'Survivor' 46 Power Rankings: 'This Does Not Rock, Jeff'

By Dustin Rowles | TV | April 19, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | April 19, 2024 |

This Week’s Exit: Tevin

I’ve never done this for Survivor but felt compelled to do a power ranking this week, mostly to sort out my own feelings. Rarely have we gotten to the last nine players where I didn’t have a real sense of was likely to win based on the edit (or at least make the top three). But strategy no longer seems to be at play in Survivor 46. Much of what has driven the last few episodes is loyalty breaches. There’s an alliance of six, for instance, and if any one of them steps out of line, the other five come for them. It’s the worst alliance ever.

9. Q — Tevin’s blindside this week came despite one of the most chaotic Tribal Councils in Survivor history. Going into Tribal, it was unclear if a group led by Liz would blindside Tevin, if Q’s effort to dismiss another of his own Alliance of Six would lead to Tiffany’s departure, or if everyone would turn on Venus because she had become impossible to live with around the camp.

But midway through the Tribal, Q inexplicably told everyone to vote him out. Why? Because Q is one of the most chaotic, unpredictable players ever, and not in a good way. He has volunteered to sacrifice himself several times when things don’t go his way. I think he believes he’s being noble, or he’s like the boyfriend who threatens to kill himself if he doesn’t get his way. Either way, he pissed everyone else off because they didn’t want to vote out Q. They had other plans, and those plans relied on keeping Q around.

In the end, Q threw himself to the wolves, but the wolves weren’t interested. Most banded together to take out Tevin because he’s one of the bigger social threats left in the game (if not the biggest). However, patience has to be wearing thin with Q, who thinks he’s a Boston Rob but is actually a Coach or a Phillip. It has been interesting, however, to see him evolve from a likable early favorite to a camp nutcase. There’s a long history of opposing alliances coming together to take out a chaos agent. I suspect they will come soon for Q.

8. Liz — Liz is not good at challenges, has repeatedly stated that she doesn’t care about the money, and put a big target on her back by leading the charge to oust Tevin. She doesn’t have any strong alliances, even among her original tribe (Hunter, Venus), and she’s probably an easy vote in next week’s episode if the tribes don’t decide to take out Q. She’s not a weak enough player to float under the radar, and she’s just strong enough to be a threat, but one that no one is particularly scared of.

7. Maria — Here’s the thing about Maria: She’s probably one of the three or four best players remaining. She has the strongest alliance left in the game with Charlie, and she’s in the so-called Alliance of Six. All of these are reasons why she’s the biggest easy target remaining in the game. She’s too well-liked, but not feared enough to gain the necessary protection she needs to go further in the game.

6. Kenzie — Everyone has been so focused on Q, Venus, Tiffany, and Tevin that Kenzie has somehow managed to sneak under the radar despite being one of the — if not the — most well-liked tribe members remaining. She got a lot of love for helping Ben out during his panic attack last week, and that, along with her likable personality and her insistence on being in the mix on every vote, makes her a big threat. Q won’t be able to protect her anymore, either because Q will be voted out or because no one will want to work with Q ever again. Either she or Tiffany will make it to the end, and my bet is on the latter.

5. Venus — Venus is a terrible player, but I also feel bad for her because no one likes her, everyone makes fun of her behind her back, and yet, she thinks she’s in control of the game. We all knew that Tevin took out Soda last week while Venus took credit for it, and it would have been fine if Tevin had gently gloated about it. But Tevin’s sneering, patronizing dismissal of Venus felt gross. I liked Tevin, but after the way he talked about Venus, I was happy to see him go. And I don’t like Venus, either. But there’s dislike, and then there is bullying. Tevin was on the line.

The thing with Venus is that she has no alliances. Zero. But we’ve reached that part of the game where players start to ignore the annoying players and focus on the threats. There’s a chance Venus sneaks into the top five (or is taken as a goat to the end) simply because no one will vote for her in the final tribal so everyone will want to sit next to her.

4. Charlie — Charlie is going to the final four. I have no doubt. He’s likable but doesn’t draw too much attention to himself. He has a strong alliance with Maria, and he has plenty of shields to hide behind. I like Charlie, but he’s also the exact kind of player who wins in those seasons where mediocrity manages to survive until the end.

3. Ben — Ben is mostly in the same boat as Charlie, except that he’s even more under the radar and even less of a threat. However, he also low-key has strong relationships with Charlie and Kenzie, both of whom can protect him if all the other shields are voted out.

2. Tiffany — I still love to believe that, in the end, the best player will win Survivor, and Tiffany is one of the two best remaining. Q tried to come for her this week, but there was no real appetite to go after her yet. That might have been a mistake. She’s a very good social player, could probably sneak in a challenge win, she has an idol, and now she knows that everyone else sees her as a threat. Putting a scare in her this week may have been the best thing for Tiffany. I think she’s going to be behind a lot of the snuffed torches from here on out.

1. Hunter — Hunter is the biggest challenge threat left in the game and honestly has a chance to be the best challenge beast since Ozzy, except that Hunter can also dominate puzzles. I worried that his size might make it more difficult for him to survive the endurance challenges, but he beat out both Charlie and Venus in this week’s immunity challenge, which those two are built to win. The other thing that is remarkable is that, despite how good he is, no one is really focused on him yet. That will change, obviously, but with an immunity idol in his pocket, Hunter could probably win enough immunity challenges to get him to the final four. If he and Tiffany make it to the final three, it might be a close race. If Hunter makes it to the end with anyone else, however, it’ll be an easy victory. He’s well-liked, and though he hasn’t really orchestrated any blindsides, people respect his challenge ability enough to give him the votes needed to win to be the Ultimate Survivor.