Rizo Is the Cringe God of 'Survivor' Season 49

Rizo is — along with Savannah — the villain of this season of Survivor. But while Savannah dominates with “mean girl” energy, Rizo has weaponized cringe against not just his fellow players but viewers at home as well. He proudly and repeatedly refers to himself as “The Rizz God,” a nickname that has elicited groans since we first heard it in the season 49 preview after the season 48 finale. It was so cringe that everyone in my family refused to choose him in our Survivor family competition. Out of principle.

And yet, with seven players left, Rizo not only remains in the game, he’s dominating it in the most cringeworthy fashion. Everything this guy does is performative. He doesn’t just want to win Survivor; he wants to be the main character. Every week. But the cringe is so disarming and dorky that the others don’t really see him for the threat he is.

To wit: Last week, he basically single-handedly orchestrated the ouster of Alex and took instant credit for it at Tribal Council when Alex, on his way out, acknowledged that he got caught playing the middle. “SO GLAD YOU COULD SEE THAT,” Rizo exclaimed, letting the jury (and the cameras) know that he led the vote to eliminate Alex.

This week, meanwhile, when Rizo wasn’t repeatedly injecting SpongeBob SquarePants references into the edit, he helped engineer the subsequent elimination. Truly, it was Yellow Sophie who made it happen. Instead of playing the middle, she finally chose a side, wisely aligning with Blue Sophie, Rizo, and Savannah, understanding that Savannah could act as her “challenge shield” throughout the rest of the game. This is good Australian Survivor strategy: Instead of eliminating the biggest threat early on, it’s best to hide behind the biggest threat until the end. It not only offers protection, but it also affords a player respect with the jury.

Sophie completely gave up the goods to Rizo and Savannah, revealing that Jawan and Sophie were coming for them and that Kristina might have an idol. It set up the biggest blindside of the season and the best Tribal Council. The Sage and Jawan alliance thought they had the numbers to take out Savannah and assumed they’d be able to flush out Rizo’s idol.

What they didn’t know was that Yellow Sophie had not only switched alliances and sold out Jawan and Sage, but that Savannah had an extra vote to protect the Savannah/Rizo alliance. But Rizo knew that, and for no other reason than to rub salt in the wound and get some extra camera time, Rizo intentionally played a fake idol for Savannah, knowing the Jawan/Sage votes would land on her.

And yes, Rizo gave a little speech before turning in the fake idol so he could soak up more attention. And yes, the entire speech was incredibly cringe and performative.

Of course, the idol was fake. Of course, Rizo knew he didn’t need it. But as the votes came in for Juwan, Rizo wanted to rub their faces in it. It made for excellent television, too. And it was exactly the kind of move someone angling to appear in season 50 would make.

And to rub salt in the wound, after Juwan was formally eliminated, instead of letting Juwan have his moment, Rizo was the first to leap to his feet, offer a hug, and take total credit for his ouster (ever the good sport, Juwan was very cool about it).

But make no mistake: The whole performance was attention-seeking and kind of mean, but Rizo is such a ham that he can hide the cruelty of his gameplay behind his cringe. And it works. He doesn’t come off as a villain. He comes off as a lovable, calculated doofus. And while Savannah and Yellow Sophie compete over who is the most physical and strategic player, the Cringe God flies under the radar by soaring over it with his corny theatrics.