Survivor 46 episode 5 saw the tribes struggling through the midway point of the game but finally gave them all the push they’d been looking for this season. With the Survivor 46 castaways moving through the game at a rapid pace, things have been tricky for some more than others. Survivor 46’s Yanu tribe, which is now only comprised of three castaways, has been struggling after systematically losing half their tribe and subsequent challenges throughout the game. Kenzie Petty, Q Burdette, and Tiffany Ervin have been able to continue despite their major losses, but things have been difficult for Yanu.
Siga, who had yet to go to tribal council before Survivor 46 episode 5, still has all of its members. With Ben Katzman, Charlie Davis, Jemila Hussain-Adams, Maria Shrime Gonzalez, Moriah Gaynor, and Tim Spicer all working together and flying under the radar, the tribe was hopeful they’d be able to win another immunity challenge. Nami, meanwhile, suffered a loss when Randen Montalvo was medically evacuated during Survivor 46 episode 3, but Hunter McKnight, Liz Wilcox, Soda Thompson, Tevin Davis, and Venus Vafa have been taking things in stride with a winning attitude. With immunity on the line, things got tough.
Early in the episode, the Siga tribe was shown getting along as usual, both while idol hunting and while spending time at their campsite. The tribe knew things were going to change when they finally hit tribal council, as their social dynamics would be put to the test. Things had to shift, but without a loss on their hands, there wasn’t any reason to rock the boat. The tribe was still unaware that Jem had found a Beware Advantage, and had been searching tirelessly to figure out what had happened to it while Jem blissfully joined in on their chatter.
Nami, who has taken first place in nearly every immunity challenge thus far, were beginning to feel the strain on their group socially. Hunter, who is easily the strongest physically in the tribe, was searching for an idol when Venus, whose closest ally Randen was medically evacuated out of the game, followed him into the jungle. Venus tried to wait him out and clarify she was watching him, but by the time she left, Hunter had spotted the Beware Advantage that had been rehidden after Randen left the game. It wouldn’t come into play until Nami lost an immunity challenge.
The Yanu tribe was happy to be rid of the castaways they’d felt were dead weight on their team, but having so few people were making things harder strategically. Q’s closest ally, Tiffany, found herself bound to Kenzie, which put her in a tough position. Q and Kenzie were discussing the game when he shared that he was beginning to feel hopeless. Telling Kenzie he would rather quit than continue to lose, Q was shown in an interview explaining that he was lying to her face. Q shared that he wanted Kenzie to believe he was weaker than he was.
At the Siga tribe’s camp, Tim took a big swing and called out Jem for hiding the Beware Advantage. Though he didn’t know if she’d done so for sure, he tried to narrow things down logically and made the calculation that she had to be the person who had the advantage. Jem denied the allegations, clearly nervous that Tim seemed to see through her manipulation. When Tim talked to Ben and Charlie, who he’s closely aligned with, both felt that it was likely Jem did have the advantage, but none of them could be sure that it wasn’t another woman.
At the immunity challenge, the tribes were given the news that it would also be a reward challenge for them. Moving into a new phase of the game, the tribe who won would earn a large serving of pastries and fruit, while the second-place tribe would earn a smaller portion of pastries and fruit. The tribes fought through an obstacle course that involved untying knots and weaving catapulting sandbags into large targets, and while it was neck-and-neck between Siga and Yanu at the end, the Yanu tribe took home their first-ever win, earning immunity, food, and flint to make fire.
After the immunity challenge, the tribes were told that they’d have to choose three castaways to go on a journey. Nami chose Hunter, Siga chose Tim, and Yanu chose Q. The three men traveled to a remote island and talked before the journey’s challenge got started. All three decided that if they were to make the merge, they’d all work together. Each guy explained they had one person they were close with, and they could make the final 6 easily if they all stuck together. They then chose Hunter for the challenge, with Q and Tim heading back to camp.
The journey challenge required Hunter to look at the logos of 20 different seasons of Survivor and put them in order by air date. While typically, castaways are superfans of the series, some are more serious superfans than others. Tim explained, after reading the clue about the journey being something geared towards a fan of the show, that he probably could’ve been successful with trivia knowledge, but couldn’t sacrifice losing his vote. Hunter felt confident but struggled with getting the answer right. Hunter ultimately wasn’t able to put the seasons in order, sacrificing his vote in an upcoming tribal council.
Things were difficult as Siga got ready for tribal council. There was tension in their camp that didn’t sit well with any of the tribe members, who had all become close throughout the last week and a half. Jem and Moriah did their best to push voting Ben out, especially because Maria had two votes at tribal council. Jem, who found the immunity idol after completing the Beware Advantage task, was certain she’d be safe. Meanwhile, the men were plotting to vote Jem out. Charlie and Maria realized they were in control, and had to make the best strategic decision.
At tribal council, the castaways shared that they’d become very close over the last several days, but were nervous about what the vote would do to their relationships. While Jem was quiet for the majority of their time talking to Survivor host Jeff Probst, she was confident in choosing not to play her immunity idol. Unfortunately for Jem, she was blindsided when Charlie and Maria put their votes together with Tim and Ben, who had no vote despite no one knowing, to control the elimination. Moriah voted for Ben, but all the other votes left Jem eliminated from Survivor 46.
