Welcome to Season 46’s Next Time On Survivor weekly feature on the Inside Survivor site! If you’re new around here, I’m Steph from sunny, tropical, humid Singapore. This is a tiny space where I give my best attempts at understanding preview trailers and make my predictions for the show’s next episodes.
To be honest, I was expecting the first NTOS trailer of the season to be something quite generic to hype us up with exciting broad action sequences or remind us about the difficulties of surviving on a remote island.
While we did get a snippet of this with the opening sequence of the purple Yanu tribe struggling to make fire and a peek at the green Siga tribe excited and in good spirits at camp, I was pleasantly surprised we got some rather varied scenes and unique insights to tribe dynamics this early on.
On the orange Nami tribe, the NTOS trailer highlights an irritated Venus, saying, “I’m exhausted right now, so I’ll talk later.” And in a confessional, she firmly shares, “You don’t want to see a pissed-off version of me,” as we are shown her tribemates slightly stunned by her reaction.
The trailer’s hint portraying Venus as a difficult person to get along with somewhat echos the premiere episode where she mentions people might write her off as a princess, spoiled or arrogant. In the episode, she was also caught searching for an idol by Randen, setting up a potential clash between the two in the coming episodes.
Though the focus of these scenes surrounds Venus’ strong personality, I’m not convinced she’s going to be targeted so soon. She does seem to have at least Soda on her side — in fact, Soda didn’t look too persuaded by Randen when he compared Venus to Parvati. I think it’s more likely that Venus is being set up in trailers and the episode to be a contentious personality but not problematic enough to warrant her tribemates voting her out.
The next key scene in the NTOS trailer showcases a challenge in which all three tribes are neck and neck in the competition. They attempt a difficult puzzle that requires them to balance and connect large blocks. An exhausted and exasperated Bhanu is shown yelling at Jess, and I think we can assume it means she’s not performing that well in the challenge, at least in Bhanu’s eyes.
At this point in the game, Jess is an easy target. She doesn’t seem to be getting along too well with the rest of her tribemates. I recall Kenzie mentioning in the premiere episode that she’s unable to read Jess and connect with her. Jess was also rather candid about her exhaustion and inability to process thoughts properly. This may be her natural, honest, and open personality, but it may not be the best move to share damning evidence of deterioration in such a cutthroat game.
And as with Bhanu’s annoyance in the trailer, Jess may be perceived to be weak at challenges. I personally haven’t seen any conclusive evidence of this so far, but as mentioned, it’s a ruthless game — a simple rumour or unflattering passing thought by another member of your tribe could send you home.
That said, I think it’s too obvious at the moment to think Jess is getting voted out if Yanu loses the immunity challenge. She may be an easy target, but she’s definitely not the only target on her tribe. I can see Q being too stubborn and Bhanu too impulsive. And not to forget, Tiffany has an immunity idol earned from the beware advantage that some players may want to flush out.
For now, it’s way too early to accurately predict any alliances or voting decisions. If I had to pick someone I think will be voted out, my prediction would be Bhanu, just because I think his strong personality will clash with new-era players who want to keep harmony in their tribe.
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Oh yay I was worried this wouldn’t be a thing this season. I agree with the Venus thing. She might be targeted this episode but I also don’t see the orange tribe losing the challenge. As for Jess I think that if the purple tribe loses again she will be the boot. Kinda like Brandon see we the obvious vote cause he was. But I get the feeling the green tribe will be the one sent to tribal. And from little we’ve seen of them I think it will be between Moriah and Tim
Good article, and good job last season Steph, you nailed it, lots of times iirc.
What is your guess as to which tribe loses the immunity challenge?
Of course we can never truly tell, but it seems to be featured, with them showing Purple dropping blocks, showing Orange dropping blocks, and Jeff saying “This is wide open. Any tribe could win.”
Just like Jess, I am so an asian woman with ADHD and lean to be more introverted. I cannot help but relate to her struggles and feel bad for her, yet, I’m glad I can see someone who’s like me be able to play Survivor.
I also wish people on her tribe were more patient with her. I can FEEL the microaggressions through my screen. ;-;
I’m watching survivor now and the music is to loud you can’t hear what is being said!! Can they turn it down !!