“Survivor 46” recap: A new villain is born and immunity idols are officially cursed

The final "several" organize yet another blindside.

"The worst thing would be if I went home with an idol in my pocket." Venus was talking about Tiffany when she said that, but she ultimately manifested her own demise on Survivor 46 — and she has no one to blame but herself.

We have now seen three players in a row get voted out with an idol burning a hole in their pocket this season, and you'd think after the first time with Hunter, anyone with an idol would be even more wary of getting bamboozled by the Q smokescreen. But then Tiff fell for it immediately after, and now Venus makes three. We officially have a trend!

Charlie says in this week's episode, "An idol at this point in the game changes everything," but the only thing it's doing this season is painting a giant target on whoever has it, all while Q is used as a pawn to hide a big move. Either Q is the luckiest player alive to be in this position after all the chaos and drama he's caused, or he's become a curse on everyone left in the game (or maybe idols are the real curse?). At this point, I'll be shocked if he doesn't get dragged all the way to the end despite how many people want him gone, because there seems to be no limit on how many times he can be used to hide a blindside.

And if you haven't realized by now, this is not your usual Survivor correspondent. I'm Sydney Bucksbaum, and I'm so excited to have the honor of filling in for Dalton Ross this week while he's taking a well-earned vacation. Here's hoping he's enjoying something better than 23 slices of sandy Fijian pizza on his travels.

What else went down in episode 11 of Survivor 46? Let's get into it!

The final several

Back at camp after Tiff's exit, Kenzie is spiraling over her first time being left out of a vote, and because someone else is getting the credit for her idea. Charlie immediately piles all the blame on Maria, who is feeling positively giddy off her successful move. She's throwing out final five deals, she can't stop smiling, and she's ready to blindside someone again. Maria's getting a little too confident here — yes, she drove a big vote and eliminated an idol, but there's still a lot of game left to play. She needs to chill.

And somehow, Venus is now the calm voice of reason? Who saw this coming?! She's talking Kenzie down from her freak out, explaining how Maria just became target No. 1 while they don't have any blood on their hands from Tiff's vote out. This is the most rational we've ever seen Venus, and I'm loving it. If Venus can harness this newfound zen clarity, could she actually come from behind to mastermind some real moves (rather than just thinking she has)? It's nearly impossible, since her own ego will probably get in her way, but hey, wilder things have happened on this show.

Related: Survivor host Jeff Probst says season 50 will be all returning players

The next morning, idol fever hits the beach. Everyone — except for Liz, who is busy sleeping (and probably dreaming of Applebee's) — searches for Tiff's unused idol (what about Hunter's?), but Venus, of course, brags that she knows the island better than anyone so she'll be the one to find it.

But you know what? She was right this time! She finds the idol, and I actually screamed when she pulled it out. Her wide-eyed shock was a beautiful thing to behold, because an agent of chaos getting power at this stage of the game in an already extremely unpredictable season means we're in for some great TV. There's no one else I wanted to find it more than Venus, because there's no telling how she's going to use this.

The fact that Venus immediately stopped what was going to be what I'm sure is an extremely un-self-aware celebration to realize that she needed to keep acting as if she hadn't found it proves that her new strategic mindset wasn't just a one-time fluke. She's somehow getting laser-focused at the right time in this game. She promises that no one is going to find out about her idol, and no one will ever suspect her because her "searching" skills are hilariously lackluster (Kenzie laughing about her not even searching was just, chef's kiss). And Venus has a new ally in Kenzie, who realizes that Venus, a.k.a. her "messy, sweet little friend," is the only person who hasn't lied to her in the game. This is the duo I never expected but now I need them to team up and take everyone else down. They're on the bottom, but as Venus tells Kenzie, that could actually work in their favor if they get everyone to realize how much of a threat Maria is.

That won't be hard, because the other players aren't blind. Charlie sees just how much Maria is able to rely on Q for votes, and he's ready to break up that new pair — even though that means turning on his No. 1 ally. Because as we're constantly being told, turning on your No. 1 ally is the way to win in the New Era. Liz is also ready to vote out Maria, since she's not thrilled about being told about the Tiff vote right before Tribal (if there's one thing we know about Liz, aside from her love of Applebee's, it's that she hates being told what to do). This is a lot of pre-challenge strategizing! If Maria wins, this will all be for nothing.

Villain origin story

It's almost as if I can see the future. After a real nail-biter of a challenge, where, shockingly, it looked like Venus' to lose (seriously, what has gotten into this girl all of a sudden?!), Maria pulled out her second individual immunity win, and all that plotting against her goes right in the trash. I'm disappointed because I was ready to see a Siga blindside, but I guess we'll just have to wait a little longer. You know it's coming — Charlie is not letting Maria get to the final three. That ruins his entire plan of putting all the bad blood on her while still helping to drive all the votes. But for now, she's safe.

Since the challenge also comes with a reward for pizza (including a gluten-free option that Liz can eat), Maria chooses Ben to join her because she says she's picking the people who need food the most. But when Charlie and Kenzie take themselves out of the running for the second pick, Maria then makes Liz, Q, and Venus make the case for why they should be picked. Maria thinks for a long time, and the silent pause is extremely awkward. Even Jeff points out that in 46 seasons, it's never taken this long for someone to make their decision.

But wait, it gets even worse! Instead of just making the obvious choice that everyone expects (i.e. Liz, who once again begs for it) Maria makes Liz and Q play rock, paper, scissors. Liz then begs Q to pick rock, but of course he doesn't let her get a food reward. He beats her, so now Q joins Maria and Ben for the pizza reward, and I am absolutely floored by Maria's behavior. I mean, the audacity. The cruelty! We really just saw power go to someone's head in the most visceral, immediate way. She made a public announcement that she's picking the people who are the most starving, but then she made Liz, who won't stop talking about how starving she is, play a game for it with Q, the man who literally just ate an Applebee's feast a day ago. Even he admits he shouldn't have gone on this reward! He's not complaining though, since he gets to eat 23 slices of pizza. And now Liz watches her nemesis walk away to eat again, while she goes back to the camp with the majority of the players, who are pissed at Maria. This was, to put it simply, Maria's villain origin story, whether she sees it or not.

Back at camp, the four "pizza losers" agree that they now need to target Q instead of Maria, since it's become clear they've become a tight pair. Meanwhile, Maria, Q, and Ben agree they need to vote out Venus because she came close to winning the challenge. When the two groups merge again, Liz has decided she's no longer remaining quiet (when was she ever though?). She confronts Maria over choosing Q because, in Liz's words, "he's such an ass to everyone." Even when Q walks up mid-rant, Liz keeps going because Survivor has taught her that she needs to express her feelings, even if that hurts someone else's feelings. She says she's had an epiphany of why she has so many allergies — it's because she's suppressed her own self for so long that her body "started attacking things." As an allergy-sufferer myself, I'm going to need a doctor to fact-check that. Actually, I'm going to need someone to fact-check literally everything Liz has said this season.

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At this point, I'm 99.99 percent positive Q's time has finally come to an end. There's no way he can escape yet another vote, especially now that everyone is so pissed at him and Maria, and he's the only one vulnerable. But "messy, sweet little" Venus lulled me into a false sense of security. She really had me thinking she became a totally different player in just one episode. But despite her promising she wasn't going to tell anyone about her idol, she just can't help herself while talking to Charlie. And here's where everything went downhill for her — and, as a result, everyone else dying for Q to finally get voted out.

It did seem like everyone was ready to vote out Q, but then Venus brags to Charlie about having something up her sleeve, completely tipping her hand. He flat-out asks her if that means she has the idol, and she tries to play it off and lie that she doesn't. She smiles and vaguely promises to fill Charlie in on everything if he votes Q out tonight, but this conversation has huge red flags going off in his mind. Not only does he now think Venus has an advantage, but he also doesn't know if he can work with her if she's not being fully honest with him at the crucial moment when they need to be building trust. And since Charlie's in the power position as the swing vote between the two groups, he now has to decide which side he is more likely able to smooth things over with after burning them at this Tribal Council.

Another one bites the dust

Jeff once again has his butt cushion and some licorice, so he's ready for another spicy Tribal. I hate how he shares one piece with the players though — even though it's just one bite, it feels wrong to see them eating at Tribal. I would love this bit more if he ate the snacks without sharing with the castaways, but now it just feels like he and producers are trying to find ways to feed the players. If you're going to feed them, just give them rice.

Food continues to take center stage here as Venus calls out Maria for pizza-gate. But despite a little back and forth about whether Maria was being genuine or if it was all an "act and a farce," this Tribal isn't all that spicy. The real drama happens when it's time to vote, since Venus doesn't play her idol, making her the fifth person this season (and third in a row) to leave with an idol in her pocket. Everyone giving Venus a taste of her own medicine by calling out, "great game!" as she leaves was just the cherry on top.

Related: Tiffany Nicole Ervin says Q would not let them give up Survivor Applebee’s reward to Liz

I'm going to miss Venus — she delivered some of the best entertainment this season from her ego and lack of self-awareness. We haven't seen a player like her on Survivor in quite a long time. She felt more old school, which I've been missing in the New Era. And she started to show some real promise in this episode. But the idol curse continues.

Looking ahead, Kenzie is now in real trouble. She lost her only remaining "ally" and her name was the extra vote thrown in by Ben (I'm assuming in case Venus played her idol). At least she was on the right side of the vote this time, but unless she convinces Charlie that now is the time to get Maria out (maybe by once again employing the tried-and-true Q smokescreen strategy), next week is going to be tough for her.

But that's not all I've got for you this week! Check back here Thursday morning to see my exit interview with Venus — you know that's going to be a highlight of the season — as well as an exclusive deleted scene from this episode. And see what Jeff had to say about yet another player going home with an idol in their pocket.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.