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
Survivor 46 still hasn’t moved out of first gear. As with episode three, the latest episode primarily revolved around Bhanu, taking focus away from other characters and stories. This isn’t Bhanu’s fault; it’s simply how the producers chose to edit these episodes. But in doing so, it’s left the season feeling repetitive and underdeveloped.
However, with Bhanu’s chapter now over, Survivor 46 must branch out its stories. I spoke last season about how Survivor 45 could be divided into three separate parts (the first being the “Lulu Losers” and Emily’s growth, the second being the Katurah and Bruce rivalry, and the third being Reba 4’s control and eventual split, leading to Dee’s win).
Perhaps this season is following a similar model, with the Yanu disaster and Bhanu’s arc providing the first part. But Yanu has sucked up so much air-time it’s left very little time for stories to develop on Nami and Siga. That said, the stories we have been shown (Siga’s cohesiveness/Jem’s idol shenanigans, and Venus’ struggle at the bottom of Nami) are likely candidates for the next parts of the narrative.
With that, I want to look at each tribe and some of the characters within those tribes, highlighting the potential story arcs as we move into the next stage of the season.
YANU
Even though Bhanu’s chapter is over, Yanu will always have an impact on the season based on their brutal beginnings. Kenzie, Tiffany, and Q are bonded by experience and have a potential arc as underdogs heading into a merge situation.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a season-long arc. As we saw with Lulu survivors Kaleb and Emily last season, their arc as underdogs ended fairly quickly come the merge. And neither of them made it to the end. It’s very possible one or more of Kenzie, Tiffany, and Q will be gone soon as other stories take precedence.
What these three do have going for them is layered dynamics; within this trio are sub-alliances, rivalries, and tons of foreshadowing. Kenzie & Tiffany and Tiffany & Q have been presented as separate pairs. Q has been trying to target Kenzie. Tiffany has been caught in the middle, trying to appease both her alliance partners. And Kenzie has been called a “threat” and a “mastermind” on more than one occasion.
Lulu never really had that, not to that extent, anyway. The focus of Lulu was on Emily’s growth arc, which always pointed to a journey edit. None of Kenzie, Tiffany, or Q feels like journey edits.
The lingering threads for Yanu are: Will Kenzie overcome her threat level? Will Tiff & Q avoid the blowback of Bhanu’s gossip? Will Q attempt to make a move on Kenzie? Will Tiffany ultimately side with Kenzie or Q? Any of these could easily become part two or three of the season’s narrative.
NAMI
The Nami tribe has the strongest possibility to fill part two of the season’s story. Outside of Yanu, they have the most fleshed-out dynamics despite their relatively minimal air-time in comparison.
Over the first four episodes, we’ve been provided a basic understanding of the alliances. We know that Tevin and Hunter are a pair (established in the first episode as The Andy Griffiths Show alliance), with Soda as a potential third. And we know Venus is on the outs, with Liz as a sort of wildcard floater.
The last episode added a new wrinkle, showing Tevin and Hunter discussing getting rid of Soda over Venus. Tevin noted Soda as a social threat, and Hunter saw it as an opportunity to get closer to Tevin as his number one. This all came out of nowhere, which makes me believe it will be relevant very soon.
Even though we didn’t hear from Venus in the last episode, this potential Soda blindside is a good sign for her arc. We already know that Soda brushed Venus aside, meaning this would present a possible revenge story. On top of that, Venus clocked Hunter as a threat, therefore moving her onto a new story should Soda be eliminated.
As with Kenzie, Venus was also previously called a threat, someone who would be dangerous if left in the game. This could very well foreshadow Nami and Venus’ narrative come the merge.
The lingering threads for Nami: Will Tevin and Hunter turn on Soda? Will Venus rise from her underdog position? Will Venus make a move against Hunter? Will Liz find food she isn’t allergic to?
SIGA
Siga is the tribe that has suffered the most from Yanu’s excessive screen time. Their dynamics have barely changed since the premiere. And at times, it feels like the producers are grasping for content. Take Jem’s beware advantage find, which actually happened days earlier, or this week’s idol shenanigans and Moriah’s jumping scene. Fun moments? Sure. But absent of any tribal visits or personal conflicts, it certainly feels like a “this is the best we’ve got” approach.
With that said, Jem’s ploy to rehide the beware advantage could become the catalyst for the next part of the season. As the suspicion landed on Tim, it set up a potential plot point there. It also felt like one of those scenes they give to winners when no other major strategy or gameplay is happening. It’s something fun and memorable. For example, Tony’s ladder scene in Winners At War.
I don’t expect Siga to lose a pre-merge challenge, and given the overall cohesiveness of the tribe, I can see a lot of these players making the end game. If that’s the case, then Siga and their relationships are more likely to be explored in the last third of the season, especially if one of them ends up being the winner.
The lingering threads for Siga: Will Jem get her hands on the idol? What will the fallout of Jem replanting the beware advantage be? Will Tim defend himself against suspicion? Will Maria and Charlie become the new Denise and Malcolm?
EARLY CONTENDERS
Top Tier: Jem, Tiffany
Second Tier: Maria, Kenzie, Hunter
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 | ||||||||||
 Charlie |
CP3 | CPP4 | UTR2 | MOR3 | ||||||||||
 Hunter |
CP2 | UTR1 | CPP2 | UTR1 | ||||||||||
 Jem |
MOR2 | UTR1 | MOR3 | CP4 | ||||||||||
 Kenzie |
CP4 | CPM5 | MORM4 | MORM4 | ||||||||||
 Liz |
UTRN2 | OTTN2 | MOR3 | UTR2 | ||||||||||
 Maria |
MORP3 | MOR2 | INV | MORP3 | ||||||||||
 Moriah |
MORP2 | UTR1 | UTR1 | OTT3 | ||||||||||
 Q |
MOR3 | CP4 | CPM5 | CP4 | ||||||||||
 Soda |
MOR3 | MORN3 | INV | MORM3 | ||||||||||
 Tevin |
CP4 | MOR2 | UTR1 | CPP3 | ||||||||||
 Tiffany |
MOR4 | MORP5 | MOR4 | MOR4 | ||||||||||
 Tim |
MOR2 | UTR1 | INV | UTR1 | ||||||||||
 Venus |
MORN3 | CPM4 | MOR3 | UTR1 | ||||||||||
 Bhanu |
MORP4 | OTTN4 | OTTM5 | OTTM5 | ||||||||||
 Randen |
UTRN1 | CP3 | OTTP3 | |||||||||||
 Jess |
OTTM4 | OTTM4 | ||||||||||||
 Jelinsky |
OTTN5 |
Written by
Oh no Charlie is no longer on the contender list.
Jem does seem the most likely on green thou
Well that aged like milk haha