Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 46 as they list their top moments in various important categories. This includes the most essential information, the stand-out castaways, and the key moments from the week.
Here, Christine and Gia break down all the action from the latest episode.
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Top 3 Moments
Venus finds the idol
Gia: With Tiffany being voted out with an idol in her pocket, players rightfully assumed that one would be replanted soon after her departure. This led to a mass idol hunt that left everyone except Liz itching to find it before their opponents. In an exciting turn of events, it was Venus that found the idol. Even better, she was able to throw everyone off the scent right until she implied to Charlie that she had it. Unfortunately, while Venus did learn from her predecessors’ past mistakes and kept the idol a secret for the most part, she didn’t play the idol when she needed it the most.
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Christine: Just when we thought we couldn’t top last week’s reward challenge drama, Maria gave us the rock, paper, scissors match heard around the world. Rather than choose between Liz and Q to join her and Ben on the pizza reward, Maria asked the two to settle it between themselves with a game of rock, paper, scissors. Q won, getting his second major reward in a row and leaving Liz out of the gluten-free pizza party. Independent of the outcome, this was a really poor way for Maria to handle the choice of who to bring with her, as it makes her appear both indecisive and a little cruel, even if that wasn’t her intention.
Charlie makes a choice
Gia: There’s no denying that Charlie was the star of this episode, primarily due to his dilemma with where he finds himself in the game. The finale is a few rounds away, and Charlie is all too aware that Maria remains one of his greatest obstacles to win. He found himself at a crossroads with how to navigate this round. Does he go with his allies’ plan to vote out Venus, or does he take out Maria’s ally Q, potentially ruining their trust? This time, Charlie decided to stick with Siga, but I’d argue that he’s currently in the best spot of all the players, Maria included.
Top 3 Contestants
Charlie
Gia: Currently, no one is in a better position in the game than Charlie. Despite his multiple immunity wins and his original tribe holding the majority, no one seems to be looking at him as a potential target in the near future. Even better, everyone else is making themselves bigger targets, keeping his threat level to a minimum. While things are always changing on Survivor, I think the possibility of Charlie winning the season is remarkably high at this current point.
Maria
Christine: Maria still dominates the game strategically and in challenges, but this week wasn’t perfect for her. Her threat level is sky high, Charlie is considering turning on her in some capacity, and the rock paper scissors debacle really hurt her socially. Still, she got her way and won another immunity to keep herself safe. It’s remarkable how Maria has leveraged her relationships with Charlie and Ben and used Q so effectively these past few votes, and this week was yet another vote where she maintained her tight grip on the game.
Kenzie
Gia: Kenzie was left out of the Tiffany vote, but that doesn’t mean she’s out of the game. She’s using her strong social game and persistence to ensure her safety and hopefully build some new alliances. The interesting thing about Kenzie’s game is that even without the Tiffany blindside on her resume, I do think she has a strong chance of winning if she makes it to the end. Now, the question is if she’ll make it to the end.
Advantage Watch
Idols
Christine: Well…it happened again. We’re now four for four on idols going out in pockets this season, with three going out in a row due to a Q vote smokescreen. At this point, an idol could hardly be classified as an “advantage” at all, given how often a player’s possession of one tends to correlate with overconfident strategic missteps. I predict that in the coming seasons, we might see a shift in how players handle idols in response to what we’ve seen this season. Whether that means caring less about finding them in the first place or playing them more readily, I can’t see this trend continuing for much longer.
Fallen Comrades
Venus
Christine: Venus didn’t make much of an impression on me in her pre-season press, but in the end, she turned out to be a really fun and messy player on a season full of fun and messy players. Venus never found her footing socially, and she made plenty of mistakes this season. The biggest one, of course, was how she handled her conversation with Charlie, where she alluded to the idol just vaguely enough to spook him away from working with her. She would, like so many New Era players, be a strong contender for another Second Chance season down the line, especially given how young she is and how much potential she has to grow and learn from her first game. However, given how difficult her experience with the show has been, it would be more than understandable if she had no interest in returning to play again.
Gia: In a season full of big characters, Venus was without a doubt one of the stars of Survivor 46. She played the game as she lived her life, with resilience and unapologetic flair. One of my favorite aspects of Venus’s game is that regardless of her social standing, she never gave up and fought for her space. Unfortunately, her game ended with a blindside and an idol in her pocket, but her lasting impact will affect players for seasons to come.
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