S46 Ep. 4: "Don't Touch the Oven"

[Lady Lucy]

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Having been raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools and Catholic college, I can't recall any scenes or teachings from the Bible where God intervenes to make people rich.

Welcome to the Gospel of Prosperity. Or how to dupe your congregants into making you super rich while they wait for God to intervene and make them rich too. 

[peachmangosteen]

6 hours ago, fishcakes said:

They started letting them have more clothes about four or five seasons ago. The show got some bad press about forcing the players to live in one pair of underwear for the entire season, which resulted in several players ending up with UTIs, some so severe that a couple of them had to be hospitalized.

One good thing they've done.

[leocadia]

On 3/22/2024 at 8:46 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

It's also possible that Bhanu is just delusional/ACTING/had no such people in mind and just thought that he would be a pioneer in playing the game honestly.

Even if you ignore his potentially exaggerated backstory ("I was abandoned by my maternal father - what now?) Bhanu wasn't even honest in the game.  He came back from his "journey" and told his tribe mates he drew the white rock and just returned to camp instead of the truth that he failed on his attempt at the puzzle.  I know he eventually told the truth to Q but I took that as a bad read on his part rather than unscrupulous honesty.  It's not that he's too honest to lie, he just can't read who he should lie to and when he should lie.  

[Meowwww]

Bhanu comes cross as a simpleton.  How did he make it as far as being chosen?   Producer shenanigans 

[SVNBob]

2 hours ago, Meowwww said:

Bhanu comes cross as a simpleton.  How did he make it as far as being chosen?   Producer shenanigans 

As if the producers didn't have anything to do with casting in the first place.

Bhanu was chosen because they thought he'd be an interesting person/player... same as the other 17 members of this cast.  No shenanigans.

[Nashville]

On 3/22/2024 at 11:40 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

I can't pretend to truly know what conception of God Bhanu might have.

Don’t ask me why, but for some odd reason I get the feeling tapioca is involved…

[SummerDreams]

It just comes back to the 3 tribes of 6 people. Each tribe creates an early strategy from the start, 3-4 people get together, they say "hey we 3-4 can work together, that's it, no more strategy talking", if they lose they vote out the 2 left out and there is no more strategy talk or relationship building.

While if you have 2 tribes of 9, there are many things that can happen with 9 people. Many sub-teams can be created, many strategy talks, many likes and dislikes.

It's just math and with 3 tribes of 6, math ain't mathing.

So you need big characters to create drama. That's why we got that much Bhanu.

Edited March 24 by SummerDreams

[SnapHappy]

2 hours ago, SummerDreams said:

So you need big characters to create drama. That's why we got that much Bhanu.

Exactly.  All of the cast are filmed for hours & hours, asked dozens of questions and have many talking heads. 

Bhanu was just allocated a LOT of screen time by the editors so they could ramp up the drama quotient. 

They do that every season.  We know they craft the "story" ahead of time and slot in the appropriate footage as they go along, to support it.  

Now that he's gone, a couple of others we've barely seen will get their 15 minutes.  

[blackwing]

I don't expect how he still believes he is an inspiration and how he can win a million hearts after he was screaming at God for ending his Survivor journey.  So disgusting.  Reminded me so much of Mark from Bopper and Mark on Amazing Race, the Kentucky coal miners who constantly kept reminding everyone how poor they were.  When Mark got eliminated on his second attempt, he said "I guess God doesn't want me to win a million dollars".  Yep.

Good riddance to Bhanu.  I hope he never gets the chance to   reappear again.  Unfortunately, Jeffy seemed to love him.  If the reunion includes all contestants and not just the jury as in recent seasons, no doubt Jeffy will spend lots of time on him at the reunion, which is unheard of for people in the back row.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if Bhanu gets Sia money.

[seacliffsal]

The first few times they had three teams (Worlds Apart?), I really enjoyed it as I felt that I got to know names and people faster.  But now, even with three teams, I don't really know who anyone is aside from the big 'drama' personalities upon which they focus.  And it's becoming more apparent to me, that the contestants that the producers love and feature are not necessarily those that I love and want to see give countless confessionals.  It was clear that Bhanu expected others to play the game for him and help him make it to the end, whereas that is not the type of contestant I like.  I like those who are willing to strategize and then change their strategy/social game when needed.  NOT someone who begs, pleads, and cries in order to manipulate others into helping them.

[ljenkins782]

On 3/21/2024 at 8:53 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

I was holding out some level of hope that Bhanu might either a) be faking being as pathetic as he apparently is or b) might have an Emily-from-last-season renaissance and go from one of the most annoying castaways IMO to one I was rooting for and might hope to see in a second appearance. But nope. He was who we thought he was. (h/t Denny Green).

Or is he? Could this all been an act? If so, seems unlikely to achieve any goal for Bhanu. His 15 minutes of fame are up. I tend to doubt that he will be able to parlay this into another Survivor or reality show appearance.

 

Same, up until he left, I was trying to work out if this was some kind of long con. But it just didn't add up, with the tribe's decimation, he was walking the razor's edge. In a healthier tribe, he could actually have gone deep with Q herding him.

That being said, the dynamic with Q made me slightly uncomfortable only because Q was not hiding the fact that he was goat herding. It's one thing to identify a goat and pull them in through whatever means will work on that particular person, but him saying right to his face "hey, you're a mess like Phillip Shepard, but I'm going to do what Boston Rob did and bring you along with me" was uncomfortable to me.

I did appreciate Tiffany not bullshitting him in the last moments. She wasn't mean about it, but putting a stop to his histrionics and just saying yeah, I am voting you, I'm sorry was really the best way to handle it.

I couldn't believe my ears when he wanted to know why. Ummmm, every single thing you've done since you got here? That's why.

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It's now two seasons in a row where one tribe is noticeably weaker than the other two. They simply are going to have to realign the tribes next episode, won't they?

From the show running perspective, what is the advantage to 3 tribes? Every season it results in one tribe that we barely get to see outside of challenges because they're always winning and never have to make decisions. And for the past 2 seasons, it's a complete decimation of a single tribe. It was vaguely interesting the first time it came down to just 1 person (Ulong) or 2 people who wound up having a significant impact later (Malcolm/Denise), but it's becoming lather, rinse, repeat.

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I think creating the fake idol to Jess was pure Mean Girls-ery. They could have sweet-talked her into thinking that the vote was Bhanu, for instance, and stopped her from using the shot in the dark that way. And even if she played it, that's like a 17 percent chance it succeeds. Not enough justification to go to those elaborate lengths. They just wanted to pat themselves on the back for being so clever as to outwit someone who would believe that at this stage of the game he would give up a bonifide idol to save someone he wasn't particularly close to. 

We will see where Jem goes with trying to create the suspicion that the idol is still out there. But there are a couple possible directions. She could throw suspicion on a particular tribemate that that person has the idol and thus needs to be blindsided. She could reveal to someone she wants to get closer to that in fact she has the beware advantage and laid out this trap (a strategy that could in fact backfire). 

Yeah, the fake idol for Jess was absolutely unnecessary. Even if she plays her shot in the dark, they have Bhanu as a secondary option. It's not like Jess being safe meant one of those 3 would go.

Jem's plan seems like a massive backfire in the making. In the event that she ever has to use this idol (assuming she even gets it), won't these people be like wait a sec, all those group idol hunts and wild goose chases, that was you. It's not the kind of thing that people will appreciate and applaud the gameplay, it's going to feel personal and make her seem untrustworthy. 

Had it been found by a single person who wasn't going to tell anyone else, that would be one thing. But this tribe had already committed to searching as a group and treating it as a group idol. And with that kind of commitment to being a united group, they are more likely talk amongst themselves and compare notes, she might get discovered even before using the idol.

This was a really lame episode overall. The montage of Moriah's jumping lessons were pure filler, especially since this challenge didn't end up involving jumping per se, a person could just step off that block and fall into the water. I was hoping for one of those jump and grab a key challenges, that would have been entertaining.

[iMonrey]

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I wouldn't be at all surprised if Bhanu gets Sia money.

Surely Sia isn't that stupid. Jeff might have really pushed for this to be all about Bhanu's journey or story or whatever but clearly we aren't buying into it. This is what I mean when I say the show is now too far up its own ass. They've convinced themselves players like Bhanu are what the show should focus on. How many times has Probst claimed this show is a "social experiment?" It's not really a game anymore and they don't care. 

But Bhanu wasn't "endearing" like Tai or a fan fave like Jesse or Carolyn. He was pathetic and I would hope most of the audience saw him as such. Including Sia.

[ljenkins782]

25 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Surely Sia isn't that stupid. Jeff might have really pushed for this to be all about Bhanu's journey or story or whatever but clearly we aren't buying into it. This is what I mean when I say the show is now too far up its own ass. They've convinced themselves players like Bhanu are what the show should focus on. How many times has Probst claimed this show is a "social experiment?" It's not really a game anymore and they don't care. 

But Bhanu wasn't "endearing" like Tai or a fan fave like Jesse or Carolyn. He was pathetic and I would hope most of the audience saw him as such. Including Sia.

Plus, he's only the 4th person to go, there's a lot of show yet. He could well be a footnote by the end.

My fear is that the season is a huge dud and that's why they chose to focus so much attention on someone who goes out so early. Even the supposed intel he gave at the journey isn't worth all that much, so I doubt that was a setup for Bhanu's behavior affecting the future game. Kenzie is running the show? The dysfunctional, ever-dwindling show that is the purple tribe? Okay. I guess outing her as a strategic player is some info, but she doesn't exactly hide it either, I'm sure they'd figure it out quickly after the merge when she attempts to make alliances all over the place. Tiffany and Q are close? Well again, it's a tribe with next to nobody left, it's hardly revealing tribal dynamics with so few people.

The show is definitely too far up its own ass. Can they please quit it with the treacly music played over the contestant's backstory montages? Without the music, it would just be a little insight into the individuals, which I don't mind (especially those we don't get to see because they're not on the pathetic loser tribe), but the music makes it so self-important and after school special-y. 

[eel2178]

4 hours ago, blackwing said:

Good riddance to Bhanu.  I hope he never gets the chance to   reappear again.  Unfortunately, Jeffy seemed to love him.  If the reunion includes all contestants and not just the jury as in recent seasons, no doubt Jeffy will spend lots of time on him at the reunion, which is unheard of for people in the back row.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if Bhanu gets Sia money.

I'm going to try to remain optimistic and think that there is still so much time left in the game that it will give someone else (or plural) enough time to show what Survivor really wants in a player. Hopefully, Jeff's and the other producers' memories are short enough that they will have forgotten all about Bhanu by the time we get to the final tribal counsel (sarcasm, not a typo).

[Lantern7]

Erik's cartoon for this week. I honestly forgot about this scene.

[Heathrowe]

That was terrible. And particularly terrible because everything Bhanu said and did seemed so false and fake. And if it’s not, and that’s really his cringing, whining personality under pressure…honestly one of the least attractive personalities I’ve ever seen on this show.

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 3/23/2024 at 9:29 PM, leocadia said:

Even if you ignore his potentially exaggerated backstory ("I was abandoned by my maternal father - what now?) Bhanu wasn't even honest in the game.  He came back from his "journey" and told his tribe mates he drew the white rock and just returned to camp instead of the truth that he failed on his attempt at the puzzle.  I know he eventually told the truth to Q but I took that as a bad read on his part rather than unscrupulous honesty.  It's not that he's too honest to lie, he just can't read who he should lie to and when he should lie.  

True, Bhanu lied to his tribemates there and there are probably other falsehoods he told either castmates or in his interviews or in things that are left on the cutting room floor. The "I'm not an actor," for instance,. but he has an IMDB page with acting credits doesn't strike me as truthful.

So again there are at least a few possibilities:

Bhanu could be faking much of his backstory and personality and reactions, including the "I'm honest" part. (But if that's the case, to what end? And why keep it up in interviews after the game is over? Is he that committed to the bit, even after getting seemingly all he could?)

Bhanu could recognize that even though honesty is the best policy, some lying is probably called for as part of Survivor (and real life)  in certain situations. Telling people openly "I have no vote" is an invitation to vote someone off since they can't use their Shot In The Dark to save themselves, and they are unlikely to rally troops to their side. He could rationalize other lies he told in similar ways (I WAS an actor, I'm not now; or even though I make money through acting, the person I am here on Survivor is authentically me.")

Or Bhanu could think lying is always wrong but was driven to it by the Dark Side and immediately regretted it so confessed the truth to Q.

[iMonrey]

3 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Bhanu could be faking much of his backstory and personality and reactions, including the "I'm honest" part. (But if that's the case, to what end? And why keep it up in interviews after the game is over? Is he that committed to the bit, even after getting seemingly all he could?)

He wants to be invited back. Again and again.

[Rodney]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

He wants to be invited back. Again and again.

If he comes back, then hopefully, he'll have learned something and plays a lot better than he did this time.

Edited March 27 by Rodney

[Chicago Redshirt]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

He wants to be invited back. Again and again.

I don't know how much TPTB care about or measure fan reaction, but if this board is at all typical of what the greater Survivor fanbase thinks or how it thinks, I can't see an invite back to Survivor happening. 

He was pretty awful at game play. He wasn't endearing or entertaining IMO. He didn't last very long. If he was faking, there might be some entertainment value in him being like "Psyche!" and playing a whole different game. But if he is really how he presented himself, he probably needs some therapy or more to deal with those mood swings. 

Other than people who got cut for medical reasons, has Survivor ever brought back someone voted out this far before the merge? Not counting people who had done well in a previous season, came back for an All-Star season and then didn't get far.

I have had the idea of a No-Star/Second Chance Season where the entire cast was people who were booted 1st through 3rd, but a) that may be a crazy idea, and b) I don't know if that happened that Bhanu would do much better. 

[Nashville]

3 hours ago, Rodney said:

If he comes back, then hopefully, he'll have learned something and plays a lot better than he did time.

Your optimism is SO refreshing….  😁

[seacliffsal]

8 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

 

Other than people who got cut for medical reasons, has Survivor ever brought back someone voted out this far before the merge? Not counting people who had done well in a previous season, came back for an All-Star season and then didn't get far.

I have had the idea of a No-Star/Second Chance Season where the entire cast was people who were booted 1st through 3rd, but a) that may be a crazy idea, and b) I don't know if that happened that Bhanu would do much better. 

Francesca who then had the distinction of being voted out first in two different seasons.

Love the idea about no chance second chance.  Could people change up their games and last longer?

[Rodney]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Other than people who got cut for medical reasons, has Survivor ever brought back someone voted out this far before the merge? Not counting people who had done well in a previous season, came back for an All-Star season and then didn't get far.

I have had the idea of a No-Star/Second Chance Season where the entire cast was people who were booted 1st through 3rd, but a) that may be a crazy idea, and b) I don't know if that happened that Bhanu would do much better. 

Kelley Wentworth from San Juan Del Sur was the fifth boot, well before the merge, but came back to play an impressive game in Cambodia/Second Chances.  Before her, Brad Culpepper got voted out very early in Blood vs. Water, yet still was brought back for Game Changers.  So yeah, really early pre-merge boots have come back before.