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Storyline 05/16/2024 THE FINAL FIVE CASTAWAYS COMPETE FOR THE TITLE OF SOLE SURVIVOR, ON THE TWO-HOUR SEASON FINALE OF “SURVIVOR,” FOLLOWED BY THE ONE-HOUR AFTER SHOW HOSTED BY JEFF PROBST, WEDNESDAY, MAY 22
“Friends Going to War” – The remaining five castaways must overcome multiple obstacles to guarantee they cannot be voted out of this game in the penultimate immunity challenge. With the final immunity of the season comes the power to choose who will have to earn their way to the final three. Then, one castaway will be crowned Sole Survivor on the two-hour season finale, followed by the After Show hosted by Jeff Probst, on SURVIVOR, Wednesday, May 22 (8:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on-demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on-demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Jeff Probst serves as host and executive producer.
The million-dollar prize may be the lure, but it's the "Survivor" experience that's the real prize! Jeff, Jay and Dee consider how the island brings people (who likely wouldn’t have met otherwise) together, even while they’re betraying one another.
As we head into the final days, Dee shares how letters from loved ones give players an emotional push to make it to the end. Jeff explains how the art and challenge departments handle creating new puzzles and retiring old ones, and how they prepare for the very real possibility that “Survivor” hopefuls have practiced with replica puzzles.
After another castaway gets sent packing with an idol in their pocket, Jeff answers a listener’s question about how long the players get to strategize when the tides turn last minute at Tribal Council.
Survivor 46 just hit the 23-day mark with this week’s penultimate episode. Which means there are only three more days to go in next week’s season finale on CBS. The number of days per season has been a controversial topic — especially among players from older seasons who endured a longer game – ever since the franchise went down from 39 days a season to only 26, beginning with Survivor 41 back in 2021. Host Jeff Probst addressed complaints about the shorter seasons on the latest episode of the On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast.
The topic came up when cohost Jay Wolff referenced some of the people this season, like Liz Wilcox and Ben Katzman, struggling physically out in the elements, leading him to ask Probst if it reinforced that 26 days is difficult enough.
“Let's just address the 39-day thing,” Probst responded on the podcast. “Because there's usually two points of contention when it comes to 39 days, and I'll address both of them.”
As for the first one, Probst noted that “Fans that simply don't want the game to change. They want Survivor to stay the same. I totally understand their point of view. In their mind, Survivor is 39 days…. So they think that with the exception of Covid, which I'm sure we get a pass for, that we should have and still could go back to 39 days…. The second part is the difficulty. Twenty-six days simply can't be punishing enough because it's 13 fewer days. ‘So do the math, Probst! The new era version of Survivor is clearly easier!’”
The host then addressed both complaints by explaining the decision-making involved. “How we landed at 26 days to begin with was Covid…. The requirements of starting with a 14-day quarantine and then doing two 39-day seasons back-to-back and not being able to ever leave the island for anything once we started — we just couldn't do it. So we had to get creative. We landed at 26 days.”
When they landed on that, Probst said he got pushback, and not from the fans. “There were people in my inner circle saying, ‘You are going to destroy the franchise because you won't have enough good story content if you reduce your shoot by a third.’ Meaning you need time for players like to have camp life and do challenges and go to Tribal and be interviewed. And there was a concern that shaving off a third would reduce too much of the time and leave you with episodes that weren't very interesting.’ We considered everyone's opinion; we felt it would still work.”
Probst then addressed the second complaint, which has been especially loud from older season players. “As for the difficulty, I think it's pretty clear even just from this season, if anything, the new era — brace yourself, old time players — is more difficult.”
That sound you currently hear is pre-season 40 players screaming into the void… or their social media accounts. Why does Probst say the new, shorter seasons are tougher? “Because the physical demands of surviving with very, very little — or for some players no food — is extremely punishing and it begins to break you down mentally. You can't think, you can't sleep, you can't trust. That leads to the emotional breakdown, which can brutal.”
The host ends that section of the discussion by once again answering the query so many (including us here at Entertainment Weekly) have already asked him so many times before. “The looming question is, 'Would you ever go back to 39 days?' We'll never say never. And I mean that we're always open to where the game takes us as much as where we take the game, but for the time being, 26 days is the game. And I get it: If somebody else were sitting in this seat, they might make a very different decision. Even people on our own team, I think there's some of them that kind of wish we were at 39 days. So it's not a right or wrong, it's just, this is what we're doing.”
And will continue to do for the foreseeable future.
To hear more from the host and showrunner about the latest episode, check out On Fire with Jeff Probst.
Many a Survivor contestant has played a strong, well-rounded game to get all the way to the end… and then failed to stick the landing when faced up against the jury. But enough about Amanda Kimmel, let’s talk about the Survivor 46 final five!
Maria Shime Gonzalez, Charlie Davis, Liz Wilcox, Ben Katzman, and Kenzie Petty have made it all the way to the finale of Survivor 46. Huzzah! But who will seal the deal to walk away with the $1 million prize? That’s not entirely up to them. That’s because the Survivor 46 jury will have the ultimate say on whom will become an instant millionaire during the May 22 finale on CBS. So how do Maria, Charlie, Liz, Ben, and Kenzie plan to approach the jury? We asked them — along with the entire cast — exactly that out in Fiji before the game began, and you can see the answers from all 18 contestants in the video below.
We realize 13 of the answers are relatively moot, but are you seriously going to sit there and tell us you aren’t a wee bit curious as to how our main man Jelinsky planned to address the jury? Or a tad inquisitive as to what exactly Bhanu’s plan was to win a million hearts… or, in this case, at least five? Those answers can be found in the video below, along with the entire cast. And we also transcribed the final five’s responses for you below the video because, hey, they earned it.
I think that my approach in this game would also be my approach to the jury, which is help them understand how well I got to know them. Because part of my strategy is really using my parenting coaching experience to connect with people and to be vulnerable and to build trust and to let them know that “I know your kids' names, I know where you're from,” and to really connect in that way. And also to obviously defend the game that I have and not lie about it — own up to my moves and be really proud of the fact that, “Yeah, I was part of that blindside and I'm sorry it was you, but you have to respect a good game.”
I think the most difficult aspect of managing the jury is owning your game without pissing anyone off — without disrespecting people. And so you've got to sort of walk the line of stroking the jury's egos while also taking credit for what you did. Hopefully being in the final three, I've been responsible for a lot of the people who are sitting on the jury who have to vote for me, so I'd want to take credit for that, but in a way that doesn't make someone angry or feel like they were written out of the story or anything like that.
Or at least be able to deflect some of the heat with humor. Make a joke when you're talking about how you voted someone out. Get someone to laugh. Hopefully make fun of yourself a little bit. Stay humble, adapt to whatever the jury thinks of you. I think that's also key, is you've got to figure out how they perceive you and lean into that and form a story. You've got to be able to tell a story of how you got there and make it make sense to them.
In this game, everyone always says information is currency. It's like, okay, well I can have all the information in the game, but if I don't have any insight into what that information means, then I'm gone. I'm going to leave penniless. So as far as the jury making it to the final three, I'm not just going to spew information at them. I'm going to share my game in relation to the insight I have to them.
So somebody might really, really like the social aspect. That's information I have that gives me insight into who they are and how I need to speak to them. And so leading up to final Tribal Council, I want to get to know everyone so I have not just the information: “Oh, that's Dalton. He wears a backwards cap and his kids do cross country.” What does that mean about his Saturday mornings? How many kids? Which one's his favorite? I won't tell, but I'll sure use that as insight to craft my argument for each individual person. And I feel like the person that does that the best always wins.
“Congratulations, jury. I have fooled you all. Y'all thought I was some one-trick pony cartoon character full of catchphrases, but instead, I was out here making connections, chilling hard, getting to know y'all, and then guess what? You're there. I'm here. What's up?”
I want to own my game and I don't want to apologize. So if I hurt someone's feelings, I'm going to own that. And in my life, generally, I am a very people-pleasing kind of person, but here, it's a different game. This isn't my everyday life, and I'm excited to give it all I got for a million dollars. This is a selfish venture for me. This is my time to do whatever I need to do to get to the end. And I'm not going to apologize for that. I'm sorry, I'm not. At the end of the day, I hurt your feelings and it is what it is. I'm here, you're there. I'm going to own that completely, fully.
To see how the rest of the cast would have handled the jury had they made it that far, watch the video at the top of the post. And keep your eyes peeled for many more exclusive Survivor goodies leading up to the finale Wednesday, May 22 on CBS.
They came. They saw. They lost. For Soda Thompson, Tevin Davis, Hunter McKnight, Tiffany Nicole Ervin, Venus Vafa, and Q Burdette, dreams of million-dollar glory went by the wayside when they were blindsided right out of Survivor 46.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that they are still very much part of that game. That six-pack — along with two more still set to join them — will comprise the jury that will ultimately decide the winner of Survivor 46 at the conclusion of the Wednesday, May 22, finale on CBS.
They will no doubt have some incisive and insightful questions to throw at the final three before they make their decision and crown the newest Sole Survivor, but before they do that, we figured we would turn the tables on them with some questions of our own. Questions like: Which person voted out pre-jury do you wish had been with you all at Ponderosa? Who among the jury played the best game, and why? And other questions as well! So sit back, relax, and enjoy this exclusive pre-finale chat with the first four members of the jury. (Unfortunately, Q was apparently either busy playing an intense game of hide-and-seek or simply opted not to take part, to which we can only say… BIG MISTAKE!)
Note: Venus' answers were originally omitted. Article was updated later to add Venus' answers.
TIFFANY NICOLE ERVIN: The obvious answer to this would be the amazing food or being able to shower again, but my REAL answer is finally getting to speak to people and finding out who they really are. It's one thing to get to know someone in the game, but it felt completely different getting to know those same people in an environment where we aren't fighting each other for money, LOL. We tie-dyed shirts and ate breakfast together almost every morning. It felt like an adult summer camp… once you get over the fact that you just lost a million dollars, of course.
TEVIN DAVIS: When I first got to Ponderosa, the Fijian staff immediately connected to me, and they even made me a floral crown and called me the King of Ponderosa. We talked, and laughed, I got to sing to them, and honestly they really touched my heart in such a beautiful way. I love and miss them immensely, and I will never forget how amazing they made me feel. Though I was thousands of miles away, I was most certainly at home.
HUNTER McKNIGHT: As much as I like to be active and have something to accomplish, it was nice to be trapped in paradise without having to worry about anything! No phone, no job, no to-do list. (Don't think I could handle that for too long, but it was nice for a few days!) Plus, the staff was amazing, and the food was great. And there were cool trees to climb.
SODA THOMPSON: Having everything you could ever want or need (except your family)!
Which person voted out pre-jury do you wish had been with you all at Ponderosa?
TIFFANY NICOLE ERVIN: Definitely Tim. I know we would have had so much fun together at Pondy. It wasn't shown much in the episodes, but Tim is super-funny. We didn't get to spend that much time together post-merge, but Tim's got jokes, and he reminds me a lot of my friends back home.
TEVIN DAVIS: I really wish Tim had been there because I was so ready to cut up with that man. I just know we would have had a good time and been laughing from sunup to sundown.
HUNTER McKNIGHT: Even though I never interacted with her in the game, I’d probably say Jem. She's a lot of fun. Plus, she got voted out with an idol, so we would get to trauma-bond over that.
If you had to live at Ponderosa permanently with one of your fellow jurors, who would it be and why?
TIFFANY NICOLE ERVIN: I had so much fun at Pondy getting to know everyone, but I'd choose Hunter, because we got to bond a little more since we were the first two voted out with idols back-to-back. It makes the sting easier to handle when you have someone to laugh with about your mistakes. Plus, I don't feel like I'd have to argue over what to watch on TV, like ever… Nine times out of 10, Hunter and I were aligned on what to watch.
TEVIN DAVIS: I would certainly stay at Ponderosa with Soda because we were able to celebrate each other and take full advantage of this amazing place. We sang, we danced, we relaxed, we swam, we indulged in some TV, and sometimes we just existed. We flowed from vibe to vibe, and never a dull moment did we see.
HUNTER McKNIGHT: This one's tough. I had a good time with a lot of them. Video games with Tevin and Q, playing Scrabble with Soda and Venus, watching cartoons and eating pancakes every morning with Venus and Tiffany. But if I had to choose one person, it would have to be Tiffany. We really got to idol trauma-bond and she had a Nintendo Switch that I wanted to play, but she never let me. I think with enough time she would have caught the drift and given in.
SODA THOMPSON: I'm not sure! I enjoyed spending time with everyone.
TIFFANY NICOLE ERVIN: This is a tough one. I think everyone on the jury is there because they were playing pretty well and were perceived as a threat at some point or another. Tevin and Soda had great social games, and I think Venus always had a good strategic read on things. But if I had to choose, I'd probably say Hunter, because he almost singlehandedly won all the team immunity challenges and won individual immunity as well. Challenge beast is an understatement. Also, I think he had great relationships with a lot of people on the island, so he was probably the most well-rounded player.
TEVIN DAVIS: I think that Q played the best game because he unabashedly took the reins of the game and made people follow him. I also appreciate how he took back control of an uncontrollable situation. Whether you believe Q intended to capitalize off of his smoke-screen madness, the chaos he caused shielded him from being voted out, and I believe at some point after my vote he recognized that and played into it for his gain.
HUNTER McKNIGHT: Objectively, I think Tiffany was playing the best game. Tevin and Soda had a great social games, but everyone saw it — which is actually bad on their gameplay. Venus was playing hard but just couldn't seem to get a footing to really take off. Tiffany was doing the best job of managing threat level — other than the idol and the fact that people wanted to vote out their number-ones, which is still mind-boggling to me.
SODA THOMPSON: Tiffany, she was strong and smart!
VENUS VAFA: None of us, that's why we're on the jury and not in the game.
The penultimate episode of Survivor 46 ended with the dramatic breakup of the season’s biggest power duo in Charlie Davis and Maria Shrime Gonzalez. Both were gunning for each other, and, in the end, Maria was exposed after her blindside attempt on her biggest ally came up short and Q Burdette was instead voted out of the game. It was a dramatic conclusion to a fascinating arc of island BFFs both trying to separate at the same time. And when the three-hour Survivor 46 finale and after-show begins Wednesday, May 22 on CBS, that is exactly where things pick up.
“The finale starts in the aftermath of Maria’s attempted blindside of Charlie,” host and showrunner Jeff Probst tells Entertainment Weekly in an exclusive pre-finale interview. “How do you recover when your plan fails? They have been loyal alliance members for most of the game, but have become each other’s number one target. But with three other players still in the game, there are many ways this could play out.”
That is true in that the end result seems relatively wide open. While Charlie and Maria have been the big power players all season — controlling the vote while also winning the majority of challenges — they are up against the powerful social games of Kenzie Petty and Ben Katzman, likable players who have made strong bonds with the jury members who ultimately hold the keys to the million-dollar prize. And jurors could also respect the culinary and digestive difficulties Liz Wilcox endured throughout her time on the island and choose to reward her for having overcome more than anyone else in the game, including a disturbing lack of Applebee’s.
That means the difficulty for the final five is not just getting to the end, but figuring out whom they want to sit next to (and hopefully beat) when they get there. “This sets up a finale where every player will be assessing and reassessing their options and working overtime to manage their alliances,” says Probst.
Of course, the closer we get to day 26, the bigger the stakes become, and — as we saw last season — the bigger stakes will lead to bigger intensity. “There will definitely be some emotion in the finale,” teases the host. “It’s inevitable. There are five players left and only three spots in the finale.”
And while this has been a fivesome that has generally gotten along quite well over the first 23 days, the players will be in take-no-prisoners mode from here on out as the fight to become the newest Sole Survivor kicks into overdrive. “It will be a battle just to get to the end,” says Probst. “Which means there is more Survivor blood to spill.”
They can spill all the blood they want, but in the end, the decision will come from the jury — six members of which are already there, with two more to come. So what kind of questions and comments can we expect from the folks that will hold all the power at final Tribal Council? “In regards to the jury, I anticipate most members will come into the final Tribal Council undecided,” says Probst. “This seems to be a hallmark of the juries in the new era Survivor. They come in open-minded and they are rarely influenced by group think. The criteria for picking a winner can be as individual as the jury member making the decision.”
And only one individual will ultimately be crowned champion of Survivor 46.
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