Survivor 46: Episode 8 "Hide 'n Seek" Gameplay Analysis

 "Long live Jelinsky."

-Jeff Probst

I love how much of a trainwreck this season is becoming.  There are so many chaotic personalities that you never know what's going to happen next.  This is a really fun cast, and while this Tribal Council may have been dumb, it was certainly entertaining.  Let's get into who played well and who sucked.

Who Played Well:

Let's start with the remaining members of Siga.  For Ben, Charlie, and Maria getting rid of Tevin is a great move.  It weakens Nami and might keep the spotlight off of the them for a while.  I also really like how Ben handled returning to camp after Tim was voted out.  Charlie also managed to get into the Plus 1 alliance and then immediately realize how flimsy of a group it was and turn against it.

I've been saying for a while that Liz can't win this game unless she starts taking big swings.  Well, she started that tonight.  She realized that she wasn't seen as a person that was making moves and changed that by being the driving force behind the Tevin vote.  It's risky to take out an ally like that, but it's what she needs to do to have a chance to win.

Finally, taking out Tevin is also a good move for Kenzie and Tiffany as the alternative seemed to be Tiffany.  Tiffany also hung onto her Idol, which I don't know if I would have had the courage to do in her situation.  I do think Tiffany put too much trust into Q at times, but it was still a good episode overall for her.

Who Sucked:

Speaking of Q...oof.  It's been a minute since we've seen someone tank their game this badly and not be voted out.  Q's need for control and his little temper tantrums are one thing, but the stunt he pulled at Tribal Council pissed literally every other player off.  No one is going to trust him going forward and I think he destroyed his shot at winning the game.

Hunter ended up being on the wrong side of the vote.  When he found out that Tevin was in danger, I like that he went to gather more information, but once he realized it was a lost cause, he needed to get on board with the Tevin vote.  Now, did everyone lie to him at Tribal Council that Venus was going to be the target?  I don't know, but voting Venus was a waste.  He did win Immunity, but I don't like that he showed off his athleticism with his acrobatics after winning the Challenge.  Between that feat and his hide 'n seek win, he's directly in the crosshairs as a huge physical threat.

Finally, Venus was far too cocky in taking the credit for the Soda blindside.  Even if she had been the one responsible, bragging to Tevin about how she pulled off the move wasn't a good call.  She's still too aggro for the game and plays like she has a chip on her shoulder.  Getting rid of Tevin was good for her, but it was still a net negative episode.

As for Tevin, he was a bit more like Venus than I think he would care to admit.  Now, he can take the Soda credit, but the way he bragged about it to Liz made her realize her true position in the game.  He failed to make one of his closest allies feel comfortable with him and it cost him the game.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Liz Wilcox for realizing her position in the game and doing something about it by taking out Tevin.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Q Burdette for being too controlling, pouting when he didn't get his way, and asking everyone to vote him out at Tribal Council, which pissed everyone off.

This was a wacky episode and I can't wait to see the fallout when the tribe gets back to camp.  I'm certain Q will try to spin asking to be voted out as some sort of genius, tactical move and I can't wait for that confessional.