‘Survivor’ Season 44 Episode 3: Who Was the Castaway of the Week?
Survivor fans know that at least one castaway always stands out among the rest in each episode. Sometimes it’s for a bad reason since they’re getting voted out, but other times it’s because they orchestrated big game moves. For the sake of this article (and what will hopefully be a continuing series), we will focus on the good. And to kick things off, we’re highlighting one stealthy castaway who impressed us in Survivor Season 44 Episode 3.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Survivor Season 44 Episode 3, “Sneaky Little Snake.”]
Who was voted off in ‘Survivor’ Season 44 Episode 3 last night, March 15?
The Survivor Season 44 idol birdcage shenanigans continued in episode 3 when Danny Massa concocted a plan to fool one of his Soka tribemates. While everyone else was distracted (and Matt Blankinship and Frannie Marin were probably off somewhere planning their post-season road trip), Danny put his plan in motion.
He took the fake hidden immunity idol from the birdcage and wrapped it in the parchment from his real idol. And because Danny couldn’t think of a better way to dispose of the fake idol’s parchment, he ate it. Then, Danny did some (probably unnecessary) parkour and put the fake idol back in the cage. He later rehid the key in an obvious spot so someone could find it.
Matt became the victim of Danny’s evil plan when he discovered the key and got the “immunity idol.” But Danny took his scheme one step further when he confronted Matt about “putting something in his pocket,” forcing Matt to come clean to Danny, Frannie, and Josh Wilder. Danny also informed Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt about Matt’s “idol,” so the whole Soka tribe knows about it.
Elsewhere, Matthew Grinstead-Mayle also had a trick up his sleeve at Ratu. After Brandon Cottom played their tribe’s birdcage idol at the first Tribal Council, producers hid another one at their camp. Matthew found it, and afterward, he made a fake idol and placed it by the water well. One of Matthew’s biggest allies, Jaime Lynn Ruiz, found it, and the two celebrated.
At the third Immunity Challenge, Ratu came in first place, and Tika came in second, meaning that Soka had to go to Tribal Council for the first time. One would think the castaways would target either Matt or Frannie because of their showmance, but Danny wanted to send Claire Rafson home since she had sat out of every Immunity Challenge.
After much debate, the rest of the tribe agreed to vote out Claire. So, at Tribal Council in Survivor Season 44 Episode 3, Claire played her Shot in the Dark. But she was unsuccessful and became the fourth castaway to leave the game.
Danny Massa is our ‘Survivor’ castaway of the week
Without a doubt, Danny played the best game in Survivor Season 44 Episode 3. And he managed to do so while also minimizing his threat level and eating a piece of paper.
Danny finding the key to the birdcage in episode 2 thrust his game into motion, and so far, he’s proved himself a worthy player. He has handled the birdcage the best out of the three tribes, with Brandon making a dire mistake by opening the cage in front of everyone at Ratu and Carolyn Wiger failing to make it look like the cage hadn’t been tampered with at Tika.
Danny has been the only one to fool others into thinking no one had opened the cage. And then, in episode 3, he took it one step further by utilizing the fake idol wisely. Danny has put all the heat on Matt while he is the one with the real idol. There is no way that anyone on Soka will target Danny before they try to vote out the showmance, especially since they now think Matt has an idol.
Of course, they will innately want to keep Danny around because he’s a strong man who will help them win challenges in this broken three tribes and no swap era of Survivor. But Danny has ensured his safety via his fake idol scheme. And even though we disagree with him targeting Claire, Danny’s plan to get her out worked. His tribemates listen to him but write him off as someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Danny’s in a very good spot, thanks to his gameplay in Survivor Season 44 Episode 3.
Will Danny’s dominance continue after ‘Survivor’ Season 44 Episode 3?
Although Danny situated himself well in Survivor Season 44 Episode 3, he will have to be careful not to do too much going forward.
He was a significant presence in “Sneaky Little Snake,” and he doesn’t want the light to shine on him too much. Danny should step back in future episodes and let others take the driver’s seat when formulating plans. He needs to continue to downplay his threat level. But that won’t happen if he becomes the loudest voice in the room.
We believe that Danny is an intelligent player, though. And he knows that he shouldn’t be doing too much early on in the game. So we have faith that Danny will continue to impress us and make it to the merge. But only time will tell if he has what it takes to earn himself a spot in the finale. We’re only three episodes into the season, after all.
New episodes of Survivor Season 44 air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
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