Is Q a mad genius or just plain mad? That question has to be asked after the explosive and entertaining episode 8 of Survivor 46.
Q took center stage as he turned a children's game into a psychological evaluation of each player when he suggested everyone play "Hide 'N Seek," which is also the name of the episode. In his confessional, he broke down each player based on how they hid and how they searched for others once found. For the record, Venus was doing the same thing, so maybe they're both out of their mind.
This episode was all about Q. During his confessionals, he was extremely open about how he was "going to change the way the game is played forever." His style has been progressively getting more aggressive, and he wants to be in charge of every aspect of the game.
During the episode, Q was miffed when his portion of the tribe returned from tribal council but didn't want to discuss what happened in tribal or talk about strategy. Then, the next day, he talked everyone into the game so he could evaluate them. During the challenge, he was openly irritated that no one but Liz agreed to join him in sitting out the challenge to gain rice for the tribe. No one felt safe enough to sit and some just wanted to participate in a classic Survivor challenge.
During the challenge he groused constantly about it, and back at camp, he had a bit of a meltdown about it. He always seems upset when things do not go his way.
He has always been pushing for his journey alliance, now called the Alliance of Six, and he wanted to believe in it, but members kept mentioning other members to eliminate. In the last episode, Tim wanted Hunter out, so Q got rid of him for going against the alliance. In episode 8, Tiffany brought up Maria's name, who is in the alliance, so Q decided Tiff had to go. The other alliance members, plus Charlie, who Maria brought in after Tim was voted out, all decided to vote for Tiffany.
During the course of the post-challenge downtime, Liz finally decided to make a move. She tried to rally votes against Tevin, who is a huge social threat in the game. She finds a bit of traction and she sways some minds. To try to keep Maria on the Tiff vote, Q reveals to Maria that Tiffany has an idol. That eventually gets back to Tiffany, and chaos ensues.
Then they went to tribal council...
Why Q offers to sacrifice himself at tribal council
Q caught everyone off guard at the very beginning of tribal council by telling the tribe he knew he had messed up and that he was offering himself up to be voted off. Now, why would he do that?
We shared five reasons that Q offered to be voted out of Survivor 46.
1. Actual contrition
There is a small, tiny chance Q threw himself at the feet of his tribemates due to actual contrition. He had spilled the beans about Tiffany's idol, and he truly felt bad about it. This is possible, but highly unlikely.
This theory certainly doesn't fall into what we know about Q, and it would be shocking if he actually felt bad about this on a personal level.
2. Fake contrition to placate Tiffany
This is much more likely and more in line with Q's offbeat playing style than the first theory. Q did mess up, and he knew he did, but this was his convoluted plan to convince Tiffany he felt bad about revealing her idol.
He is trying to save his tenuous relationship with Tiffany and Kenzie, but it will probably have the exact opposite effect. They barely trust him as it is and have been waiting for a moment to break ties with him. By blindsiding their alliance with this ploy, it will further enforce their feeling they can't continue letting him play the lead in their faltering Yanu alliance.
3. Another test
Like the "Hide 'N Seek" game, Q might have done this just to see how each tribal member reacted. It sounds far-fetched, but the audience already saw how he does things just to get reads on the other players.
He probably knew he was safe enough in the moment that most of his various alliances wouldn't vote him out when he was essentially apologizing for a misstep. He was right, and he saw that Tevin was the first willing to believe that Q wanted to go home for that mistake. However, Tevin and Hunter ended up voting for Venus. Everyone else pretty much stuck to the original plan and voted out Tevin.
4. To deflect the fact taking out Tevin was someone else's move
Unlike most players, Q likes for everyone to think he is running the game. He wanted Tiffany gone because she was going against their alliance, but Liz actually made a move and rallied for votes on Tevin. The majority wanted to do that against Q's wishes, and he wasn't happy about it.
He could have blown up tribal council for the sole reason of deflecting the fact someone else made a move. This could all be about trying to earn gameplay points with the jury, should he actually make it that far. This might be the most nefarious theory and probably one of the less likely ones.
5. Create chaos
Based on his game so thus far, Q thrives on controlled chaos, and he might have decided this was a way to create chaos and maybe even combine some benefits extolled in the other theories.
He definitely blew up tribal and stirred the pot. With a wide grin on his face, Jeff Probst just watched as the tribe split into several little groups, with some players flitting to one huddle, then another. If it was strictly chaos that Q was seeking, then he has to be satisfied.
In the end, nothing changed. Most people were going to vote out Tevin. All of the chaos didn't alter the plan. That is why it may have been the measured move of a brilliant Survivor genius.
Regardless, it is almost certain Q will have an explanation for his underlying plan, and it wouldn't be surprising if there is a bit of truth from more than one of these theories. His first confessional in episode 9 will be a lot of fun!