Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 46 as they list their top moments in various important categories. This includes the most essential information, the stand-out castaways, and the key moments from the week.
Here, Christine and Gia break down all the action from the season premiere.
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Top 3 Moments
Alliance drama on Gata
Christine: Having our tribal councils spread out among the three tribes has left plenty of time for things to fester on Gata since they voted out Jon on Day 3. This episode saw Sierra stuck in the middle between her two alliances — her duo with Sam (and their plus one, Andy) and her trio with Rachel and Anika, officially named the Breadwinners. Sierra told Andy about this new alliance, who immediately ran the info to Sam. This caused power (not an actual) couple Sam and Sierra to butt heads about Sierra’s priorities and why she failed to share all her alliance information with Sam first. Trouble in paradise, perhaps?
Rome vs. Sol
Gia: With Aysha now gone, Rome has set his sights on Sol as his next target should Lavo lose another immunity challenge. Sol is clearly on the bottom of Lavo, and just when things couldn’t get worse for him, Rome plans to use his Vote Steal on him so that he can’t play his Shot in the Dark. Rome makes it his mission to disenfranchise Sol as much as possible by following him around at camp to ensure he doesn’t find the new Lavo idol. He even goes so far as to threaten him (or give an ultimatum, depending on who you ask) about giving him his Shot in the Dark, which Sol vehemently refuses to do. It’s a miracle that they could work together to get Kishan out this round. Maybe they can work it out in the remix after all?
Return of the Amulets
Christine: This week’s journey saw Andy, Caroline, and Teeny earn amulets after negotiating that Teeny would lose their vote. As I’ve said over and over, I hate that production forces lost votes so often now. Last week, our players were forced to risk their vote, and this week, it was either one person who lost their vote, or they all did. But this is seemingly a feature of the game now, so I digress.
The amulet is back, but this time it’s only an immunity idol, and all remaining amulet holders have to agree to play it to do so. Andy and Caroline immediately tell their tribes about their amulets, which takes away any sort of power they could hold. Good on Teeny for having the good sense to keep it a secret, but they will have their spot blown up as soon as the tribes merge and Lavo learns that the amulets were common knowledge on the other beaches.
Tribe Breakdown
Tuku
Christine: Things were relatively quiet on Tuku this week, and everything we did hear revolved around Sue. We learned that she’s lying about her age, and we saw her find an immunity idol after her search left her covered in red paint. She did a hilariously bad job of covering her tracks, claiming she was “playing with the machete” and “bit the back of her tongue.” Tiyana showed some skepticism regarding her cover story, so I expect Sue’s idol-hunting shenanigans to return as a storyline in the coming weeks. On paper, Kyle is still in trouble here, but perhaps if Tuku returns to tribal again, Sue and Caroline will be more receptive to his pleas to dump Gabe instead.
Lavo
Gia: Just when I thought Lavo was going to be the most predictable tribe of the bunch, Genevieve appears out of nowhere to pull the rug out from underneath her core alliance. Teeny and Kishan were sitting pretty in the middle of Lavo’s infighting, only for Kishan to slip up by offering Genevieve as the decoy name to Rome over himself. This fractured the already fragile tribe dynamics and destroyed the power structure the seemingly invincible duo of Teeny and Kishan were building.
Gata
Gia: Gata’s a ticking time bomb waiting for the fuse to be lit, and I imagine this will happen sooner rather than later. Sierra is in the middle between two alliances, Andy and Sam or Rachel and Anika. Meanwhile, Andy is working his way up the ranks of Gata by throwing Sierra under the bus to Sam about her secret alliance. With Sam possessing an idol and Sierra seemingly unaware of Andy’s betrayal, it’s only a matter of time before everyone’s loyalties are put to the test once again.
Top 3 Players
Genevieve
Christine: After a quiet start to the game, Genevieve revealed herself to be one of the most socially smart and strategically savvy players on the season. With Rome’s Steal A Vote and her alliance with Kishan and Teeny, Genevieve was always going to be on the right side of this vote. Lines were drawn in the sand, and Genevieve had the option of going with either a Sol or Rome vote. Upon learning Kishan had thrown her name out as a decoy, she envisioned a third path that allowed her to maintain her alliance with Rome and bring Sol in closer to her in order to eliminate a player she viewed as a major threat.
The way she seamlessly forced Rome and Sol to reconcile without making them suspicious of her motives was a masterclass in Survivor maneuvering. When we talk about a truly great social game, it’s not just about being likable and getting information from people. It’s about being able to subtly push your own strategic agenda on others to get your desired outcome, and everyone else walks away from the conversation feeling like it was their idea. It’s far too early to make any sweeping statements about Genevieve overall, but she’s certainly a player to watch.
Sue
Gia: Everyone’s favorite 45-year-old finally got her time in the spotlight in this episode. While most of Sue’s airtime has been related to her connection to Gabe, we finally got a better glimpse into her strategy of navigating the twists and turns of the new era. What’s more, she found the replanted immunity idol on Tuku. Safe to say, I think we’ll be graced with Sue’s presence for at least a few more episodes to come.
Andy
Gia: From near first boot to one of the best-positioned players, Andy’s game seems to be taking the Emily Flippen route. He’s been working hard to ensure his safety with the tribe, while also embracing the infighting that is quickly emerging within Gata’s ranks. His selling out Sierra to Sam solidified his gameplay trajectory to me. Andy is here to play with the hand he’s been dealt with, mess and all, and is reaping the benefits of his persistence.
Fallen Comrades
Kishan
Christine: The possibility of Kishan going wasn’t even on my radar this week before the start of the episode, or even before the immunity challenge, and that’s the beauty of Survivor. If anything, Kishan got a bit too comfortable in this tribe, especially when you consider Rome’s Steal A Vote being in play. But the Rome and Sol feud, while genuine, ended up serving as a perfect smokescreen to keep his guard down.
After all, in what universe would Rome and Sol team up after Rome threatened Sol and followed him around camp to prevent him from idol hunting? Kishan was ultimately the victim of an unexpected and impressive social move on Genevieve’s part, and in another universe, he’s the kind of player who could’ve gone deep into the merge.
Gia: Kishan’s exit is one of the more shocking boots in the new era of Survivor and possibly in the show’s history. After he and Teeny sided with Rome and Genevieve, I thought there was no possible way he could be the next boot. He was the epitome of calm, cool, and collected on a tribe all about the chaos, and perhaps that’s where his game fell apart. In his quest to shake things up and blindside Rome, he neglected to make his other ally, Genevieve, feel comfortable in her safety with him leading the vote. If it means anything, perhaps the only ones who were more shocked to see Kishan go than himself were the audience watching from home.
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