It’s been approximately twelve hours since I watched the latest Survivor 50 episode, and the shock of everything that happened after the Zac Brown concert is still lingering with me. Strategy legend Christian Hubicki pulled off one of the most unexpected pre-merge blindsides in Survivor history and in doing so, added another highly creative and unusual move to his resume. This one will go on his personal highlight reel for sure, but the more I think about it, the more I think it was actually a really terrible move for his long-term prospects in the game.
Before I get into all the negatives I see here, let me acknowledge the positives because they are there. First, Christian added a splashy move to his resume. He’s the clear architect behind what happened here, and if he sits at Final Tribal Council and is asked about what he pulled off, this can be item number one on his resume. Especially in the New Era where jury voters often want obvious moves, this gives Christian exactly that. In addition, it proves his loyalty to Emily, and it wins him an ally in Stephenie who worked with him on this move. All of that is good.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of potential issues too. Christian may have just cost himself three allies who were previously devoted to him. Mike is obviously gone. Yes, the White Lotus showrunner was gunning for Emily, but he was very upfront about it with Christian. They could have just worked out a plan together. Mike was a number. Now he’s gone.
He may have lost Angelina and Ozzy too. Despite what she told Q, Angelina is BFFs with Mike, and she would have voted however Mike and Christian wanted her too. Now, she’s clearly going to be mad, as she was kept out of the vote. Ozzy’s in the moment reaction makes it clear he’s furious about being left out of the vote too. Christian said he’d explain what happened back at camp, and Ozzy said, “too late.” Maybe he can win one or both of these two back, but they’ll never fully trust him again.
And then there’s the threat level problem. Christian went home during David vs Goliath largely because everyone realized after the merge that he was going to win the game if he got to the end. As soon as everyone on the other tribes hears about this Mike White blindside, they are going to immediately be reminded that Christian is a huge threat and already has the biggest move on his resume. It’s hard to imagine anyone, including his own allies, wanting to get to the end of the game with him now.
Mike is a fantastic Survivor player. I totally understand the impulse to want to get him out of the game, but there are nineteen players left. There was plenty of time for this later. Now, Christian is tethered to Emily, which is strategically questionable since she’s blurted out information he told her not to share on two separate occasions, and there’s a chance he’s lost Ozzy and Angelina over the long haul. Throw in the threat level problems, and personally, I just don’t see how this is a good long-term move. To me, it’s kind of low key terrible, but I guess we’ll see how it works out.
You can catch Christian and the rest of the amazing Survivor 50 cast when new episodes drop on Wednesday evenings. You can also stream via Paramount+. This season has been a ton of fun so far, and I can’t recommend it enough.
