If there was a theme to Survivor 46 so far, it would have to be the lack of self-awareness among the contestants. Several players are floating around without much of a clue as to how they are being perceived by their counterparts.
This isn't an unusual failing on Survivor, but it usually manifests itself in overconfidence in their alliances or power in the game. There has been some of that this season, but overall, players haven't been aware of their place in the game.
How has the lack of self-awareness cost players during Survivor 46?
From the moment players hit the beach, the Yanu team was a disaster. During his brief stay on the island, Jelinsky basically gave up on just about every task set before him. He quit in challenges and generally established his lack of stick-to-itiveness. It became obvious, however, that he wasn't aware he was giving up all the time, or that it was bothering his tribe mates.
Bhanu, also from the initial Yanu tribe, was an incredible ball of positive energy, but he quickly devolved into an emotional roller coaster absence of any tact. He wore every emotion on his sleeve, so to speak, and every thought or feeling he had came directly out of his mouth. He spilled his guts to friends and enemies, alike, which is the exact opposite of how anyone should be playing Survivor in season 46!
At one point, he got on his knees and begged a tribemate not to vote for him. He just had no perception of how he came off to his teammates, and even though they loved him and some even wanted to work with him, they couldn't trust he could hold any secrets if they went to a merge.
Then, there was Jem, from Siga. She found a clue to an immunity idol, but she tried to plant a fake one with disastrous results, which she didn't foresee (but should have). She actually felt she was in a position of power and had the complete trust of everyone in her tribe. Her fellow Siga castaways thought she was being weird and secretive and voted her out while she had an idol in her pocket.
In episode 7, Tim paid the price for his lack of self-awareness. While he agreed in theory to the journey alliance, he never told his and Siga ally, Maria, about it, which was revealed when the three tribes were all placed on the same beach for a couple of days right before the merge in episode 6. He never would fully commit to the journey alliance mentally, though verbally he did with Q, Tevin, and Hunter.
He continued to secretly try to keep the Siga tribe strong, even as it dissolved around him. In episode 7, with two groups of six going to tribal, and those two groups separated for the day, Tim insisted Hunter, who was in the journey alliance, be voted off so Siga could keep their numbers. The problem was he was trying to convince Q, who had no tribal ties involved, and the other members of the Yanu tribe to vote out Hunter, even though it made more sense for their games to take out Ben.
On top of all this, Tim was convinced his secret no. 1 ally was Maria, though she was not. By harping on his desire to protect former Siga members at all costs, he alienated the people who wanted to work with him in Hunter and Q. Unsurprisingly, Tim was blindsided for his lack of self-awareness.
Now, let's talk about Venus. It hasn't cost her yet, but Venus won't be far behind Tim in her exit. In episode 6, she was told flat-out either she or Moriah was going home. She then threw Charlie's name out instead of Moriah's because she wanted to keep the latter in the game. The whole sequence just proved she lacks awareness. The choice was her or Moriah, not her and whoever she wanted, and she would have been eliminated if Moriah's Shot in the Dark worked.
Venus has been desperate to find someone, anyone, willing to play with her. In episode 7, her group of six, led by Tevin, had decided to blindside Soda, a popular and dangerous player. Venus, on her own and not really included in the strategy discussions, also decided Soda needed to go. She then talked to several other people in her group, trying to convince them of what they had already decided to do.
During tribal council, Soda was voted out, but Venus took credit for the move when Soda asked Venus if she had orchestrated the move. This clearly upset Tevin, who was the true power behind the blindside.
Lastly, there is Q. He has been running roughshod over his former Yanu teammates and Kenzie and Tiffany have pretty much had it. They've gone along because it has benefited their games to take out Nami and Siga players who were threats, but Q is very demanding and thinks he's running the show. It is also a reason Tim was wary of Q, because he was playing too hard.
At some point, Tiffany and Kenzie will abandon Q, and he will probably get blindsided hard.
There have been other instances, but it just seems that a larger number of players have been more clueless than in the past. We'll see if the ones that aren't clueless can make it to the end.
Survivor 46, episode 8 airs on Wednesday, April 17, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.