Survivor worlds apart: stephen fishbach blogs the merge in episode 7

_Stephen Fishbach was the runner-up on_ Survivor: Tocantins _and has been blogging about_ Survivor _strategy for PEOPLE since 2009. Follow him on Twitter @stephenfishbach._ "THERE’S NO

POINT IN GOING INTO A MERGE IF YOU HAVE SOMEBODY WHO CAN’T BE TRUSTED." –BILL POSLEY, _SURVIVOR: ONE WORLD_ What an episode, what a merge and what a season! Wednesday on Survivor, the

season’s merge left all 12 players scrambling. Alliances shifted and reformed as each of the variously collared contestants worked to solidify old agreements and form new bonds. _Survivor:

Worlds Apart_ has no Jefras, no purple Kellys content to bob along on the game’s tides. Everybody is struggling against the current. Mike has his alliance of Blue Collar. Jenn, Hali and Joe

have their No Collar alliance. Rodney has built up a side final four of his own. Carolyn and Tyler have a secret pact. Shirin and Will are bouncing between sides. Every single player has a

hustle, a side hustle and a backup hustle. Of course this episode, Mike and Jenn were the real stars. All episode, Mike built up a coalition that crossed tribal lines while the No Collars

worked against him. He cozied up to Will and Tyler. He solidified his relationship with Rodney. And while it looked like the vote might come down ragged and confused, almost every single

person voted with Mike – everyone except Gorgeous Joe, Jenn, Hali and Shirin. Mike managed to secure all the swing votes but one. Even Will threw his lone vote at Hali to show his commitment

to the Blue Collar team. For her part, Jenn failed at her primary goal, which was to build up a competing alliance and challenge Mike. But Jenn wins the episode Fishy for knowing perfectly

how to play her idol. How many players across the seasons have missed that opportunity? Jenn was stung by the bee – and, in return, stung the Blue Collar alliance. The question next episode

is, _How will Jenn’s coup breakup Mike’s fragile alliance?_ Will could feel betrayed for having been told to vote for Hali. And the secret “swinger” alliance of Tyler and Carolyn may hold

all the power – even as they avoid the dreaded moniker of “power couple.” “You cannot show any strong bonds at all or you’ll be out of here,” said Carolyn. The witch hunt against power

couples is just one reason why this season may mark an evolution in _Survivor_ – in the same way that Boston Rob‘s cutthroat gameplay did in _All Stars_ and Russell‘s nonstop mania did in

Samoa. These contestants are extremely self-aware about the conventions of the game. That’s why a loudmouth player like Rodney may get pulled along as a jury goat and a couple of friends

like Sierra and Lindsey had to be separated. Maybe this evolution is Tony Vlachos‘s legacy – he saw the game as truly a game, an opportunity to have fun and spin his tall tales and build

forts. Maybe it’s all thanks to Rob Cesternino: Do a Google search now for “_Survivor_ strategy,” and you get a wealth of audio books and podcasts from every super strategist ever to play,

explaining in detail what they did and why. Or maybe this is just because of the world we live in, where every _Survivor_ contestant is on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, and the

entire universe is hashtagged, meta-textual and self-aware. If you follow any of this cast on social media, you’ll see they can’t stop posting incessant pictures of their self-celebration.

At the merge, Mike said, “Everybody’s going to go talk. Go talk. We know what’s happening.” They all do. Host Jeff Probst noticed it, too: “There’s a sense in this group that it is a game,”

he said. Everybody nodded their heads. Whatever the cause, if this level of gameplay keeps up for the next seven weeks – and the next few seasons – I’m so grateful to be watching. _Survivor:

Worlds Apart_ airs Wednesdays (8 p.m. ET) on CBS. RELATED: GET A TOUR OF _SURVIVOR_ HOST JEFF PROBST’S ‘SPECTACULAR’ PAD