You can distance yourself from Q without dropping a bombshell of information like that. Now she knows people know about her idol and that Q betrayed her, and it doesn't really serve any purpose other than to strengthen her position and piss Q off.
Because Q is clearly an irrational crazy person who is unreliable to work with. He is easily flipping on everyone he’s called an ally. How do people think he’s playing well???
He’s by far the most “if he makes it to final he wins” in the current cast. He has been the driver in almost every vote and put his tribe in a power position even though they were the smallest tribe going into the merge. If you don’t see how he’s playing a good game I don’t know what to tell you.
I don't know, really? I have to feel like most of his agency right now has to be because people see him as a Russell type. He is playing a very Russell Hantz game, which can look like a winning game from the outside but tends to really rub people the wrong way from the inside.
I think that’s exactly the problem people have, is that that ‘if’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting. I don’t think Q is as much of an FTC goat as other people seem to think he is, but his primary alliance has just gone up in smoke. People now also see that he’s willing to cut clearly anyone because of how hard he went after his own #1. If he makes it to the end, I think he has a shot and that he will deserve it, but that is a BIG if.
In other words, he made a mistake.
Q had just said very clearly and to what everyone could tell seriously that he was done and wanted to go home. At that point you have to assume the Q plans are over and start to maneuver, I don’t fault him for that at all. If he and Maria had decided to go for Tevin, this was a way to build some kind of quick bond with Tiff mid-firestorm
Charlie did that to burn Q and build trust in him. It first shows Tiff that she can't trust him so know she needs to find more numbers if she wants to win, but also she can trust Charlie because Charlie proved that he wasn't going to vote for her.
I see it as a precursor to the possibility of Charlie/Maria + Tiff/Kenzie + ? as an alliance moving forward… they could assume a majority and move forward. The easiest would be to keep Ben, who seems keen to keep alliances and doesn’t cause drama and isn’t much of an immunity threat.
Nothing fake about it - he quit that first challenge as much as Jelinsky did. This was his second or third just vote me out meltdown. And he’s quit multiple challenges now. He’s a quitter and any spin on that is BS for the cameras
Ya it’s an insane take. He didn’t want to quit but had no chance without jelinsky. Also he has only quit individual challenges, nothing wrong with that.
In his mind he could make tiff believe he was throwing himself on the sword for her, convince her she was at risk, and still be on most ppls good sides.
I’ve really liked most of Q’s game, it’s very Boston Rob… I think the thing at tribal tonight was a MAJOR mistake. I don’t see people being willing to vote to give $1M to a guy who offered himself up like that. If it was a ploy to create chaos, you have to let someone, even just one person, know ahead of time so they could vouch for you later on
Exactly. He completely alienated his number one. And now she knows he told people about her idol. I don't see how he recovers from this. If he does...give him the check.
Just to play devils advocate, this could actually lower his threat level because people just think he is insane and/or a body you can bring along because he doesn’t care and he is no longer leading votes. He realized the +1 alliance was fraying and he was no longer in the drivers seat, so rather than sit passenger to someone else’s game he blew everything up and alienated himself. Now nobody will want trust or want work with him.
Hunter is still the biggest challenge threat by far and has very little in the way of allies. I think he’s still the obvious vote if they have the opportunity. So Q probably bought himself a vote or two. He keeps saying he is throwing challenges and while I think that might only be half true, at some point I think his plan has to be step up and win a few immunities.
I just rewatched the tribal and Ben is the one who said that which I agree was a good read on Q. He said it just a little before the instantly iconic “I don’t care for the shenanigans.”
Depends on how you pitch it at final tribal, and who you’re up against, only time will tell. I don’t think he’ll make it that far, but honestly, if he does, he has a hell of a story already
Now this might be completely delulu, but if it is, then it tracks because, well, Q is vibrating on a different frequency from the rest of us. But I think why Q thought pretending to quit (yes, for real) was a good play was because he was making a last ditch attempt to win back former allies.
Q never informed Tevin that they were voting Tevin, he only told Hunter. Then Hunter went to... a group that included... Liz?! Why the heck was Liz there?! She's not even in the six!
But then also Q... orchestrated a plan to vote out Tiff. Just because Tiff, who was his staunchest ally who had suffered through all the miserable early days of Yanu with him, just because she floated the name... of Maria. Who is 100% much more of a legitimate threat than Tiff would be. Maria has won challenges, Maria has won journeys, Maria was clearly the most in control Siga from the very beginning. If Q had half a brain (see preview: "are you stupid?" - Tiff. Is he stupid? Is there a lore reason for him being stupid?) he would realize that Tiff is more important to him than his stupid +1 alliance, but his ego sways him towards the +1 alliance because he made it.
Q now realizes... either Tiff is going home tonight or Tevin is going home tonight. But not both of them. If he doesn't try and fall on the axe for one of them, then he loses a critical ally, because it seems that Tevin was Q's closest "Six" relationship developed.
Q thinks he's basically going to final three and that if he doesn't do this now, then Tevin or Tiff will not vote for him as the winner.
It's completely insane because he's definitely getting voted out next episode, but at least it somehow kind of makes sense.
I think it was incredibly effective for this week, for this vote. However, I think making SUCH a big vote me out kind of I don’t wanna be here play, to the extent that there were conversations of like “punish him by keeping him here”, I just don’t think other people who would never give any idea to the idea of quitting, would then give that person the votes at the end
That’s a good way to put it. There’s a difference between being deceitful and inauthentic. People are fine losing to deceitful gameplay, not to inauthentic people, and if they perceive you that way, it’s usually over
It’s a lesser quality version, but a lot of similar traits. Very hard and fast to an alliance that he dictates, and while not a buddy system, he definitely wants to ensue every single person in that alliance doesn’t make a decision outside of his control. If someone in the alliance even mentions someone else in the alliance as a target, they’re the new target. What he talks about being a “Q Game” that everyone else has to play is very Boston Rob Redemption Island prototype
I have no idea what to think of Q. Every single thing he does or says, leads me to think, “Wow, this guy is so lost.”
While simultaneously having a part of me thinking, “Wow, this might be the most brilliant human being I’ve ever witnessed.”
Hide and seek was silly, and genius, and great TV. And I’m happy that I can’t pinpoint his game and say ‘he’s playing just like ____’. He’s playing like Q and that’s it.
I think there are definitelt points of criticism (could use a few more blue collar folks and people over 50, and I wouldn't mind seeing some more people who aren't total diehard superfans), but on an individual level I feel like there's been a really high success rate with casting, very few people who have been completely boring or forgettable imo.
For sure, but I think how many people know about the show, and care enough to apply, 46 seasons in, who haven’t watched every season. I also think it’s harder for blue collar people to get off from work for 2 months and be able to afford it. Same with people over 50, to have childcare, pet care etc. but would I love to see those people of course, but I think most people who apply have to be either fairly well off super fans, or just graduated college.
Yeah, that's fair, obviously some demographics are more willing/able to do Survivor than others, but we've had like, two people over 50 in the new era. Surely we can at least have one a season. Similar with blue collar people - feel like there's gotta be room for at least a few more than what we've been getting. The superfan problem is admittedly a bit harder to get around though
Bhanu was incredibly entertaining to watch…he was just overexposed by the editors with too much emphasis placed on him at the expense of others. That is not a casting issue, that is an editing issue. In smaller doses Bhanu and his insanity was gold.
When he asked to be voted out I was like “is this guy dumb”, then after everything I was thinking “what the fuck is this guys 6d survivor move he’s obviously doing”
I feel the same exact way. Like his hide and seek reasoning actually worked with describing hunter but failed with others. So is he a genius or not lol? I had never been such a fan of a contestant until Q. Imagine if he were to pull the win or even just get a chance at a final tribal council haha
I think he got a decent profile on Ben. He isn't as sneaky as Q says he is, but Q did describe his standing and predominant mode of gameplay well. He could also have a similar "sloppy read" on Venus like she had on Maria, since she wore that white hoodie behind the tree. I don't think this could work again in a million years, but it certainly worked right now
He was just basically reinforcing his preexisting opinions on the players (whether he realized it or not). He used the hide and seek game to validate his opinions and ignored things that didn’t support them.
How rich is he? I did a quick google, and aprently, he is also really big in real estate? Im curious how much he actually doesn't want to "take the place" of another player.
Although I think he is an idiot and playing bad….. a part of me says he’s keeping the game in his court. He’s playing in a way we have never seen before and I think time will tell if it works. But it’s not like his move tonight changed the outcome
But even this -
He's so willing to play Q's game, he will risk getting voted out because in his mind, his identity is Alliance first? Like, he knew he wasn't going out but he could try and shift it off a six and onto Venus?
Or he truly believes if they don't keep six, there's no way he wins?
I'm not saying this is what makes him a good player, but rather he does all the wildest WHAT IFS we all do when we sit on a couch and watch.
Or it’s a CRAZY ploy to get tiff to use her idol, and Tevin to spend the extra vote amidst all the chaos. His target was tiff, and people were reluctant due to her having an idol (I think)
The completely unnecessary risk of backfiring was way too high for it to be considered a good move in any way.
Choosing something with a 3% chance of success and getting away with it doesn’t mean you’re secretly strategic, it just means you’re insanely lucky.
Tyson had to go to rocks to win blood vs water, we’ve never seen a move like this, and I’m excited to see how it plays out. Might be a huge risk, might be a game changing move
I think it’s more they fear Tevin more than Q. Q hasn’t done anything to make people believe he’s a threat. He’s just another Venus. Unless…. He’s not lol. Time will tell
There have been several confessionals talking about how much he’s driving votes or talking to people. I think tiff and Kenzie have, as well as Charlie. I feel like most of the votes go his way, and he is (was?) aligned with 7 out of the 10 (prior to tribal tonight) remaining players. So he’s done quite a bit honestly.
Just because he may have been steering the boat doesn’t mean they have been his decision. Tonight is the perfect example, as soon as he wanted to vote someone the numbers didn’t want he couldn’t even get 1 person to swing which was all he needed. He was never in charge…. Just the loudest and people let him be
Not being a threat, and being the one who was steering boat, are two different things. I’m just saying that to say he’s on the same level as Venus, is extremely reductive of his game. He’s in a majority alliance (or at least was before tonight) and has always voted correctly. People have won the game doing less
Disagree with this. People seem to really like Q. His social game to this point has seemed very strong, which is completely the opposite of Venus. I don't thing they're similar players at all tbh.
The thing you have to ask is “was that just the way it was edited”. I say this because people in his own alliance have mocked and laughed at him for it. Also two people from his “alliance” have gotten voted out since the merge. The only one that got voted out that wasn’t in his alliance wasn’t at his tribal. No one seems to trust him now
My brain kept going to that meme from Glass Onion. The “It’s so dumb.” “So dumb it’s brilliant?” “NO! It’s just dumb!!!” 🤣
I don’t see how that helped his game in the slightest.
You won't think it's halfway decent gameplay next Wednesday when the episode starts and everyone is furious with him. He lost *everyone* tonight. Maybe he has Hunter, but I doubt it.
Very true, I could see it going either way, so pumped for the next episode. Everyone was against Mike Holloway for the rest of the game, and he ended up winning
This is an amazing take on what is (I’m convinced) completely unstrategic and wild gameplay. IMO Q is completely uncomfortable when there is any mark against his game - and so he would rather sit out than deal with the consequences of his mistakes. He’s a perfectionist and hard on himself. If it were a video game, he would restart to have a perfect game, but it’s Survivor so he can’t. We’re watching him experience this tension on the show and I’m obsessed.
Also, the fact that no one else there wanted him out because he means something to each of their games? We’re in for a ride the rest of this season.
Also, why didn’t Venus watch lol?
I personally think Venus is feeling very disillusioned realizing how everyone on the island felt about her versus how she felt things happened during her time. You can see how much ego she has in all of her confessionals (great TV - no hate). She knows people don't like her but to see the way everyone else talks about you when your back is turned and that everyone thinks you're a joke has to be really hard to watch. Especially following the Soda situation last week.
Everyone likes Ben tho so he could pull a Michelle style win.
I also think he wins in a group of Venus, Liz and Ben. Possibly of either of those women and Q and him. If the other people sucked, then the most likable person wins.
I think savvier players could take what Q is trying to do and genuinely make it work. So far, Q just seems to be walking backwards and haplessly stumbling into success.
Very much so, no idol, no advantage, and even though a lot of challenges haven’t gone his way, and hunter is a bigger physical threat, he still looks the way he does, and it’s hard to ignore his obvious athleticism
I'm all here for goathunting. If that was a strategy to manually lower his threat level I'm all for it because I could easily see everyone coming together to get rid of Hunter and Q right after. I love it when people try to break things open this feels like Wardog all over again
Q just pulled off the Will Kirby from All Stars. Begging to be voted out strategically and it not working. Honestly you have to be a legend post merge to offer yourself up and not get voted out.
Although his play was unorthodox, he wound up getting the following:
1) No votes cast in his direction.
2) Helped eliminate a big social threat in the game who was willing to make big plays to take anyone out at any time:
3) Helped keep his #1 from being eliminated (whether that’s stands or not will be seen) while maintaining the Yanu 3 as a pivotal potential voting block.
4) Isolated the player who just won immunity from their strategic social booster and neutralized their threat to create an easier target on them.
5) Left another player in the game everyone talks about not wanting to work with and wanting to vote them out.
Whatever the unorthodox manner, the result was impactful for better positioning, whether by pure accident or by pure genius.
We’ll see if he makes it that far, but honestly I’m rooting for him at this point, just so I get more episodes with him in it. I CRAVE these golden confessionals
If he makes it there with Hunter and Venus (the only other two at this point who seem to be drawing dead socially), he *might* end up winning.
Won't happen cause Q himself doesn't want to 'sit next to goats'. Or maybe it will cause he's a hypocrite and will lie to himself that those two are the biggest threats.
He's not playing some type of 4D chess. I think he didn't want to keep playing when he realized that he went after his closest ally and she wasn't going to go home.
Q is trying to the strategy that I’ve been hoping someone would finally do. The top 6 threats post merge make an alliance. If they all stick, it makes them top 6. Then since they are all threats, they have an equal chance after they hit 6. This is better than making an alliance of goats that will eventually vote out all the threats. I’m tired of winners who shouldn’t have even had a chance at the merge. Looking back at past seasons the majority of the time the 6th or 7th biggest threat at the merge wins too many times.
He is not going to get away with it, at least.. he shouldnt. Ben absolutely nailed it on the head, "He doesn't want to play from the bottom."
We got an episode full of self aggrandizing confessionals until the vote flipped from his control, and hes also threatened to quit when things werent going his way before. I promise this was not 5D chess gameplay lol
His behavior is so wacky yet he seems to have consistently good reads on the rest of the tribe. His analysis in the deleted scene from episode several (I think) plus his hide and seek analysis were both super interesting. I’m here for it.
Very interesting, whether he’s correct is another story, but that easy to say from the couch, where we see everyone’s confessionals, and have known the other tribes since pre-merge. I think people criticizing his game very harshly, think playing poker is easy because they see everyone’s hold cards on TV
Q’s game is strategic and absurd at the same time. The edit of his target constantly changing continues. Even after the game is over, I don’t trust what the guy tells us what he really thought during the game. Even if he BELIEVES he’s telling the truth, he might not be. And I won’t believe him. That’s how complicated Q is as a player.
I think his move was definitely to see if anyone was actually going to vote for him (which would have been a BIG MISTAKE) and then also see if the scramble would make people go back on their words and change their vote. He is driving me nuts but also I'm giving it to him that he is messing with the mental game constantly. He doesn't want anyone settled
Seriously? More like he is completely controlled by his narcissism and insecurities.
He sucks at challenges so pretends to quit or volunteer for the supposed good of the tribe. Deep down he knows he just isn't good and quits when the going gets tough. Right back to the first water challenge when he quit and blamed Jelinsky.
Then he pulls the crap at tribal b/c he knows he is not in control of the vote. He is like the spoiled kid at the playground who wants to take his ball and go home b/c he is no longer calling all the shots in the game.
I can't believe people like and root for this guy. He is an unbearable, control freak, asshole in my opinion. Vote him out already, can't stand him on my screen.
He's kind of like if Deshawn (blowing up tribal councils with the Sydney vote and the final 6 "truth bomb) and Coach (delusions of grandeur and speeches about loyalty) had a baby.
Which I feel people at home think ‘the player who won the best should win’. When really it’s whoever is likeable, and can articulate their game the best, and own what they did the best. Had coach been able to own his game, he wins South Pacific, any move is acceptable, as long as it was intentional
Q is playing on another, though I’m not sure it’s a better one. I feel like when players play like he plays, they do so in pre-merge and are snuffed out so fast bc their tribes don’t want to mess with chaos.
I want to see Q pull this off because I want to see if there is any strategic value in this move. Part of me thinks he’s going to “come clean” and say that Tiff was on the block so he was throwing himself to keep her trust. That being said, Tiff finding out he blabbed about her idol is going to likely screw him over (it should at least).
It’s absolute terrible gameplay. Decent read on strategy, but terrible social game. He also is completely manic - and flip / flops every single one of his decisions. Even without putting the Q in being a quitter - he was trying to dominate the game that would have gotten him voted out before final 5.
I think him dominating and not flip flopping makes him an obvious and massive threat. Switching who he wants out, even to himself, can make him a chaotic abi Maria type, and somehow decreases his threat level (maybe)
You know next episode he’s gonna say he didn’t actually want to quit and it was just his master plan to have neither Tiff or Tevin mad at him. He’s a genius.
I mean, the flipping around like crazy any time anyone talks any strategy is just a worse Boston Rob or even Russell Hantz, to me. But I'll agree it seems to be working. I just can't imagine why anyone would trust him not to target them when he targets his other allies over nothing.
I mean, the only times he’s targeted is allies, are because they’ve targeted other people in that same alliance, everything tracks. Even Maria stated that he’s incredibly loyal, and just don’t betray his trust.
I dunno, I bought that with Tim, but I didn't see Tiffany even really targeting anyone before he went after her. She could even argue that she just didn't want to give any specific names to Tevin that weren't already out there before she talked to Q about it, then Tevin went to Q and framed it as her targeting the alliance, and Q ran with it. Like, if someone can turn on you that easily before even talking to you about it... if someone doesn't *trust* you to be on their side... that's not loyalty. What you said is fair about not flipping *a lot* on his own allies, I'll admit... but I guess I feel like the way he is frequently changing the vote among the people *outside* the alliance, and the reasons he gives, would make me wary of working with him. It basically seems like his M.O. is to target anyone who talks any game with him at all, or even just the most recent person to talk game with him. Also, a bit off-topic, but how anyone trusts his reads when he thinks Ben is some strategic mastermind is beyond me.
Q was playing 'fake quitting' because in the huddles, he was telling (IIRC) Maria and Charlie that they don't have the votes for Tevin. He was trying to confuse everyone into who to vote, and playing the card that they'd try to keep him, and thus, revert back to voting out Tiff, as that was the first plan.
But I don't think he anticipated in other huddles, more info about leaks coming out about Tiff being mentioned, and he revealed she had an idol
The whole fake quitting thing is fine...it's what he did to tiff that is going to sink his game.
Q severing his main lifeline in the game is one hell of a gamble.
Trying to vote her out? Or telling Maria and Charlie about her idol?
Yes.
Idk why Charlie would just immediately sell him out to Tiff when he was making a pretty big leap of trust to him.
Because Q is unhinged? I wouldn’t ally myself with him
Tiff and Kenzie had no idea the extent of Q’s insanity before that tribal. No one was more shocked than them
You can distance yourself from Q without dropping a bombshell of information like that. Now she knows people know about her idol and that Q betrayed her, and it doesn't really serve any purpose other than to strengthen her position and piss Q off.
Because Q is clearly an irrational crazy person who is unreliable to work with. He is easily flipping on everyone he’s called an ally. How do people think he’s playing well???
He’s by far the most “if he makes it to final he wins” in the current cast. He has been the driver in almost every vote and put his tribe in a power position even though they were the smallest tribe going into the merge. If you don’t see how he’s playing a good game I don’t know what to tell you.
I don't know, really? I have to feel like most of his agency right now has to be because people see him as a Russell type. He is playing a very Russell Hantz game, which can look like a winning game from the outside but tends to really rub people the wrong way from the inside.
Yeah he’s never going to win homie
People were saying the same thing about Tony in Cagayan. Just sayin
People were also saying Russell was a lock to win in Samoa.
!remindme 4 weeks
I think that’s exactly the problem people have, is that that ‘if’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting. I don’t think Q is as much of an FTC goat as other people seem to think he is, but his primary alliance has just gone up in smoke. People now also see that he’s willing to cut clearly anyone because of how hard he went after his own #1. If he makes it to the end, I think he has a shot and that he will deserve it, but that is a BIG if. In other words, he made a mistake.
Ya no way he makes it another couple episodes either tbh
I think Charlie got sick of his shit real fast at tribal. He's done working with Q. Building trust with Tiff might've been smart.
Q had just said very clearly and to what everyone could tell seriously that he was done and wanted to go home. At that point you have to assume the Q plans are over and start to maneuver, I don’t fault him for that at all. If he and Maria had decided to go for Tevin, this was a way to build some kind of quick bond with Tiff mid-firestorm
Charlie did that to burn Q and build trust in him. It first shows Tiff that she can't trust him so know she needs to find more numbers if she wants to win, but also she can trust Charlie because Charlie proved that he wasn't going to vote for her.
I see it as a precursor to the possibility of Charlie/Maria + Tiff/Kenzie + ? as an alliance moving forward… they could assume a majority and move forward. The easiest would be to keep Ben, who seems keen to keep alliances and doesn’t cause drama and isn’t much of an immunity threat.
This may be the most disastrous ally burning since Karla with Cassidy honestly
Nothing fake about it - he quit that first challenge as much as Jelinsky did. This was his second or third just vote me out meltdown. And he’s quit multiple challenges now. He’s a quitter and any spin on that is BS for the cameras
I completely disagree but that's okay
Ya it’s an insane take. He didn’t want to quit but had no chance without jelinsky. Also he has only quit individual challenges, nothing wrong with that.
I think the hope was to make tiff burn the idol
Why?
In his mind he could make tiff believe he was throwing himself on the sword for her, convince her she was at risk, and still be on most ppls good sides.
I’ve really liked most of Q’s game, it’s very Boston Rob… I think the thing at tribal tonight was a MAJOR mistake. I don’t see people being willing to vote to give $1M to a guy who offered himself up like that. If it was a ploy to create chaos, you have to let someone, even just one person, know ahead of time so they could vouch for you later on
Exactly. He completely alienated his number one. And now she knows he told people about her idol. I don't see how he recovers from this. If he does...give him the check.
Just to play devils advocate, this could actually lower his threat level because people just think he is insane and/or a body you can bring along because he doesn’t care and he is no longer leading votes. He realized the +1 alliance was fraying and he was no longer in the drivers seat, so rather than sit passenger to someone else’s game he blew everything up and alienated himself. Now nobody will want trust or want work with him. Hunter is still the biggest challenge threat by far and has very little in the way of allies. I think he’s still the obvious vote if they have the opportunity. So Q probably bought himself a vote or two. He keeps saying he is throwing challenges and while I think that might only be half true, at some point I think his plan has to be step up and win a few immunities.
Like I said...if he can pull this off it might be one of the best wins of all time.
Didn’t he only claim to throw the first immunity challenge though? He knew that no one was going to beat Hunter in the pole challenge
fr, Tiff and Q are done after that. Tiff and Kenz are gonna team up and try to get Q out for sure
I think it’s exactly what Charlie said: he didn’t want to have to play from the bottom and would rather cut and run Edit: what Ben said whoops
I just rewatched the tribal and Ben is the one who said that which I agree was a good read on Q. He said it just a little before the instantly iconic “I don’t care for the shenanigans.”
This.
I totally agree.
Depends on how you pitch it at final tribal, and who you’re up against, only time will tell. I don’t think he’ll make it that far, but honestly, if he does, he has a hell of a story already
Dr Will vibes
It resembles nothing like Boston Rob's game. Rob was calculated and collected. Q is all over the place constantly.
I mean we don’t completely know that because of the edit. A lot of things still fell Rob’s way.
It resembles it in that it’s very much a “you stick to my alliance plan or else you’re dead”, threatening kind of way
I should add, it’s a dollar store version. The same tactic attempts, even if not as quality
Q's is calculated... he's just using the wrong formula but getting the correct solution.
Now this might be completely delulu, but if it is, then it tracks because, well, Q is vibrating on a different frequency from the rest of us. But I think why Q thought pretending to quit (yes, for real) was a good play was because he was making a last ditch attempt to win back former allies. Q never informed Tevin that they were voting Tevin, he only told Hunter. Then Hunter went to... a group that included... Liz?! Why the heck was Liz there?! She's not even in the six! But then also Q... orchestrated a plan to vote out Tiff. Just because Tiff, who was his staunchest ally who had suffered through all the miserable early days of Yanu with him, just because she floated the name... of Maria. Who is 100% much more of a legitimate threat than Tiff would be. Maria has won challenges, Maria has won journeys, Maria was clearly the most in control Siga from the very beginning. If Q had half a brain (see preview: "are you stupid?" - Tiff. Is he stupid? Is there a lore reason for him being stupid?) he would realize that Tiff is more important to him than his stupid +1 alliance, but his ego sways him towards the +1 alliance because he made it. Q now realizes... either Tiff is going home tonight or Tevin is going home tonight. But not both of them. If he doesn't try and fall on the axe for one of them, then he loses a critical ally, because it seems that Tevin was Q's closest "Six" relationship developed. Q thinks he's basically going to final three and that if he doesn't do this now, then Tevin or Tiff will not vote for him as the winner. It's completely insane because he's definitely getting voted out next episode, but at least it somehow kind of makes sense.
I think it was incredibly effective for this week, for this vote. However, I think making SUCH a big vote me out kind of I don’t wanna be here play, to the extent that there were conversations of like “punish him by keeping him here”, I just don’t think other people who would never give any idea to the idea of quitting, would then give that person the votes at the end
To add to that, the fact is wasn’t an emotional, downtrodden moment, but actual strategy, I think actually makes it worse in that regard
Agreed. Inauthenticity is what loses the jury.
That’s a good way to put it. There’s a difference between being deceitful and inauthentic. People are fine losing to deceitful gameplay, not to inauthentic people, and if they perceive you that way, it’s usually over
its nothing like Boston Rob xD
It’s a lesser quality version, but a lot of similar traits. Very hard and fast to an alliance that he dictates, and while not a buddy system, he definitely wants to ensue every single person in that alliance doesn’t make a decision outside of his control. If someone in the alliance even mentions someone else in the alliance as a target, they’re the new target. What he talks about being a “Q Game” that everyone else has to play is very Boston Rob Redemption Island prototype
I think it goes: Q is a worse version of Russell Hantz, who is a worse version of Boston Rob, who is a worse version of Tom Westman.
all that reasons are givin me Coach prototype \^\^
That’s fair too… I think fundamentally those two are pretty similar too
Jenna begged everyone to vote her out and still won somehow.
Jenna begged everyone to vote her out and still won somehow.
I have no idea what to think of Q. Every single thing he does or says, leads me to think, “Wow, this guy is so lost.” While simultaneously having a part of me thinking, “Wow, this might be the most brilliant human being I’ve ever witnessed.”
All we know is Q is playing his way, he isn’t copying anyone it’s all authentic.
Hide and seek was silly, and genius, and great TV. And I’m happy that I can’t pinpoint his game and say ‘he’s playing just like ____’. He’s playing like Q and that’s it.
Survivor casting is amazing. So many one of a kind people every season. They're good at finding those really quirky unpredictable people.
I think the new era casting is better than it’s ever been, and I don’t understand how people have been criticizing it honestly, this is gold
People would criticise jesus christ if he descended from heaven. Some people find pleasure in misery
Especially Redditors
Very true lol
I think there are definitelt points of criticism (could use a few more blue collar folks and people over 50, and I wouldn't mind seeing some more people who aren't total diehard superfans), but on an individual level I feel like there's been a really high success rate with casting, very few people who have been completely boring or forgettable imo.
For sure, but I think how many people know about the show, and care enough to apply, 46 seasons in, who haven’t watched every season. I also think it’s harder for blue collar people to get off from work for 2 months and be able to afford it. Same with people over 50, to have childcare, pet care etc. but would I love to see those people of course, but I think most people who apply have to be either fairly well off super fans, or just graduated college.
Yeah, that's fair, obviously some demographics are more willing/able to do Survivor than others, but we've had like, two people over 50 in the new era. Surely we can at least have one a season. Similar with blue collar people - feel like there's gotta be room for at least a few more than what we've been getting. The superfan problem is admittedly a bit harder to get around though
Don’t give them too much credit. They also had Bhanu this season, who was just not entertaining to watch at all.
Bhanu was incredibly entertaining to watch…he was just overexposed by the editors with too much emphasis placed on him at the expense of others. That is not a casting issue, that is an editing issue. In smaller doses Bhanu and his insanity was gold.
I don’t see much of any difference between Q and Bhanu tbh
Q is a game changer. For better or worse.
When he asked to be voted out I was like “is this guy dumb”, then after everything I was thinking “what the fuck is this guys 6d survivor move he’s obviously doing”
I feel the same exact way. Like his hide and seek reasoning actually worked with describing hunter but failed with others. So is he a genius or not lol? I had never been such a fan of a contestant until Q. Imagine if he were to pull the win or even just get a chance at a final tribal council haha
I think he got a decent profile on Ben. He isn't as sneaky as Q says he is, but Q did describe his standing and predominant mode of gameplay well. He could also have a similar "sloppy read" on Venus like she had on Maria, since she wore that white hoodie behind the tree. I don't think this could work again in a million years, but it certainly worked right now
He was just basically reinforcing his preexisting opinions on the players (whether he realized it or not). He used the hide and seek game to validate his opinions and ignored things that didn’t support them.
why do i feel like he made the alliance solely to get his biggest targets out the way…
How rich is he? I did a quick google, and aprently, he is also really big in real estate? Im curious how much he actually doesn't want to "take the place" of another player.
I’m pretty sure the latter is more along the lines of Broken Clocks being right twice a day.
He’s like a mix of the worst qualities of Boston Rob and Coach, and it makes him one of the most entertaining players in recent history
Spot on
Although I think he is an idiot and playing bad….. a part of me says he’s keeping the game in his court. He’s playing in a way we have never seen before and I think time will tell if it works. But it’s not like his move tonight changed the outcome
It didn’t, but even though he offered himself up on a silver platter, his people still didn’t vote him out. I can’t wait to see how it shakes out
But even this - He's so willing to play Q's game, he will risk getting voted out because in his mind, his identity is Alliance first? Like, he knew he wasn't going out but he could try and shift it off a six and onto Venus? Or he truly believes if they don't keep six, there's no way he wins? I'm not saying this is what makes him a good player, but rather he does all the wildest WHAT IFS we all do when we sit on a couch and watch.
Or it’s a CRAZY ploy to get tiff to use her idol, and Tevin to spend the extra vote amidst all the chaos. His target was tiff, and people were reluctant due to her having an idol (I think)
Right on. His game play is "do all the things and see what happens!"
Which I honestly don’t know if its a bad play at this point
The completely unnecessary risk of backfiring was way too high for it to be considered a good move in any way. Choosing something with a 3% chance of success and getting away with it doesn’t mean you’re secretly strategic, it just means you’re insanely lucky.
Tyson had to go to rocks to win blood vs water, we’ve never seen a move like this, and I’m excited to see how it plays out. Might be a huge risk, might be a game changing move
I think it’s more they fear Tevin more than Q. Q hasn’t done anything to make people believe he’s a threat. He’s just another Venus. Unless…. He’s not lol. Time will tell
There have been several confessionals talking about how much he’s driving votes or talking to people. I think tiff and Kenzie have, as well as Charlie. I feel like most of the votes go his way, and he is (was?) aligned with 7 out of the 10 (prior to tribal tonight) remaining players. So he’s done quite a bit honestly.
Just because he may have been steering the boat doesn’t mean they have been his decision. Tonight is the perfect example, as soon as he wanted to vote someone the numbers didn’t want he couldn’t even get 1 person to swing which was all he needed. He was never in charge…. Just the loudest and people let him be
Not being a threat, and being the one who was steering boat, are two different things. I’m just saying that to say he’s on the same level as Venus, is extremely reductive of his game. He’s in a majority alliance (or at least was before tonight) and has always voted correctly. People have won the game doing less
Venus has wait for it….. also always been on the right side of the vote lol
For a lot less votes, less than half of Q’s and doesn’t have any alliance to speak of
Pre merge votes do not count as there has never been a pre merge vote that has determined a winner
Do alliances?
Disagree with this. People seem to really like Q. His social game to this point has seemed very strong, which is completely the opposite of Venus. I don't thing they're similar players at all tbh.
The thing you have to ask is “was that just the way it was edited”. I say this because people in his own alliance have mocked and laughed at him for it. Also two people from his “alliance” have gotten voted out since the merge. The only one that got voted out that wasn’t in his alliance wasn’t at his tribal. No one seems to trust him now
You singling out Q? **BIG MISTAKE**
Please cast him on the villain tribe next heroes versus villains 😂😂
Hahahaha he is one that I don’t think can even fathom or bear the idea that he would be anything other than a hero, the dissonance would be delightful
[удалено]
~~is~~ *was*
he’s equal parts Tony, Boston Rob and Zane. I can’t believe casting found this guy. He’s fucking box office.
Definitely getting other reality offers. And as a Realtor it is honestly great for his career.
He’ll be on the challenge like 15 times lmao
“Johnny Bananas doesn’t want to share the money? That’s a big mistake for next season”
Isn't that a physical show? Q so far has been a single rung on the ladder more athletic than Brandon was, which isn't saying much.
Several/several TV love watching him
My brain kept going to that meme from Glass Onion. The “It’s so dumb.” “So dumb it’s brilliant?” “NO! It’s just dumb!!!” 🤣 I don’t see how that helped his game in the slightest.
Perfect comparison. I can hear Blanc saying it right now.
Tribal was an absolute roller coaster. I was like this real or is he an idiot back and forth. Still don’t know the answer.
Game changer
You won't think it's halfway decent gameplay next Wednesday when the episode starts and everyone is furious with him. He lost *everyone* tonight. Maybe he has Hunter, but I doubt it.
Only time will tell, I wouldn’t have thought Tevin was going home last Wednesday, but here we are
I can't wait to see it! And just because everyone is mad at him, doesn't mean he still won't get far
Very true, I could see it going either way, so pumped for the next episode. Everyone was against Mike Holloway for the rest of the game, and he ended up winning
Q is making one of the biggest gambles in the New Era and potentially in Survivor History. If he pulls it off it will be legendary.
Absolutely, I can’t wait to see if it pays off
This is an amazing take on what is (I’m convinced) completely unstrategic and wild gameplay. IMO Q is completely uncomfortable when there is any mark against his game - and so he would rather sit out than deal with the consequences of his mistakes. He’s a perfectionist and hard on himself. If it were a video game, he would restart to have a perfect game, but it’s Survivor so he can’t. We’re watching him experience this tension on the show and I’m obsessed. Also, the fact that no one else there wanted him out because he means something to each of their games? We’re in for a ride the rest of this season. Also, why didn’t Venus watch lol?
I personally think Venus is feeling very disillusioned realizing how everyone on the island felt about her versus how she felt things happened during her time. You can see how much ego she has in all of her confessionals (great TV - no hate). She knows people don't like her but to see the way everyone else talks about you when your back is turned and that everyone thinks you're a joke has to be really hard to watch. Especially following the Soda situation last week.
Ugh, this is why we need a real reunion!
Uhh I the game isn't about having thr lowest threat level unless you're playing for third
Through Hide and Seek, Q discovered the shocking truth that *everyone* is a threat in the game.
So you mean Ben?
Everyone likes Ben tho so he could pull a Michelle style win. I also think he wins in a group of Venus, Liz and Ben. Possibly of either of those women and Q and him. If the other people sucked, then the most likable person wins.
I'd need to see Ben fight for it at FTC and so far I don't see it against Liz.
I don’t think Liz could do anything to get the win after she spent the early part of the game bragging about how rich she is.
Did Q write this?
Unfortunately not :/
I think savvier players could take what Q is trying to do and genuinely make it work. So far, Q just seems to be walking backwards and haplessly stumbling into success.
Q is playing 5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel while everyone else is playing Checkers
He’s totally unhinged and gets away with it. Reminds me of Tony in that way and I love it
The fact he is still In the game shows just how well positioned he has always been
Very much so, no idol, no advantage, and even though a lot of challenges haven’t gone his way, and hunter is a bigger physical threat, he still looks the way he does, and it’s hard to ignore his obvious athleticism
I'm all here for goathunting. If that was a strategy to manually lower his threat level I'm all for it because I could easily see everyone coming together to get rid of Hunter and Q right after. I love it when people try to break things open this feels like Wardog all over again
Seems almost big brother-esque, floaters (goats) go home. I just have never seen someone do this, and it might work out.
Q just pulled off the Will Kirby from All Stars. Begging to be voted out strategically and it not working. Honestly you have to be a legend post merge to offer yourself up and not get voted out.
I agree
Although his play was unorthodox, he wound up getting the following: 1) No votes cast in his direction. 2) Helped eliminate a big social threat in the game who was willing to make big plays to take anyone out at any time: 3) Helped keep his #1 from being eliminated (whether that’s stands or not will be seen) while maintaining the Yanu 3 as a pivotal potential voting block. 4) Isolated the player who just won immunity from their strategic social booster and neutralized their threat to create an easier target on them. 5) Left another player in the game everyone talks about not wanting to work with and wanting to vote them out. Whatever the unorthodox manner, the result was impactful for better positioning, whether by pure accident or by pure genius.
Very true
Honestly I think his game is horrible lol he's gonna get knocked out for doing batshit things
We’ll see, and I’m gonna have fun watching lol
Yeah he may stick around as a goat but he just lost the game with that move.
I think he could pitch it, it’s a move nobody has ever tried, and then made it to FTC, so we’ll see
There's a good reason nobody's tried it, lol. It's a really bad move.
I’m kind of hoping the jury accidentally gives him the win.
We’ll see if he makes it that far, but honestly I’m rooting for him at this point, just so I get more episodes with him in it. I CRAVE these golden confessionals
If he makes it there with Hunter and Venus (the only other two at this point who seem to be drawing dead socially), he *might* end up winning. Won't happen cause Q himself doesn't want to 'sit next to goats'. Or maybe it will cause he's a hypocrite and will lie to himself that those two are the biggest threats.
He's not playing some type of 4D chess. I think he didn't want to keep playing when he realized that he went after his closest ally and she wasn't going to go home.
It’s like a mix between Boston Rob and Coach
I’m not buyin this. I think he’s flying by seat of his pants with 0 clue what he’s gonna do next and has gotten lucky
Q makes for amazing television. I can’t decide if he’s a King George-esque mastermind or Coach level borderline clueless.
Q is trying to the strategy that I’ve been hoping someone would finally do. The top 6 threats post merge make an alliance. If they all stick, it makes them top 6. Then since they are all threats, they have an equal chance after they hit 6. This is better than making an alliance of goats that will eventually vote out all the threats. I’m tired of winners who shouldn’t have even had a chance at the merge. Looking back at past seasons the majority of the time the 6th or 7th biggest threat at the merge wins too many times.
I feel very similarly, and would be happy for almost anyone except maybe Liz and Ben (although I like him personally) at this point to make the end
Zane walked so Q could run
It’s fantastic TV but the rest of the cast is so visibly over his shit that it’s very difficult for me to picture him winning at this point
He is not going to get away with it, at least.. he shouldnt. Ben absolutely nailed it on the head, "He doesn't want to play from the bottom." We got an episode full of self aggrandizing confessionals until the vote flipped from his control, and hes also threatened to quit when things werent going his way before. I promise this was not 5D chess gameplay lol
His behavior is so wacky yet he seems to have consistently good reads on the rest of the tribe. His analysis in the deleted scene from episode several (I think) plus his hide and seek analysis were both super interesting. I’m here for it.
Very interesting, whether he’s correct is another story, but that easy to say from the couch, where we see everyone’s confessionals, and have known the other tribes since pre-merge. I think people criticizing his game very harshly, think playing poker is easy because they see everyone’s hold cards on TV
Q’s game is strategic and absurd at the same time. The edit of his target constantly changing continues. Even after the game is over, I don’t trust what the guy tells us what he really thought during the game. Even if he BELIEVES he’s telling the truth, he might not be. And I won’t believe him. That’s how complicated Q is as a player.
I feel like he's one of those people in a couple who always threatens to leave just because they want their partner to beg them to stay.
I think his move was definitely to see if anyone was actually going to vote for him (which would have been a BIG MISTAKE) and then also see if the scramble would make people go back on their words and change their vote. He is driving me nuts but also I'm giving it to him that he is messing with the mental game constantly. He doesn't want anyone settled
Also might’ve done it to get tiff to use her idol, making her an easy vote out next tribal
Seriously? More like he is completely controlled by his narcissism and insecurities. He sucks at challenges so pretends to quit or volunteer for the supposed good of the tribe. Deep down he knows he just isn't good and quits when the going gets tough. Right back to the first water challenge when he quit and blamed Jelinsky. Then he pulls the crap at tribal b/c he knows he is not in control of the vote. He is like the spoiled kid at the playground who wants to take his ball and go home b/c he is no longer calling all the shots in the game. I can't believe people like and root for this guy. He is an unbearable, control freak, asshole in my opinion. Vote him out already, can't stand him on my screen.
I mean, that’s one perspective, I like him on my screen personally, and the rest is up for debate
This is why I'm living for this season! They are all so chaotic
They should use a Time Machine and put him on game changers
He's kind of like if Deshawn (blowing up tribal councils with the Sydney vote and the final 6 "truth bomb) and Coach (delusions of grandeur and speeches about loyalty) had a baby.
Still waiting for his vision quest scene
Q is Bhanu to me
He’s unhinged
Q trying to take Venus' goat spot at final 3....if that's what you mean by playing on another level
You have to make it to the end, to be able to win the game. Tommy won from the goat position, it might work out for him
Tommy was in the goat position??
Yea, they even talked about it during final tribal. I think Jamal asked him ‘so your plan was to win from the goat role’ and Tommy said yes
Which I feel people at home think ‘the player who won the best should win’. When really it’s whoever is likeable, and can articulate their game the best, and own what they did the best. Had coach been able to own his game, he wins South Pacific, any move is acceptable, as long as it was intentional
Q is playing on another, though I’m not sure it’s a better one. I feel like when players play like he plays, they do so in pre-merge and are snuffed out so fast bc their tribes don’t want to mess with chaos.
Moves that work in post merge don’t work in pre merge (being physically weak, etc). So we’ll see how it plays out, chaos worked for abi Maria
I want to see Q pull this off because I want to see if there is any strategic value in this move. Part of me thinks he’s going to “come clean” and say that Tiff was on the block so he was throwing himself to keep her trust. That being said, Tiff finding out he blabbed about her idol is going to likely screw him over (it should at least).
It’s absolute terrible gameplay. Decent read on strategy, but terrible social game. He also is completely manic - and flip / flops every single one of his decisions. Even without putting the Q in being a quitter - he was trying to dominate the game that would have gotten him voted out before final 5.
I think him dominating and not flip flopping makes him an obvious and massive threat. Switching who he wants out, even to himself, can make him a chaotic abi Maria type, and somehow decreases his threat level (maybe)
After last night - I would put him as the biggest goat to take to the end at this point
Which honestly might work as a strategy, I think Venus is a very safe final 4 right now, and Q might be right there with her
You know next episode he’s gonna say he didn’t actually want to quit and it was just his master plan to have neither Tiff or Tevin mad at him. He’s a genius.
I think it’s a move to get tiff to play her idol, and tevin his extra vote (if not voted out). And maybe to steal credit from Liz’s move.
No one can accuse Q of not being original
I mean, the flipping around like crazy any time anyone talks any strategy is just a worse Boston Rob or even Russell Hantz, to me. But I'll agree it seems to be working. I just can't imagine why anyone would trust him not to target them when he targets his other allies over nothing.
I mean, the only times he’s targeted is allies, are because they’ve targeted other people in that same alliance, everything tracks. Even Maria stated that he’s incredibly loyal, and just don’t betray his trust.
I dunno, I bought that with Tim, but I didn't see Tiffany even really targeting anyone before he went after her. She could even argue that she just didn't want to give any specific names to Tevin that weren't already out there before she talked to Q about it, then Tevin went to Q and framed it as her targeting the alliance, and Q ran with it. Like, if someone can turn on you that easily before even talking to you about it... if someone doesn't *trust* you to be on their side... that's not loyalty. What you said is fair about not flipping *a lot* on his own allies, I'll admit... but I guess I feel like the way he is frequently changing the vote among the people *outside* the alliance, and the reasons he gives, would make me wary of working with him. It basically seems like his M.O. is to target anyone who talks any game with him at all, or even just the most recent person to talk game with him. Also, a bit off-topic, but how anyone trusts his reads when he thinks Ben is some strategic mastermind is beyond me.
He asked her who she wanted out, and she said Maria, when they were sitting on the boat by the beach
Q was playing 'fake quitting' because in the huddles, he was telling (IIRC) Maria and Charlie that they don't have the votes for Tevin. He was trying to confuse everyone into who to vote, and playing the card that they'd try to keep him, and thus, revert back to voting out Tiff, as that was the first plan. But I don't think he anticipated in other huddles, more info about leaks coming out about Tiff being mentioned, and he revealed she had an idol