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 last episode.
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Top 3 Moments
Malcolm and Denise 2.0?
Gia: With all of the mess that is occurring between Yanu and Nami, Siga has been appointed the “Good Vibes Tribe” by default. This point was only further validated by the Metallica vs. Taylor Swift song-off we saw between Ben and Charlie. However, strategy is still alive and well within the green tribe with Charlie and Maria at the center of it all.
They likened themselves to Malcolm and Denise of Survivor: Philippines fame, which certainly gives them some big shoes to fill. Should Siga continue to be safe from tribal, I can definitely see them as the only tribe potentially interested in working together. If this prediction is true, then perhaps this comparison isn’t too far off from the end game of 46.
An unlikely duo
Christine: Last episode, Randen really seemed to be setting himself up for a rivalry with Venus, targeting her almost immediately for being a threatening Parvati-esque figure. This week, he found the Beware clue and lost his vote, with no chance to get it back until his tribe loses immunity. Suddenly powerless on the tribe, Randen decided he needed an ally in his corner – and, in the biggest twist of the episode, turned to Venus and told her about his situation, giving Venus some much-needed hope about her position on the tribe. Needless to say, this is a duo that Nami is unlikely to see coming.
PERSISTENCE!
Christine: The grand set piece of this episode was the intense, physically demanding immunity challenge puzzle. Requiring players to use their bodies and work together to build an arch spelling “PERSISTENCE” on both sides, this puzzle was a real pleasant surprise in the New Era, where so many of the immunity challenges end with 1-2 people doing a pretty boring puzzle. This looked genuinely difficult and required real teamwork to accomplish, leading to a lot of yelling, frustration, and Yanu’s second immunity loss in a row.
Tribe Breakdown
Nami
Christine: While Yanu is the trainwreck tribe, Nami is certainly giving them a run for their money in the interpersonal drama department. With Venus already on the outs (barring her unexpected alliance with Randen), this tribal divide of “Us vs. Venus” deepened again in this episode. Between Soda trying to take the tribal immunity idol out of Venus’ hands for the second time and the discourse surrounding Venus getting her toe crushed by the wagon, Nami was far from kumbaya as far as Venus is concerned.
Siga
Nami is a mess that keeps winning challenges, while Yanu is a mess that keeps losing challenges. Siga… well, they keep coming in second, and the edit has given them the goofball edit out of the three tribes. That doesn’t mean that there is no strategy happening on Siga, but it’s certainly not getting the airtime that a song-off does. I’m obsessed with the juxtaposition between Siga and the other two teams. Yanu and Nami may be the two tribes providing the drama, but Siga is probably the tribe you actually want to be on as a contestant.
Yanu
Gia: With two losses in a row, Yanu is one more loss away from officially being the Lulu of the season. Jess’ position in the tribe only got worse after losing Jelinsky and losing another challenge, Bhanu imploded at tribal council, and even the core three of the tribe are contemplating betraying one another. Just when we think Yanu can’t become any more chaotic, a different tribe member proves them wrong. No matter what happens in the next episode, I’m sure they’ll have us on the edge of our seats.
Top 3 Contestants
Kenzie
Gia: Kenzie’s game has been up and down since the beginning, but she’s still in the game and that’s what matters. Her core four in Yanu quickly turned into three after Jelinsky was voted out in the premiere, but it’s hard to tell where she stands now. She has the flexibility and personality to work with almost anybody, but her game has been compromised by this in the process, especially after Jess told Q that she threw his name out for a possible blindside.
There’s no denying that Kenzie has already been one of the most prominent presences on the season so far, but currently I wouldn’t be surprised if she is on the chopping block soon. Nevertheless, her longevity in the game may depend on what her allies Q and Tiffany want for their games (more so Tiffany).
Venus
Christine: While things are still dire for Venus, she had a bit of a turnaround this week with Randen deciding to reverse course and work with her after all. As a viewer, it’s still not entirely clear why her tribemates dislike her to the point where she was so immediately on the outs, but it truly just seems like a basic personality clash is at play here.
It’s hard to see someone socially ostracized on Survivor, but it really takes us back to the old-school days when the game was truly a “social experiment” above all else. If Nami keeps winning challenges, Venus’ underdog story could have some real legs if she can leverage being on the outs of Nami to put herself in a swing position at the merge. That’s looking a bit too far in the future, though. Nami could still very well lose a challenge or two, and Venus needs to do some real work to get herself in a stronger position rather than only having Randen in her corner.
Tiffany
Gia: Whether Yanu loses the next challenge or not, the fate of the tribe and its players is going to come down to Tiffany (and potentially her idol). She already found her idol in record time, and now she’s playing the middle between her alliance members Q and Kenzie. Her breakdown after the challenge was the most poignant part of the episode for me and invited us into a deeper look at the multi-faceted player Tiffany is. While I worry about the fates of Bhanu, Q, and Kenzie in the game, Tiffany remains the one whose safety I’m confident in for the time being.
Fallen Comrades
Jess
Christine: After her premiere episode, Jess really needed to work some magic if she wanted to survive another vote on Yanu. She had a potential opening here when Kenzie decided to approach her and Bhanu to keep her options open, and Jess tried to use this to open up a crack in the majority. But Jess’ other struggles ended up being just too much to overcome, even as Bhanu painted a target on himself during tribal council.
It just wasn’t a good run for Jess out there. Maybe if her tribe had won this second challenge, she would’ve been able to get acclimated and find a way to move forward in the game, but it just wasn’t in the cards for her this time around.
Gia: Jess was one of the players I was most excited to see from the pre-season press, and she did not disappoint in her two-episode run. Her time on the show may have been short, but she was every bit the one-of-a-kind personality she was touted as before the premiere. She was authentically herself every step of the way, which is one of the things I liked the most about her. It’s still unfortunate to lose her so soon, but it is a comfort to know that she has officially joined the iconic 17th place club.
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