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
Who the hell voted for Venus?!
Gia: Moriah’s near-unanimous vote could’ve only been stopped by a successful Shot in the Dark play. Of course, in the event that the Shot in the Dark was successful, it made sense for someone to cast a safety vote. In this case, Charlie cast one for Venus. Venus was not a fan and immediately accused Soda of being the rogue vote. It ended up being Charlie, which he told Venus. Either way, the damage was done, and Nami’s cracks were blown wider than ever.
Let’s Play the Alphabet Game
Gia: It must get boring standing out in the ocean for an undetermined amount of time, right? Luckily, the Survivor 46 cast has Q to defeat that boredom, though maybe not in the way he intended. He suggested playing the Alphabet game, but none of the contestants were playing it the right way. This led to a series of mishaps that left Jeff and myself cackling. Some appeared to be genuine mistakes, but from the look of Charlie’s face to the camera, it’s safe to say that at least one person was looking to mess with Coach Q in the process.
Venus’ Plan Succeeds (Kind Of)
Christine: In one of our split tribal groups, we had Charlie, Liz, Maria, Tevin, and Soda, who treated us to what I would consider the best split tribal vote we’ve gotten since this twist was introduced in the New Era. With Maria immune and Nami in the majority, all hope seemed lost for Charlie until Nami imploded. Soda tried to get the vote on Venus, Venus tried to get the vote on Tevin or Soda, and Tevin toyed with getting Soda out as well.
While Tevin and Venus both wanted Soda out, Tevin’s social capital made the vote happen, even if he ultimately threw his vote on Venus instead. Venus, however, took credit for the vote at tribal because she did get her way, even if it wasn’t fully by her own hand. Tevin, for his part, hilariously mouthed “no” in response to her claiming credit.
Top 3 Contestants
Maria
Christine: Maria not only won immunity this week but also managed to not lose Charlie while also having a lot of power at this critical vote to eliminate Soda. Maria may not have handled her conversation with Venus in the best way, but Venus didn’t exactly handle it well, either. Maria is undoubtedly in a power position and a major threat to beat, and she’ll likely be perfectly fine moving forward even after losing her “number 3” Tim at the other tribal. The cross-tribal alliance from the journey she got roped into is pretty much dead, but Maria never needed it all that much, anyway.
Tevin
Gia: It’s been established that Tevin is in an exceptionally good place within the Nami tribe, which only made the tribe divisions even more in his favor in this episode. This week, he finally carried out the blindside he had been contemplating for several days, which was taking out Soda. In reality, this move was just a reflection of Tevin’s grip on the game. It seemed to go relatively smoothly, albeit possibly to his detriment. I worry he made the wrong decision to keep Venus or Charlie over Soda, but if anyone can make blindsiding an ally work in his favor, it’s Tevin.
Q
Christine: Oh, Q. He has all the makings of a strong Survivor player, but he just can’t help himself from stepping up as a leader and putting himself under too big of a spotlight. After apparently throwing the challenge, setting himself up well for this vote, and clocking that Tim was not a trustworthy ally long-term, his flip-flopping about the Ben vs. Tim question with Kenzie and Tiff really set him up for some potential trouble down the line. Q has a lot of power and influence and he’s exerting it, but his messy strategizing with his closest allies may shorten his life in the game if he doesn’t quickly do some damage control.
Advantage Watch
Extra Vote
Christine: Another week, another vote, another time Tevin’s Extra Vote isn’t mentioned. Tune in next week to see if it will ever end up being relevant!
Idols
Gia: Both idols were on the orange team this episode, with Hunter and Tiffany randomly assigned to the same tribe. While Hunter toyed with the idea of playing his idol, he ultimately (and correctly) decided not to.
Fallen Comrades
Tim & Soda
Christine: Tim’s exit here felt like a major possibility ever since the last episode with his fumble regarding not telling Maria about their cross-tribal alliance, and he only further sealed his fate this week when he so blatantly turned on that same alliance to Q’s face. Soda’s exit, on the other hand, was a bit surprising. We saw the seeds being planted in the pre-merge from Tevin, but this felt like a move that we’d see from him at F8 or later rather than at this split tribal.
I understand the thought process behind Soda being a potential social threat, but it seems a bit shortsighted to take her out so early when she could otherwise be a loyal vote for at least another vote or two. But Nami didn’t have the luxury of testing their pre-merge bonds at tribal, so it makes sense that Tevin would be unsure about how much he could trust her.
Gia: Another double tribal council in the books, and we go from 12 players left in the game to 10. I have to admit, I wasn’t shocked to lose Tim here, but Soda going at this point was a surprise. Tim was a quirky player who was 100% himself every step of the way. I enjoyed his time in the game and the numerous times he made me laugh. Soda was an unapologetic force, a social threat, and that’s probably why she left when she did. While Tim is our final pre-juror (a format change I still hate), we can still look forward to Soda serving looks in the jury as the mayor of Ponderosa.
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