It’s merge time, and Survivor 46 is moving into its next phase with 13 players left. Nami’s undefeated, Yanu finally caught a break, and Siga’s reeling from their first Tribal Council.
With Moriah on the outs, the rest of Siga is quick to comfort her and secure their solid five. After all, they didn’t write her name down, so she was never actually in danger, right? Well, Moriah isn’t totally comfortable with that, and the merge announcement gives her the options she’s craving, so we might be in for some major flips.
Siga and Yanu head off to Nami’s beach while Hunter scrambles to find the key to his idol as Soda and Venus bicker at camp. He might not have a vote, but the idol could be his saving grace if his threat level earns him a few suspicious glances. But right now, the only glances are from the Yanu Three to the other ten as they realize they’re in the perfect position to act as swing votes. As Kenzie puts it, Yanu’s been tested like a well-seasoned skillet, and the other tribes are fresh-bought non-stick pans that don’t know what’s coming.
As the players settle in and start chatting, it’s clear that Siga’s sticking together as they all lie about Moriah being left out of the vote. Even Moriah is running with the story just to keep her options open and avoid drawing too much attention to herself. On the flip side, Nami outsider Venus is running around and spilling everything to Yanu. Tevin’s the puppetmaster, Soda is annoying, Hunter’s dangerous, and she’s ready to flip ASAP. This contrast between Siga and Nami convinces Q that Yanu’s best move is siding with Nami, just because there are a million exploitable cracks that Siga doesn’t seem to have.
Meanwhile, the Journey Six that formed last week is ready to come together. Q has Tiffany, Hunter has Tevin, and Tim… apparently has Maria, even though he never really clued her in on it? Oops. When Q goes to Maria and questions her about what Tim said, she’s stunned that he not only threw her out as a potential ally but also considers her his number one.
Maria’s obviously going to say yes to the alliance because turning down free numbers at the merge would be insane. But she’s here for her game, not Tim’s, so the Journey Six is more like the Journey Five or even the Journey Four now that Tim’s proven himself as someone who can’t keep up and commit to a plan for fear of committing too soon.
The following morning, Venus tries working with Siga to exchange names, but Siga isn’t cracking. She’s willing to throw her own tribe under the bus and work outside tribal lines, but if Siga isn’t willing to take that step now that things are individual? Yeah, that’s a hard sell. And to make it even tougher for Venus, Siga comes together and talks about how hard she’s playing, how threatening she is, and how she needs to go soon.
But Siga’s not exactly doing too hot either because when Q starts poking around for cracks, Moriah resists the temptation to jump ship and casually names Aubry as her favorite player. Q takes this less as “I love Aubry!” and more as “I literally AM Aubry, threat level included!” and decides if a Siga is going home first, it’s gotta be her.
With Venus and Moriah on the chopping block, it’s off to the immunity challenge to see which half of the tribe gets the merge feast and gorgeous red buffs. By random draw, Tiffany sits out and bets on the winner for her shot at immunity. But the actual teams are laughably lopsided, with Hunter, Tevin, Ben, Tim, Q, and Kenzie staring down at Charlie, Moriah, Maria, Venus, Soda, and Liz. Tiffany bets on the team with all the big, strong dudes, and though it’s a close race in the puzzle, the physically stronger team pulls off the win when Hunter comes out as a massive puzzle whiz and seals the deal.
At the merge feast (which Venus hopes the winners choke on), Yanu is eating good as everyone knows they hold the power tonight. Tevin’s willing to throw out Venus as an option, but when it’s time for Siga to put one of their own names on the block, they remain tight-lipped again. Tiffany is annoyed, and it takes a bit of brute force until Tim finally names Moriah as a possible threat.
Finally, a name! And it’s one that’s already out there making the rounds. But when Siga continues pushing for Venus to go anyway, that just proves to Yanu that they can’t be reasoned with. This is the moment to sacrifice a lamb and prove you can be fluid to appease the swing votes, not to play tribe strong to the death.
As the plans circulate, we get a rapid-fire update on where people stand. Charlie is worried about pushing too hard for Venus, so if Moriah’s doomed, so be it. Hunter has no vote, but he still wants Moriah gone and pitches Nami as too chaotic to ever work together. Tiffany is happy with Moriah going and tells Venus she’s safe. And Venus… well, she’s not a fan of sitting still and playing it safe, nor of women going home. So she decides to throw out Charlie’s name as a surprise third option.
On paper, Charlie is a good choice to target here. He’s smart, socially savvy, and has more connections than Moriah. But Venus pitches it poorly, making it a gender issue and not a strategic issue, which will inevitably alienate half the tribe. Once Yanu learns about this twist, Q is pissed. They handed Venus safety on a silver platter and stuck their necks out for her; now she’s trying to spoil the plan? Well, maybe the vote isn’t so solid because Q starts a campaign to get Venus out instead, one that Tevin is more than happy to go along with.
As Tribal rolls around, Moriah grows increasingly insecure about her spot with old Siga and decides Tribal, of all places, is the best point to try and jump ship. And she does it publicly, airing Siga’s dirty laundry for all to hear. Ideally, it would convince Yanu to adopt her as a number and vote Venus out, but Q doesn’t take it that way. He just sees it as her waiting way too long to reveal key information that could’ve saved her, and therefore, she’s not someone worth working with.
Couple that with Siga feeling betrayed by Moriah’s last-second implosion, and oops, Moriah goes home almost unanimously, with the exception of Charlie throwing a vote on Venus, likely to avoid any collateral damage had Moriah’s Shot in the Dark attempt actually worked.
And so we bid farewell to Moriah, who falls into the string of struggling outsiders who get sacrificed as easy merge boots these days. She might have learned to jump on the island, but she should’ve applied those lessons and jumped ship from Siga here, at least to buy herself a couple more days. Yanu was open to honorary members and had another Siga vulnerable from all angles in Charlie.
Not the most thrilling merge action, especially after last season’s record-shattering Shot in the Dark play. Still, it’s nice to know where everyone stands, except Liz, who’s basically an enigma out there. But getting so many perspectives shown to us is great, and to have so many of those perspectives involve personal strife and petty feuds through Venus’ antics has laid the groundwork for a fun post-merge. So now we can just hope with fingers crossed that next week’s split Tribal double elimination doesn’t kill this carefully laid momentum.
Written by
Great episode