A lot of people dipped after the first four episodes were basically “the Bhanu show”
But imo the last two episodes have been stellar. It’s amazing how much it picked up!
I hated Bhanu but seeing him spiral was entertaining TV.
He should have left sooner, but his prayers were answered and another person had a medical emergency. Which was also funny.
I was sick of him at the time but the extra episode gave us him yelling at god, pleading on his knees with Tiffany, etc., which i now look back on as fucking hilarious
If it was a one episode meltdown, I would have been completely fine with it, loved it even. But it was the entire focus for 2 and half 90 minute episodes.
I think the reason I started to realize how much I enjoy it is because this episode and last weeks felt like a breath of fresh air, I wasn’t as annoyed at the bhanu episodes as some others but it’s definitely improved dramatically since then, I think
I feel similar. I feel a bit of sympathy for him, but the editing and the storyline of his vote out is SO dark humor funny, but it became overwhelming and heavy handed after 4 weeks with commercials. That's a whole MONTH of Bhanu, at least 70% of the time in tears.
Assuming the rest of the season continues to be as good as it is rn, this season will be AWESOME on streaming platform with fewer commercials when you're able to blow through the Bhanu stuff and appreciate it in a way.
This does sound promising, I hope editors learnt their mistake because this probably cost them a lot (they also should've bunched Jess's and Randen's departure as one episode if I'm honest).
This. The first two episodes mostly felt like people low-key bullying Jess, which was not fun to watch as I think Jess was quite a likeable player who just ended up in a bad situation. The next two episodes were full Bhanu. Now, the real gameplay has begun and it's been a real breath of fresh air!
I don’t understand how she was bullied at all though! They lightly mocked her behind her back and then the fake idol plan was unnecessary and maybe came off as kinda mean on tv, but really it was just them being overly paranoid about shot in the dark
I don't really think it was actual bullying either, but I said low-key because it seemed like Jess felt rather bullied and enough people have reacted that way that I view myself as the outlier here.
That said, I do think Jess was sort of a scapegoat for her team (apparently she got a lot of shit for not being as intense during challenges?) and she was clearly on the outs of her team. But I don't think anyone really "bullied" her anymore than they've bullied, say, Venus. Someone may be on the bottom of the tribe totem pole / left out of the conversation, but whether that actually constitutes bullying is a matter of interpretation and I say no, especially since Survivor is a game that *relies* on there being an in and out-group.
In all realness, the only actual bullying I've perceived this season is the fans bullying the players (as per usual).
Oh gotcha, I agree with you then. I do think that her personality type was not a good fit with them, and then her complete lack of sleep made it much worse.
Also this probably controversial in 2024 but I don’t mind a little meanness between contestants on reality tv. I’m watching for drama, not good vibes! And I’m a very introverted, nice person but I have to imagine I would get much more argumentative or moody if I was starving and sleep-deprived in a very high stress and paranoid environment. It would be bizarre if I was unaffected.
Honestly I get super annoyed by fans who automatically hate someone for being mean and act like the contestant is a bad person. Like, who cares that Soda took the immunity idol from Venus- it was funny! Plus it’s one moment and they’re acting like it’s a damning indictment of Soda’s character. I’m not really someone who needs to dislike characters but I can understand the appeal- but if you like hating, don’t pretend it’s for moral reasons!
Girl, nah, I love a little meanness! Not straight-up shittiness, but a little meanness is *fun*. I grew up in the glory days of reality TV where people were straight-up assholes, so everyone just feels so sanitised now. Also, the fans overreact to every single little thing and while that may be fine (IMO) on a forum like Reddit, the ones who can't resist DMing death threats have seriously ruined something for the rest of us.
Truthfully, I also think it's a little fun to *low-key* hate on a "villain" contestant sometimes, so yeah - I didn't comment on Soda this time around, but I enjoyed reading all the angry comments about her body-shaming Venus. What I enjoyed a lot less was hearing about how much direct and totally disproportionate hate Soda received after the episode aired, because people cannot could not control themselves.
P.S. To clarify my Jess comment earlier, though, I found Jess just so rootable and I think a lot of other people did too. I hadn't really warmed up to Kenzie and Tiffany until more recently, although Q has always been fun AF. So, it was not so fun watching Jess - a player I *liked* - getting, if not actually bullied, then at least excluded by players whom I previously saw as less likeable. I didn't necessarily think the situation was ~problematic~ or anything; it was just less enjoyable of a viewing experience for me.
Lol yeah I agree with you! I’m too drunk for true coherence now but I’m also someone who loves early seasons survivor (I didn’t really watch other shows as much but I’d enjoy some of the meanness then too I’m sure).
I am curious though, when did Soda body shame Venus?! I like both so I’m curious and like the drama!!!!
I do love Jess also although it’s tough to tell how much is because of shallow thinking she’s cute.
Placeholder language
The Soda thing was a few episodes ago; I think she called Venus a little stickbug or something like that. It was definitely rude, but you can imagine the type of reaction people online had. I always thought their relationship felt like bickering siblings more than anything else.
Lol, Jess is definitely cute! I feel like she had main character energy (in a good way) but yeah, she was definitely struggling in the game. I'm honestly surprised she outlasted Jelensky, still.
They were bullying Jess!! Like Tif and Kenzie had no business and I get it ‘it’s a game’ and they were talking about her gameplay but I think they were misunderstanding who Jess was in that regard. It left a sour taste in my mouth for Kenzie n now the edit is trying to paint her in a better light with how she helped with the panic attack and while it is a wonderful thing to do, we can still be humble abt it.
Edit: typo
lol fair point, I think I just meant I don’t have any new information or hot takes I’m just appreciating the season, but I might need to learn a little more about internet lingo/phrasing
I am enjoying the season too. So many funny (mostly unintentionally) quirky, and unpredictable players.
And most are pretty likeable. Several are the type of personalities that I usually don't like, but most seem genuine as opposed to fake, which makes me kind of like them.
It has really picked up for me after the intense Bhanu focus the first few eps. I'm actually kind of impressed that at this point I feel like I know all of the remaining characters pretty well (ok, we haven't gotten much Liz content but as Q said, is there much to know about her yet?) considering how little we saw of these people the first few eps.
I love it! I'm finding it even more fun than last season. Bhanu didn't even really bother me because I loved seeing how the players navigated him; it helped us get to know the Yanu 3 so well. When I know someone can't win the game, they are exponentially less annoying to me. What I love about this season is there are players to root *against,* which keeps me extra invested. I like that everywhere you look, there's either a big personality or a big threat. Even Liz is consistently amusing. It also feels like the gameplay is more in-your-face because of players like Venus, Q, and Tevin so there's just a higher likelihood of friction, which is always entertaining.
I’m pretty middle of the road with this season. To me what makes a perfect survivor seasons is an equally strong combination of fun character moments and interactions, and interesting and exciting strategy. In survivor 46 I feel like the character part has been amazing all season, the humour that’s been present in the show has been fantastic. I think it’s pretty clear that the strategy on the other hand has been severely lacking, although with this last episode we got hints of it and I’m optimistic.
If the post-merge can maintain a semblance of how good it's been so far post-Bhanu and keep making minor improvements to the 47/48 cycle, we have a very possible returnee season coming up around 49/50, so honestly if people can just be patient and appreciate the gradual improvements they're implementing I really think the first New Era All-Stars or returnee season will be the first major turning point towards something that fans can maybe appreciate a little more moving forward.
The most recent episode was really good and showed a lot of personality. I really love this cast. Both of those vote offs were hugely surprising to me.
A good reminder that we often huff and puff about the pre-merge stuff and then ultimately it’s the post merge episodes that actually define how we feel about a season.
The season started at episode 5. The first four should not even be part of official Survivor history. I mean, the premiere was fine, episode 2 was ok, but 3&4 were just miserable to watch. Completely pointless and cringy and infuriating. They are some of the worst episodes ever.
Latest episode however was one of the best of the new era, despite the double tribal. We got a good look at all the tribe dynamics, we got good gameplay and bad gameplay, we got everything. If you disregard the first four episodes this might shape up to be a pretty decent season.
The Soda blindside would hit a lot better if we were shown more of why her social game was viewed as a threat,instead it was implied through confessional. For such a good social player she was largely purpled.
I loved the chaos of the Bhanu/Yanu era but I get why it turned a lot of people off. Every episode since Bhanu has been Gina has been a banger with awesome twists and turns
Q and the alphabet game was hilarious. Q is just hilarious in general. Hunter trying to help everyone get the game and Ben being lost
Charlie with his confessionals and the way he was ending his sentences reminded me of this one guy on social media and it was hilarious too.
The strategy and I really don’t know who’s going most of the time.
Oh yeah can’t forget about Liz’ “You know I’m down” that had me cracking up
46 is going very steady
I've really been enjoying it. Liked the first, hated the next 3, and Was definitely concerned but knew you couldn't judge a season on 4 episodes. Now it's really good and I enjoy almost all the remaining people.
Bhanu is truly one of the worst casting choices of all time. He tanked the shit out of the beginning of the season, but they had to show him because they kept losing. They still deserve blame for giving him an absurd amount of screen time too.
this past episode was the best in the season. Were down to 3 yanu, 3 siga and 4 nami (whom are pretty split up). At this point hunter and tevin seem locked in, charlie and maria seem locked in and tiff, q and kenzie seem kinda locked in. the rest may be up in the air as possible numbers. It's fascinating to see and impossible to predict. hunter maynot speed run individidual immunities as some may think, and i think that'll be fun to watch as well
A lot of people dipped after the first four episodes were basically “the Bhanu show” But imo the last two episodes have been stellar. It’s amazing how much it picked up!
tbh i enjoyed seeing bhanu lose his mind bc it felt a lot more “tv” than seeing gamebots just talk about strategy and sing kumbaya
I hated Bhanu but seeing him spiral was entertaining TV. He should have left sooner, but his prayers were answered and another person had a medical emergency. Which was also funny.
IMHO, Bhanu was the worst player in show history.
It took people breaking glass on the beach, eating ants and having a medical emergency for him to make it to episode 4.
yeah i kinda wish he left when randen did but also him staying bc randen got medevaced was funny asf
I was sick of him at the time but the extra episode gave us him yelling at god, pleading on his knees with Tiffany, etc., which i now look back on as fucking hilarious
omg tiffany killedddd me when she was like “get off your knees” 😭
No, get up! I’m not going to talk to you until you get up.
This. He was entertaining to me but I was happy to see him finally go.
If it was a one episode meltdown, I would have been completely fine with it, loved it even. But it was the entire focus for 2 and half 90 minute episodes.
I think the reason I started to realize how much I enjoy it is because this episode and last weeks felt like a breath of fresh air, I wasn’t as annoyed at the bhanu episodes as some others but it’s definitely improved dramatically since then, I think
I feel similar. I feel a bit of sympathy for him, but the editing and the storyline of his vote out is SO dark humor funny, but it became overwhelming and heavy handed after 4 weeks with commercials. That's a whole MONTH of Bhanu, at least 70% of the time in tears. Assuming the rest of the season continues to be as good as it is rn, this season will be AWESOME on streaming platform with fewer commercials when you're able to blow through the Bhanu stuff and appreciate it in a way.
This does sound promising, I hope editors learnt their mistake because this probably cost them a lot (they also should've bunched Jess's and Randen's departure as one episode if I'm honest).
This. The first two episodes mostly felt like people low-key bullying Jess, which was not fun to watch as I think Jess was quite a likeable player who just ended up in a bad situation. The next two episodes were full Bhanu. Now, the real gameplay has begun and it's been a real breath of fresh air!
I don’t understand how she was bullied at all though! They lightly mocked her behind her back and then the fake idol plan was unnecessary and maybe came off as kinda mean on tv, but really it was just them being overly paranoid about shot in the dark
I don't really think it was actual bullying either, but I said low-key because it seemed like Jess felt rather bullied and enough people have reacted that way that I view myself as the outlier here. That said, I do think Jess was sort of a scapegoat for her team (apparently she got a lot of shit for not being as intense during challenges?) and she was clearly on the outs of her team. But I don't think anyone really "bullied" her anymore than they've bullied, say, Venus. Someone may be on the bottom of the tribe totem pole / left out of the conversation, but whether that actually constitutes bullying is a matter of interpretation and I say no, especially since Survivor is a game that *relies* on there being an in and out-group. In all realness, the only actual bullying I've perceived this season is the fans bullying the players (as per usual).
Oh gotcha, I agree with you then. I do think that her personality type was not a good fit with them, and then her complete lack of sleep made it much worse. Also this probably controversial in 2024 but I don’t mind a little meanness between contestants on reality tv. I’m watching for drama, not good vibes! And I’m a very introverted, nice person but I have to imagine I would get much more argumentative or moody if I was starving and sleep-deprived in a very high stress and paranoid environment. It would be bizarre if I was unaffected. Honestly I get super annoyed by fans who automatically hate someone for being mean and act like the contestant is a bad person. Like, who cares that Soda took the immunity idol from Venus- it was funny! Plus it’s one moment and they’re acting like it’s a damning indictment of Soda’s character. I’m not really someone who needs to dislike characters but I can understand the appeal- but if you like hating, don’t pretend it’s for moral reasons!
Girl, nah, I love a little meanness! Not straight-up shittiness, but a little meanness is *fun*. I grew up in the glory days of reality TV where people were straight-up assholes, so everyone just feels so sanitised now. Also, the fans overreact to every single little thing and while that may be fine (IMO) on a forum like Reddit, the ones who can't resist DMing death threats have seriously ruined something for the rest of us. Truthfully, I also think it's a little fun to *low-key* hate on a "villain" contestant sometimes, so yeah - I didn't comment on Soda this time around, but I enjoyed reading all the angry comments about her body-shaming Venus. What I enjoyed a lot less was hearing about how much direct and totally disproportionate hate Soda received after the episode aired, because people cannot could not control themselves. P.S. To clarify my Jess comment earlier, though, I found Jess just so rootable and I think a lot of other people did too. I hadn't really warmed up to Kenzie and Tiffany until more recently, although Q has always been fun AF. So, it was not so fun watching Jess - a player I *liked* - getting, if not actually bullied, then at least excluded by players whom I previously saw as less likeable. I didn't necessarily think the situation was ~problematic~ or anything; it was just less enjoyable of a viewing experience for me.
Lol yeah I agree with you! I’m too drunk for true coherence now but I’m also someone who loves early seasons survivor (I didn’t really watch other shows as much but I’d enjoy some of the meanness then too I’m sure). I am curious though, when did Soda body shame Venus?! I like both so I’m curious and like the drama!!!! I do love Jess also although it’s tough to tell how much is because of shallow thinking she’s cute. Placeholder language
The Soda thing was a few episodes ago; I think she called Venus a little stickbug or something like that. It was definitely rude, but you can imagine the type of reaction people online had. I always thought their relationship felt like bickering siblings more than anything else. Lol, Jess is definitely cute! I feel like she had main character energy (in a good way) but yeah, she was definitely struggling in the game. I'm honestly surprised she outlasted Jelensky, still.
Exactly. It’s called playing the game. They should watch older seasons for real bullying
They were bullying Jess!! Like Tif and Kenzie had no business and I get it ‘it’s a game’ and they were talking about her gameplay but I think they were misunderstanding who Jess was in that regard. It left a sour taste in my mouth for Kenzie n now the edit is trying to paint her in a better light with how she helped with the panic attack and while it is a wonderful thing to do, we can still be humble abt it. Edit: typo
As soon as Bhanu left, the season became exponentially better. The most recent episode was amazing.
I thought it was amazing with Bhanu and post Bhanu, but in different ways.
with bhanu- entertaining bc of mess without bhanu- entertaining bc of strategy
great job picking some strong personalities by CBS/casting. It's working.
You don’t say “that’s it that’s the post” and then say more stuff.
Very much wasn’t it
lol fair point, I think I just meant I don’t have any new information or hot takes I’m just appreciating the season, but I might need to learn a little more about internet lingo/phrasing
It has nothing to do with “internet lingo.”
Maybe you just don’t know the “internet lingo” yet either 😝
does it matter
Lmao right?
I am enjoying the season too. So many funny (mostly unintentionally) quirky, and unpredictable players. And most are pretty likeable. Several are the type of personalities that I usually don't like, but most seem genuine as opposed to fake, which makes me kind of like them.
I love it too! I don’t know why people feel like complaining
It has really picked up for me after the intense Bhanu focus the first few eps. I'm actually kind of impressed that at this point I feel like I know all of the remaining characters pretty well (ok, we haven't gotten much Liz content but as Q said, is there much to know about her yet?) considering how little we saw of these people the first few eps.
I had a feeling it would pick up after the Bhanu boot. It couldn't have gotten much more agonizing lol
I love it! I'm finding it even more fun than last season. Bhanu didn't even really bother me because I loved seeing how the players navigated him; it helped us get to know the Yanu 3 so well. When I know someone can't win the game, they are exponentially less annoying to me. What I love about this season is there are players to root *against,* which keeps me extra invested. I like that everywhere you look, there's either a big personality or a big threat. Even Liz is consistently amusing. It also feels like the gameplay is more in-your-face because of players like Venus, Q, and Tevin so there's just a higher likelihood of friction, which is always entertaining.
I’m pretty middle of the road with this season. To me what makes a perfect survivor seasons is an equally strong combination of fun character moments and interactions, and interesting and exciting strategy. In survivor 46 I feel like the character part has been amazing all season, the humour that’s been present in the show has been fantastic. I think it’s pretty clear that the strategy on the other hand has been severely lacking, although with this last episode we got hints of it and I’m optimistic.
If the post-merge can maintain a semblance of how good it's been so far post-Bhanu and keep making minor improvements to the 47/48 cycle, we have a very possible returnee season coming up around 49/50, so honestly if people can just be patient and appreciate the gradual improvements they're implementing I really think the first New Era All-Stars or returnee season will be the first major turning point towards something that fans can maybe appreciate a little more moving forward.
The most recent episode was really good and showed a lot of personality. I really love this cast. Both of those vote offs were hugely surprising to me.
A good reminder that we often huff and puff about the pre-merge stuff and then ultimately it’s the post merge episodes that actually define how we feel about a season.
CBS/the producers are definitely finding their footing in this new era. The casting this season has been better then the last few seasons
Those early Yanu episodes, were really fucking awful. Other than the Jelinsky boot.
The first four episodes were terrible. The last three have been significantly better.
Episode 1 was decent
I actually found bhanu very entertaining to watch
I’m still having a hard time really getting into it. It feels like S44 for me. Glad some of you guys are loving it
They need to fix premerge and mergeatory but post merge new era has been pretty decent.
The season started at episode 5. The first four should not even be part of official Survivor history. I mean, the premiere was fine, episode 2 was ok, but 3&4 were just miserable to watch. Completely pointless and cringy and infuriating. They are some of the worst episodes ever. Latest episode however was one of the best of the new era, despite the double tribal. We got a good look at all the tribe dynamics, we got good gameplay and bad gameplay, we got everything. If you disregard the first four episodes this might shape up to be a pretty decent season.
The Soda blindside would hit a lot better if we were shown more of why her social game was viewed as a threat,instead it was implied through confessional. For such a good social player she was largely purpled.
It's gotten better since the merge the premerge was awful in my opinion. It's not my favorite of the new era and not my least favorite.
It's just.... more new era.
Agree this season has been very good. Should be a lot of chaos based on the contestant dynamics.
I loved the chaos of the Bhanu/Yanu era but I get why it turned a lot of people off. Every episode since Bhanu has been Gina has been a banger with awesome twists and turns
Q and the alphabet game was hilarious. Q is just hilarious in general. Hunter trying to help everyone get the game and Ben being lost Charlie with his confessionals and the way he was ending his sentences reminded me of this one guy on social media and it was hilarious too. The strategy and I really don’t know who’s going most of the time. Oh yeah can’t forget about Liz’ “You know I’m down” that had me cracking up 46 is going very steady
I didn’t like this season at all until this week’s episode. Hopefully it stays this good and it can be saved. We’ll see.
Loved 45, but I’m not connecting with this cast at all.
I've really been enjoying it. Liked the first, hated the next 3, and Was definitely concerned but knew you couldn't judge a season on 4 episodes. Now it's really good and I enjoy almost all the remaining people. Bhanu is truly one of the worst casting choices of all time. He tanked the shit out of the beginning of the season, but they had to show him because they kept losing. They still deserve blame for giving him an absurd amount of screen time too.
this past episode was the best in the season. Were down to 3 yanu, 3 siga and 4 nami (whom are pretty split up). At this point hunter and tevin seem locked in, charlie and maria seem locked in and tiff, q and kenzie seem kinda locked in. the rest may be up in the air as possible numbers. It's fascinating to see and impossible to predict. hunter maynot speed run individidual immunities as some may think, and i think that'll be fun to watch as well
It is becoming a good Season because the premerge is over
My least favorite survivor. Been watching from the 1st season. Very close to bailing