Survivor season 43 week 4 power rankings: Who could go home next?

With a month of episodes in the books, Survivor season 43 is really starting to heat up.

Last episode, we got to see Coco take their first trip to tribal council after dominating much of the start of the game. That gave viewers a chance to really see where each tribe’s alliances lie in this early period, which led to some shake-up in the power rankings below.

And, while the other two tribe’s strategy was stagnant (at least on TV), there were more than enough moving parts to make this one of the better episodes of the season so far.

Who could go home on Survivor season 43 this week? (Week 4 power rankings)

Out) Lindsay Carmine (Last: 9) – Lindsay’s paranoia got the best of her, but it might’ve been justified. Her going completely erratic probably doesn’t tell the full story and I would guess something tipped her off to make her game go topsy-turvy. After all, she had been relatively steady. That doesn’t go away for no reason. That said, that’s probably more of a positive for someone else’s game in that they could get her to self-destruct than it is any consolation for Lindsay.

14) Geo Bustamante (Last: 14) – I’m keeping Geo low because I’m not entirely convinced he was in on the plan. We’ve seen players like Romeo throw out a vote in the past to protect against the Shot in the Dark, but Geo was shown looking livid after the votes were read. Maybe he’s just in on the act, but I’m wondering if there’s something deeper here and Geo might be the next to go from Coco with Lindsay gone.

13) Jeanine Zheng (Last: 15) – Jeanine has to stay low on my list because she’s still attached to Elie, making her a great target for someone looking to make a safe move. Plus, we just haven’t seen much out of Jeanine up to this point, which makes me think she’s not going to be a major player this season.

12) Cassidy Clark (Last: 13) – Cassidy finally started to claw back some screen time. If anyone has Erika potential on season 43, it’s this woman. She might not be driving strategy right now, but we’ve gotten confessionals from her most weeks even when she’s not super involved in the gameplay. That’s a good sign for a long-term character, I’m just not ready to believe it yet.

11) Dwight Moore (Last: 12) – Despite being called out by Jeff Probst at the challenge, Dwight remains in a decent spot, if Cody doesn’t use his idol. That has to be a big concern if you’re a Dwight lover, but Vesi seems to be on the right track with Nneka gone, so you might not need to worry until we hit the merge.

10) James Jones (Last: 11) – It seems like James has a good social game with everyone on Coco beach. That’s great for his future, but I do have to question him getting rid of one of his big allies this early. He’s also kind of locked in with Karla now, where he had options before. I still like James’ chances, but I’d keep an eye on him this week.

9) Elie Scott (Last: 8) – This Elie bump isn’t something I’d read too much into. She’s still in a very weird spot with Gabler and Sami seemingly against her. It’s all going to come down to who has Owen. Elie really needs to reign in her gameplay a little bit and just play nice as we head into the merge.

8) Mike Gabler (Last: 6) – Gabler is all over the place. One minute he’s in great with Sami against Elie, the next he’s ticking Sami off by putting palm fronds on him in the middle of the night. It’s impossible to say where he lies in Baka’s overall strategy, but he’s the one player we know for a fact is safe. That’s huge at this stage and keeps him relatively high in my rankings.

7) Noelle Lambert (Last: 4) – I’m dropping Noelle ever so slightly because I really don’t love the move to help another tribe and it seemed like she led that charge. That said, she’s still safe on Vesi unless everyone turns on her, giving her a clear path to the merge. I’m not sure how well she’ll do at that point, but that’s a problem for future Noelle.

6) Owen Knight (Last: 10) – Owen gets the biggest rise of the week because I’m really starting to love his position in the middle on Baka beach. At this point, he really does feel the like king-maker over there. The only wrinkle in that is if Gabler and Sami start to butt heads over Gabler being a bit strange. Right now though, Owen is in a great spot strategically.

5) Jesse Lopez (Last: 7) – This could come back to bite me depending on how advantages are played if Vesi goes to tribal, but it’s impossible for me to not love Jesse’s game at this point. He’s such a steady presence who seems to get along well with everyone. Plus, when you compare him to more erratic players like Cody, he’s going to be someone you want to play with. If he can get through to the merge, he’s going to do some damage.

4) Sami Layadi (Last: 5) – In spite of every fiber of my being telling me that Sami can’t win, I keep bumping him higher in my rankings. Even if the bottom falls out once we hit the merge, there’s no scenario where I can see Sami going home before the three tribes come together. He’s both a physical force and likable. That’s huge at this stage and should set him up well.

3) Ryan Medrano (Last: 2) – Ryan drops slightly because he continues to demonstrate a lack of skill in the strategic side of his social game. It seemed like he didn’t even want to talk with Lindsay which is part of what set her off. That’s poor gameplay and doesn’t strike me as someone who’s going to have a chance to win. However, Coco needs his physical strength in challenges (even if he didn’t have the best showing in the last episode).

2) Cody Assenmacher (Last: 3) – Is Cody the most erratic player of the season? No question. That said, he does have that idol and showed his tribe that he can almost single-handedly keep them out of trouble when given the chance. I think that means he’s as close to a lock as you can get to make the merge.

1) Karla Cruz Godoy (Last: 1) – And the queen stays queen, adios. I’ve been thinking Karla needed at least one tribal under her belt to solidify her spot and she went and did it. Not only did she show everyone that she’s running this tribe, but she also got out Lindsay, which, as I mentioned above, means that James almost has to side with her going forward. On top of all that, Karla still has an idol, putting her in one of the strongest pre-merge positions we’ve seen in recent seasons.