Survivor 46 episode 12, the penultimate episode of the season, brought two incredibly close allies to a stalemate, with the pair finally going head to head with the endgame in sight. Throughout Survivor 46, there have been alliances that formed early on in the competition and have broken up throughout the competition. Original Siga tribe members Charlie Davis and Maria Shrime Gonzalez have been working hard to keep their two-person alliance under wraps since the very beginning, and though they’ve flown under the radar, the pair are finally going against each other now that it’s down to the game’s end.
Although their former Siga tribemate Ben Katzman is still in the game, Charlie and Maria are surrounded by the rest of the cast as well. With former Yanu tribe members Kenzie Petty and Q Burdette in the game, along with former Nami tribe member Liz Wilcox, the game isn’t quite at its end just yet. Maria and Charlie’s alliance has carried them through the game thus far, but after Q was able to wedge his way in the middle of the pair, it was clear to Charlie that the time to take Maria out of the game may have arrived.
At the last tribal council during Survivor 46 episode 11, the castaways chose to eliminate Venus Vafa from the island but were confused by a stray vote for Kenzie. On the journey back to their camp, Ben decided to clear the air and share that he had cast the vote for Kenzie. Ben shared that he’d been feeling out of sorts throughout the last several days, as he hadn’t been sleeping and was feeling foggy during tribal council. Kenzie was floored that Ben had written her name down instead of Venus’, but she forgave him for the blunder quickly.
Maria’s plan during the tribal council vote worked, though some felt irritated that they were going with what she wanted. During the meeting, Venus has been harsh toward Maria, knowing that the power player was looking to take her out. While Maria should have the awareness that the sentiments people hold at tribal council aren’t personal, she was hurt by Venus’ criticisms. Maria shared that she felt her character had been attacked. Though the rest of her tribemates shared that they didn’t feel she should be taking things personally, Maria couldn’t separate it.
After heading to bed, it became clear in the middle of the night that Ben’s health and well-being weren’t doing well after just over 20 days of living on Survivor. Ben, who shared earlier in the season that he has panic attacks and suffers from anxiety, woke up in the middle of the night having a night terror and found himself incredibly disoriented. Kenzie, who’s been helping Ben whenever she can, shared that she’s been taking Ben on walks and helping to calm him down if possible. She did her best to talk with him, keeping him calm overnight.
During the reward challenge, the winner was offered a chance to win chinese food delivery to After a difficult puzzle that required balance, Charlie won the reward challenge, choosing Liz and Kenzie to come to the Sanctuary with him. Charlie chose everyone who didn’t get pizza in the last reward challenge, but Maria was hurt that she wouldn’t be able to get letters from home. Though Liz, Kenzie, and Charlie were the three who were left out of her last win, Maria took the loss and the snub from her ally hard, crying as they walked back to their camp.
While Charlie, Liz, and Kenzie were at the Sanctuary, Q, Maria, and Ben took the time they had alone to search for the hidden immunity idol that was still in play. While Venus had found the idol before her elimination, she didn’t choose to play it so the idol got hidden in are surrounding the tribe’s camp once again. Though it was beginning to appear that no one was going to find the idol, Q ultimately dug it up and shared with Maria that he’d been the lucky castaway to find the idol, giving him immunity from tribal council elimination.
After returning from the Sanctuary, Charlie and Maria reconnected to talk with each other about what they should do in the next tribal council. While the pair lied to each other and said they were ready to eliminate Liz next, they both shared during confessional segments that they wanted to eliminate each other. Charlie shared that he wasn’t sure that Maria would go for him, while Maria shared she didn’t think Charlie would come for her. Both were blind to the idea that their closest ally was coming for each other, but knew that the immunity challenge would be key.
During a difficult immunity challenge, the castaways struggled knowing that if they didn’t take the win, they’d be one of the few people on the chopping block. Charlie and Maria were neck and neck throughout the competition, but the rest of the cast wasn’t far behind the duo. Ultimately, Maria was victorious and wound up winning the immunity challenge for the third time this season. The immunity was key for Maria, as most of the tribe was ready to get rid of her, but made her an even bigger threat to her competitors with her third immunity win.
After returning to camp, Charlie, Kenzie, Liz, and Ben scrambled to chat about what their new plan was without Maria or Q knowing. The castaways reassured each other that they were going to shoot for Q rather than Maria, while telling Maria that they were down to vote for Charlie to go along with her plan. Kenzie and Liz both reassured each other that they wouldn’t be taking Charlie out, but they had no idea that Q had an idol that he could potentially play moving into one of their final tribal councils. The castaways were on two different sides.
At the tribal council meeting, the castaways were candid that it was difficult for them to move forward with their games with so many strong players left at the end. While everyone was mum about who they’d be voting for, it was clear that Charlie and Maria were finally crumbling as an alliance. Though he had an idol in his pocket, he chose not to play it and the castaways blindsided Q and Maria by voting Q out of the game. With just one more episode of Survivor 46 left, it’s still anyone’s guess who will take the $1 million.