Episode 7 – The Edit Bay

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

As is new era tradition, Survivor 46 split the tribe into two last week for two separate tribals, denying us a true merge vote yet again. But the episode did conclude two lingering pre-merge stories and establish what I believe will be the key dynamics heading into the end game.

Soda and Tim’s downfalls had been telegraphed for a while now. Tevin and Hunter had previously floated the idea of taking out Soda back on Nami, while Soda’s ongoing beef with Venus had been a thing since the second episode. So it was no real surprise that Soda became the target here, particularly to continue the Nami self-implosion plot.

Tim’s increased airtime in the past couple of episodes should have been an indicator of his impending boot. Even though he’d found himself in a couple of alliances, there was always this cloud of distrust over Tim. And his wishy-washiness over the Journey Alliance last week continued into this episode, which essentially confirmed his fate.

So, that leaves us with 10 players, and I think the stories are in motion for the last few episodes. Broader themes, such as Nami’s implosion and “unwinnable personalities,” are still in play. But there are also game dynamics and what those mean for the late-season narrative. You can basically split these 10 into groups, three pairs and their potential obstacles.

With that said, let’s take a look at those groups.

PAIR 1: KENZIE & TIFFANY

THEIR OBSTACLE: Q

Kenzie and Tiffany are one of the season’s strongest established pairs. They’ve been together since the first episode and have remained close allies throughout. They continued to work hand-in-hand in this episode, and we’re even on the same page about Q and his bossiness driving them crazy.

Q is their obstacle, the player who could potentially ruin their games. Even though the former Yanus are currently working together, Q has long distrusted Kenzie and has tried on a couple of occasions to take her out. Tiffany knows this, though she has never committed.

There will come a point when a crucial decision has to be made. Will Tiffany side with Q and try to take out Kenzie, who she has acknowledged is a threat? Or will she stick with Kenzie and boot Q for his bullish approach when it comes to dictating votes?

Based on everything we’ve seen until this point, one would expect Tiffany to remain with Kenzie. Or, at the very least, Kenzie will survive any potential attack from Q. The edit has shown us the flaws in Q’s game—how his need to “coach” comes across as patronizing. We saw that again in this episode when he chastized Charlie for telling Venus about his vote.

On the other hand, Kenzie, especially in recent episodes, has been portrayed as authentic and caring in how she deals with others. In this episode, she comforted Ben through his panic attack while opening up about her own family’s struggles with mental health. It was a great personal scene that called back to Kenzie’s premiere confessional about how “building connections is her bread and butter.”

So, in conclusion, I think Kenzie and Tiffany will overcome their Q obstacle.

PAIR 2: CHARLIE & MARIA

THEIR OBSTACLE: BEN

Charlie and Maria are another strong pair. They even received a Malcolm and Denise flashback, which probably speaks well to their longevity. Both have spoken positively about the other in confessionals and shown a commitment to taking their alliance deep into the game.

That continued in this episode, with Charlie referring to Maria as “ride-or-die” and the person he trusts the most. They discussed the vote options and appeared on the same page while the old Namis fell apart around them.

So what about their obstacle? Ben isn’t an obvious detriment to the pairing in the same way Q is to Kenzie and Tiffany. Ben is the positive vibe guy who gets along with everyone. And by all accounts, he is working closely with Charlie and Maria. But the obstacle goes back to the pre-merge, during Jem’s boot episode when Maria was debating between sticking with the girls or going with the guys.

In that episode, Maria recognized how close Charlie and Ben were becoming, and she acknowledged how Ben could be a threat down the line. Yet, ultimately, she decided to go with the men and, by doing so, created some ominous foreshadowing.

We’ve seen how likable Ben is, and this episode established a potential new relationship between Ben and Kenzie, both of whom have been referred to as late-game threats. Could they end up doing some damage together? It’s entirely possible. And Maria and Charlie’s partnership might end up paying the price.

If the partnership does fall apart, I would say it’s likely to hit Maria harder than Charlie. Maria’s edit has developed flaws in recent weeks, going back to her contradictions in Jem’s boot episode. There are these gaps in her edit that concern me. For example, last week, she didn’t seem to care about the Journey Alliance, and suddenly, this week, she appeared all for it and loyal to Tevin. It felt like an explanation was missing.

Charlie’s edit, however, is much stronger overall and far less flawed. He has the pair with Maria but also other relationships. And he always gets to explain his thoughts and actions. Sure, he’s lacking in personal content outside of the Swiftie stuff, and his edit sometimes screams pre-new-era male winner. But when looking at the remaining cast as a whole, Charlie undoubtedly has one of the stronger edits.

PAIR 3: HUNTER & TEVIN

THEIR OBSTACLE: VENUS & LIZ

Hunter and Tevin might not have had as much focus as Kenzie & Tiffany or Charlie & Maria, but they have been linked since the premiere when they made their Andy Griffith Alliance. Even though Nami never attended a pre-merge tribal council, Hunter and Tevin were shown to be on the same page when it came to tribe dynamics and potential moves. And they’re part of the Journey Alliance, with Tevin vouching for Hunter as his number one.

Separately, Hunter and Tevin have had solid content across the season. They both had strong introductions, immediately established a duo, and received a nice mix of strategic and personal content. If you were just looking at their edits in a vacuum, it could easily be argued Hunter and Tevin are top contenders.

However, their obstacles are the most dangerous of all. Over the past couple of episodes, it’s been hammered home that Nami is a mess; they’re the self-destructing tribe despite entering the merge with solid numbers. In this past episode, we saw Tevin, Venus, and Soda all targeting one another, with Soda ultimately going home.

Venus is the stand-out obstacle here. From the start, she was an outcast on Nami and has made no qualms about her annoyance with her tribemates. She’s also aired her suspicions and concerns about Hunter and Tevin, pointing them out as big threats to anyone who will listen. Venus seems determined to tear Nami down even if it tanks her own game.

This comes back to the recurring theme of players recognizing threats but choosing to keep them around. We’ve talked about it with Q and Kenzie, as well as with Maria and Ben. But Tevin keeping around Venus two weeks in a row despite identifying her as a detriment to his game just screams disaster waiting to happen.

Then there’s Liz, the ongoing enigma of Survivor 46. It’s really hard to place Liz within this season’s narrative. She barely receives any screen time, and when she does, it’s often played for laughs. There are also huge gaps in her edit. For example, we were told she hated Soda, but we saw no evidence of that in the pre-merge.

Could Liz be another obstacle for Tevin and Hunter? Absolutely, just in the sense that she’s a wildcard and hard to predict.

Overall, the Nami chances appear to be the weakest edit-wise; they have red flags popping up everywhere. Meanwhile, Kenzie and Tiffany’s duo has the most capital and narrative support to go deep.

CONTENDERS

Top Contenders: Kenzie, Tiffany

Second Tier: Charlie, Maria

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

Charlie

CP3

CPP4

UTR2

MOR3

CP4

MOR3

CP4

Hunter

CP2

UTR1

CPP2

UTR1

CP5

MOR4

MOR2

Kenzie

CP4

CPM5

MORM4

MORM4

OTTP4

MOR3

CPP4

Liz

UTRN2

OTTN2

MOR3

UTR2

UTR1

UTR1

UTR2

Maria

MORP3

MOR2

INV

MORP3

MOR3

MOR2

MOR3

Q

MOR3

CP4

CPM5

CP4

CPP3

CP5

OTTN4

Tevin

CP4

MOR2

UTR1

CPP3

UTR1

MOR3

CP3

Tiffany

MOR4

MORP5

MOR4

MOR4

MORP3

MOR3

MOR3

Venus

MORN3

CPM4

MOR3

UTR1

MORN2

CPN4

CPN4

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

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