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This season just keeps getting better and better. I always enjoy watching Survivor, but I can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed it as much as this. I like to watch the Survivors relate to each other and strategize, and there just hasn’t ever been a season this good. It started out a little goofy, but the more Kenny’s been able to work his magic, the more exciting ig gets.

Outwit. There simply isn’t anyone any better at this this season than Kenny, and I’m going to boldly go on record at this point and say no one has played the game this well before. I’d love to see him and Richard Hatch match wits head to head. They are both masters at manipulation. Kenny played the game perfectly last night once he was approached with the possible missing Idol. He could have seen it only as a total fabrication, and possibly been blindsided by them taking him out instead of Matty if they indeed did have an Idol, or he could have gone with them, had them not play the Idol, and take Matty out 4-3, and having his alliance fall around him, giving Corinne way too much power.

You have to realize all the little possibilities here. For all he knew, they did have an Idol. As implausible as it was that Marcus saved it from being thrown into the ocean, he knew that Sugar and Bob were working Idol magic together last week, so there was always the possibility that Sugar had now given her Idol to Bob, but didn’t want to seem like she was selling out her alliance, so cooked up the story of Marcus retrieving it from the ocean. He played it safe and it worked out for him.

Outplay. This is where Corinne failed. She thought she was outplaying everyone all the time, never giving anyone else an ounce of credit. A smart woman she was, but she never thought of other possibilities, other than everyone else is too stupid to understand her master plans. It never even occurred to her that perhaps Kenny and Crystal were playing her back in return. She assumed that after they were clever enough to pull one over on her and Randy this week, that they would be dumb enough this week to not think someone else could do the same thing in return.

Corinne got played by the gamer. And as much as she wants to say Sugar was a “moron,” who’s the moron now? Sugar pulled one over on Corinne last week, but Corinne just couldn’t admit it, still calling all of old Fang “inept.” Wait until she finds out the person she thought was a moron has been holding onto the only real Idol in the game so far. Whether she can ever admit it or not, Sugar outplayed Corinne, and if Sugar is a moron, what does that make Corinne?

Outlast. To me the one person who has so far this season has both outwitted and outplayed is Kenny. He is masterful with this at times we don’t even realize. Look at the times in the game where he has made a puzzling move, it was always with a plan in mind. When they repicked their tribes standing on pedestals, ranked by importance, who picked the last person on the other team purposely? Kenny. He knew it would give him power in the game to find out why the others didn’t like her. At the food auction, who won only a non-food item? Kenny. He never got any food, but he got to send someone to Exile, and also got to bid on things to watch how the others played the game. He didn’t care about the food. He was watching the game play to help him later.

Kenny always targets his biggest threat each week, and is usually successful getting rid of them. This week he couldn’t take out Bob as he had immunity, so entertained their idea to take out Matty, but left himself with options to protect him and Crystal. Had they played an Idol and Matty left, he’d still have Crystal on his side. He made sure he took care of her. He could have told her to vote for Matty while he voted for Corinne, but he was willing the take the hit himself to keep her protected. He knows he has her loyalty. Standing next to each other they’re unbalanced like Mutt and Jeff, but he’s smart enough to align with a stronger player physically when he doesn’t have that. If she wins a reward where she can take someone else, you can bet she’ll be taking him.

So how does Kenny outlast and get to the end? It’s going to be tough this next week, as he needs to backpedal to his alliance to explain why he threw a vote in there for Matty. He could tell them he was just playing Corinne and Bob, and while it was supposed to be both him and Crystal voting for Matty, he made sure Crystal voted for Corinne to be sure Matty stayed, but I’m not sure they’ll buy that. He always knows how to work it, though, in a way I never even thought of, and if anyone can do it, it’s our boy Kenny. Every time it seems Fang is sunk, he finds a way to pull them out.

It’ll be interesting to see who his target is this week. For him, I would think it would almost have to be someone that will be targeting him. That could mean it will be Matty again, if he can’t convince him he meant him no harm last week. Or he could take the easy route and take Bob out, but while that keeps him safe within his alliance, that really doesn’t further Kenny in the game at all. I almost think he has to take out Matty, and he can if he causes a split vote three against three and work the tie. He also might be able to get Susie on his side, convincing her that Sugar and Matty will always stick together, so it’s best to take one of them out now. Susie really has nothing to lose at this point. She’s not even close to being anyone’s target. If the others don’t watch out, she’ll sneak up on them.

Photos Courtesy of cbs.com

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