Survivor 46 Discussion Thread

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This was the best episode of season 46, by far. But there haven't been many good episodes.

I still am not a fan of the immediate tribe split after the "merge". You make them "earn the merge" where only half the people are safe. Then they make the "merge", and you immediately split them up. That's not what the word "merge" means! It would make more sense to do a tribe swap for two votes. Take them down to two tribes for for episodes, then merge. The merge used to be so much fun and a milestone. Now it means nothing, and there's no excitement.

But if I take all that out, it was actually a fascinating episode. I really like Kenzie and Tiff. They are probably my two favorites. Q is such an interesting character. There's no way he threw the challenge. He definitely lost, then lied about it in his confessional. That's also what I think happened when he said he wanted to quit earlier in the season. He came back and said it was strategy, but I think he was just trying to alter history.

Q is definitely arrogant, and he wants to be in control. Others are aware of that, and I think that will be his downfall.

I'm not sure it was in Tevin's best interesting to vote out Soda. She was loyal to him, and he just cut an option. Now, maybe that helps him, because he doesn't have the perception of being tied to her anymore. Maybe it lowers his threat level. But it might raise his after he planned that.

Venus is TV gold. She's so unaware, but I love her. She was so proud of herself for her plan to get out Soda working, when in all reality, that plan was well established before she even thought of it. It was hilarious watching it. She is definitely the Owen type of character this year. She tries and tries, but has no standing. She has no social capital, and she is not self aware enough to realize how she is coming across to others.

A couple other fun tidbits... the challenge was fun. The back and forth was fun. Jeff saying they had been up there "several" minutes was hilarious. I love sassy Jeff. It you didn't catch it, the episode was actually called "Episode Several" since it was the 7th episode of the season.

Also, Liz is a fun side character. I thought it was hilarious how she was just half sleeping on the beach and letting people come to her. She didn't seem like she cared if she was in on the plan. And then at Tribal she bragged about all the strong relationships she has... who does that?!

I also found it funny when Charlie was pretending to sleep behind Venus when she was talking to Maria. He would just look up at Maria. There were quite a few funny moments tonight.

Here are my updated winner rankings...

Tier 1 - Favorites
1. Hunter
2. Tiff
3. Tevin

Tier 2 - Good Chance to Win
4. Kenzie
5. Maria
6. Q

Tier 3 - Outside Chance
7. Charlie

Tier 4 - Not Winning at This Point
9. Liz
10. Venus

 

[artvandelay]

Venus and Liz both zero vote finalists?

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

This was the best episode of season 46, by far. But there haven't been many good episodes.

I still am not a fan of the immediate tribe split after the "merge". You make them "earn the merge" where only half the people are safe. Then they make the "merge", and you immediately split them up. That's not what the word "merge" means! It would make more sense to do a tribe swap for two votes. Take them down to two tribes for for episodes, then merge. The merge used to be so much fun and a milestone. Now it means nothing, and there's no excitement.

Yeah, they talked about this a lot on RHAP last week. The mergatory followed by split tribal results in conservative gameplay. No one wants to rock the boat at that big vote because they don't know what small group they'll be in next week. The split vote tends to be similar.

We got lucky that the tribes were willing to go for the moves this week, but the show will take away the wrong lessons from it.

Shout out to Hunter for bringing his bag and actually retaining the option to play an idol, unlike previous seasons.

 

[CynBeth]

As usual they save the biggest schemer with their thinking we know what that person is like can get him/her out any time and then the person makes it to the end and most of the times wins so wish Venus was gone.

 

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Wow. Wow, wow, wow. I have no idea what happened tonight.

This episode was totally crazy. Q... what!? I can't tell if he was actually saying he wanted to go, then he'll revise his thinking next week in confessional, or if this is his insane way of causing chaos. I can see either way. I do feel like everything he's shown has been revisionist's history. He says one thing, then gives an excuse for why he said that. He feels like he needs to be in control. The moment something is not in his control, he freaks out. It's happened over and over this season. He can not let others have thoughts. He's trying to play the Boston Rob game in an era that does not allow for that. He says he can't have someone who targets the 6 person alliance, only to target someone in the 6 person alliance in back to back episodes. His logic does not make sense. He can't explain his thoughts because there is no explanation. Was Tiff actually going home? Did he save Tiff? I have no idea.

What I do know, is I would be absolutely furious if I was in his alliance. I wouldn't be able to trust him with anything. At Tribal his closest ally, Tiff, found out she was being targeted. And it was Q who told her, when he's the one who threw her name out first! Also, she found out Q told Maria and Charlie about the idol. So stupid!

Side note... and underrated funny moment of this episode was Kenzie saying "ooooh, spicy!" when Tiff told her about the idol. I loved that. Kenzie is great.

As for Tevin going home, he targeted Soda WAY too early. He was itching for a big move, and it sounds like he was distancing himself from Soda before the merge because she was too big of a threat. In hind sight, he probably should have kept her close and used her as a social shield.

This was a quietly great episode for Liz. She has no heat, but she was the one who ultimately got Tevin voted out. According to her, she was the one who should get the credit for Soda (even though the edit told us it was Tevin). I'm just not sure where she goes from here. I can't imagine her being targeted, but does she have any allies? Regardless, she is a phenomenal character, even though she doesn't get screen time.

Along with that, while the first half of the season was a huge drag, we definitely got rid of the dead weight early. The cast from the merge on is fantastic. So many fun characters, and so many fun players.

I loved the hide and seek game. It was so much fun to watch. It was hilarious to see Q and Venus simultaneously narrating how the game was viewed strategically. That had to have been a question asked by producers in their confessionals.

The banter at the challenges is fun this season, too.

I don't even know how to wrap my head around this episode... I'll need to digest some podcasts this week to help. But here are my updated winner rankings. I added how far they moved from last week.

Tier 1 - Favorites
1. Hunter (-)
2. Kenzie (+2)
3. Tiff (-)

Tier 2 - Good Chance to Win
4. Maria (+1)

Tier 3 - Outside Chance
5. Charlie (+2)
6. Liz (+2)

Tier 4 - Not Winning at This Point
7. Q (-1)
8. Venus (+1)

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

The first third of this episode was devoted to Q leading a hide and seek game and drawing ludicrous conclusions from it. I can't tell if any of it is playing up for TV.

Then his craziness at Tribal just cements him as such an erratic and unusual player. Is it hunger? Is he someone who cannot take it when he's not in full control? It's so hard to say.

The alliance of 6 that only ever votes for one of their own is low key hilarious.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

This season is following the trajectory of last year, with an underwhelming pre-merge followed by a really fun post-merge.

Hunter just doesn't seem cut out for this game beyond the challenge prowess. If you reveal an idol, on top of being a challenge threat, you're a bigger threat. You can only bluff with an idol if your opponents lack the numbers to split.

Given how he was in a clear minority last week, he should have gone with his instinct to play it here.

Q is apparently the guy Jeff talked about in the premiere - one of you cannot win - and is now a possibility to be dragged to the end, despite getting four votes tonight.

 

[dmw]

To reveal an idol or not... Most times the strategy to earn trust with a reveal goes bad. Sorry Hunter, that was the dumbest move on your part this week. Another idol goes home as a souvenir.

Going for Q was a bad plan - he is not a threat. They should have kept the plan to get out Tiffany, with a single backup vote for Q. At least that would flush her idol, which she stated she would have played. I don't know which character is more irritating - Tiff and her anger issues, or Q and his chaos.

 

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Busy week... finally getting to my episode breakdown!

This was another really good episode.

It was so interesting how the consensus vote was changed so much. It went from Tiff to Hunter to Q, then seemingly back to Hunter.

Tiff was smart to say she was playing her idol just to get rid of it, even if she didn't intend for it to sway the vote off her. It's a good reasoning, where people can't really take the chance. And I think at the time, she truly meant it, so she was able to fully sell the idea. I was surprised Kenzie initially brought up the idea. I wonder if she knows she hasn't always been Tiff's number one. I just hope it doesn't come back to haunt her, now that Tiff stayed.

Hunter made a huge mistake telling others about his idol. It sounded like they were going to pile the votes on him, and he could have gotten Ben out. I get his logic of trying to build bonds, but I think we're past that era. If someone has an idol, that puts a target on their back. I really don't think idols are a benefit anymore if even a single person knows you have it. They are only beneficial if you are the only person who knows about it. And that's why Hunter made such a bad move. Getting himself another day on the island is more valuable that potentially gaining an ally or two. You're not going to sway enough people to build a majority for the rest of the game, but getting another day gives you another (good) chance at winning immunity, or even finding the idol that was rehidden. And a lot can happen in 24 hours on the island.

I don't think Q was really a plan at that vote. He was the contingency in case Hunter played an idol. He's the safe vote that everyone is okay with going. And if you're Tiff or Kenzie, it's pretty clear Q and you aren't going to work together again, so it makes sense for them. For Maria and Charlie, it makes less sense to vote him out. You want him to help take Tiff and Kenzie apart.

Looking forward from here, I'm liking Maria and Charlie's positions best. I can also see a path for Tiff or Kenzie. I don't see a path for Q or Ben at all to win. Venus is pretty much there, too, but I can see a very, very, very slim scenario where she gets to the end with Liz and Q, having defied the odds of being the unanimous safe vote for several episodes. I also think Liz is going to do something that will get her voted out. She's so concerned about getting credit, and I think she's somehow going to put an unnecessary target on herself. I haven't ruled her out at a winner, because there's a world where she is up against Q and Venus and can articulate that she was actually the reason Tevin was voted out. And maybe she can pulls off one or two more moves before the end. However, if she's not able to convince anyone that it was her move, even though it was, I don't think she would get enough votes to win.

Here are my updated winner rankings...

Tier 1 - Favorites
1. Kenzie (+1)
2. Charlie (+3)
3. Tiff (-)

Tier 2 - Good Chance to Win
4. Maria (-)

Tier 3 - Outside Chance
5. Liz (+1)

Tier 4 - Not Winning at This Point
6. Venus (+2)
7. Q (-)

 

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Some sad Survivor news to share... Sonja Christopher, the first player ever voted out of Survivor, has passed away.