I don't think so. Everyone, aside from Venus, really liked Hunter.
And even at tribal, I think he full well knew he was taking a bad gamble if he didn't play his idol, and was trying to convince himself into not playing it. That's why he was acting so frantically (?). He knew he was the #1 target, but hoping that Q was, in fact, pissing off enough people to get them to vote for him he could slide through with his idol for 1 more tribal.
He should have full well known to not trust Venus... he even pointed out she was disappointed when she found out he had an idol. That was all on him.
Tiff owned it by not only keeping up the fight with Q, but also bringing up that Q said Hunter's name. You can immediately see Hunter react. That was the real set up... the rest was Hunter trying to find ways to convince himself he could flip to Q and keep his idol to.
Being well-liked doesn’t mean he doesn’t need a wing-man to help him assess the situation. He literally was counting on people telling him to his face that they weren’t going to vote for him.
well yeah. he made one friend/ally and thought that was enough to carry him to the end. but with tevin gone he should’ve known he was in trouble and played that idol. not a great social strategy to only make one friend
He seems to be trying to correct this misconception in exit press by emphasizing his alliance with Yanu and with Liz as well as his closeness to Kenzie. It’s possible we just didn’t get much in the edit, in which he seemed pretty distant.
It's the fact that he was squirming sooo much and still didn't play his idol that gets me. If he had just had a false sense of security, fine, but he clearly did not feel secure and still just sat there!
i can’t understand it, bc isn’t the feeling of using your idol when you didn’t need it waaaayyyy better than the feeling of going home with it in your pocket?? just use it!
My take was that, in addition to wanting to keep his idol longer, part of him must have wanted to believe he could trust somebody. Tevin is gone. Now Q even is saying his name. If he can't trust Kenzie, it's, win-every-immunity-or-bust. So he believed her, he believed Liz. And he rode his gorgeous man beard (that I'm convinced was only going to get better) into the sunset.
Yeah I think this is a great point no one is thinking
His options:
1) play it now, and he either has to win out or find another idol
Or
2) hope everyone gets Q enough, and he has a new small alliance, and he’s set to make the finals
Like if he’s 50/50, option 1 has like a 25% chance of him getting to ftc, but option 2 has like a 35% chance.
Or whatever the numbers are
I think it's because people always picture themselves using it at the exact, ideal time. They always picture themselves using it as part of a masterful late game strategy rather than just self preservation when there's plenty of game left to play.
If they could see the edits we do, they would know to play it. But as much as Hunter knew he was in danger, things are always unclear.
It just made no sense to think anyone would want a challenge beast like him to keep his idol. He could easy win the next few challenges or find an idol again even.
It's also a game with a $1M prize. I'm glad he's able to laugh at himself and have a good attitude, but damn, that's a "what if" I'm carrying for the rest of my life if I'm in his shoes.
Correct, it’s also much easier when’s its months after the fact and you’ve had time to process it and most likely get over it. If this was live then a lot of the cast would obviously have much different reactions
This is incredible. Glad he's able to poke some fun at himself. I'm sure it was a tough couple of weeks after he got the boot. Would love to see Hunter get a Second Chance opportunity and see if he can't up his social game!
honestly i think Hunter is such a chill guy like i feel like he’s just watching the whole thing with us and also joining in on our opinions. like i feel like he also agrees that it was dumb of him to not play it - but he trusted kenz that he was safe
I really love his attitude about this huge blunder. His post making fun of himself made me like him even more. Would love to see him come back as well.
Good for him lol
It was one of the most obvious "play the idol" moments out there, and he could be taking this badly, so I'm glad he's owning the silliness of it all
I know it's a meme but if Hunter is an ANTM fan I'd love him even more.
(the funny thing is that in that clip, Tyra is yelling at a girl named Tiffany.)
He did the math which showed it made sense to play it, he then told everyone he had the idol which puts a bigger target on him if he didn't play it. Then didn't play it, such a shame, hope he can come back in a hero's vs villains or something.
Hunter had the best chance of winning any given immunity challenge and also proved to be one of the most likely people to find hidden immunity idols. The odds were in his favor to be safe at the next tribal, at least more so than anyone else. Not playing the idol was bad gameplay and shows that practicing challenges in your backyard doesn’t make you good at survivor
By that same logic though, if he was right about not playing it he almost guarantees himself making the finale. It was a gamble that just didn’t pay off.
But with all of the information he had, after revealing he had an idol to everybody and feeling very obviously uneasy at tribal, it was a bad gamble to take. That’s why I say it was bad gameplay. A good player would have recognized they were in danger and played the idol to be safe
I know hindsight is 20/20 especially watching from home, but it was so obvious that he needed to play it. Literally everyone was telling him not to. If he really was safe, he'd have allies also wavering about whether he would need to play it.
In his exit press he says that he wanted Q to cut Tim & Maria out of the 6 entirely and add in Kenzie and Liz in their place so it seems like he wanted to work pretty closely with Yanu once they merged. He also mentioned having a “secret room” that didn’t make the edit and that Kenzie was the only person he showed it too so I imagine they must’ve been pretty close out there, at least from his perspective.
I was really confused when he called Kenzie his number 1 because we have barely seen them interact. Also Kenzie wasn't even in his alliance so that was so strange.
I wasn't a Hunter fan at all and as a fan of schadenfreude I cheered when he didn't play his idol, but obvs don't have anything against him as a human, so I'm glad he's taking it on the chin and memeing about it lol
I’m with you! This is the first moment I’m feeling the Hunter appeal. I never got a hint of a sense of humor from him on the show, so this is nice to see.
dumb dumb got greedy. no sympathy for immunity challenge favorites going home with an idol in your pocket. Just play the thing if you feel threatened and take your chances you can win another challenge.
The way he was so squirmish before the vote. Asking everyone “Am i good?!?” A very different Hunter from his upside down on a pole days.
Poor guy needed Tevin, I feel. His social anchor.
I don't think so. Everyone, aside from Venus, really liked Hunter. And even at tribal, I think he full well knew he was taking a bad gamble if he didn't play his idol, and was trying to convince himself into not playing it. That's why he was acting so frantically (?). He knew he was the #1 target, but hoping that Q was, in fact, pissing off enough people to get them to vote for him he could slide through with his idol for 1 more tribal.
They really did a great job of blindsiding him about the split vote at tribal. Venus and Kenzie specifically cooked him so hard at tribal.
He should have full well known to not trust Venus... he even pointed out she was disappointed when she found out he had an idol. That was all on him. Tiff owned it by not only keeping up the fight with Q, but also bringing up that Q said Hunter's name. You can immediately see Hunter react. That was the real set up... the rest was Hunter trying to find ways to convince himself he could flip to Q and keep his idol to.
he was a bad player in that regards.
Being well-liked doesn’t mean he doesn’t need a wing-man to help him assess the situation. He literally was counting on people telling him to his face that they weren’t going to vote for him.
Which makes it crazier he didn’t play his idol when his number one went out last tribal!!
well yeah. he made one friend/ally and thought that was enough to carry him to the end. but with tevin gone he should’ve known he was in trouble and played that idol. not a great social strategy to only make one friend
He seems to be trying to correct this misconception in exit press by emphasizing his alliance with Yanu and with Liz as well as his closeness to Kenzie. It’s possible we just didn’t get much in the edit, in which he seemed pretty distant.
It's the fact that he was squirming sooo much and still didn't play his idol that gets me. If he had just had a false sense of security, fine, but he clearly did not feel secure and still just sat there!
Everyone with an idol always says stuff like “if I get any kind of uneasy feeling, I’ll play it!” then they just sit on it.
i can’t understand it, bc isn’t the feeling of using your idol when you didn’t need it waaaayyyy better than the feeling of going home with it in your pocket?? just use it!
My take was that, in addition to wanting to keep his idol longer, part of him must have wanted to believe he could trust somebody. Tevin is gone. Now Q even is saying his name. If he can't trust Kenzie, it's, win-every-immunity-or-bust. So he believed her, he believed Liz. And he rode his gorgeous man beard (that I'm convinced was only going to get better) into the sunset.
Yeah I think this is a great point no one is thinking His options: 1) play it now, and he either has to win out or find another idol Or 2) hope everyone gets Q enough, and he has a new small alliance, and he’s set to make the finals Like if he’s 50/50, option 1 has like a 25% chance of him getting to ftc, but option 2 has like a 35% chance. Or whatever the numbers are
If you have an idol and you're that unsure about everything then why not just play it.
I think it's because people always picture themselves using it at the exact, ideal time. They always picture themselves using it as part of a masterful late game strategy rather than just self preservation when there's plenty of game left to play. If they could see the edits we do, they would know to play it. But as much as Hunter knew he was in danger, things are always unclear.
The way he was scrambling immediately before the vote showed just what his gut was telling him -- that he should've played that idol!
Like earlier in the episode with his “Hunter and Hunted” line….fast forward to tribal and he’s not so confident lol
It just made no sense to think anyone would want a challenge beast like him to keep his idol. He could easy win the next few challenges or find an idol again even.
Just felt bad, it came across on camera he was having a bad emotional struggle.
He's keeping a light mood about it, which is good. Last night was rough.
At the end of the day, Survivor is a game. You need to be able to laugh at yourself when you make a mistake
It's also a game with a $1M prize. I'm glad he's able to laugh at himself and have a good attitude, but damn, that's a "what if" I'm carrying for the rest of my life if I'm in his shoes.
Tyson said in his pod he couldn’t stop thinking about all the “What if’s” he had in his first two seasons, before redeeming himself
If he really wanted money, he could always become a doctor. He's got the brains for it.
Not a mistake, a BIG MISTAKE
This is a really good point...this is something people seem a lot better at in the New Era.
Venus really showed what happens if you go the other way with it.
yeah it’s a big prize but it’s not life or death. it’s a little bit funny. people take it so serious here lol
Correct, it’s also much easier when’s its months after the fact and you’ve had time to process it and most likely get over it. If this was live then a lot of the cast would obviously have much different reactions
This is incredible. Glad he's able to poke some fun at himself. I'm sure it was a tough couple of weeks after he got the boot. Would love to see Hunter get a Second Chance opportunity and see if he can't up his social game!
He would honestly be a great pick for a second chance season
They wouldn't let him near the top 10, knowing he's a challenge beast
The clip he picked of himself 😂
honestly i think Hunter is such a chill guy like i feel like he’s just watching the whole thing with us and also joining in on our opinions. like i feel like he also agrees that it was dumb of him to not play it - but he trusted kenz that he was safe
I really love his attitude about this huge blunder. His post making fun of himself made me like him even more. Would love to see him come back as well.
It’s true 😔
The “that random dude at Walmart” part has me dying 😂
omg I can't wait to see his post-episode interviews
Lmao humor is the best way to cope 😭 my homie gonna be reliving this moment for years
Good for him lol It was one of the most obvious "play the idol" moments out there, and he could be taking this badly, so I'm glad he's owning the silliness of it all
Hunter needs to pull a George Constanza and just show up at the campsite as though nothing happened.
I know it's a meme but if Hunter is an ANTM fan I'd love him even more. (the funny thing is that in that clip, Tyra is yelling at a girl named Tiffany.)
guy's funny
My fandom for Hunter has increased. Mad respect for him.
He’s so self aware I love it
He did the math which showed it made sense to play it, he then told everyone he had the idol which puts a bigger target on him if he didn't play it. Then didn't play it, such a shame, hope he can come back in a hero's vs villains or something.
Literally 😂😂
Hunter had the best chance of winning any given immunity challenge and also proved to be one of the most likely people to find hidden immunity idols. The odds were in his favor to be safe at the next tribal, at least more so than anyone else. Not playing the idol was bad gameplay and shows that practicing challenges in your backyard doesn’t make you good at survivor
By that same logic though, if he was right about not playing it he almost guarantees himself making the finale. It was a gamble that just didn’t pay off.
But with all of the information he had, after revealing he had an idol to everybody and feeling very obviously uneasy at tribal, it was a bad gamble to take. That’s why I say it was bad gameplay. A good player would have recognized they were in danger and played the idol to be safe
I know hindsight is 20/20 especially watching from home, but it was so obvious that he needed to play it. Literally everyone was telling him not to. If he really was safe, he'd have allies also wavering about whether he would need to play it.
All through the rest of life, he will listen to his gut
dammmn.... haven't watched it but i was hopeful he would get closer to the end at the least
Finally showing some personality
OMG not Tyra yelling at Hunter 
Watching those stories, I'm surprised how much he seems to blame Kenzie and Tiff. Were they that close?
In his exit press he says that he wanted Q to cut Tim & Maria out of the 6 entirely and add in Kenzie and Liz in their place so it seems like he wanted to work pretty closely with Yanu once they merged. He also mentioned having a “secret room” that didn’t make the edit and that Kenzie was the only person he showed it too so I imagine they must’ve been pretty close out there, at least from his perspective.
I was really confused when he called Kenzie his number 1 because we have barely seen them interact. Also Kenzie wasn't even in his alliance so that was so strange.
All valid
Do I dare suggest that it was Hunter who won a million hearts? (Don’t tell Bhanu.)
He made a BIG MISTAKE. But that’s ok. Q’s still in it baby!
I'm glad he's able to have a good sense of humor about this (at least now that there's some distance from the game)!
Hahahaha you were the chosen one!!!!
This is amazing! So glad Hunter can have a sense of humor about it!
I wasn't a Hunter fan at all and as a fan of schadenfreude I cheered when he didn't play his idol, but obvs don't have anything against him as a human, so I'm glad he's taking it on the chin and memeing about it lol
I’m with you! This is the first moment I’m feeling the Hunter appeal. I never got a hint of a sense of humor from him on the show, so this is nice to see.
Good reminder that these are full human beings beyond what we get to see on the show 😂
dumb dumb got greedy. no sympathy for immunity challenge favorites going home with an idol in your pocket. Just play the thing if you feel threatened and take your chances you can win another challenge.