[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Survivor Season 46 Episode 12, “Mama Bear.”]
What’s the point of idols in Survivor 46? For the fourth vote in a row and fifth overall this season, a player was eliminated with an immunity idol in their pocket in the May 15 episode, setting a new record for the most playable idols being flushed out in one season. Prior to Episode 12, Season 46 was tied with Island of the Idols with four flushed idols. Jeff Probst addresses this fifth flushed idol in the newest episode of Survivor‘s On Fire podcast (full episode embedded below).
Jem was the first player of Survivor 46 to be eliminated with an idol in her pocket. It wasn’t until post-merge that it happened again, but it’s happened in every elimination since Episode 9. Hunter came first, followed by Tiffany and Venus. Venus was the only player this season to find an idol and get eliminated in the same episode. She’s one of eight players in Survivor history to do this, but Q became the ninth in Episode 12. Additionally, everyone on the jury except for Soda was eliminated with an idol or an advantage at their disposal. Tevin was voted out without ever using his extra vote.
The most controversial player of the season found an idol while Charlie, Kenzie, and Liz enjoyed the letters from home reward. Q and Maria were convinced that Charlie was going home that night, so Q believed he was safe enough to not use his idol, which was nearing its expiration date (the last time immunity idols can be played is when there are five players left in the game).
Q and Maria were blindsided when the majority voted Q out instead of Charlie. This was a particular blow to Maria’s game, as she was hoping to pull off a major blindside by voting out her “best friend,” but Charlie, Liz, Kenzie, and Ben’s Q blindside came out on top instead. Maria couldn’t be eliminated because she won individual immunity.
“This was the perfect moment for Q to do some self-reflection,” and he didn’t take it, Dee Valladares said on On Fire before urging, “Play your dang idol!” What she said!
Last week, Probst said on the podcast that Venus going home with her idol was the result of “great game play” from the other competitors. Co-host Jay Wolff asked Probst if these never-ending idol snafus are the product of genuine trust among the Survivor 46 cast.
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“Is there a deeper bond here than we realized and that’s what’s allowing for such breathtaking blindsides?” Wolff said. Probst thinks the Survivor 46 cast is mistaken to trust each other so much.
“The social contract that you’re talking about is exactly it, Probst replied. “And maybe that’s what it is. I do think it’s great game play, and I do think players today play a more aggressive game out of necessity, but there was a moment that maybe captures what you’re saying. When Hunter was in the middle of this live tribal debating if he should play it or not and he looks to Kenzie and says, ‘I just don’t wanna be played,’ in that moment is the entire game: am I being played?”
I wouldn’t say that the players are playing aggressively this season. Q has been, but it’s not a trait they all share. If everyone was playing aggressively, then the votes wouldn’t be almost completely unanimous as they have been every week; there would be more suspense with the vote results.
Probst says that this season could be so “complicated” because everyone’s getting along and trusting each other. “Nobody realizes you shouldn’t trust anybody!” he noted.
With Q’s idol being flushed out, there’s one Tribal Council left during which idols will be playable. The show will undoubtedly throw and idol back in to see who can find it. And for the goodness’ sake let’s hope it’s played.
Despite his disappointing ending, Probst loves how Q played Survivor. “Q’s one of the most unique players we’ve ever had on the show,” he said on On Fire. “He gave us everything we could’ve hoped for from a Survivor player. It’s impossible for me to overstate that.” Q took risks and was “strong enough to turn story” in almost every single episode, Probst said. The host previously told TV Insider that Q is a “player that you could say is on the invite list to come back” for Season 50.
Take a deep dive into the penultimate episode of Survivor Season 46 in the full episode of On Fire below.
Survivor, Season 46 Finale, Wednesday, May 22, 8/7c, CBS
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