saves him from having any votes at the final six, where he’s now safe again at the final five.

For all the people that have burned their idol without thinking twice (like M.C. this very season), Rizo has shown tremendous poise in using his idol to wield power, gain allies, keep himself safe, and to remain in his possession to do it all over again the very next round.

Throughout this time, Savannah and Sophie B. have played effectively.

They’ve persistently disrupted the opposition’s plans in their own way. Sophie by maintaining open doors, and Savannah by winning immunity challenges.

But it’s been Rizo who has put in a lot of the leg work here. And it’s Rizo who, perhaps, deserves the most credit at the end of the game.

Rizo might not beat Savannah in a final three. But maybe he should.