Survivor 46 Discussion Thread

[CynBeth]

Even though I do not like Venus I agreed with her on what she said about Maria that she said she was going to pick people who really needed to eat which was not the case at all. And making them play that stupid game. She is getting more cocky and obnoxious every week.

 

[CynBeth]

So glad Q is gone. Hope Maria is next.

 

[PUSH]

That's four people voted out with an idol in their pockets... in a row!!! Five total on the season. And 6 total idols found without being played. That is absolutely ridiculous. We will never see anything like this again.

Q was an all-time character. He was a terrible player, but I really liked watching him. His style of gameplay has never been seen before, for good reason, but it's fun to see unique characters after 700+ people have played.

The Maria and Charlie war was so interesting. I'm almost sad we didn't get to see it fully play out. Although next week we may get to see the aftermath now that Charlie knows Maria took her shot and failed. That might be more interesting. Maria has to win immunity or find an idol, or she's gone. If she manages that, Charlie is gone. Then whoever is left of those two will go to fire if they don't win immunity. Kenzie's only hope is to have Charlie and Maria gone in the next two Tribal Councils. She may have a shot against Maria. People like Kenzie, and reactions from the jury tonight led me to believe they aren't huge fans of Maria. Being that mom archetype makes it incredibly hard to win.

I found it interesting that we found out Ben is a solid numbered for Charlie. I had always assumed he and Maria were tight. We just haven't seen much about Ben's status in the game.

Liz also continues to be a hilarious side character. Her storyline has been how she's rich, she doesn't get food, and the slow progression of her digestive system. She's so much fun.

Here are my updated winner rankings...

Tier 1 - Favorites
1. Charlie (-)
2. Maria (-)
3. Kenzie (-)

Tier 2 - Good Chance to Win
None

Tier 3 - Outside Chance
None

Tier 4 - Not Winning at This Point
4. Ben (same placement, but moved down a tier)
5. Liz (-)

My prediction is that Charlie wins. My hope is that Kenzie wins. I had dubbed Kenzie as a favorite in the preseason, but I didn't pick her because I felt she was too obvious. I should have went with my gut.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

This is why Survivor has endured. Just when you think you've seen it all, four people with idols go home in a row. If you scripted this, you'd be laughed out of the room. It's why reality TV is so fun.

I agree that it has to come down to Charlie, Maria, or Kenzie. There's just no other outcome that would make sense based on what we have seen.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

In international news, rumour is that Survivor Australia is planning an Australia vs USA season to film this year and air in 2025, so we could get returning American players before Survivor 50.

Curious what the format will be. Survivor AU does longer seasons lasting up to 50 days, and no runner up prizes. I imagine any desire to include Americans would require a shorter game and more prize money.

 

[PUSH]

In international news, rumour is that Survivor Australia is planning an Australia vs USA season to film this year and air in 2025, so we could get returning American players before Survivor 50.

Curious what the format will be. Survivor AU does longer seasons lasting up to 50 days, and no runner up prizes. I imagine any desire to include Americans would require a shorter game and more prize money.

The report I saw says it's contingent on if they can find enough players willing. There was speculation that some players won't want to go because it could affect their chances at season 50. I also saw they would likely shorten the season.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

The report I saw says it's contingent on if they can find enough players willing. There was speculation that some players won't want to go because it could affect their chances at season 50. I also saw they would likely shorten the season.

Johnny Fairplay has hosted some viewing parties in Australia and he's exactly the kind of big character Survivor AU loves. I could see him being an obvious recruit, and someone with zero chance of being in 50 due to quitting.

Australia also doesn't have the same diversity commitment the USA does. That means a good number of people from before season 41 would be less likely to make the cut for 50, and AU could scoop some of them up.

 

[CynBeth]

Glad the season is over did not care for most of the cast.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

This seems to have come down to the simple truth that Survivor often comes down to who the jury liked the most. They'll ask their questions and elicit responses but being a charismatic person can supersede all other considerations.

Kudos to Kenzie for saying, this money is for me. Not to call anyone a liar, but platitudes about helping family and donating to charity often feel like mandatory answers.

Q came across as insufferable. Had to make the final tribal all about himself.

A lot of people were predicting a tie vote, and it almost came to be. You know the producers are tuned into social media when they even tease the possibility as a red herring.

Everyone will say Kenzie had an obvious winners edit. That's not untrue, but I thought it was pretty balanced overall.

 

[PUSH]

Kenzie is a good winner. Is she great? Probably not. She is a exceptional social player, though. Charlie would have also been a good winner. Charlie was solid in all three categories: social, strategic, and physical. And like it was said before, it often comes down to who is most liked, and then the finds reasons to justify the vote. For example, Gabler was more well-liked, and the jury used fire and the Elie vote to justify it.

Rob Cesternino has been saying this season that there are players who can just win by getting to the final three, even if they don't do a whole lot. Kenzie is one of those people. She has an amazing charisma, and people are drawn to her. She was probably the most popular name at pregame Ponderosa that people were saying they wanted to work with. Then there are others who have to do something in order to win... for example, Charlie. I don't know if Charlie had that one big thing on his resume. He had a lot of little influence, and he did it beautifully, but someone like him needs a splashy play. I do think Rob is on to something with that logic. The criteria for winning is not the same for each player. They all have different rubrics.

I don't think anyone had a terrible final Tribal Council, but I also don't think anyone blew it out of the water. Kenzie had the advantage with her social charm. I also liked the format of the jury. They each got to ask a specific question, and the final three had to answer. But it was still open where the other jurors could chime in and cross-reference what they said. It was a mix of the old and the new final Tribal format. I thought it worked really well. I hope they keep it going forward.

The after show was boring. With everything that went on, they talked about all the boring stuff. The "several" thing also isn't as funny when Jeff tries to force it.

The most interesting thing from the finale was Maria voting for Kenzie. I'm not saying she should have voted for Charlie based on their friendship, but it was so interesting. I feel like there's more to it. I haven't listened to the post game interviews yet, so maybe I'll learn more there.

Overall, this season was decent. I'll finalize my rankings later, but this was a tale of two halves. The pre-merge was atrocious. Some of the worst Survivor I've ever seen, specifically in that two-episode stretch with Bhanu. But then we had probably the best run of the new era shortly after the merge. When I put it all together, it's probably a middle of the pack season. I just can't get over how bad the early episodes were.

I will also do my player and winner rankings soon. My gut says Kenzie will be an average winner. I don't feel like there were any top 25 players for sure, and really probably not even top 50 all-time. But I'll have to look at the names I have in those spots.

It's always fun to see the finale, but then there's the stretch of year without Survivor. And this is the long haul... I'm already looking forward to Survivor 47... there are some familiar faces on the season if you follow RHAP.

 

[PUSH]

Here are my rankings...

I have Survivor 46 ranked as the 26th best season. Ahead of The Australian Outback, but behind San Juan del Sur.

I have Kenzie ranked as the 21st best winner, ranked ahead of Sandra (HvV), but behind JT.

In my all-time player rankings, Kenzie ranked highest at #43 overall. Maria was next at #86. Charlie is #111. Tiffany was at #166, and Tevin at #198. My lowest ranked player was Bhanu at #691. Only 6 players rank below him, and three of them quit. One of them was voted out for being racist. And another was pulled from the game for inappropriately touching women.

Overall, this is one of the lower ranking casts I can remember. There were a lot of very fun characters (Venus, Q, Liz), but they were all pretty bad players.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

The most interesting thing from the finale was Maria voting for Kenzie. I'm not saying she should have voted for Charlie based on their friendship, but it was so interesting. I feel like there's more to it. I haven't listened to the post game interviews yet, so maybe I'll learn more there.

That's an interesting one. From what snippets I've read Charlie says they aren't on good terms. Had it been a tie Charlie would have won with Ben's vote.

It's not like she was the only one to vote Kenzie, but I imagine she'll take the most flack from certain vocal fans.

Between that and making Liz play rock/paper/scissors for the reward, when she clearly needed it more than Q, I don't think Maria will be a fan favourite in general.

 

[PUSH]

That's an interesting one. From what snippets I've read Charlie says they aren't on good terms. Had it been a tie Charlie would have won with Ben's vote.

It's not like she was the only one to vote Kenzie, but I imagine she'll take the most flack from certain vocal fans.

Between that and making Liz play rock/paper/scissors for the reward, when she clearly needed it more than Q, I don't think Maria will be a fan favourite in general.

I think she was the best player overall this season. It clearly showed by the lengths they went to get her out.

You could tell Charlie was hurting bad when he didn't win. I get it from his perspective. They played pretty much the same game. They were tight allies. And she said she would vote for him in the end. But if they're truly not on good terms, I feel like there has to be something more.

Again, I'm not blaming Maria. She can vote for whoever she wants. It's just very interesting. I don't know if we've ever witnessed something like this. And that's what's great about Survivor and reality TV in general... it's the same format, but you always have different outcomes. 46 seasons in, and there are still unique personalities and decisions being made.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I think she was the best player overall this season. It clearly showed by the lengths they went to get her out.

You could tell Charlie was hurting bad when he didn't win. I get it from his perspective. They played pretty much the same game. They were tight allies. And she said she would vote for him in the end. But if they're truly not on good terms, I feel like there has to be something more.

Again, I'm not blaming Maria. She can vote for whoever she wants. It's just very interesting. I don't know if we've ever witnessed something like this. And that's what's great about Survivor and reality TV in general... it's the same format, but you always have different outcomes. 46 seasons in, and there are still unique personalities and decisions being made.

It's one of the more interesting final results we've seen.

Charlie played a pretty flawless game from what we saw. As a fan of strategy I rank it above Kenzie's game as portrayed.

Juries are human and emotional. Kenzie was seen as more in need than a young guy in law school for some people.

Is that how I would have hypothetically voted? In theory, no, but I'm sure the actual experience is very different.

It comes down to how Jeff has always described it, you have to convince a jury to vote for you. There are so many ways to do that and figuring out what the jury wants is hard.

Sometimes a player like Maria will vote for Charlie because it validates her game. Sometimes, they don't. If it was consistent or easy to predict the show would likely be less interesting.

I still think Kenzie's reply about the money was an all time great one. The jury probably wants to hear how you're going to do some good things with it. It might be a lie, but they don't want to hear how you're going to buy a yacht. Kenzie pointed out how she has put other people first at her own expense, which was no doubt appealing and freed to her to be honest and say, year I'm here to earn money for myself, which is probably true of most of the people there.

Was this the purest end game we've seen in a while? No idols or advantages impacted the outcomes. And it was still a great season. Producers take note.

 

[PUSH]

The Sia Award has officially ended, according to Jeff Probst's Instagram. She has given over a million dollars away over the past 14 seasons.

 

[RealPetty43]

I hope the next season and beyond that they don’t allow the question about if you win what will you do with the money. It has nothing to do with outwit outplay and outlast. To trash someone’s efforts because of a sob story is not what the show is about. I feel for Kenzie but she won unfairly.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I hope the next season and beyond that they don’t allow the question about if you win what will you do with the money. It has nothing to do with outwit outplay and outlast. To trash someone’s efforts because of a sob story is not what the show is about. I feel for Kenzie but she won unfairly.

Despite the show's tagline and emphasis on Outwit, Outlast, and Outplay, it's not the deciding factor.

The jury decides what the winning conditions are. Not Jeff. Not the show.

You win by convincing a majority of the jury to vote for you.

The challenge is to figure out what the jury values and meet those expectations.

Survivor will never have a jury in the way a real world jury exists, where you're expected to vote based on clearly defined laws.

It's not a question I love, and would theoretically not consider a factor in how I would vote on a Survivor jury. It is, however, something many of the human emotional jury members do consider and therefore a valid question in my opinion.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

The Sia Award has officially ended, according to Jeff Probst's Instagram. She has given over a million dollars away over the past 14 seasons.

I'm not mad about it.

It kind of undermined the show a bit by moving players up in a season ranking in terms of prize money.

It may have contributed a bit to people playing up a character versus playing to win as well.

 

[PUSH]

Despite the show's tagline and emphasis on Outwit, Outlast, and Outplay, it's not the deciding factor.

The jury decides what the winning conditions are. Not Jeff. Not the show.

You win by convincing a majority of the jury to vote for you.

The challenge is to figure out what the jury values and meet those expectations.

Survivor will never have a jury in the way a real world jury exists, where you're expected to vote based on clearly defined laws.

It's not a question I love, and would theoretically not consider a factor in how I would vote on a Survivor jury. It is, however, something many of the human emotional jury members do consider and therefore a valid question in my opinion.

I agree with this 100%. It's why I believe every winner deserves their win, because it's up to the jury. If you got the majority of the jury to vote for you, then you are deserving. Survivor has never laid out rules for how the jury must vote.

 

[PUSH]

I'm not mad about it.

It kind of undermined the show a bit by moving players up in a season ranking in terms of prize money.

It may have contributed a bit to people playing up a character versus playing to win as well.

I could take it or leave it. It was kind of fun to predict who would get the Sia money, and it made for some fun on the podcasts.