"Survivor 46" Episode 2 Recap - Yanu You Were Trouble When You Walked In
Can the purple tribe bounce back after a disastrous premiere?
Every Wednesday after the “Survivor” episode airs you’ll find a full recap along with individual player grades right here. The next day I’ll have an exit interview with the latest castaway on my YouTube Channel. And…get this…every Monday we’ll have the “Survivor” Power Rankings where me and my All-Stars (Frannie Marin and Owen Knight) will square off against the Reba 4 (-Dee, +Kellie)! That too is available on my YouTube Channel.
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Last Week: Jelinsky wasn’t able to last several days.
39 26 Days, 18 People, 1 “Survivor” blog…
Alright, let’s check out these tribes…
The Nami Tribe (wearing orange)
Hunter, 28 - Science Teacher
Liz, 35 - Marketing Strategist
Randen, 41 - Aerospace Tech
Soda, 27 - Special Ed Teacher
Tevin, 24 - Actor
Venus, 24 - Data Analyst
The Siga Tribe (wearing green)
Ben, 36 - Musician
Charlie, 26 - Law Student
Jem, 32 - International Brand Mentor
Maria, 48 - Parent Coach
Moriah, 28 - Program Coordinator
Tim, 31 - College Coach
The Yanu Tribe (wearing purple)
Bhanu, 41 - IT Quality Analyst
Jess, 37 - Software Engineer
Kenzie, 29 - Salon Owner
Q, 29 - Real Estate Agent
Tiffany, 33 - Artist
Post-Tribal Round-Up
We don’t get to see Yanu returning from Tribal, oddly. We kick things off the following morning with Bhanu telling us that everyone targeted Jelinsky, but not really why they targeted him.
Not that that’s really a mystery.
Bhanu is very worried about his place in the game and Kenzie is very worried that Bhanu is a very bad liar. Yeah, he had some issues at Tribal. Not that it would have mattered. Jelinsky wouldn’t have been able to play his Shot in the Dark.
Add to that the fact that they can’t make fire and Yanu is having a really rough time.
It’s so bad that Jess is eating ants for fun.
Kenzie in particular has a moment where she’s upset because she envisioned “Survivor” being easy. Well, that’s a first.
Also, Tiffany and Q are very concerned about Kenzie and her strong social game. At the same time, Kenzie realizes that Q and Tiffany are very strong players, so she tries to make a side deal with Jess and Bhanu.
Gah…it feels early for all of this.
Also, why pitch the idea of blindsiding your alliance to the guy that you just said can’t be trusted with a secret?
And to add to that, as Jess, Bhanu, and Kenzie are leaving their strategy sesh, Jess nudges Bhanu and whispers that they should vote Kenzie out.
But yay! Jess got to talk strategy! Oh and she immediately spilled the beans to Q. She’s doing things!
At Nami Beach
We meet up with the orange tribewhere Tevin is doing a pretty solid Probst impersonation. He tells us that he’s closest with Hunter and Soda, but he gets a good vibe from everyone…except for one player…
And Venus was her name.
He raises this concern with Soda, who tells us she was working with Venus on day one, but if nobody trusts her, then she can’t work with her.
Venus picks up on this, and realizes that she needs to get in good with Tevin. Ask him about his five bucket-list musical roles. Theater kids love that.
And for the record, mine are; Seymour in “Little Shop of Horrors,” Finch in “How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying,” Sky Masterson in “Guys and Dolls,” Elder Price in “The Book of Mormon,” and Pseudolus in “A Funny Things Happened on the Way to the Forum.”
Eventually, Hunter, Venus, and Randen go on separate idol hunts. Randen discovers the Beware Advantage and it seems to be very similar to Tiffany’s. He’ll have to wait for his tribe to lose immunity to locate a key.
Meanwhile, Liz keeps digging herself deeper with Tevin when she says that she’ll probably never marry again because most men couldn’t be with a woman who makes as much money as she does.
Aww…that’s very sad that that’s her experience.
However, all of Liz’s catchphrases, braggadocio and other things make Randen very wary of her. And the fact that Hunter, Liz, and Tevin are so clearly a trio, makes him feel like he’s on the outside of the tribe’s dominant alliance. Randen wants a partner and surprisingly, he goes with the person he tried to out last episode…
And Venus was her name.
Randen tells Venus about his Beware Advantage and they decide to work together.
At Siga Beach
Ben is able to get the fire going and tells us that it made him so happy that he cried. And he didn’t even cry when he met Nicolas Cage.
Now I’m just picturing Nicolas Cage reacting to this rock and roll guy bursting into tears.
He then says that he isn’t the “sharpest tool in the shred.” Is that a music joke or did he misspeak?
In other news, Tim is very confident with his all-male alliance, but he wants to get Maria on board because of her advantage.
Strategy-wise, Charlie is in the middle. He can stay with the guys or work with the “Charlie’s Angels” alliance. His concern with sticking with the Angels is that he’s on the bottom of the foursome.
Get your mind out of the gutter.
Out of everyone, he feels the closest to Maria. And she doesn’t seem all-in with the Angels alliance either.
Charlie and Maria envision themselves as a new-age Malcolm Freberg and Denise Stapley.
Aww…I love Malcolm and Denise so much. I guess by proxy I’m a Charia fan. Or is it Marlie?
Then, Ben and Charlie square off in a battle where they try to name as many of their favorite artists’ songs as possible. Charlie, obviously, goes with Taylor Swift. While Ben chooses Metallica.
Strategic mistake by Charlie? Metallica’s been making music forever.
I feel like I’d be too tempted to cheat in this game. How hard is it to make up titles that sound like real Taylor Swift songs? “Staring at the Ocean,” “In His Arms,” “When Your Fire’s Gone.”
Or conversely, you could do the same with Metallica; “Harvester of Chaos,” “Lamb to Slaughter,” “Medallion of Power.”
Charlie wins with 108 songs, and I’m starting to think maybe we don’t need two-hour episodes.
Immunity Challenge Time: The teams will build carts, then use them to transport two chests through a course. At the end, they’ll use the puzzles pieces inside the chests to build a huge arch puzzle. The first tribe to complete the puzzle will win immunity and fishing gear. The second tribe will win immunity and slightly less fishing gear.
Sitting Out: Moriah and Liz
Quick Aside: Before the challenge, Charlie asks Yanu if there were “several” reasons why Jelinsky was voted out. OK, that’s funny.
Q isn’t in the mood for jokes, and let’s the other tribes know that he’s ready to compete. Soda gives him a little smacktalk back…and now I’m wondering if Soda is going to be a strategic competitor. I talk about “unforced errors,” a move that costs you, but doesn’t have a benefit. That feels like an unforced error.
Result: None of the tribes have a major lead heading into the puzzle portion, but standing up the arch puzzle is exceedingly difficult. In fact, it’s such a train wreck, they actually cut to commercial while all three tribes struggle.
Boy…Yanu could certainly use a super tall tribe member right about now.
After what seems like forever, Nami takes first place and Siga claims second.
Huh…and there’s a weird moment during the idol presentation where Randen tells Venus to hold the idol. We would later learn that this is a response to Soda snatching it away last week.
Before they head back to camp, Tiffany admits that she’s upset and Jess is pretty sure that she’s the reason why.
Pre-Tribal Shenanigans
Before we get to Yanu, we learn that Venus is really upset that the tribe wasn’t listening to her during the challenge and as a result the wagon drove over her toe.
Soda tries to hear her out, but Soda also appreciates that Venus isn’t really a part of the dominant alliance.
Over at Yanu, Tiffany is really upset that she lost her cool in front of the other tribes, which makes sense, first impressions and all.
But, early on it looks like it’s going to be Bhanu or Jess.
Kenzie and Tiffany fashion a fake idol and plant it in the hopes that Jess is the one who finds it, plays it, and doesn’t utilize her Shot in the Dark.
This feels unnecessary and kinda mean. Just distract her with ants.
Tiffany tries to lead Jess to it, but has no luck. So, Plan B is getting Q to literally hand it to Jess and tell her to play it.
And honestly, Q does an amazing job selling it. Tevin might have some acting competition out there.
However, Q is still very wary of Kenzie. At this point, he’s not sure who he wants to send home.
And before we hit Tribal, it seems like every conceivable threesome starts having conversations. The only thing that seems set in stone is that Q and Tiffany won’t turn on each other.
Tribal Time
Things actually get interesting when Jess calls out Kenzie for not talking strategy with her and making the point that Kenzie seems to be everyone’s best friend.
Bhanu also mentions that someone on the tribe had called him out for being too emotional, but he thinks it takes strength to be emotional and that he has never let his tribe down.
Bhanu then proceeds to name who he wants to work with. He names everyone except for Jess.
Oops.
This makes Q incredibly nervous because this could encourage Jess to play an idol and mess up a plan.
Bhanu asks Kenzie who he should vote for and she says, “Whoever you want.”
Yikes.
Then, when asked if she was voting for Bhanu, Tiffany says “Stop making the block hot.”
That’s not an answer. What a mess.
Voting Time: No votes are shown.
JPro tallies and returns, he asks if anyone wants to play an idol or an advantage and…Jess does. She brings her idol to Jeff who promptly tells her that it is super fake.
We’ve got one vote for Bhanu, two votes for Jess, and the second person voted out of “Survivor 46” is…Jess.
Verdict: If feels like all of these three-tribe seasons have one tribe that is a disaster. I’m not asking for a swap anytime soon, but maybe we can try two tribes again?
Pretty please?
Power Rankings Results: Austin Li Coon had Jess in spot sixteen while Frannie Marin had her in spot seventeen. So, the current score is Reba 4 (-Dee, +Kellie) 16, Gordon’s All Stars 17.
A-: Randen - They say you can’t trust anyone, but you’ve got to trust someone. I think working with Venus is a great way to at least get to the merge.
A-: Q and Tiffany - Yanu is a mess. But these two seem to have a very solid bond.
A-: Charlie and Maria - I’m loving this duo. They’ve got a ton of options and an extra vote.
B: Ben - I’m not seeing any strategy chops from Ben, but his social game rocks.
B-: Tevin - Your social game is fantastic…around some people.
C: Venus - For someone who’s on the outs, she should’ve tried to hold in that post-challenge anger.
C: Liz - Again with the money talk. Not earning any friends. And for the record; my wife makes more money than me.
C: Soda - Why’s she talking smack at challenges?! How does that help her?
C: Bhanu - That easily could have been you going home.
C-: Kenzie - I hate that you gave Jess and Bhanu the ammo they needed to take you out with very little upside. Savvier players would have been able to send you packing.
Incomplete: Moriah, Tim, Hunter, and Jem - I can’t give you a grade if you don’t show your work.
Welp, that’s it! Check out my exit interview with Jess on YouTube tomorrow. And, this Monday don’t miss the “Survivor” Power Rankings on Monday.
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