Every season of Survivor has those players who stand out among the rest – for both good and not-so-good reasons. There are those like Bhanu Gopal of Survivor 46 who get off on the wrong foot and never manage to fully recover, and those like Rachel LaMont from last season who seem to expertly navigate the game all the way through. In over twenty years of the iconic reality competition show, fans have seen both power players and players whose strategy is seemingly all over the place, but they’ve seldom seen these two types of gameplay in the same person. So far, one player this season appears to be an exception to this rule. Cedrek McFadden doesn’t seem to have a firm grasp on his Survivor strategy and has been inconsistent in his approach to the game, yet he has almost single-handedly run the entire pre-merge portion of Survivor 48.
Cedrek’s Gameplay Has Been Unpredictable in ‘Survivor 48’
Cedrek first found himself in a position of power at a historic Tribal Council back in Episode 3, in which the final decision about who would be voted out that night came down to him alone. Up to that point, the original Vula tribe – those members who could vote, anyway – had already voted and re-voted, coming to a stalemate both times. Cedrek had voted for his closest ally, Saiounia “Sai” Hughley, twice in a row. After host Jeff Probst explained that the complicated circumstances surrounding Tribal Council that night meant that the final vote came down to Cedrek, Cedrek surprised everyone by going back on his previous two votes that he had cast for Sai. Instead, he changed his vote at the last second to Justin Pioppi – a move he made specifically because Sai pointed out to him that Justin had lied about losing his vote on a journey earlier that day.
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This wasn’t the only time in Survivor 48 that Cedrek was inconsistent with his strategy, nor the only time that Cedrek’s decisions steered the direction of the game. At last week’s Tribal Council, Cedrek surprised everyone once again by spearheading a last-minute blindside against Bianca Roses. Under nearly the exact opposite circumstances to his last power move, Cedrek worked with Chrissy Sarnowsky to vote Bianca out specifically because she told him the truth about losing her vote on a journey earlier in the season – a move fans thought would’ve endeared her to Cedrek after Justin chose to lie, but apparently it did not. Still, though Cedrek has been incredibly unpredictable, even seemingly to himself at times, he has managed to steer the game more than any other player so far this season.
Cedrek’s Alliances on ‘Survivor 48’ Have Been Shaky at Best
Not only did Cedrek blindside Bianca for telling the truth about losing her vote at last week’s Tribal Council, but he also chose to leave his closest ally, Sai, out of the vote entirely. Instead, he partnered with Chrissy, who he had yet to work with so far this season, to vote Bianca out. Sai was visibly shocked when the final vote was read. As a result, Cedrek’s alliances have been just as unpredictable as his strategy. Throughout the season, he’s been inconsistent with his feelings towards Sai, saying there is loyalty between them and, conversely, that he knows he burned Sai already by voting for her twice before and that she’ll come after him because of it. Still, he’s managed to steer the vote – even his own vote – away from Sai several times this season.
Despite all the chaos that has constituted Cedrek’s gameplay this season, he has undoubtedly been the power player of Survivor 48 so far. It remains to be seen just how far his unpredictability will take him in the game. But for now, fans can likely expect more last-minute surprises at Tribal Council, so long as Cedrek is still around.
Survivor airs Wednesday on CBS and is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.
