Survivor Edgic: S46 Is this finally the merge? (E8)

Welcome back! On last week’s Winner’s Edit podcast, Dan and I theorized if perhaps E8, two episodes after mergeatory should maybe start being considered the merge. It’s the first true vote of the merge after all. Having watched this episode, I’m starting to wonder if maybe there’s something there. Mergeatory definitively isn’t the merge episode. Last week was a good episode, but still didn’t feel like the merge as everyone was split up. This week, with everyone all on the same beach, voting, and eligible for eviction, it finally felt like the chaos and transition that the merge is supposed to bring! My thoughts about the mechanics of Q’s (fake?) quit threat notwithstanding, I thought on the whole this was a very strong episode of survivor with some clear direction about the rest of the season emerging.

For those new to my posts, I do edgic a little differently. (1) I don’t do charts, full stop. They don’t interest me and I don’t find them informative. Edgic is all about the stories. I’m trying to figure out the winner, but just as important is figuring out the story they’re telling. (2) No edgic the first four weeks until I can take in a big chunk of the story as a whole. This helps avoid developing deep-seated early opinions, which lead to confirmation bias. (3) I’m fairly new to edgic, only doing it seriously since S41. Many old rules or tropes that many adhere to I just ignore. For example, I think pre-merge negativity is a virtue, I’m not looking for who survivor thinks is the best player, and mostly I’m just trying to identify the most important characters early in the game.

My write ups are below. For character analysis, the sections labeled mid-merge is new content, pre-merge and merging are their stories prior to this episode. Happy reading!

Themes and Stories

Why look at themes and stories? Survivor is just like any narrative-drive show; they’re telling the story. Almost always, the winner is a main character in that story, and their journey will directly interact with the themes of the season. If we can idenify the major theme of the season, and we identify the winner.

• Fitting in: This has been the theme of the season, with characters like Venus, Bhanu, and Moriah struggling to fit in, Ben and Hunter referencing struggles fitting in off the island but excelling at it in the game, and others being natural people persons. I think this theme is also about accepting others and being a good person. Maybe the winner isn’t someone that struggles to fit in, as much as someone that helps an outsider do so. I’m looking at the way Ben helped a struggling Bhanu, and then how in turn Kenzie helped a struggling Ben. Is someone going to reach out and include Venus while others are ostracizing her? If so, that might be our winner. The introverts vs. extrovert element feels less pronounced than premerge, but I still have my eye out for that one. And how does being and giving yourself fit into this theme? Maybe it’s about giving yourself not just to the game, but to each other?
• Blind optimist: This theme has come roaring back this week. Both Tevin and Venus exhibited some really bad blind optimism. It bit Tevin hard as he went home, but I’m not feeling good about what it means for Venus long term.
• Underdogs vs. overlooked threats: According to Venus, “this is a David vs. Goliath story… The underdog has a chance.” Likewise Kenzie says “This is the making of an underdog story.” So much other underdog-adjacent talk, most of it relating to Yanu. At this point I’m giving anyone that’s not being looked at as an underdog (truthfully or not!) a big discount. On the other hand, we had an entire segment this week, hide and seek, about threat level. Hunter isn’t being overlooked anymore, as Q clocks him for hiding so well and he dominates the challenge. Kenzie, on the other hand, got praised for camaflauging during hide and seek while seemingly slipping into the background of this vote.

New theme:

• Gamers vs. vibers: Q summed this up at the beginning of the episode. He’s a gamer and he’s sick of people spending vibing and hanging out. I feel very strongly we can eliminate anyone bunched into this gamer category (Q, Venus front of mine). The real question for me: is the winner a viber (Ben?) or someone that lands in the middle (Kenzie, maybe Charlie?).

Contenders

(1) Kenzie [50%]

Pre-merge: She’s ready to party! She works in the beauty industry, which is all about people like this game. Part of job as stylistic is connecting with people — she wants to be good with everyone to keep options open for when big moves need to be made. The game is much harder than she thought it would be; she knows she has what it takes to win, but needed a bit of a reset after the first tribal. She comes up with a fake idol plan to trick Jess into not playing her SITD. Jess says Kenzie will “just sail to the F3 if they don’t get rid of her.” She knows her tribe has had one of the roughests starts in survivor history. Bhanu describes her as a mermaid dragon, hiding her true self underneath a sweet exterior, and even tells people on journey that she’s a mastermind. She sees all of Yanu’s misfortune as a bad survivor charmic curse, but thinks getting a break from Renden’s medivac could be the turning point for Yanu and winning the reward could be part of it. She snaps at Bhanu when he presses too hard to talk strategy after their reward win, but then goes out of her way to apologize and make him feel better. Not having flint/fire is killing her and her tribe; they need to be able to just have fun and stop losing everything. Their experience has been hell; a tough spot that just keeps getting tougher. She’s thrilled when they finally win immunity and get their flint: it’s a real turning point for Yanu after holding onto their spark for so long through such bad conditions.

Merging: Yanu’s spark is ignited and it’s going to keep them going. She knows going into merge that Yanu is in great shape because they have so much tribal experience and can now sit in the middle and choose who goes home. “I’m like an oiled up cast iron skillet.” Her and Yanu are all safe at mergeatory: “This is the making of an underdog story.” She comforts Ben during his panic attack; even though it might be better for her for him to be weak, it’s just a game and she needs to be there for him as a person. With her immunity win she feels like she’s really gaining footing in the game. She finds lying to Ben really hard after the two of them formed a friendship — she’s struggling to balance who she likes as a person against who she wants to work with. She’s very annoyed at Q for so strongly dictating the vote. “The way Q is barking orders at us, has Tiff and I aware.” At tribal, voting out someone she loves is killing her, but Q talks her up for doing so great the entire game.

Mid-merge: She was expecting Venus to go in the split tribal, and is shocked to see she survived. She does a good job of hiding during hide and seek, which Q says shows she’s good at camouflaging and going undetected. She’s happy when Ben pitches her on the chill alliance and taking out Tevin, since she’s been driving so many votes and she wants the Yanu 3 to hide in the background and not control this one.

>>>Kenzie is pulling away from the pack. As demonstrated by her 50% win equity, I’d now take her against the field. She got everything she needed this episode, including successfully sliding into the background as bigger threats emerged, forming a new “chill” alliance, building on her relationship with Ben, and continuing to hit all the themes. The possibility still remains that she could be our heartbreaking fallen angel, but I feel really good about Kenzie after this week.

(2) Ben [25%]

Pre-merge: If he goes home, he wants to know he at least stepped up. He likes to look at the world as glass half full. His strategy is to be himself: chill, and make people laugh. It’s working: Tim calls him the dean of cultural affairs; Maria says he brings confidence to the tribe; Jem says he’s the epitome of Siga. He was always the kid with so much energy and insecurities — the power of rock helped him overcome his self doubt, but in his head he’s still an insecure kid. Making fire for Siga was out of his element and made him cry; now he feels like he can do anything. He has a duo with Charlie, which they solidify with a song battle. “These People are making it so enjoyable for me.” He comforts Bhanu when he’s emotional at the journey — tells him it’s a game of emotion and he appreciates Bhanu’s emotion. He fails at the journey puzzle and loses his vote, but sells his tribe on the intel he got from Bhanu being an advantage. Hypes up the tribe and comforts Maria after they lose reward. Feels himself getting more depleted by the conditions, but sees suffering as a chance to explore the depths of his mind. Moriah calls him the most charismatic likable person she’s ever met; “he can charm anyone.” The girls want to target him because he’s such a big time social threat. He knows that Jem is coming for him, and knows he needs to target and get rid of her. He doesn’t have a vote, but maneuvers the vote onto her socially by flagging how chaotic the energy she’s bringing is. Charlie notes Ben’s strength is his humor, but that it’s still a dangerous strength. Ben’s maneuvering pays off and Jem goes home.

Merging: Mo says voting for him sucked because he’s been honest and kind to her the entire game. Wants to stay Siga strong and doesn’t want to throw anyone under the bus, but sees that everyone wants a name. He has a panic attack after tribal, which is something he’s struggled with before, but Kenzie steps up and calms him down and shows him kindness. This was huge, because he was afraid he’d just be looked at as weirdo 6th grade Ben not fitting in. He knows he’s in trouble at the split against all the Yanu, but says he’s going down swinging and pitches Hunter. He knows the play, and especially letting Yanu tell Hunter to vote for him, is a risk, but he sees the game like gambling, and if he survives he will feel high for the rest of the game. At tribal he says he’s used to being everyone’s “entertainment monkey,” someone folks like as a party but don’t want to get deep with, but he’s been making real bonds in the game.

Mid-merge: He’s really sad about Tim going, he was Ben’s rock and kept him sane during the game. He wins hide and seek, which Q says means he’s “capable of playing an undercover game and being very powerful in the end.” After hearing Liz’s pitch to him, Ben, and Maria, he pitches Kenzie on the “chill alliance.”

>>>I see the red flags in Ben’s edit. He’s still lacking in overwhelming strategic content (though it’s there if you squint!). They still haven’t shown him as a great survivor player (but he did get praise from Q this week!). He easily could be a lovable losing finalist or fallen angel. But I still have him second, with his win equity matching the entire middle tier combined. He fits the themes spectacularly. He’s overcome struggles fitting in. He gets credited as a threat but completely overlooked. He just formed what I think is the winning alliance. And he’s in the most import duo of the season. Is he the winner or a lovable loser? TBD. But I really think one of him/Kenzie is helping the other win somehow.

Middle Tier

(3A) Tiffany [10%]

Pre-merge: She’s a hustler, a completely self taught artist. She opens a beware advantage; “not here to play scared; people who play scared go home.” She finds the idol and gets her vote back. Everything is a struggle for Yanu, “no matter how much blind optimism we have, we’re losers.” She’s very emotional after the second loss, not just because of losing but because of the way she lost control. She doesn’t want to be seen as the stereotypical angry black woman. Q wants to take out Kenzie, but she’s resistant because she thinks Kenzie is on her side. She’s aghast at Banu for telling everyone she and Q are close. Winning the reward is a big turning point for Yanu, but then they lose immunity again and vote Bhanu out. After Bhanu is gone, she’s very happy her two closest allies are the 3 that are left. She’s so happy they win the final IC and keep the trio in tack.

Merging: She’s very happy she made it to merge with her 2 closest allies and her idol. At the feast she clocks that Siga is way too tight, which makes her want to target Mo instead of Venus. The choice of Mo vs. Venus and this first merge vote is pivotal in determining the trajectory of the rest of the game. She wants to target Ben at the split because he thinks he’s sneaky and could be a secret agent of chaos. Very annoyed at Q’s flip-flopping and dictating. “This is not the Q show.”

Mid-merge: She gets caught in hide and seek because she wears a red buff, which Venus says is indicative of “playing sloppy and not hiding little details.” She doesn’t want to target Venus because she doesn’t really see her as a threat, which worries Tevin and in turn makes Q want to target her as well. When she names Maria as a possible target, Q says it’s ammunition for him to take her out. When Kenzie brings her in on the Tevin plan, she leaks it to Q, not realizing that he is coming for her. At the chaos tribal, she finds out that Q revealed her idol, but she still votes Tevin out.

>>>I’m still not sure what to make of Tiffany. She got some really bad SPV from Venus this week, basically hinting that she’s being too sloppy and not managing her threat level. If I had to guess, she’s an endgame dragon, shortly before finale night, maybe even the F6 boot, ousted for not keeping her threat level down. But if Kenzie were to go and Tiffany pick up the baton, I still think she’s primed for her edit to takeoff. Finding out Q betrayed her hopefully sets Tiffany up for a big Act II, something she’s needed for awhile. She’s not a contender yet, but could be soon.

(3B) Charlie [10%]

Pre-merge: He’s all about Taylor Swift. He’s hiding that he went to law school to keep his threat level down. He has lived a very simple, bubbled, universe life, but Survivor has people from all walks of life and he wants to pop his bubble. He has the Charlie’s Angels alliance and a duo with Ben, putting him and Maria in the middle of the tribe — the Malcolm and Denise alliance. He’s good at strategy but is concerned with the social game. He does a song battle with Ben to build a social connection. Ben is thankful for what he’s bringing, keeping his mind off the suffering, but they get clocked as a duo. He’s having so much fun with everyone he even starts salsa dancing, but it’s all part of his strategy to keep him in lockstep with Maria. After losing immunity he knows that losing as the vibe tribe is scary because vibes can turn from good to bad and is disheartened about the vote being on Ben, who he feels super close with. He and Maria are at the crossroads, needing to decide on going with Ben/Tim or Moriah/Jem and seemingly gets his way as Jem goes home. Can Siga keep being the vibe tribe after going to tribal once?

Merging: At mergeatory, he knows it’s a very important vote. He doesn’t want to lose Mo, but doesn’t want to push too hard to save her; it’s the individual portion of the game and he needs to survive. He tells Venus he voted for her and gets scolded by Q for it, which makes him realize Q is running the show and needs to go. He knows he’s in a tough spot on a split with 4 Namis, but at least he has Maria, who he trusts most in the game. His fortune turns when the Nami’s turn on each other, giving him and Maria all the power.

Mid-merge: He’s trying his best to stay on Q’s good side because he can see the way Q is driving votes and positioning pieces for the endgame. He interviews for Q’s alliance and thinks it goes well, but is worried that he’s signing up to be bottom of the alliance and stuck with a bunch of people he can’t beat in the end. He’s happy to play hide and seek to “forget the strategy and play a silly little game.” He does well competing against Hunter for immunity, but not good enough as he finished second. He doesn’t know what to make of the 11th hour chaos whipped up by Hunter, but sees him and Maria as in the middle between booting Tevin or Tiffany.

>>>Maybe I should move Charlie above Tiffany. Arguably he’s had a better merge than her. He constantly tells us his strategic place and explains the game well. But I’m still desperately needing personal content from him to convince me he’s anything more than our strategic narrator. One thing I’m actually picking up on is some hardcore negativty coming his way from Q. I know Q is far from a reliable narrator at this point, but what’s up with that? Why do they care so much about their dynamic. That plus Charlie doing well but not good enough at the challenge, and also being concerned about being aligned with people he can’t beat at the end, has my eye on Charlie as a losing finalist, perhaps with Q a very vocal critic of his game. They’re doing something with his edit — I’m just not sure it’s a winning something.

(5) Maria [4%]

Pre-merge: She’s a mom but isn’t going to play like one: “mommy’s going to lie, cheat, and steal.” She’s going to be in the minivan driving the game, not in a flashy red car. As an immigrant she has always had the struggle of “being enough” and the pressure to succeed, which causes losing reward to hit her hard. She’s working on shedding the shame and guilt of not succeeding. Her and Charlie are in the middle of the tribe with Charlie’s Angels on one side and Tim/Ben on the other. When they finally go to tribal, she wants to go with the girls because she thinks Jem will be more loyal, but they still vote out Jem.

Merging: She finds it strange that Tim considered her his #1 and that he never filled her in on the journey alliance, but she’s happy to have another group to keep her options open. She’s proud of herself for winning immunity — a dream come true! She dug deep and reminded herself she’s done harder things than this endurance challenge. Both Charlie and Tevin say they can trust her. After she tells Venus she doesn’t want to work with her, Venus says her ego is getting in the way of the game: “she likes calling the shots.”

Mid-merge: She does a good job of making a headdress to help fit in during hide and seek, which Venus says shows how adaptable she is to her surroundings. Q tells her about Tiffany’s idol, which makes him trust Q even more that Tiff is targeting her.

>>>Every week I consider eliminating Maria, but every week I decide to keep her in just a little longer to see if she can start an Act II and pick up some momentum. I hate how often Charlie talks for their pair. I hate how committed she was to this horrible Journey 6 alliance. I hate how little she interacts with the themes. But maybe there’s room to grow? Would love it if Charlie left and he picked up his mantle. I still need more soon or she’s falling out of this category.

(6) Hunter [1%]

Pre-merge: He’s from a small town and knows he has a lack of experiences to connect to others. He forms the Andy Griffith alliance with Tevin. He’s very introverted and not fitting in perfectly with everyone, but knows the game is about being flexible and adaptable. Playing the part of happy go lucky country boy, but he’s actually playing hard. Many are overlooking how hard he’s playing and that he’s a secret nerd — he has tons of survivor puzzles in his house. Venus is the only one to clock his threat level. He’s on board with targeting Soda in order to get closer to Tevin. Gets credit from Venus for knowing the island best, which pays off as he finds the advantage. He knows she’s BSing him about wanting to work with him; he’s going to be a big target at the merge, and will need as many tools as possible when he gets there. Goes on journey and agrees to the journey alliance with Tim and Q. He’s excited about the chance to get an advantage on the journey, but fails the survivor trivia quiz and loses his vote. It sucks to lose his vote, but the connections he made could be worth a million dollars.

Merging: Has to scramble when he gets the merge note, but successfully finds the idol, distracting the tribe by acting like he’s just really excited. He wants to guide the mergeatory vote even though he doesn’t have one, and wants to take out Mo because Siga is too strong. At split tribal, he’s very worried he is the odd man out on his split tribe and might have to play his idol. Tim clocks him as the biggest threat, but Tiffany and Q don’t care. He survives because Q doesn’t really see him as a threat and Tim goes home.

Mid-merge: He wins hide and seek by hiding in a tree, which Q says is a big mistake because he’s shown how much he will risk in the game. Easily wins immunity on the pole hang challenge, and says voting out Tiffany is the clear move. He doesn’t believe it when Q tells him that Tevin is getting voted out, and tries hard to save him, unsuccessfully.

>>>Okay, maybe 1% is harsh. Hunter still has some things going for him. But when I tell you I almost eliminated him — it was close. He was totally worked over this vote and the edit didn’t protect him at all. His threat level was totally exposed. He got very little perspective. He gave a horrible CF they didn’t have to include about why anyone would do anything other than vote out Tiffany. But, I didn’t eliminate him. That’s because he’s so on the outs now he could start hitting the themes in reverse. Maybe now he struggles to fit in? Maybe now he’s the lovable underdog fighting the tyranny of the chill alliance? It’s probably an ugly path to the end for him, with lot’s of immunities and idol plays. But at least now if he takes that path he’s a struggling underdog.

Eliminated

Venus

Pre-merge: She looks tiny and weak but is mighty and strong. She’s going to do some sneaky shit and deal with ramifications later. Was afraid of getting called a princess, but now she’s owning it. She’s going to be a dangerous player and isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. She’s already envisioning herself at FTC saying screw you to everyone that underestimated her. Renden calls her a Parvati which she embraces: she knows it’s who she is. She sees that King Tevin is down on her which is causing others to pull away. She’s stressed because it’s like she’s not even being heard. Her parents are Iranian immigrants, and she has always fought to show how strong and capable Persian women are. She realizes she needs to show more vulnerability since she has presented as so strong. Renden brings her in on the beware advantage because they’re both on the bottom, which breathes new life into her game. She calls out the tribe for not listening to her and running over her toe. She’s a natural introvert, clashing with big extroverted personalities. She knows she wouldn’t be having issues on other tribes, she just needs to make the merge. She’s heartbroken about Renden getting pulled: “the one person I trust is gone and now I have no one.” She’s the only one to clock Hunter as a true threat, and knows he’s most likely to find the idol, but fails at trying to track him when he finds it.

Merging: The merge is a breath of fresh air for her, having an opportunity to work with new people that have a better attitude toward her. “I have a good feeling that I can connect with new people.” Tevin tells everyone not to trust her. She’s really eager to start making big moves, but can’t find any cracks in Siga to work with them. She offers them “a name for a name” but they sell her out as playing too hard. When her mergeatory tribe almost wins she says “This is a David vs. Goliath story… The underdog has a chance.” It’s clear even at merge no one trusts her. She sees that Charlie is a bigger threat than Mo, but she just angers everyone by trying to flip it on him — no one agrees with her. She wrongly thinks Soda was the one to write her name down until Charlie fesses up. Winning the feast is second life in the game for her and everyone on her split. She thinks targeting Charlie is obvious, but she’d rather make a big move on Tevin. “Sure playing with fire could bite me in the ass, but I want to play with fire.” She approaches Maria about doing Tevin, but Maria rejects it and thinks she’s oblivious and is put off by her demeanor. Maria tells her she comes at people too strong. She has a warm send off with Soda, ending their rivalry.

Mid-merge: She wrongly claims she made the move on Soda and slams Tevin for lying to his face, not realizing she’s taking credit for his move. She sees hide and seek as revealing about People’s game personality, just like Q. She talks up her Soda move to Tevin, who continues to gas her up and let her believe she pulled off a big move. Her radar goes off when she sees Hunter talking strategy and trying to get the vote off Tevin.

>>>I hate to do this to an icon, but it’s time. I don’t know if it was the edit going out of its way to show us how wrong she was about Soda or aligning her with Q as a fellow gamer, but either way I’m officially out. A lot of folks think she’s our losing finalist, but I’m not even seeing that longevity at this point. She may have one more big move left in her, but I expect her days are numbered.

Liz

Pre-merge: She gets negative SPV for flaunting her money. She’s allergic to everything. She doesn’t need the money, but wants to win the game to show family she can do anything. Goes on a journey and then tells her tribe everything Bhanu says. She’s very excited about the fish because she hasn’t been able to eat anything yet. She’s happy Soda is getting targeted because of her threat level. She doesn’t even try to look for the idol because she knows she won’t be able to find it.

Merging: Soda is her #1 target and she is so pumped when Tevin approaches her about targeting her; “I don’t care about being Nami strong, Soda has to go.”

Mid-merge: She’s frustrated by Venus and Tevin taking credit for the Soda vote — it was really her move! She doesn’t want to get lost in the shuffle and needs to start taking action. She realizes people are beginning to see him as the mastermind, which really worries him, because she needs to signal to everyone that she’s here to play her own game. She pitches to Ben, Charlie, and Maria that the four of them need to make a move to have a shot. She wants to blindside Tevin. She’s a fighter and is ready to start taking the lead.

>>>Liz had a good episode! If she didn’t have such a bad pre-merge I might start considering her. But she’s still eliminated. My guess is either they’re starting to build up her credebility because she’s a losing finalist, or because they need to justify her leaving soon.

Q

Pre-merge: He played football his whole life and is very competitive. He’s going to play full speed from day 1 — he’s the QB and going to be in control. He moves the first vote from Jess to Jalinsky because he doesn’t like quitters; needs soldiers he can go to war with. He considers using Jess and Bhanu to take Kenzie out because he knows she’s a threat to his game. Let down his tribe in a challenge when the spotlight was on and is very tough on himself for it — needs to be better. He doesn’t handle the failure well and annoys his tribemates with self-deprecation. Wants to take out Kenzie instead of Bhanu because she’s a bigger threat, but is furious at Bhanu for raising his threat level by telling everyone he’s a duo with Tiffany. He wants to coach Bhanu to be the best player he can be, but can’t do it and votes him out. The conditions are killing him: no food, rain, bad shelter, etc. He feigns to Kenzie that he might want to go to disarm her. He would never actually quit, “I would pass out and die first.” Winning feels amazing and he can’t wait to have a bro moment on the journey with Tim and Hunter — the three of them agree to work together in the journey alliance.

Merging: He’s very excited about the journey six alliance at the merge, but he’s still a little weary about Tim and Maria, especially when he finds out Tim never told Maria about the alliance. He doesn’t like the vibe of the Siga tribe: just being friends and not being strategic. He’s very scared of Mo after she compares herself to Aubrey and is very mad about Venus not wanting to vote her out, calling her “ungrateful.” He gets mad at Charlie for telling Venus he voted for her; “he let his emotions get the best of him… he needed to be put in his place.” Right after he’s clocked as running the game like a dictator, during the challenge he runs a game to pass the time like a dictator, getting frustrated by others not doing it right. He claims he threw the split immunity challenge so he can test the strength of his alliance. He doesn’t want to target Hunter for being a physical threat because he feels he can beat him; he’s more worried about strategic threats. Decides to target Tim because he’s so Siga strong and wants to vote Hunter. He annoys Kenzie and Tiffany by being chaotic and controlling, demanding the vote move from Tim to Ben.

Mid-merge: He’s really upset about how much folks are just vibing and hanging out post tribal instead of making strategic moves. “It’s not ok to come to camp and just kekehehe and not make moves. . . I’m a game player and game changer and going to change the way this game is played.” He designs the Q-skirt, which is a hoodie tied around his waist. He invites Charlie into The 6 alliance. He organizes a game of hide and seek which he uses to read the way people play the game; he wants to know who can hide in plain sight. He’s very concerned about what he views as Tiffan’s plan to take a goat to the end. He tells Maria about Tiffany’s idol. He goes to Tevin and Hunter to put the plan in motion to get rid of Tiffany so he can maintain mob boss control. He tries to spearhead a rice sitout, and is really frustrated they can’t get a deal done when it’s obvious Hunter will win anyway, dismayed they care about playing for fun. He still wants to target Tiffany because she broke his #1 rule — you target the 6 you go home. He’s furious when he hears the vote has shifted to Tevin; he hates when plans change. “I’m not the driver, and my game is based off me being in control. I want to gain control again.” He tells Hunter about the vote. He sends the entire tribal council into chaos by saying he wants to be voted out, but Tevin goes home.

>>>It doesn’t matter, because eliminated is eliminated, but I moved Q below Liz. The episode was so bad for him he needed to be last. I can’t remember the last time the edit buried someone this bad without them going home. Brutal.

Final Thoughts

• Ben and Kenzie continued to build on their relationship, I’m really feeling them as the complex duo of the season. One of them is helping the other win.
• I think I found our endgame alliance! When Ben pitched the chill alliance to Kenzie, it felt so real and with heavy foreshadowing. So who is the chill alliance? I think I figured it out. Ben approaches Kenzie about the chill alliance immeediately after meeting with Liz, Charlie, and Maria. I think that’s the crew, and my money is on that being our final 5. Survivor loves heavy-handedly foreshadowing their F3 being established. What if this time they did it with the finale night group?
• We’re at 3–3–3 of the tribes left at the F9! I like that! But also very little mention of it? That suggests to me we’re probably looking at a final stretch that isn’t about tribal lines, unlike many new era seasons.

If you read this far — thank you! I welcome any comment or feedback!