Survivor 46 Continues to Heat Up
Bonkers is the most perfect word to describe the chaos from tonight's episode
It’s clear I am not the only person to feel this way, but the latest episode of Survivor 46 was bonkers – and in the best way possible! Episode 8 kicked it into the highest of gears, finishing off with a crazy tribal council after a wild episode of strategizing, plans, and then switching plans. But what plan actually ended up happening?
“The most bonkers thing I would’ve expected tonight.” – Ben Katzman, Siga (green) tribe, Survivor 46 episode 8
What Happened to Kick Off Such a Wild Episode of Survivor 46?
First, let’s start out the episode with Venus taking credit for Soda’s blindside, while calling out Tevin publicly for casting a vote against her. She also stated in confessional how inept he was at the strategic gameplay. On top of that, Liz showed her frustrations with Venus and Tevin for taking their own credit in Soda’s blindside, even though she’s (supposedly) been saying her name from the start.
Yes, watching Tevin laugh in confessional after being cast as oblivious in the Soda vote-out was excellent editing and fantastic television. But, and this is a big but, hearing Liz’s disapproval of Tevin’s claim to fame for voting out Soda sent up alarm bells. Not that it feels like we’ve seen a lot from Liz in Survivor 46 (so far), it seemed like she had a lot of activity in this episode, which left her displeasure as a bit of a warning sign.
The Cast of Survivor 46 Came to Play
Has any other group in Survivor history ever played hide-and-seek before Survivor 46? Can someone fact check me, please? If any other person was on this season and they had an opportunity to decompress to go play hide-and-seek, wouldn’t we all say yes?
Do I think analyzing whether or not players hiding or finding people well means anything in regards to a person’s gameplay, like Q and Venus do? No. I’m 6-foot-5 and I somehow sneak up on people walking down a hallway, when I’m not trying to do anything. That doesn’t mean I’m sneaky – it just means I surprised someone. So, if someone hides well, doesn’t hide well, finds someone, or doesn’t find someone, it doesn’t necessarily mean that translates to the game of Survivor.
However, perception is a big part of the game – and if Q and Venus have those perceptions of players, then that’s all they need to give a little nudge or a wink to other players to recognize those same perceptions. All it takes is saying the wrong thing and you can be voted out of the best reality TV show. Heck, people have been “swap screwed” and didn’t say anything wrong, so someone perceiving another’s gameplay based on hide-and-seek could be a legitimate concern.
Also, who had Hunter winning immunity and then hanging upside down by only his legs on their bingo card? The individual immunity challenge was a classic; who can hold onto a very tall pole the longest? If Hunter climbing up a tree during hide-and-seek was any indication on how well he would do in the challenge, well, let’s just call that excellent foreshadowing.
Wait, Who Wants Who to Go Home?
We already heard Liz’s talk of Tevin, but we also witnessed Q talk openly with others about getting Tiffany out of the game. After last week’s episode, Tim was voted out after he wanted to go against “the 6” and vote out Hunter. That sent up alarm bells and he was sent packing. Tonight, Tiffany mentioned wanting to vote out Maria and Q was having déjà vu all over again.
Not only did we see the supposed group of 6 want to take out one of its own (again), Tevin (also in the 6) was being targeted by Liz. It’s clear this hidden alliance is tenuous, but two of its members being the primary targets shows how much of a “group” they truly are. Then, we get to tribal council and Q tells everyone to vote him out. Uh, what? Will we find out that this was all a ploy, because it seemed like he was ready to go because he couldn’t control every single vote?
Everyone in tribal council was shocked by this announcement and the reactions were equally telling. During the vote, Kenzie’s said, “This was the dumbest thing ever.” Immediately after her, Ben said, “Dumbest tribal ever.” Even Jeff Probst referenced tonight’s tribal council as one of the craziest he’s ever seen, which clearly was highlighted by everyone’s reactions.
On top of that, there was a massive blindside. Yes, Tevin went home, but was this a move just to make a move?
Are Alliances Turning Too Soon?
It was surprising to see Liz and Q lead the charge to vote out their number one alliance members. Although we could possibly understand Q’s perspective, because we’ve seen more from Yanu and how his mindset works within this season’s game, we haven’t gotten as full of a picture from Liz. It doesn’t mean her (or Q’s) thought processes weren’t valid. It does bring up the question of whether or not this kind of move is too soon, just right, or too late.
Based off what we’ve seen on TV, it’s hard to tell what Liz’s gameplay has been to this point. With this minimal amount of airtime, do the other castaways have a similar feeling of her presence in this season? It’s not always easy to read who might win a season of Survivor, so lack of screen time does not always equate to winning or losing. Pushing out your number one ally too soon could be a reason to think twice before putting pen to parchment.
From the castaway’s (and viewer’s) perspective, they could now see Liz as a potential threat because they can now see she’s playing the game. Without her closest ally in the game, will that lead her to become another easy pick to vote-out next? On the flipside, Q (unless it was a ploy), appeared to burn bridges in this episode. From spilling the beans about Tiffany’s idol, telling Hunter the plan about Tevin, and wanting to vote out his number one ally, Q doesn’t appear to be in the best position right now.
If next week’s episode is anything like episode 8, Survivor 46 could elevate its overall status amongst other seasons as its second half (or post-merge) episodes continue to ramp up higher and higher.