Andy’s gone this week. That’s good! But it requires me to do more work. That’s bad.

Staff Predictions

Robot Andy

I predict Wendy will return from Edge of Extinction this week. I also predict Wendy goes home this week. I am Robot Andy and I miss Tim Horton’s. (Editor’s note: Andy only asked that we have him continue to pick Wendy if she hadn’t been booted already. I’ve instead chosen to remove the qualifiers and just have him pick Wendy.)

Brad

Because the Kama 6 and the Lesu 4 + Joe & Aurora make even numbers, everything comes down to who comes back from the Edge of Extinction. The only people I think have a shot at returning are Chris, Rick, and Aubry, in that order. I think Chris has a 50% win equity here, and I’d peg a 45% chance on either Rick or Aubry. 5% to the field, though of course you’d have to put about a 5% margin of error on those numbers. I’ll go with Chris. (Editor’s note: I enjoy when we do jokes that maybe 4 people will get.)

Really, here’s what it comes down to. I think it’s a coin toss between Rick/Aubry (who definitely side with Team Returnee) and Chris (who could go either way, depending on how he feels about the people who voted him out). So I think the odds lean towards the remaining returnees, who will want to target the unexpected target, as one does at a merge without a vote split margin. And how unexpected would it be to send home the person who isn’t even on this season? It was nice (not) knowing ya, Julia.

(Side note: I’m salty like Reem on a pretzel that my point for predicting Aubry was countered by everybody who picked Wendy)

Emma

As stated on the podcast, I have a feeling Wishbone will be the consensus merge boot, keeping with recent trends.

As for the Edge of Extinction returnee, Rick makes narrative sense and the supposed challenge isn’t anything that would leave him disadvantaged.

John

Everyone assumes Joe will be immune this week. But what this prediction presupposes is: maybe he doesn’t. And if he’s not immune, the Lesser Joes will see the possibility of more on-screen time in their future, and they shall vote him out- knowing that he will spend as much time as possible on an island specifically included as a game mechanic to protect him.

As for Edge of Extinction, I’d really like to see Rick make it back in. I wouldn’t say he’s most likely to do it- I’m just trying to will it into existence. So I’m putting it out there in the universe: Rick comes back into the game, and becomes New Burton. No wait, that doesn’t feel right. Rick is New Lil.

Mark

I’m tempted to say the person who gets voted back in gets voted out, but there’s enough chaos between tribes that they could squeak by, Pearl Islands style. I also think Joe will pull a Cambodia and be the top dog for immunity for a couple weeks. So that leaves *Scruff McBuff* and his scheming ways. We already know Kelley is sniffing out his bullshit and isn’t keen on working with him for too long. I think he will get too high on his Warhorse in a swing position, thus being sent to the dog house to snoop out a future on Extinction Island, aka the pound. (Thank God for the twist, though, because I still have so many nicknames for the next time I’m on the podcast.)

Fight me, pun haters.

I still think Chris will come back this round. If there were more puzzles, Rick and Aubry would have a shot, but I think Chris has a slight edge. His need for revenge would also help out my boot prediction.

Matt

On the podcast I predicted that this was the week that Hooch would go home. Quite simply the other tribe will look at the 4 surviving old Manu members and I think they will target Kelley or Beethoven. I think early on they’ll lean Kelley but Franklin B Dog’s aggressive play will elevate him as the biggest threat and get him voted out. Also, Rick is my prediction to return to the game.

	Robot Andy	Brad	Emma	John	Mark	Matt	Readers
2nd Boot	Wendy	Keith	Wendy	Wendy	Keith	Wendy	Wendy
3rd Boot	Wendy	Wendy	Wendy	Wendy	Wendy	Wendy	Wendy
4th Boot	Wendy	Aubry	Kelley	Aurora	Wendy	Aurora	Wendy
5th or 6th Boot	Wendy	Aubry	Wendy	Aubry	Wendy	Wendy	Wendy
7th Boot	Wendy	Julia	Wishbone	Joe	Warhorse	Beethoven
EoE returnee	Wendy	Chris	Rick	Rick	Chris	Rick
Score