Your Tears Won’t Save You. (Or Will They?)

What do you do when you’re pushed to your lowest point? When you can’t sleep, you can’t eat, you can barely function? Some might say that’s just another day on Survivor, but right now, during day six and seven of Survivor season 46, this reality is not just the norm for one tribe, but it’s pushing them to their breaking point.

Before we get into that, just a reminder that all season long I’ll be recapping every episode of Survivor 46. Make sure you’re subscribed to the Parting Shot podcast and my newsletter For the Culture for all things Survivor related. (And everything else entertainment related.)

Make sure you read my recap from last week, but basically Yanu’s Tribal Council was insane, with Jess and Bahnu breaking down and revealing everything. (Literally, everything.) In the end Jess got sent home—after playing a fake idol—and now Bahnu must contend with the fool he made of himself in front of his tribe mates.

But before we get to the immunity challenge, let’s check in with where these tribes are at.

Yanu

There’s bottom and then there’s rock bottom, and Yanu is at rock bottom. They’ve lost every challenge. Two people have been sent home. They have no real shelter, no means to make fire, not much food. Like, it’s bad.

And after their last Tribal Council, Bahnu knows he’s the next to go if they go back to Tribal Council, and rightfully so. At the last Tribal he revealed everything, alliances, his feelings, everything. It was a performance rarely seen on Survivor, because most players know information is key and not to put it all out there. Not Bahnu, apparently.

He starts looking for an immunity idol but finds nothing. He goes to Kenzie and confesses he’s struggling. (Well, confessing isn’t the right word for it, because they all already know that.) “I wanna play the game and I’m hitting a wall all the time,” he tells her. She’s struggling with him because he just won’t get out of his head.

Later he goes to Q and says the same thing. Q is willing to work with him, and tells Bahnu he’ll protect him if Bahnu will serve as his “buffer.” But even this isn’t enough for Bahnu, who later struggles to see the gift Q is giving him. He’s too in his head and it’s ruining his game. (And is incredibly frustrating to watch.)

Speaking of Q, he’s taking all these failures to heart, and it’s hurting his game too. He knows he’s the strongest, he’s an athlete, he should be excelling and he wants to win for his team. He admits this to his tribe mates, and they’re not buying it. They know he’s just being too hard on himself, and he is. (I’m dying for him to have a win. He deserves it.)

Siga

We start out with the tribe going on an idol field trip. They comb through their camp looking for some kind of hidden immunity idol, but Charlie is just playing along. If he finds one, he says he’s going to keep it secret. But it isn’t Charlie who finds one, it’s Jem.

Like players in other tribes, Jem finds a Beware Advantage. She waits until everyone is asleep to go digging where it says to dig. She digs up a box and finds it’s the same situation as the other players who found a Beware Advantage. The tribe has to lose an immunity challenge in order for her to get the key to open the box, until then she loses her vote at Tribals. So for the time being she’s just sitting pretty (and voteless).

Nami

We start things off with the Survivor MacGyver himself, Hunter. He’s making a little bed for himself that honestly looks very comfortable. The tribe talks about how he can literally build and do anything. Clearly the strongest player, he knows he’s safe. But in a little montage we learn more about his backstory—and watch some footage of him in the water. We learn that he’s hiding how intelligent he is and that he’s a Survivor superfan—we see footage of his living room at home, packed with Survivor puzzles and challenges—all because he wants people to think he’s just a strong provider. Turns out he got a full-ride scholarship to medical school, but turned it down to become a full-time teacher. (Ugh, stop, I already love him, my heart can’t grow any bigger for this man.) But just as this Hunter lovefest is about to get good, Venus chimes in and says she isn’t buying any of it.

She knows something is up with Hunter, that he’s not just Mr. Strong Guy. She says there’s a player like him every season, and it’s nothing special. (Why do I secretly love Venus?)

But then we learn something tragic, Randen is hurt. His hand is immobile, and he feels some kind of pinching in his neck. A doctor looks him over and says he needs to sit out of challenges for a little while, hopefully rest will do him good. Fingers crossed.

Immunity Challenge

The three tribes come to the Immunity Challenge, all with different stakes. Yanu needs a win, badly.

For this challenge, they’ll start in the water. First they’ll have to climb over some crates, followed by getting the entire tribe over a rolling barrel, then up a ramp. (All this while in the ocean.) Once they hit the beach, they’ll dig up sandbags. Once they have them all, they’ll throw them onto a tiny platform. (Seriously, this is so much.)

The winning tribe wins immunity and a Survivor kit filled with tools and a large tarp. The second-place tribe wins a smaller Survivor tool kit. The losing tribe has to go to Tribal Council and lose their flint—or, in the case of Yanu, continue to have no means to make fire.

At the start of the challenge, it’s actually looking good for Yanu and Siga. They get through the water pretty quickly. In a shocking turn of events, it’s Nami, the team always on top, that’s actually in last place. What is happening?

But then things quickly change on the beach. Yanu looks exhausted, barely able to dig. (Clearly the result of lack of sleep and food.) Siga is doing fine. But it’s Nami that comes from behind to get into first place, and that’s all because of Survivor McGyver Hunter. He takes the sandbags, throws them, and lands everyone on his first throw. Who is this man?! Can he pick me up? Yes, yes he can.

Well, Nami wins again. Then Siga comes in second again. Leaving Yanu at the bottom again. Oy, this is becoming a broken record. Every single episode the exact same results.

Jeff then reveals that a member from each tribe will go on a journey following the challenge, and Nami will choose each member. For their team, they choose Liz, Ben for Siga, and Bahnu for Yanu.

The Journey

Liz, Ben and Bahnu arrive for the journey by boat. Liz and Ben are eager to talk with Bahnu about what’s going on at Yanu. You’d think after the last Tribal Council Bahnu would have learned to not be so open with information, but alas he’s learned nothing. He’s crying as they walk up the beach to find out what the journey entails. (I’m getting annoyed.) Before they even read what the journey will be, he spills everything—while crying—right down to his thoughts about Kenzie running the tribe. It’s just wild how easily he’ll share information.

For Liz and Ben, they’re just soaking up the intel, shocked that Bahnu is so forthcoming.

Eventually, they get to the journey—but don’t worry, Bahnu isn’t done crying yet. They find out that each player will draw a rock from a bag. The players that choose blue rocks will go on to the advantage, and the player who chooses the white rock will go back to their camp and lose their vote. Bahnu and Ben choose the blue rocks while Liz chooses the white rock.

“Talk about things that do not rock,” Ben says, continuing his reign as the quote king of the season.

At the advantage, Ben and Bahnu must complete a puzzle before the hourglass runs out. If they don’t complete the puzzle, they lose their vote at the next Tribal Council.

Well, neither of them can complete the puzzle and will lose their votes.

When they all get back to their camps, they each decide to tell their tribe mates different stories. Liz tells Nami what Bahnu revealed, and that she lost her vote. Ben does the same regarding Bahnu, but decides to not reveal he’s lost his vote. He says that he’ll find out at the next Tribal Council if he won or lost. They seem to believe him. For Bahnu, he lies and says he got the white rock, but not that he lost his vote.

Later Bahnu talks with Q and reveals what really happened. This sets into motion the pre-Tribal strategy. Can Bahnu get out of the hole he’s dug for himself, or will all these tears have been for nothing? (Seriously though, how does he have so much moisture in him? I’d have run dry by that point.)

Pre-Tribal

After Bahnu admits to Q that he actually got a blue rock but didn’t complete the advantage and lost his vote, Q starts to plot how he can save Bahnu. He goes to Tiffany and plots to blindside Kenzie, but Tiffany isn’t exactly on board. Oh don’t worry, she’s down for a blindside, but she doesn’t think it’s quite time for that. Which leaves them to settle things at Tribal Council.

The Not-So Tribal Tribal Council

Just as things are starting to heat up, Jeff Probst makes a visit to Nami’s camp. (It’s never a good thing when Jeff stops by.) You see, it’s Randen’s medical situation. (You know where this is going.)

Jeff and the medic explain that Randen’s situation could be worse than they originally thought, he might have a bulging disk, pressing on a nerve. It might even require surgery. Regardless, he needs an MRI, which means he’s pulled from the game. (We learn at the end of the episode he didn’t need surgery and he’s fine.)

This is bad news for Randen, certainly, but also for Venus. You see, she’s on the bottom of Nami, and knows she’ll be the first to be voted out once they make it to Tribal Council. The only thing she had going for her was her alliance with Randen, who confided in her he found a Beware Advantage. Now Randen and the Beware Advantage are gone.

While Nami grapples with the loss of their tribe mate, Jeff goes to break the “good” news to Yanu. Because Randen is out, there won’t be a Tribal Council. As Jeff approaches Yanu’s camp, he encounters Tiffany talking with Bahnu—and yes, Bahnu is crying… again. (Ugh.)

But now he’s crying tears of joy. Instead of just accepting the good news, Bahnu goes into the speech he would have given if voted out.

“I didn’t come to Survivor to win a million dollars, I came to win a million hearts,” he tells Jeff. (I have a feeling everybody else there is concerned with winning a million dollars. I would be.)

But this does give Yanu the second chance they needed. Good for them.

Was this a stellar episode of Survivor? No. Was it enjoyable? Yes. Do I still want Hunter to pick me up? Yes.

On Jeff Probst’s official Survivor podcast On Fire, he talks about what it’s like to be pushed to your limits on Survivor. (But that still doesn’t explain all that crying from Bahnu.) Regardless, it’s def worth a listen.

Who Needs to Get Snuffed?

Bahnu, only for his horrible gameplay. I just can’t make sense of what he’s doing.

Who Should be the Sole Survivor?

As previously stated, my heart is growing day by day for Hunter. I also love Ben a lot. It’s too early to have a winner in mind, but those two are high on my list.

Watch Survivor every Wednesday on CBS or anytime on Paramount+ to follow along as I react to every episode this season.