Survivor 46: Episode 3 "Wackadoodles Win" Gameplay Analysis

 "Mermaid...dragon."

-Bhanu Gopal

Well, I loved the first 98% of this episode.  Bhanu's episode-long meltdown was gloriously entertaining.  I felt really bad for the guy, but there were times that I couldn't help but laugh at his paranoid spiral.  I can't remember the last time we saw a meltdown this intense.  All that said, Tribal Council getting canceled pissed me off.  Yanu lost the Immunity Challenge, so they should lose a tribe member.  Randen getting medically evacuated is irrelevant.  I said the same thing when Matthew left the game in Survivor 44.  The ending left a sour taste in my mouth, which is too bad because I really enjoyed the rest of the episode.  Regardless of how I feel, we still need to figure out who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

Let's start over on Nagi.  The only person I have here is Hunter.  I gotta give the guy some major props for all of the practice he put into Survivor challenges before getting on the show.  It's super impressive.  He also kept that practice to himself.  And then he saved his tribe from losing the Immunity Challenge single-handedly.  It didn't end up mattering due to the evacuation, but it was still impressive.

Moving over to Siga, Ben may have lost his vote on the Journey, but I liked the lie he told back at camp.  By saying he won't find out if he lost his vote or gained an Advantage until Tribal Council, it makes him less of an appealing target.  There's some mystery and danger around voting for Ben now.  That could save him for at least one vote.

Via time travel, Jem managed to get herself a Beware Advantage, which she might need if Charlie's Angels breaks up.  I don't mind that she went for this, but we'll see if she did a good enough job of hiding the Idol box in the next episode. 

Finally, over on Yanu, we have Q.  I actually really like Q's attempt to switch the vote onto Kenzie.  I think everyone on Yanu needed to assume this is a Matsing situation.  They all need to find a way to be in the top 2 in the pecking order of the tribe.  I just don't see them winning any Immunity Challenge.  If Bhanu goes, than Q has a a 50/50 shot of going next time.  It would really be up to Tiffany.  If Q manages to convince Tiffany to vote out Kenzie, then next time Q would have the power and get to decide to keep Tiffany or Bhanu.  We'll probably never know what would have happened if Yanu had gone to Tribal Council and how much Tiffany was actually considering flipping, but I appreciate Q's attempt.

Who Sucked:

The only person I have here is Bahnu.  I feel bad for the guy, but he clearly has no idea how to play the game.  He thought he could play by just being nice and honest and he learned at the last Tribal Council that that wasn't going to be enough.  He spiraled badly and let paranoia take hold.  He failed the Journey Challenge and wasn't even able to throw out a name of someone to vote out.  He definitely should have been the one to go if Randen hadn't gotten evacuated. 

We really didn't get enough from Liz, Soda, Tevin, Venus, Charlie, Maria, Moriah, Tim, Kenzie, or Tiffany to say either way.

As for Randen, what a bad deal.  It had to be terrifying to wake up and not be able to use your arm properly.   I'm glad he's doing okay and I hope he gets the chance to play again.  

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Hunter McKnight for keeping all of his Challenge practice to himself and single-handedly winning Immunity for Nami.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Bhanu Gopal for his meltdown and losing his vote on the Journey.

We'll see if Bhanu can bounce back next week.  Personally, I hope his paranoia continues because it's just so damn entertaining.