SURVIVOR INSIGHTS 355: Season 46 | Episode 12 Lesson of The Story

Episode 12 Review: This pre-finale episode is a mix. The first 60% is good consistently, but the last 40% is “too” predictable.

The climax of this episode began when Charlie won The Sanctuary Reward Challenge, but he did not choose Maria with him.

Charlie, instead, chose Kenzie and Liz – who unexpectedly could eat Chinese food.

Maria began to believe the possibility to shift an alliance and would give a chance to trust Q more.

To seal her safety, Maria dominated the Immunity Challenge for the third time. She surprisingly surprised everyone by finishing the dolphin puzzle by a mile ahead of Charlie and Ben, who solved the foundation first.

Then, Charlie played his social politics as delicate as The Tortured Poets Department.

And, it worked!

Even Maria felt instantly guilty with the way Charlie convinced her to vote out Q. The Number 1 Taylor Swift fan was convincing without a drop of bad blood.

Tribal Council came. There were layers of great insights shared on the table. Maria voted against Charlie, which was a testament that her loyalty shifted totally.

Charlie’s Numbers Game saved him, however. The rest voted against Q; therefore, he was knocked out with an idol inside his Q-Skirt.

Correct me if I was wrong, but this was the third consecutive time that a hidden idol was not played, which was unrealistic anymore.

Kudos for Q for his no-silent promotion of Applebee’s on his exit confessional. This was fun and real good! 4 stars of 5.

Lesson Learned: “I either let this knock me down and take the wind out of my sails or I’m gonna channel this into fierce determination to win the challenge today.” – MARIA

More Lessons: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode 9 | Episode 10 | Episode 11

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SURVIVOR INSIGHTS 353: Season 46 | Episode 10 Lesson of The Story

Episode 10 Review: This is a predictable episode, but it is a fun one for the food sponsorship of Applebee’s is back at The Sanctuary.

The final stretch of the season was on!

The eight remaining survivors were getting thinner, hungrier and angrier. After Q won the Reward Challenge, Liz was having a moment of meltdown for not having been selected for The Sanctuary.

It was understandable that Liz was starving but having a meltdown like she blamed Q for having the entire solar system collapse on her, this moment was uncomfortable and scary to watch.

It was clear that even Venus, Ben and Charlie who were not selected for the reward felt awkward. Venus attempted to console Liz but hesitated for the rage in Liz could be uncontrollable.

On to Applebee’s Sanctuary – Q was with Tiffany, Kenzie and Maria in an aim to bring back the trust that was lost. These four had a good time, but Tiffany and Kenzie were not going to trust Q again.

For this reason, Q was once again the Public Enemy Number 1 coming into the Immunity Challenge.

Q failed to win the Immunity Challenge. Charlie also stopped Tiffany from winning.

This meant that the majority could either go for the expected and easy vote, which was Q, or go to blindside Tiffany, which personally was not a blindside.

Tiffany was not a threat (the way I see it). Her hidden idol was not a threat either.

Most power players of this episode were Charlie and Maria who were controlling the game with finesse since the merge.

Truth was, no Former-Siga yet was eliminated since Tim who is one of my early favorites.

In this case, Tiffany was a sacrifice for Maria and Charlie to protect Ben.

These power players found the right timing to break the alliance of Former-Yanu 3 with the help of Q and Liz.

Tribal Council came. The plan was set then Jeff Probst revealed the votes.

Q was safe again. Kenzie was shocked, however, as Tiffany received more votes than expected and became the fourth member of The Jury. 4 of 5 stars! GOOD

Lesson Learned: “If I keep sitting back and waiting for the light to turn green, it may not turn green. So, I’m gonna have to run the red light.” – MARIA

More Lessons: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode 9

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SURVIVOR INSIGHTS 352: Season 46 | Episode 9 Lesson of The Story

Episode 8 Review: This is a wasted episode for one survivor who can potentially win it all.

It began with Liz saying that Q stole her thunder. She wanted to be appreciated for the masterful vote-out of the biggest threat of the season.

Then, the nine survivors were divided into three groups of 3 for the Immunity Challenge.

One team would be eliminated at every phase of the challenge until one team would make the final round and compete against each other until only one would win.

Hunter, Maria and Charlie made the final round easily.

The final round required them to stand on a narrow perch for as long as they could. Maria went out first.

In a similar showdown as last week’s, Hunter and Charlie attempted to survive the pain they were going through.

Both were tough as nails, but the physical pain devoured Hunter. Charlie won!

Back at camp, layers of options were laid on the table. Plan A was to vote Q out, which was a boring vote for Kenzie.

Kenzie wanted to take a bigger risk and proceed to Plan B, which was to blindside Tiffany.

Tiffany confessed to Charlie to she would play her hidden idol and for this, the new alliance of Maria, Charlie, Ben and Kenzie went for the obvious, which was to vote-out Hunter.

Hunter made the right calculation that he was vulnerable hours before the Tribal Council. He approached Q for help and decided to blindside Ben, while he would protect himself with his idol.

This was a brilliant plan, but it was a big mystery why Hunter continued to branch out and shared to Venus and Liz that he had an idol.

Hypothesis A: Maybe, Hunter aimed to preserve his idol until the next Tribal Council by creating a new layer of alliance as his shield.

Hypothesis B: Maybe, Hunter did not trust Q anymore, so in case Q would betray him, his second layer of alliance would protect him.

Hypothesis C: Maybe, men in general had poor instinct. Hunter was simply one example.

From a brilliant plan, all momentum spiraled down for Hunter during the Tribal Council.

Hunter felt confused and hesitant to play his idol before the vote-read. He appeared to have completely forgotten to live in the moment.

Therefore, the votes were tied at 4-4 for him and Q.

During the re-vote, majority of the votes went for one of the calmest, humblest and most competitive survivors of all time (next to Aras).

Hunter became the third member of The Jury, but objectively, I still have one Early Favorite left. How far can Venus go? 4 stars of 5, GOOD.

Lesson Learned: “If we can’t say what we’re seeing, what’s the point of being out here?” – JEFF PROBST

More Lessons: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8

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SURVIVOR INSIGHTS 351: Season 46 | Episode 8 Lesson of The Story

Episode 8 Review: This is a busy episode. It starts fun and ends “truly, madly, deeply” busy. Busy here. Busy there. Busy everywhere.

I love how this episode began with an icebreaker. These ten survivors played Hide-and-Seek to take a moment off the game.

These were fun moments that I missed. There were no social politics. Just themselves, having fun.

And here’s Q. He associated the fun time with the game. He was taking it “too” seriously.

Hunter and Ben won their Hide-and-Seek. They were never found.

Q began to conclude that they were the two sneakiest and smartest survivors he should watched out for.

Maybe, Q was right. Probably, he was simply getting more paranoid. He was the mob boss as he called himself, therefore, he needed to control the game he wanted it.

Then, there was the Survivor Classic Immunity Challenge.

The ten survivors had to stay at the top of the pole for as long as they could. Four survivors could choose not to play in exchange with a bag of rice that could last until Day 26.

Only two signed up for the deal, which meant there was no rice for the group, and they were all playing the challenge.

Q and Liz were eliminated immediately, lasting for 17 seconds or less.

Hunter and Charlie were the last two remaining. Charlie made final negotiations with the rice, but Jeff Probst declined.

Charlie could not hang anymore – which means Hunter won the Immunity Challenge!

Back at the camp, social politics amplified. Some wanted Tiffany out. Some said Venus (the sole remaining Early Favorite I have). And here came Liz!

In her first and the brightest airtime since the pilot, Liz came up with a different and brilliant idea to get rid of Tevin.

Tevin became overconfident with Soda’s blindside. He allowed Venus to own that strategy to make the group think Venus was the biggest threat.

Liz figured it all right. Tevin promoted himself as the new biggest threat.

Tribal Council one more time, and when everyone was set to vote out as what Liz was proposing to, here came the Q’s drama again.

Q felt responsible for all the wrong decisions he did. He wanted to be eliminated.

The nine survivors were shocked. There were whisperings here and there.

Tiffany even discovered Q betrayed her by telling everyone that she had a hidden immunity idol.

It was a chaotic moment. Everyone was busy re-planning and re-organizing the plans that were set.

In the end, only Tevin and Hunter did not vote with the majority. The eight blindsided Tevin successfully, making him the second member of The Jury. 5 stars of 5, STUPENDOUS

Lesson Learned: “I have to start taking action or the action is gonna be taken on me.” – LIZ

More Lessons: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7

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SURVIVOR INSIGHTS 349: Season 46 | Episode 6 Lesson of The Story

Episode 6 Review: This is a fun, but quite formulaic, Merge Episode!

It started with letters sent to each tribe. They expected a merge, but without new buffs.

They arrived at the Feast Challenge for which they were divided into two tribes of 6. Tiffany would not play and would join the winning tribe.

Tiffany chose the Purple Tribe, which composed of all men plus one women in Kenzi.

It was a close fight during the obstacle race. The All-Women Tribe (+ Charlie) was strategic enough to equal the physical advantage of the All-Men Tribe (+ Kenzie).

The final part of the challenge was a circular puzzle. Two members of each tribe must complete a side of the puzzle before the other two could.

Hunter and Q were putting the final pieces of the puzzle versus Venus and Charlie. The latter was catching up fast, but Hunter was quicker. This man could play anything right and win.

The All-Men Tribe (+ Kenzi) won! Tiffany joined them in Merge Feast. The Sanctuary was nowhere to be found, however.

Social politics were laid out during the Feast. Some wanted Venus out. Some wanted Moriah.

Q showed massive control over the decision. He was the mastermind behind Moriah’s boot during the Tribal Council, in which Jeff Probst declared her unsafe after her attempt to play Shot-In-The-Dark. 4 stars of 5, GOOD.

Lesson Learned: “Perception is just reality though.” – HUNTER

More Lessons: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5

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