liz being allergic to everything besides applebees bourbon burgers was unreasonably funny

can't forget when liz said her allergies were caused by her pent up anger

One major thing this season has over the other new era seasons is that after the split tribal at the beginning of the merge, there were no other gimmicks. No convoluted losing vote twists all over the place like in 45, the final 10-5 were all regular tribal councils and it was so refreshing. It's also nice having a season full of people who kinda suck at the game and hate each other. With how much the modern casts all are kumbaya with each other, the drama involving Venus, Maria, Q, and everyone is really nice to see.

46 is probably my favourite new era simply bc it was so messy 😭

the hide and seek scene in 46 might just be my favorite scene of the entire new era it was nice to see the players just getting to have fun for a while and Q's unhinged narration breaking down the strategy of each persons hiding spot was really the cherry on top

They were blindsiding just to blindside with no strategy 😂

Not gonna lie, I wish I had Liz’s combination of confidence paired with delusion. Rare gift.

18:46 I was having a nice time watching all the heartfelt moments, then I saw Liz turned around before her infamous “I’m pissed!” I was going to try very hard not to laugh. As soon as she turned around I kid you not it cut to an Applebees ad.

From Jelinsky to Bhanu to Venus and Q and Liz, the theme of this season for me was major delusions of grandeur. One is a legend and a monster, another thinks he’s going to win millions of hearts, and the other three believe they’re either running the show or would’ve won at final three. I can enjoy the chaos of it all, but I can’t remember such a goofy bunch of characters all in one cast. Hard to tell if four straight people leaving with idols in their pocket is a sign of strong gameplay or further delusion! Congrats to Kenzie! Loved her back story and her personality and her kindness toward Ben. ❤

I’m still not over Liz not being a millionaire-

Liz: “I’M-*🎶febreeze🎶*-PISSED!”

Easily my favorite new era season. I LOVE messy survivor and this was the best newbie cast in years for me. I can get past a slow pre-merge for the last 8-9 episodes being amazing and the chaos seemingly ramping up each episode. Also by far the best characters out of any new era season.

46 is definitely an instant classic season of survivor imo. Easily top 10 for me. SO many laughs, cringes, and audible gasps from this cast. And i was a Kenzie/Tiff supporter so the Kenzie win helps my opinion on the season as a whole lmfao.

I was fine with Kenzie or Charlie winning, but I do think Charlie had the more well-rounded game. People find it really hard not to vote for the person with the stronger social game, though, Also, can we stop putting so much emphasis on making fire? Charlie shouldn’t have anyone negatively comment about him having it ‘safe’ by not going to fire. And Maria shouldn’t vote for Kenzie just because she saw something in her eyes after making fire. I also don’t think they should be swayed by how a contestant will use the money, but that’s a whole other thing.

I much prefer 46 over 45. 45 was soooo boring after the Kelly blindside. I think we all saw the Reba steamroll coming from a mile away, even if the edit tried so hard to hide it! I had no idea what was gonna happen in 46 😅 I thought the only consistent alliance was Charlie and Maria but that ended in a dumpster fire lmao

ppl should try Liz' strategy of lying abt being rich with other things too. like constantly talking abt how u don't support women's rights to lower yr threat level. then at final tribal, reveal that u actually supported women's rights the whole time. gag of the century

Bring back full cast reunions, for the love of god! I don't know why we can't do both?! With how polarizing casting is in the new era, it is a sin that we don't get to check in on their "fallen comrades", as they once put it - especially looking at how bitter several people were AFTER the season ended

This season was truly unique. It started awful. After merge it was just PRICELESS. 5 idols voted out. 4 in a row. No strong alliance from day 1. The cast hates each other. This is new era's Gabon

Messy, no idol play, big personalities, many iconic moments Best season since DvG for me

Great review, Peridiam. I think it's a difficult balancing act to voice genuine concerns while not coming off as one of those fans who just complains about everything and you walked it perfectly. My whole thing is that I think it's important for production to keep the players on their toes so they can't meta game too much. To me, that means sometimes starting with two tribes and sometimes starting with three tribes, sometimes there's a swap, the merge doesn't always happen at the same point, it could be a final two or final three, etc. Any sort of milestone in the game shouldn't be a given. You don't need to make the players "earn" things as much as you need to toy with their expectations. Pivotal votes like determining if you should get rid of a challenge threat or a social threat can be determined by if there's going to be a swap soon or if the merge is just around the corner. If the players are unsure of those conditions, it makes for a more fluid, unpredictable game.

Babe wake up, new perdiam video just dropped

Episode 4 and Bhanu is one of the best story-arc of the whole show. But then suddenly Q and Liz quickly become as unhinged and somehow the season doesn't dip after Bhanu's departure

This season reminds me of the China season. I rewatch China not because of cutting edge strategy, but because the people and moments are fun. Now Charlie being the Todd was the obvious winner. I am totally fine with Kenzie winning though. She is who my wife was going for from the start. At least she was likeable and not bad at the game.

My only gripe this season was Liz helping Kenzy on that challenge before the last vote out. Touching someone else’s puzzle to assist them at this stage of the game just felt…. Cheap.

Ben was drunk off the pizza

This video reminded me just what incredible entertainment Q was in that post-merge run of episodes. Absolutely incredible TV

One of my favorite seasons of Survivor. It was full of characters who were themselves and let their freak flag fly!! So amazing! Congrats to Kenzie!

Great video Peridiam!! Thanks for recapping such a wild season. Glad to have a winner as authentic and likeable as Kenzie, congrats to her! Was hoping to hear more on your thoughts about the Final Tribal Council & reunion as I just felt the vibes were REALLY off... you could cut the tension with a knife in my opinion. Not to mention the madness of 30 second timed answers and jury members arguing with each other mid FTC. Absolutely ludicrous.

I couldn't agree more with not knowing what people are thinking is what makes it so much more interesting! Kenzie winning is very well deserved. I just have such a hard time with Maria not voting for Charlie when she already had planned to throw him under the bus and failed...It may just be that she was bitter because I think that if anyone deserved Maria's vote, it was Charlie. Defending her, and never trying to go after her when he had his immunity necklaces... I think he got screwed over quite a bit. Either way, still very happy Kenzie won!

This season is the first survivor season that, I don’t know how to feel about. I enjoyed the cast more than most, but the gameplay of this season was exceptionally bad, from nearly everybody. It’s not that a good survivor season needs good gameplay, but with the whole drama near the end of that season especially with the jury votes, yowch.

I think it’s funny how all the controversy about maria’s vote is covering up the fact that she got absolutely hosed by production letting liz touch kenzie’s equipment. That was so unfair. Liz may as well have moved her puzzle pieces too. A move that would have been halted on the spot before the new era.

I thought the editing of this season took on a perspective I've never quite seen with Survivor. There have been times when the edit could *not* really showcase what a player was doing to win and ended up featuring someone else more prominently, setting audience expectations a certain way-such as with Michelle and Aubrey, or even Cassidy and Gabler. But this felt different. This felt like the producers understood the story of the season to be "Maria's Betrayal of Charlie," and the edit took great care to show his evolved strategy of threat level management, which is one of the most evolved gameplay examples we've ever seen. There is a ton of silly dismissal going on (on Reddit for instance) that basically suggests anyone promoting Charlie's game is just sexist or whatever... but it's entirely ridiculous. His strategic understanding was next level, and it's the game I've been waiting to see someone play since the seasons of the early 30s. I do think Charlie should have asked Ben to allow him to compete against Kenzie in fire, and I do think Charlie missed a beat at FTC (especially after the tone set by Tiff), but I can't help but wonder what a lot of the cast thought watching this season back. I'm happy for Kenzie and she's great. That said, I've never been all that warm to the "Survivor is JUST a social game" narrative, and it's weird to me that it didn't seem to bother anyone that a winning player spent much of the game lacking agency, being on the wrong side of votes, etc.

I’ve said this a million times, but the perfect way to describe this season is that it watches like a parody of the big moves era where everyone is obsessed with making big, flashy moves at the expense of their games. Everyone was so concerned with resumes that they made awful decisions that led to four people getting blindsided with idols in their pockets back to back only for the social player who freely admitted to driving nothing winning the game because she embraced her relationships. Went from wanting to blindside her number one to taking pride in being a social butterfly. Can’t think of a better ending to the parody that was Survivor 46.

kenz or charlie wouldve been a good winner, i do think maria did have a bitter jury vote. also it wasnt venus vs everyone it was everyone vs venus, they hated her for no reason since day 1 lmao

“All too well” in the first 2 mins. Intentional Taylor swift reference or unintentional lol

I'm just happy we finally got some drama and people hating each other instead of kumbaya

Season 46 is by far my favorite of the new era because it actually had characters on it that were fun to watch and was often unpredictable throughout. Really hope that they bring back this energy going forward in the show!

The purple tribe couldn’t have been less purpled lol

Hot take: but I actually liked Bhanu. He was an emotional time bomb and I thought he was such a unique case of being emotionally unfiltered that I was intrigued. I think the 46 pre-merge actually watches a lot better on a rewatch. It’s my favorite New Era season. Hands down. Bar none. All of the egos and emotionality made for a thoroughly entertaining experience. I’m also glad that the 90 minutes are staying. Helps to provide so much more depth.

oh i’ve been waiting for this one

This season was insane, with the beginning being slow but then pushing 100mph in the post merge, but I still don’t know how to feel about it. I think Kenzie is one of the good players to win even when I was rooting for Charlie but I just hate the way that played out with the votes and Final Tribal Council. It’s also frustrating in FTC when Tiff was pushing for Kenzie when Maria did nothing for Charlie, and I heard that Tiff was not saying the best things at Ponderosa about Charlie and I think that’s so frustrating coming into the game and just as a person. One part of Survivor is Outplay and I feel like that was almost non-existent in the post merge of the game. I feel like Survivor is about chaos but a few parts of every season is satisfying…except for this one, cause all those parts were covered by bitterness and bigmoveitis. A good player did win overall but getting there was a rough journey as a viewer for me. Great video though Peridiam!

I enjoyed this season (second best of the New Era IMO behind 45) but the Bhanu episodes bring it down Also I feel like the drama online is having a (positive) impact on my opinions of the season but I try to not take that into account

Bhantu, Q, Liz were all a little cringe to watch. At some point in the season for each of them I start going, "They got past mental health screening?"

Ben had such Nicaragua energy. The jacket was giving Fabio and he would’ve loved the La Flor tribes entrance chant.

In Honor of Jelensky. Several means 7

I still think Charlie was robbed and it ruins the seasons a bit for me overall still a good season, I like Kenzie so I don’t hate her winning I just think Charlie deserved it more. Maria not voting for him tells me all I need to know about her and Q voting based on what she will do with the money is a issue in my opinion, if it was very close and you wanna use that as a tie breaker fine but not as your main decision information. 45 was way better then 46 in my opinion, I did think Q and Venus where rather entertaining though as was Ben

One thing I love about this season is that it felt like the players had a lot to do with the outcome and not advantages,idols, or twists

I will say this. Charlie deserved the win more imo. That doesn’t mean Kenzie didn’t deserve it or that Charlie SHOULD’VE won as Boston Rob once said “if you won, you won”

I think this season would have been amazing if they didnt put anything in at all about a single cast member being a fan. I think too many of us looked at this cast and said "no way a fan would act like that". Between Banu, Liz, Ben, etc the storyline could have 100% been 18 random people with no superfan connection, and I think people would have loved the season thinking it was a bunch if random people

Charlie and Maria didn't play the same game. Charlie was much more strategic and Maria rode his coattails. Proof of that is when Maria acted on her own, it was a complete mess. Maria making Q and Liz plead their case and have them go to rock, paper, scissors to get out of making the decision. Later she's all hurt being called out on it. Maria telling Q to not play his idol. Maria was bitter that she got outplayed by Charlie and that's the only reason she gave her vote to Kenzie. I've got no problem with Kenzie winning. It would have been great if Ben had to be the tie breaker and gave it to Kenzie. But Maria betraying Charlie was pure spite.

I know the cast is gonna drag me on Twitter for this, but I think the cast wasn’t very good this season. Not in terms of personality, this is an all star personality cast. But the strategy was so lacking that I couldn’t get invested in the season. It’s almost like when you throw a bunch of random cartoon characters into BrantSteele. It’s funny to see Johnny Bravo blindside Princess Ariel or Homer Simpson go out of the game with an idol in his pocket when you’re playing it casually at home for like an hour for fun, but in the show proper it doesn’t read the same. I think they needed to spread this cast out a bit across the seasons and bring in a few more grounded personalities for it to feel like a cohesive cast. If every cast member is a Carolyn then none of them are. 46 was unfortunate to follow in the footsteps of 45 where we have a highly strategic cast that are also heavy hitters personality wise. It seems almost unfair to compare the two but it’s inevitable when they air back to back, and because 45 was so great it just exacerbated the issues I had with 46.

the editing of 46 is so brilliant: that flashback showing soda snatching tribe immunity from venus is perfection the flint sound added to the final 4 music before the F4 TC was amazing!

Hi! Great recap. I am trying to remember if anyone successfully played an idol? Or.... Did everyone leave with an idol in the pocket?

This season was messsssssy! I loved it! Best season of the new era by far!

I do agree with this review. It’s so messy and I love it! Probably one of my top 3 new era season. Premerge yes it is definitely down there, but once we got to the merge, I was blindsided by how good it was. I mean , no one stepped out for a bag of rice? Season 46 is great! I don’t know why people hates it.

46 was definitely a top tier season for me! Your point about 45 being controlled chaos and 46 being uncontrolled chaos really hit home! Great review!

Anyone who says Kenzie didnt deserve to win, doesnt understand the point of the game and what makes it unique. The best player doesn't always win, but the best of the final 3 always does. Because jury management is part of what makes Survivor so unique. The jury will always pick the right winner of the final 3 by very definition of how the game works. You have to vote people out, then turn around and ask them to reward you with a million dollars. The player that achieves this, is the rightful winner. That's the entire point of the show. You can be a great logical strategist, but if you cant get the votes in the end, it means you did something wrong.

As soon as we got to the merge, I was in. Everything before felt like a slog, and I'm glad certain people left because I truly don't think they would have been able to cope post-merge. I did not click with Liz at all, but I think it's more interesting to have a mix of players you don't like and players to root for -- makes an interesting jury too -- and I do respect her move to help Kenzie during the penultimate immunity challenge. That was new and unpredictable. Not my favourite new season, but definitely liked the back half better. I don't know if I'd like to see more than a couple of these people back for an all-stars.

Social game for me means you make moves. I think the term is a goat who gets dragged to the end? Kenzie is a goat. She didn't do any of the moves on Yanu. She didnt do any moves in the merge. If Ben won you could say the exact same thing about her social game. Once we got to the final 5 the season just died for me because they all got along so well and there was no tension. If you go back to final 5 and tell charlie Kenzie is going to beat him that makes the season a lot better.

That Bhanu jumpscare….

Why is everybody complaining about Liz helping Kenzie at the F5 Immunity? I guarantee you that production made all the boards the same number of holes, in order to have fairness, so she really could have just grabbed her own board and counted the holes. We've seen in the past that players can verbally help each other out, so I don't see the problem with the situation. Kenzie would have won anyways, she was ahead.

Charlie lost cause he didnt have a sad story. He lost when Q asked what were they going to do with the money.

The post merge saved this season. I hope we get some physically strong players for 47. We need more hunters. Venus was a standout too, she was headstrong. Less Bens and Bhanus. Boringly weak.

46 is a top tier season for me. Player driven start to finish and such a satisfying end. Whole heartedly disagree with some of the "bad" gameplay comments. I think the sheer amount of blindsides are a testament to how good the gameplay was.

We are not mad charlie lost (even though he clearly he deserved it) We are just pissed with Maria's vote cause it makes no sense, especially in the new era. The only explanation is that she is an awful person. Its not about the outcome. Jurry was pushed to Kenzie's side by tiff. Charlie had noone and he convinced three people but lost from the only locked vote he had And his game was one of the best. Always in control with full of options and never the primary target.

Hate when Jeff has them earn merge when they made merge 😒

This is the first season that I came across after I got acquainted with the show (45 doesn’t count) and damn I’m glad that I came across this particular season. Yes, the beginning was weak and even boring, that Randor was evacuated, he was my favorite, that Jess was kicked because of this, that she was Jess and bahu, but after the 5th and 6th episodes it began to sparkle with new colors, I began to wonder who will fly out, what will happen next for me I liked it, but episode 7 was boring again; they kicked Tim (I liked him), and nothing to say about soda. But episode 8 made me smile pleasantly, although I didn’t understand half of it (I’m bad at English, well, I don’t understand it, but I can’t say that it’s good, I’m writing this through a translator, all the mistakes are for him) hide and seek, Tevin’s blinding, Q wants to leave, Hunter’s antlers and then it all comes out in episode 9 and I couldn’t wait any longer, the chaos that was so pleasant that there’s nothing to say and it went on and on and on. I'm glad I was able to join the Survivor community and experience my first season live (not) on air. I liked the chaos that happened, the cast (although many don’t feel it), that 4 left with the idols, BIG MISTAKE Q and the chaos itself Q, I can’t wait for season 47 I already feel like a big fan even though I just joined the community. I'm just excited for this season and just excited.

Didnt kenzie make fun of jelinsky, jess, and bhanu behind their backs? I guess every winner has their less than admirable moments.

So much chaos! This was my favorite season of the new era, you couldnt have scripted better drama than the Applebee's debacle. Having Jelinsky, Q, Venus, Maria, and Liz on the same season was so fun for the chaos and drama they all caused. The pre-merge was a bit of a slog, I admit, but overall this season was amazing

Next time I go to Applebees, I’m getting that bourbon burger in honor of this season.

Five people went home with idols in their pockets??? I only thought it was four, which is still ridiculous and frustrating but YIKES. I thought this season was alright, nothing special but entertaining and captivating enough. I didn’t mind all the Banu screen time because dude was totally hilarious. I think the reason the losing tribe hogged all the screen time in the beginning (besides the fact they were losing and going to tribal) was Banu and the fact that the winner (Kenzie) was on that tribe. My favorite player this season was Venus, and I felt the same way about the winner as I did the season. Good and satisfying enough, but nothing to write home about. She wasn’t my personal pick to win but I do think she was deserving enough of the win so I wasn’t pissed or frustrated ay the result. Except of course of Maria’s betrayal of Charlie. I mean it’s one thing if she just decided to vote for Kenzie for having a better game, but she went on and on and on with all the “uncle Charlie” talk that it was just like WTF. And I agree watching Charlie so drained and in pure shock after losing was just depressing to watch. I really want the live reunions too but doing it this way saves them money so I don’t think we’re ever going to get them back. Liz’s ridiculous Applebee’s breakdown and delusion into thinking she had a shot at winning was also pretty funny to watch. The blatantly obvious Applebee’s promos are usually pretty comical already but this one definitely took the cake. Overall, I think it was a good season, but not a great one. I prefer season 45, but I would say season 46 is one of the better seasons of the new era.

This is a bottom tier season for me. I didn’t have high hopes for it after the premiere and I had no one on the cast I even remotely liked or wanted to root for. I also hated this edit it was obvious who was winning way too early and the edit was child’s Mary Sue telling. I will say congrats to Kenzie for her win but I hate the taste of it because of who she beat at FTC. I would have had no problem if she won over Ben & Liz cause they to me had worse social and strategic games than Kenzie. Charlie had the best strategic game and the 2nd best social game of the season to Kenzie and I don’t think that gap is that big.

Art department making an idol every round

Unfortunately, this season was null and void the second Liz and Kenzie cheated to ensure Maria’s demise. I can't count Kenzie’s win as a win, at least in my mind.

Did anybody else think the Tika three are those three people in silhouette in the logo for 46?

Banu sounds like a tribe name

Recency bias aside, I would rank 46 just outside of top ten. I live for chaotic seasons

Entertainment galore! So funny. Little sad Charlie didn’t win but wow loved this season. Q and Venus are stars. And Liz was hilarious.

Great summary of the season and love your take on the Charlie/ Maria situation. ITS PART OF THE GAME and part of what makes it so great

the taylor swift references made my day

Insightful, as always. Though I didn't have the same experience. The entire pre-merge turned me off so much that the season never recovered for me. We were left with chaos and bad game play by people I had no investment in. Really disappointing season, imho.

Honestly comparing Maria to Denise feels like an insult to Denise. Don’t get me wrong I don’t hate Maria, but I don’t love her the way many others do, and her treatment of Venus was pretty awful imo. Plus, say what you will about Denise, I don’t think her back and forth with Abi was equivalent!

Great cast, great season, great winner & another great Peridiam review. What a ride, see ya'll on the next one.

Loved season 45. Loved season 46. New era is really starting to give a golden period. Q made me chuckle, the hide and seek stuff was great. Bahnu, Liz etc gave us golden moments. Crazy blindsides, good characters and gold moments always makes for a great season in my opinion.

The season was great, and I think survivor needs to understand that less twists are better, I just want a full season no twists only idols and back to final 2 imagine this season with a final 2 and no random twists. Would be amazing.

Drink everytime Banu cries lol

I’m apparently in the minority in the comments here. I LOVED this season! I agree it was a tad bit of a drag in the episodes that focused on Banu, but also; my family was ROARING with laughter and we were talking so much with each other and theorizing and guessing so much more than we have in a LONG time. We watch every season together since I was a young girl and I can’t remember a time we enjoyed a season as much as this one. Every player was entertaining in their own right and, aside from my dad, we were all rooting for Kenzie in general while having a few others they preferred to win. I personally loved her from the start so I paid attention through the entire season and I wasn’t surprised she won. I genuinely think she had a fantastic jury. I could almost SEE the moments when she won a vote. She had the correct approach in most of the questions and it really exemplified the social game she had been playing. I found this season very fun and satisfying. I loved how humorous and lighthearted it kept itself and the messiness was a real treat. So much of the New Age survivor has felt a bit… empty? Game efficient I think. Sure there were moments in particular Gabler. But I really appreciated how personal and messy the players took things. Grudges in this season held some weight and story relevance but in a fun and entertaining way.

Babe wake up, Peridiam dropped

I really didn’t like the premerge of 46. No swap to shake things up and many times on the journey the players didn’t have a choice whether to play for an advantage or not which should NEVER be the case. There should always be a choice. The merge however was funny and clever and while I personally didn’t get the ending i wanted. It was a good season

If this season had a tribe swap it probably bumps it up to an 8 for me.

It was a decent season, but the hyper-positivity from everyone became an annoyance to me. "You rock." "You are amazing." "You're a hero." I just found it to be a bit much, and unrepresentative ideologically of most people. Sure, many people are positive, but many people are also reserved about throwing out compliments like candy, or have a more pessimistic lean to their thinking, or realize that overpraising comes across as insincere. I feel like Venus was the one person who felt more "real" than the others, and they seemed to dogpile on her. Ironic for such "positive" people. And Ben's constant screaming of "Let's go!" did just that... it made my want to go... away... and fast forward through his scenes as the season progressed. Edit: Though I did really enjoy Tevon, and would love to see him again in a future season. He had some sass about him that I found enjoyable.

Hot take: the Bhanu arc was beautifully tragic and well worth the screen time

I’m just not over Maria backstabbing Charlie like that. She didn’t vote for him because she was jealous

Like you, I wasn't into the pre-merge. It was way too much Bhanu and not much else. And then sometime about the merge or maybe a little post-, it hit me that this was not a season for gameplay. This was a season for entertainment, and I leaned the hell into it. I loved the mess that was this season. And a proper reunion show would've been amazing with this group.

A really good one. For about an episode and a half it was meh, with a medevac and too much Bhanu, but from then on, it was fantastic, except for that """individual""" immunity challenge ruling. And then beginning with the aftershow, it got marred a bit by IRL ugliness. Solid, but not top tier. Will be great on a rewatch.

46 has been my favorite new era season!! the cast has so much life and I feel like there were many rootable people playing strong games along with decent "villains" to root against. I hope a decent portion of the cast returns for season 50!

Poor Ben! I felt soooooo bad for him and his panic attacks! As one that suffers from them myself, I cant imagine being on an island, so far from home and anything that is familiar to you, that takes guts to stick it out! I probably would have ran away ie tapped out! Really, God bless Kenzie for helping him out!

The cast had a lot of clashing personalities which makes it fun to watch, Q is just chaos, Venus have intuitiveness and can read the tribe pretty well but was an outcast for the social game, and Liz (unhinged lady) is bold and able to pull people to vote with her (eg. Tevin) No pagongings, lots of paranoia, cocky idol play (or lack thereof), just good TV all around👍

would you buy a q skirt

I realized with this season, I want at least some good strategic player. Not just one good strategic player.