Survivor 46 has certainly had its share of entertaining personalities such as Bhanu, Q, Tevin, Charlie, and Soda. There have been whacky revelations, including the fact Hunter has a house filled with Survivor puzzles he and his class made. There was Liz's all-time meltdown when she wasn't picked for a food reward. Then there was the memorable tribal council on episode 8, where Q tried to get himself voted out because he had blown up his allies' plans.
Then, of course, there have been the results of the last four tribal councils, which are completely unexplainable. All of these things add up to this season being one of the worst ever. A fun cast is great and all, but fans want to see action and not self-inflicted blindsides.
Four straight tribal councils on Survivor 46 have seen people voted out with idols
The lack of game awareness has been stunning to watch. Early on, it was Jelinsky's general cluelessness. Then, it was Bhanu's, adorable at first, then annoying lack of anything resembling Survivor gameplay strategy. Then, it was Tim being unable to absorb what was going on around him.
It's all boiled down to some of the most unforgivable lack of strategy ever witnessed on Survivor. Maria and Charlie have been directing the dismissal of all credible threats, one by one. It wasn't because of incredible gameplay or mind-blowing strategies or anything like that, but it is because four straight players acted like they had never watched Survivor before and allowed themselves to be sent to the jury with idols in their pockets.
Hunter was the first. Okay, blindsides happen. He isn't the first this has ever happened to, but he HAD to know he was considered a big physical threat, and he was vulnerable. He trusted the wrong folks, and they voted him out. He kept his idol a secret for so long, then told a bunch of people about it at the last second. He obviously thought that the threat of the idol would protect him for that vote. It didn't.
Tiffany's idol was revealed to everyone by Q, and she knew it put a target on her. She knew it! Yet, she kept it in her pocket, after telling people she was going to play it, like they were all going to take her word for it. They didn't.
Then, there was Venus. She found an idol, and most wouldn't have suspected her of having it. She hinted to Charlie she had something, but he didn't even believe her. She was so sure everyone wanted Q out and not her. Then, bye, bye Venus. The idol gave her a false sense of power in the game, but she didn't even use it.
Finally, there was Q, who was actually used as a patsy vote for several tribals by Maria. Everyone wanted him gone, so he turned out to be a great misdirection for three or four straight tribals. The main reason those players were comfortable not playing their idol was because everyone was vocal about wanting Q gone. Maria and Charlie did a great job of using Q as a shield. Maria was instrumental in making him comfortable and willing to vote with them.
But, Maria forgot that Q was, in fact, a shield. With only six players left, there weren't any more targets left, except Q, Charlie, and Maria, herself. No one else was willing to work with Q anymore. Charlie was aware of this, and Maria was not. She tried to use her distraction one too many times, and Q, for whatever reason, was confident and oblivious to the carnage he had wrecked since the merge. Maria was blindsided in her attempt to blindside Charlie.
These two have been by far the best players. Maria has been terrific, but in thruth, Charlie has always been thinking further down the road. Maria should have seen this vote coming, but it's like she wasn't even aware Charlie has been playing this game.
The only thing that could make this season worse is if, somehow, neither Maria or Charlie make it ot the final three. The next immunity challenge is as big as it's ever been. If either Charlie or Maria win, the other will be gone. If someone else wins it, one of them will still be gone. The worst case scenario is if Kenzie, Ben, or Liz win the last immunity, and either Maria or Charlie (whichever is left) loses the inevitable fire challenge.
If neither Charlie nor Maria win this game, season 46 will go down as the worst in Survivor history on a strategic level. Like Nicaragua (season 21), most of the strategic players were eliminated early. Like Thailand (season 5), there hasn't been much in the way of good gameplay. Even if the deserving Maria or Charlie win, it will still be the worst season by far, in the new era.