Survivor 46: Episode 6 "Cancel Christmas" Gameplay Analysis

 "I'll send her ass back to Canada."

-Q Burdette

That was a solid Mergatory episode!   It had a nice dash of chaos, but it was never hard to follow and their wasn't any production interference to make the episode feel gimmicky.  Just like last week, there were two key names being tossed out and good reasons to get rid of both.  All that was left was for us to guess who was going.  Again, this is what an average episode of Survivor should be.  Let's take a look at who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

Hunter, Tevin, Kenzie, and Q all managed to win Immunity and Tiffany picked the correct team to win, which earned her Immunity as well.  All five of them are set up nicely going forward, especially since they were able to take out a member of Siga.  Hunter also managed to get his hands on an Idol.  Plus I like the way Q talked to Maria before talking to Tim about the Journey 6 alliance.  It made him rightly skeptical of Tim.  I do think he is playing a little too hard and trying to take too much control, but I'll still give him a net positive.

The Siga tribe came in on the same page, but were unable to hide it from the others, which made their group a target.  They were able to do some damage control and all of them ended up being willing to sacrifice Moriah in order to further their games.  They could have done better, but they did end up doing what they had to do.  Plus Ben won Immunity and I liked that Charlie threw a vote on Venus in case of the Shot in the Dark.

We didn't get much from Liz, but she did end up on the right side of the vote to take out Moriah.

Finally, we have Soda, who also managed to get on the right side of the vote.  I don't like the fight she had with Venus before the other tribes arrived on their beach.  That was a silly thing to do in the moment, but I'll still give her a net positive.

Who Sucked: 

Tim not telling Maria about the Journey alliance is inexcusable.  It reminded me a lot Brendan and the failed Exile Alliance in Tocantins.  He was willing to sacrifice Moriah, but I wouldn't be surprised if Q turns on him soon.

Venus also ended up on the right side of the vote, but she tried to control the vote and put it onto Charlie.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, but she shouldn't have said out loud that she didn't want a woman to go home.  That just gives every man on the tribe a reason to vote her out.  I would bet she goes home next.

As for my winner pick, Moriah discovered she was on the bottom of the Siga alliance and didn't do anything about it.  Once they were told to drop their buffs, Moriah needed to drop Siga and forge some new relationships and alliances.  This may have even saved Siga overall because they would have come off as less united.  She tried to change things up at Tribal Council, but that was far too late.  That was a conversation that needed to happen well before Tribal.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Hunter McKnight for getting an Idol, winning Immunity, and knocking out a member of Siga.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Venus Vafa for trying too hard to control the vote when she just needed to focus on survival and for saying that she didn't want a woman to go home out loud.  That's something to keep to yourself.

Next week two people are going home, so who knows what's going to happen.  I just hope it's on par with these last two episodes!