In episode 10 of Survivor 42, Omar Zaheer senses that his plan to dethrone King Hai is going too smoothly and wonders aloud whether he should reverse course and rally the troops to dispose of Jonathan Young instead. It's not clear how serious Omar was about flipping the vote back to the original target; given Omar's deep knowledge of the game, it's entirely possible he put on his producer hat, realizing a nearly unanimous Hai Giang vote wouldn't play well on TV and contributed to the drama by considering upending his own plan to go with another one.
With seven remaining contestants on season 42, none are playing as sound a strategic game as Omar. On episode 9, he was split into a group of five and convinced Hai and Mike Turner to keep outsider Romeo Escobar and get rid of Rocksroy Bailey, who had proposed an all-male alliance Omar wanted no part of. Omar's lie to Mike this week was textbook: he located a weak spot in Mike's relationship with Hai and exploited it. As a result of his deft social maneuvering, Omar's name has never been tossed out as a potential vote. Buoyed by the Taku 4 and his cross-tribal bonds, Omar only has to worry about the advantages he doesn't possess that are in abundant supply elsewhere.
While there are five realistic potential winners among the seven players left in the game, Omar has the best shot of any. The edit has portrayed Omar as being in control from the onset, and he's made tight bonds with people like Jonathan who may assume they can beat Omar in the final three. To be sure, there are possible pitfalls ahead for the venerable veterinarian. If Omar participates in the immunity challenge next week, he could be Do or Died out of the game. If he advances to final six, he could find himself in a Cirie Fields-like position, as one of the only people not immune as idols are played concurrently.
Omar can, however, count on recent history to believe he will survive the onslaught of advantage plays. In two of the past three seasons, the winner of the game didn't play a single idol or advantage (save for one hourglass smash). As Jeff Probst tries to make things exciting by adding a slew of trinkets to the competition, good ol' fashioned relationship building is still proving to be the best strategy.
Thus far, Omar has shown his savvy in confessionals. His biggest challenge, should he find himself in a final three, will be explaining to the jury how much he was pulling the strings behind the scenes. Omar hasn't been out in front taking big swings at the power players. Instead, he's subtly planted seeds of doubt in people's heads, conducting the orchestra without flailing his arms. Omar has epitomized what it takes to win Survivor in the current era. Will it be enough?
Survivor airs Wednesdays at 8pm EST on CBS.