A new episode of Survivor 46 airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap here.
In the previous episode, Tiffany was blindsided with a hidden immunity idol in her pocket. Kenzie said she would have voted with them if they told her. Kenzie says it’s the worst feeling to be excluded from the plan. She feels confused since blindsiding Tiffany was her idea, but someone else is getting the credit. Charlie talks to her. He blames the move on Maria. Only Venus and Kenzie were excluded from the plan. Kenzie says she needs to find a hidden immunity idol. Kenzie says she needs to pay more attention to turn the game around.
Meanwhile, Maria says tribal council could not have gone any better. Maria orchestrated this blindside against Tiffany. She sees a path to the end. She tells Q that she sees a Final 5 with him, Liz, Ben, Charlie, and herself. In her confessional, Venus says Maria has been playing a low-key game, but now she’s put a target on her back by visibly making a big move she can claim credit for.
The next morning, the castaways believe a new idol has been planted in the game. Everybody starts hunting for the hidden immunity idol. Eventually, Venus finds a hidden immunity idol. It’s good until the Final 5. It’s also a standard hidden immunity idol. There are no gimmicks like the previous Beware Advantage.
Kenzie says Venus is the only person left in the game who hasn’t lied to her. She didn’t expect to work with her, but she feels like she has to at this point. Kenzie goes searching for a hidden immunity idol with Venus, but she notices how Venus isn’t putting any effort into searching. Venus isn’t telling anybody she has the hidden immunity idol.
Maria and Charlie talk game. He congratulates her on her successful big move against Tiffany last night. In his confessional, Charlie notes how Maria is now a huge target since she can be a threat in front of the jury. Charlie asks Maria her thoughts about Q, and Maria believes they can vote with Q one more time. In his confessional, Charlie admits he would rather vote Q out of the game. He thinks Q is in Maria’s pocket, and Charlie wants to separate himself from Maria.
Elsewhere, Kenzie and Liz talk game. They talk about Maria, and Liz tells Kenzie how Maria pitched a Final 5 without Kenzie and Venus. Venus joins their discussion. They all agree that Maria is running the game and needs to go. Charlie talks to Kenzie and Venus. They discuss how Q and Maria are tight now. Charlie also lets them know he’s open to voting out Maria. He believes turning against Maria is a move he needs to make to give himself a chance at winning the game.
It’s time for the immunity challenge. They must balance a ball on a pole while navigating a series of obstacles. As they progress through the challenge, they will add sections to their pole. After they make their way through the obstacles, they must maneuver two balls through a snakelike track. The first to complete the challenge will win immunity. The winner will also receive a pizza reward. The challenge begins. Charlie takes an early lead, but eventually everyone is working on the track except for Venus and Ben. Maria lands her first ball, putting her in the lead. Venus and Ben finally start working on their snakelike track. Venus lands her first ball, and so does Charlie, Q, and Liz. Kenzie lands her first ball too, and so does Ben. Everybody only has one ball left. The challenge is wide open for anyone, but Maria is getting close to the end with Venus close behind. Both Maria and Venus get close to landing their second ball, but they both drop. Everybody keeps dropping their ball, but it eventually comes down between Maria and Venus again. Venus is in the lead, but she drops her ball. Maria lands her ball. Maria wins immunity!
Jeff says Maria can pick one person to join her for a pizza reward. Maria picks Ben. Jeff says she can pick one more person. She takes a long time to make a decision. Charlie and Kenzie take their name out of the running. Maria tells Q, Liz, and Venus to plead their case. Q and Venus say they’ll be fine with whatever decision she makes. Liz says she would like to eat. After Jeff notes how it has never taken this long for anyone to make a decision, Maria tells Q and Liz to play rock paper scissors. Q wins, so he’ll be joining Maria and Ben on the pizza reward.
Charlie, Kenzie, Liz, and Venus return to camp. They are stunned by Maria’s decision to make Liz and Q play rock paper scissors. They are even more flabbergasted that Q got to go on the pizza reward since he was just at the Applebees reward while Liz has eaten less than everybody else. Venus says that Maria went from hero to villain very quickly. The four of them also plan to vote out Q tonight. They already don’t like him, but now they suspect Q is Maria’s closest ally.
Meanwhile, on the reward, Maria, Ben, and Q discuss Maria’s decision. Maria notes how Liz won individual rice for herself at the last challenge. She feels like she would have someone mad at her regardless. In her confessional, Maria says she needs to keep Q happy. Q pitches that the three of them and Charlie should vote out Venus tonight. He says she’s not only annoying, but she’s a challenge threat too.
Maria, Ben, and Q return to camp. Charlie notes how it was tense between the people who went on reward and those who didn’t. The talk turns to game. Q tells Charlie that the plan is to vote out Venus tonight. Back at camp, Maria discusses her picks for the reward with Venus, Liz, and Kenzie. Maria says there was no way to make everybody happy. Liz says she understands that, but she doesn’t know why anybody would want to make Q happy. She’s irritated that he’s still in the game. Maria explains that the only people talking game with her are former Siga people and Q. Liz says she only talks to Venus, but Maria says she can’t read Venus’s game.
Kenzie and Charlie talk game. Kenzie says they need his vote to vote out Q tonight. Later, Charlie asks Venus her ideal Final 4. She teases that she has something up her sleeve before telling Charlie she’ll be locked in with a Final 4 with him. In her confessional, Venus is confident she doesn’t need to play her hidden immunity idol tonight. Charlie notes how Venus alluded to possibly having an idol or advantage. He asks for clarification, but Venus denies having an advantage. She says she will trust Charlie and tell him more if Q leaves tonight.
Later, Charlie talks to Ben about his discussion with Venus. Ben wants to vote out Venus tonight. He knows Q is a big target, but he says Venus causes too much chaos. Charlie talks to Kenzie next. Kenzie agrees that Venus is chaotic, but she still wants Q gone first. In her confessional, Kenzie says she’ll be in a more vulnerable position without Venus in the game. She knows keeping Q is better for other people’s games, but it won’t be good for her. In his confessional, Charlie notes how he’s in a tricky position. He’s in the middle, and he’ll have people mad at him regardless what he chooses to do tonight.
It’s time for tribal council. Jeff hands out licorice before talking about the reward. He asks about Maria’s decision. She couldn’t decide, so that’s why she chose rock paper scissors. Venus said it was a farce for Maria to pick Q. She said Maria was putting on an act before making her decision. Maria is taken aback by Venus’s accusation. Venus said she would have just made her choices instead of trying to justify it beforehand. Q adds that Venus never would’ve picked Maria or Q anyway. Venus said he doesn’t know that. Charlie says no decision weighs as much as who is voted out at tribal council. Who are they putting on the jury? Who are they leaving in the game to work with? Charlie says everything has consequences. Kenzie says she was blindsided last time, but she has to put her faith in people anyway. Liz tells Jeff she’s been very vocal against Q. She can’t trust anyone. Q has heard his name, but he believes everyone is on the same page tonight. Venus says she doesn’t know who’s telling the truth since she was excluded from the Tiffany blindside last time. Q says everybody knows not to talk game with Venus since she can’t keep a secret. Venus says she would never talk game with Q. There is some back and forth between Q and Venus as the two clearly don’t get along. Ben says Q and Venus’s exchange is an example how some people can’t be on the same page in this game. Finally, it’s time for the vote.
We see Venus vote for Q and Q vote for Venus. But who will be voted out tonight?
Before Jeff reads the votes, nobody plays a hidden immunity idol.
The first vote is for…
Q
Venus
Kenzie
Venus
Venus
Venus
Venus is the twelfth person voted out and the fifth member of the jury.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor. Thanks for reading, and come back next week for another live recap.
