Survivor 41 Power Rankings After Episode 4

Now that we’ve gotten an even better chance to know the Survivor 41 castaways and have seen how they’re playing, it’s time to do another set of power rankings.

1. Shan. Anyone who doesn’t put Shan in first place after this week’s episode doesn’t know anything about anything. Shan has kind of been running the show the whole time, but last night was a whole new level. The way she finessed J.D. into giving her his advantage to hold AGAIN, and then voted him out, leaving her with this extra vote … that was savage — beautifully savage.

2. Evvie. We didn’t get to see much of Evvie this week, because the Yase Tribe is finally on a roll with challenges, but they’ve got so many people wrapped around their fingers, that I think they can ride that well into merge. And as we saw from the preview for next week, Evvie and the others on the Yase Tribe might be going after Xander, that could be a bold pre-merge move.

3. Sydney. As soon as Erika let us know she was targeting Sydney, I was all, oh no, she’s going to drop in my power rankings. But then I saw just how much she has the men on her tribe wrapped. I don’t know if it’s because they don’t want to feel the wrath of upsetting her, or if she has some kind of secret power, but in the end it was Erika who became the target, not Sydney. So much so that some of the men on the Luvu Tribe tried to throw the challenge to get her out.

4. Tiffany. This might be the only week Tiffany stacks this high up, but she killed those competitions, and has seemingly really came into her own in the past couple of weeks. And from the looks of things in next week’s preview, she’s helping drive the get rid of Xander train. We’ll see how long this lasts …

5. Ricard. I’m not much of a Ricard fan, but he has himself lined up with Shan really well, and has managed to make himself not seem like the typical male castaway threat. I think he will likely be one of the last men standing in what I think will be a woman-dominated season.

6. Liana. It was a low-key week for Liana, but I think she’s going to be a major threat when we get to merge. For that and her past performances, I can’t rank her any lower than this.

7. Deshawn. I’m finding it hard to rank some of the men this season because as I just said, I think the women are dominating, and the men could find themselves in trouble. But Deshawn coming up with the flopped throw the challenge to vote out Erika plan was a solid effort.

8. Naseer. I don’t think Naseer makes it very far beyond merge because of what a powerhouse he is. He managed to win the challenge this week basically on his own as Deshawn and Danny were trying to throw it. That’s impressive.

9. Xander. After seeing next week’s preview, it’s hard to not rank Xander lower, but next week hasn’t happened yet. And as of this past episode, Xander was solid. He trusts Evvie and vice versa (I think) and has that inactive idol, so he has been sitting in a good spot… poised to be very dangerous at merge. But will he even get there now is the question…

10. Danny. Again, where do I put Danny and the other guys? It’s so hard! Danny is kind of just chilling this week in our rankings. He seems to be a great team player, and tried to work with Deshawn to throw the challenge, so I think 10th suits him this week.

11. Genie. I struggled with where to put Genie because she was kind of on the bottom, but then this week she was on the right side of the vote, so I think she is going to be good. I suspect a swap soon, so Ricard and Shan could really need her, which bumps up her power a bit more than the two ranking below her.

12. Erika. It looks like Erika is in real danger now, and I think Shan will make sure she stays in the danger zone even if a swap is coming up.

13. Heather. The whole “she has heart” thing during  the challenge this week was sweet and all, but it can’t be overlooked when writing power rankings. She might be a team spirit contender, but a Sole Survivor contender she is not.

Booted: J.D. I’m not sure where I would have placed J.D. had he not been eliminated, but I knew he wasn’t long for this game. He has a lot of heart and love for the game, but his young age really shows, and his performance and gameplay just hasn’t matched the vision he has of himself as a Survivor contestant.

How would you rank the Survivor 41 players after week 4?