Survivor is one of the best reality shows of all time, and it's current season has proven why. Season 50 has been airing weekly on CBS (and streaming with a Paramount+ subscription), and fans have been obsessed with Cirie Fields' incredible strategic game. Two-time player Rob Cesternino spoke to CinemaBlend about how she's using her Traitors-winning strategy in the her latest turn on Survivor.
The cast of Survivor 50 includes some legendary players, including Cirie, who has starred in some of the best Survivor seasons. I've been having weekly chats with Cesternino, aka the founder of the Rob Has a Podcast network, about each new episode. During our conversation the Survivor know-it-all made an observation about Fields' gameplay, offering:
Watching Cirie this week, I was reminded of her brilliant gameplay on The Traitors. Cirie was a master of playing the Traitors and she really showed all the future Traitors of how to win The Traitors. When you're the Traitor and you're the person that everybody trusts, your best move is, 'Who are the people that are going to figure out who the Traitor might be and who are the people who are going to smile and nod as you drag them along to the end?'
Honestly, I see it, particularly now Rob put it out there. In Episode 9 "I Deserve All Of This," Cirie laughed about the fact that she had an alliance with almost all the players still on the island. In addition to her alliance with Rizo and Ozzy, she's got a relationship with Joe, Tiffany, Stephanie, and Emily. She also had an alliance with Devins and Christian, although she eventually went with the majority to vote out the latter.
Article continues belowAlthough she's been methodically voting out anyone who goes against her plans for the game as a whole, people don't seem to have caught on. We saw this when she got back form exile and everyone wanted to talk to her right away.
Later during our conversation Cesternino, who was part of the cast of The Traitors Season 4, went on to draw more of a comparison between Cirie's strategy on both Survivor 50 and the Emmy-winning Peacock series. As he put it:
I think that Cirie has gone back to her Traitor's playbook and has begun to systematically remove the players who are most likely to be able to figure out what's actually going on. It started with Christian, I think that Rick and Emily might be next as she's trying to bring the people who are just going to not ever question what Cirie is doing with her as far as she can until it's too late.
This strategy seems to be working so far, and I have to wonder if it'll get her all the way to the end of the game. Fans are hoping that Cirie finally gets a W on her latest Survivor game, especially after how much bad luck she's had in seasons like Micronesia and Game Changers. She managed to win the very first season of The Traitors, so perhaps that game-winning strategy will pay off this time around as well.
New episodes of Survivor air Wednesdays on CBS as part of the 2026 TV schedule. Rob Cesternino is releasing a book called The Tribe and I Have Spoken on May 6th, and is doing a book tour as well. Visit robhasawebsite.com/events for more information!
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