Hello all, welcome back to the Edit Bay! This weekly feature takes a dive into the edit of the latest Survivor episode, analyzing the key stories, main characters, and top winner contenders.
For those new to The Edit Bay, it is a condensed version of Edgic, highlighting some of the stand-out story beats from the most recent episode. It also includes my weekly Edgic ratings for each castaway at the end of the article.
OVERVIEW
The latest episode was very much the Q and Liz show, and how couldn’t it be? That reward challenge moment will go down in Survivor history alongside some of the show’s most epic meltdowns. But, ultimately, this is all distraction, and, as things stand, the edit is still pointing towards two top contenders.
As I said last week, Kenzie and Charlie stand out amongst the pack. They have the cleanest, most winner-like edits of those remaining. That said, this week wasn’t the best for either, at least on paper. Charlie’s edit was very quiet and took a backseat to Maria. Kenzie, meanwhile, was shown to be out of the loop and on the back foot.
But even with those potential setbacks, Kenzie and Charlie’s edits are still stronger overall than anyone else left in the game. Now, it will be all about who increases their complexity and positivity in this final stretch, which has become a trend for new-era winners.
Let’s break down the final seven.
CHARLIE
This was a rare UTR episode for Charlie, who, until now, has been a consistent presence, often narrating scenes or leading them strategically. Here, however, he took a backseat to his ‘ride or die’ Maria as she put the Tiffany blindside in motion. His only real strategic content was talking about preventing Tifanny and Q from winning immunity and how he’d practiced his grip strength before coming to the island.
So, was his lack of presence in this episode a bad thing? I don’t think so. Until now, Charlie has been the main focus of his duo, the one with the more complex content, the one proposing plans and sharing his whys and hows. All the while, Maria had been pushed into a secondary, sidekick kind of role. So why were the roles suddenly reversed here? I mean, Charlie was in on the Tiffany vote, so the edit could surely have presented it from his perspective if it wanted to.
That, to me, suggests the Tiffany blindside is going to end up backfiring on the duo. And Maria is likely the one to take the heat for it. Positioning Maria as the driving force behind the vote sets her up to be targeted in the coming episodes as the next big threat. All the while, Charlie can dodge the backlash and slide on through.
If the tide does turn against Maria, it will be interesting to see Charlie’s role in the story. Will he be swept up with her? Or will he swim for safety and allow his number one ally to sink? I think that could give Charlie a very interesting endgame narrative.
MARIA
On paper, this was a great episode for Maria. She finally received some much-needed complex content and fulfilled a lot of that early promise we saw in the early pre-merge. Unfortunately, I think it’s come a little too late and more likely sets up her downfall as opposed to pushing her to victory.
As she said throughout this episode, the Tiffany move was a big risk, one that could make or break her game. Sadly for Maria, I think it’ll end up breaking it. There had to be a reason the edit suddenly shifted focus to Maria and left Charlie in the background, despite both wanting Tiffany out and Charlie being the lead up until now. This seemed to be intentional to foreshadow Maria becoming targeted due to this move.
Maria herself set this up in the previous episode; she acknowledged how Kenzie taking out Tiffany would put a target on Kenzie’s back that they could exploit. Well, that same thing might now happen to Maria.
If Maria’s edit had been more consistent, I’d have felt very differently about this episode. In another world, this could have been that game-winning move edit. But with the way her edit fell off in the post-merge, and how Charlie has been presented (and protected), I can’t help but see this as doom for Maria’s story.
KENZIE
This was a very mixed episode for Kenzie, perhaps her weakest of the season. She did get to explain why she backed off the Tiffany blindside. But she also acknowledged the importance of taking out your number one and how it’s a resume builder. She has now missed that opportunity.
For most of her episode, Kenzie was focused on Q and how much he annoyed her and deserved to be sent home. Nothing particularly complex here. She also misread that Q had given up when, in reality, he was still plotting and scheming and ended up as part of the Tiffany blindside.
So, where does her edit go from here? Well, Kenzie is now back in that familiar Yanu underdog position. And she’s still there with her long-time enemy Q. Given her focus and complexity across the season, I think this is enough for a solid endgame narrative. She has that underdog rootability to push through, especially due to her social game (which has been highlighted throughout the season). And we also have the foreshadowing of her causing Q’s downfall.
It could also be argued that showing Kenzie on board with the Tiffany blindside in the previous episode was a form of protection. Even though she was out of the loop on the blindside in this episode, the audience knew she was fine with Tiffany being cut. Plus, if the Tiffany vote does lead to Maria becoming target number one, this also helps Kenzie recover and adopt that scrappy underdog position ahead of the finale.
BEN
Ben’s edit is still pretty lowkey for someone with such a big personality. Even though he has a lot of positivity and is clearly well-liked by his tribemates, I just feel like there would be more complexity and visibility had he been the winner. Maybe they’re saving it all for a late-game surge, but it seems a bit too late for that at this point.
His content here was mostly about being annoyed at Q for not taking Liz on reward and wanting to vote him out because of it. And then later, he agreed with Maria that Tiffany and her idol were bigger threats than Q. But we never get full, in-depth confessionals from Ben about his plans, who he considers his closest allies, who he wants in the end, etc.
He could still have a key role in these remaining episodes, though. We still have the foreshadowing from Maria that keeping Ben around could be dangerous later in the game, especially because of how close he and Charlie are. If the tide does shift against Maria, could Charlie and Ben choose to jump off the sinking ship? It would certainly fit the narrative.
LIZ
This was a massive episode for Liz, one that will likely have cemented her as a memorable character for years to come. Her outburst was obviously OTT, and I think the overall reaction (from the audience and her tribemates) showed her tone to be Mixed. She had support, especially from the likes of Ben, but Q’s reasons for not picking her were also justified.
As for where Liz’s edit is heading? Honestly, I still have no idea, other than I don’t see her as the winner. Could she be a FTC loser? I think it’s certainly possible. But she could just as easily be the Final 4 fire-making loser (we did see her trying and failing to make fire in this episode) or booted in the next episode. Who knows?
Q
Q has undoubtedly become the star of the season, but him winning at this point would be a bigger shock than Gabler’s win a couple seasons ago. I do think the edit gave him some leeway in this episode when they could have easily portrayed him as straight-up OTTN. He explained his reasons for not selecting Liz, and it was justified. And he was also showed as still playing despite others thinking he’d checked out.
Like Liz, Q’s ultimate narrative conclusion is hard to place. With all the negativity, he could easily be a FTC loser. But I’m still leaning towards Venus taking that FTC loser spot. And I’m not so sure there will be two FTC goats. That’s not the way the new-era tends to edit, as they like to present two competitive finalists and then one no-chancer. So it makes more sense for a Kenzie & Charlie/Kenzie & Ben/Ben & Charlie to be at the end with a Venus or Liz or Q.
Ultimately, I think Q’s game will finally catch up to him before the FTC when those remaining finally decide they’ve had enough of his antics.
VENUS
This was a surprisingly quiet episode for Venus, her first with zero confessionals. Venus has very much operated that antagonistic role throughout the season, often shown as a drama-causer. But in an episode where Q and Liz were causing plenty of drama of their own, perhaps Venus was due a week off.
I still think Venus fits Jeff’s opening monologue about the player who makes the end but has no chance of winning because their personality just doesn’t mesh with this group. Venus fits that role better than anyone else, even Q and Liz. Despite Liz’s recent outbursts, we’ve seen her tribemates back her up. And even Q, who has frustrated people endlessly, has been able to make allies and forge bonds (hell, Maria called him a “good person” in this episode).
On the other hand, Venus hasn’t been shown to make an ally since Randen in the early pre-merge. And even that relationship started out antagonistic. When she has reached out to form an alliance or make a move, she’s been brushed aside or placated, only to be mocked behind her back. We’ve been shown over and over again that the other players don’t take her seriously, even when she’s made valid points. So, yeah, that screams FTC loser to me.
Top Contenders
Kenzie, Charlie.
EDGIC CHART
| Name | EP 1 | EP 2 | EP 3 | EP 4 | EP 5 | EP 6 | EP 7 | EP 8 | EP 9 | EP 10 | EP 11 | EP 12 | EP 13 | EP 14 |
 Ben |
OTTP3 | OTTP3 | MOR4 | UTR2 | MORP4 | UTR1 | OTTP3 | UTRP1 | MOR2 | UTR2 | ||||
 Charlie |
CP3 | CPP4 | UTR2 | MOR3 | CP4 | MOR3 | CP4 | CP4 | MOR3 | UTR2 | ||||
 Kenzie |
CP4 | CPM5 | MORM4 | MORM4 | OTTP4 | MOR3 | CPP4 | MOR2 | CP4 | MOR3 | ||||
 Liz |
UTRN2 | OTTN2 | MOR3 | UTR2 | UTR1 | UTR1 | UTR2 | CP3 | MORP2 | OTTM5 | ||||
 Maria |
MORP3 | MOR2 | INV | MORP3 | MOR3 | MOR2 | MOR3 | UTR2 | MOR2 | CP4 | ||||
 Q |
MOR3 | CP4 | CPM5 | CP4 | CPP3 | CP5 | OTTN4 | OTTM5 | OTTN4 | CPM4 | ||||
 Venus |
MORN3 | CPM4 | MOR3 | UTR1 | MORN2 | CPN4 | CPN4 | OTTN4 | MORN3 | UTR1 | ||||
 Tiffany |
MOR4 | MORP5 | MOR4 | MOR4 | MORP3 | MOR3 | MOR3 | CPN3 | OTTN4 | MOR3 | ||||
 Hunter |
CP2 | UTR1 | CPP2 | UTR1 | CP5 | MOR4 | MOR2 | MOR2 | CPM3 | |||||
 Tevin |
CP4 | MOR2 | UTR1 | CPP3 | UTR1 | MOR3 | CP3 | MORN3 | ||||||
 Soda |
MOR3 | MORN3 | INV | MORM3 | UTR1 | UTR2 | MOR3 | |||||||
 Tim |
MOR2 | UTR1 | INV | UTR1 | MOR3 | CPN4 | MORN2 | |||||||
 Moriah |
MORP2 | UTR1 | UTR1 | OTT3 | MOR3 | CP4 | ||||||||
 Jem |
MOR2 | UTR1 | MOR3 | CP4 | CPN5 | |||||||||
 Bhanu |
MORP4 | OTTN4 | OTTM5 | OTTM5 | ||||||||||
 Randen |
UTRN1 | CP3 | OTTP3 | |||||||||||
 Jess |
OTTM4 | OTTM4 | ||||||||||||
 Jelinsky |
OTTN5 |
Written by
actually this is the second episode without a confessional for Venus. She also didnt receive one in ep. 4
I agree with the Charlie/Kenzie clash. The feeling I keep getting is a final 4 fire making between Charlie and Maria. The Denise/Malcolm comparison gave me that feeling. Do you think there is no support to that? And if we do get a Gabler-esqu winner who do you think it would be?
Q!
I cannot understand why Liz feels that she has the right to expect anyone to feed her, and then get angry when they don’t. Doesn’t everyone, by now, know that this is “survival” and that you eat what is available. To go on the show knowing that she is allergic to many types of foods is amazing to me! Why is she there? Why was she allowed to go on this show if she cannot survive on what is available? Too ridiculous for me to swallow and her outburst was childish. I was waiting for her to “stamp her feet” in frustration. Wait, … maybe she did …
I thought the edit was bad for Kenzie, but now I think you’re right, especially after episode 11 focusing on this aspect: Tiffany will be the deciding vote, for Kenzie
Or maybe it’s a Final 3 of Kenzie, Charlie, and Q, and the first two split the “moderate” vote, allowing Q to win with the minimum plurality