Survivor 46: Episode 5, "Tiki Man" Gameplay Analysis

 "I'm here forever!"

-Jeff Probst

This was probably my favorite episode of the season so far.  It was really exciting to finally see another tribe go to Tribal Council, especially a tribe like Siga, which has gotten along very well up to this point.  This is what the average episode of Survivor should be: two people are on the chopping block and there are valid reasons to get rid of both of them, with Tribal Council being intense as we try to guess who is going.  You don't need much else.  Now, let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

Starting on the Nami tribe, I like that Hunter went for the Beware Advantage.  I think he's right about being a huge threat going into the merge and he needs every weapon he can get his hands on.  He also agreed to go along with Q's alliance.  He doesn't have to mean it, but he has his options open now.  He did lose his vote by failing the Journey Challenge, but overall I would say he is net positive.

Moving over to Siga, Ben and Tim managed to convince Charlie and Maria to go with them to take out Jem.  Charlie and Maria needed to go with whoever they trusted more, which I believe they did.  I especially like how Ben played off that he didn't have his vote, but still got the result he wanted.  Tim also agreed to go along with Q's alliance giving himself more options going forward.  I don't love that he directly confronted Jem about the Beware Advantage, but at least she's out of the game and not his problem anymore.

Finally, over on Yanu, we have Q.  I liked his planning ahead to try and lower Kenzie's guard by lying about being ready to go home to trick her into not playing her Shot in the Dark.  It's not going to end up mattering, but it was smart thinking.  I also like his pitch to Hunter and Tim about making a Final 6 alliance.  Even if he doesn't end up going with this plan, he learned Hunter and Tim's closest allies are Tevin and Maria respectively.  They already knew that he was close with Tiffany so he didn't give them any new information while he gained some useful intel.

Who Sucked:

Out of the remaining players, the only person I have here is Moriah.  She was simply on the wrong side of the vote and lost her closest ally.

We didn't get enough from Liz, Soda, Tevin, Venus, Kenzie, or Tiffany for me to say either way.

As for Jem, I think she was playing too aggressively too early.  She was a bit too confrontational with both Ben and Tim and they both seemed to easily figure out that she was gunning for them.  If she had played it calmer and cooler, she might not have been the target of Ben and Tim and may have gotten Maria and Charlie to stick with her.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Q Burdette for playing possum to get Kenzie to lower her guard, pitching an alliance to Hunter and Tim, and for learning their closest allies.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Moriah Gaynor for being on the wrong side of the vote and losing her closest ally.  As a reminder, the person who was eliminated is not eligible for either Award because I think that's boring. 

This was such a fun episode.  I can't wait for next week.  Who knows how things are going to shake out.  Here's hoping that Jeff doesn't ruin it with a dumb twist and just lets the chaos unfold.