‘Top 5 moments of ‘Survivor 46’ finale: Final arguments, a shocking winner and fun reunion

Vincent Mandile
·6 min read
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The “Survivor 46” season finale aired Wednesday night, concluding with host Jeff Probst snuffing out a few torches and announcing Kenzie Petty, the 29-year old from North Carolina, the winner. But what were the dumbest, most shocking and most exciting moments of this episode? And did the jury pick the right winner? 

Below, read our “Survivor 46” finale Top 5 moments. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite castaways on CBS’s reality TV show, who bothered you the most and who you thought should have joined the “Survivor” winners list, taking home the $1 million grand prize. 

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SEE See the updated ‘Survivor’ winners list after Jeff Probst crowned the Season 46 champion

Top 5 Moments of Season 46 Finale:

1. The Final Five: We have come a long way since David Jelinsky was voted out on day 3, but as Jeff said, the final five has indeed survived a lot since then, including multiple people being sent to the jury with an idol in their pockets. Following a tribal that eliminated the bane of many players’ existence, Quintavius “Q” Burdette, all was not well at camp. Specifically, Maria Shrime Gonzalez felt betrayed by Charlie Davis, and tried to mend fences. Not like Charlie seemed to really care as this surprising strategic player knew what this game is all about and could read through her act. Liz Wilcox was the most excited to see Q go and viewed Maria as the next person to hit the jury. The first Immunity Challenge/Reward Challenge combination resulted in a win and a delicious meal for Kenzie, after a little help from Liz. Maria’s reaction was telling as she seemed to see the writing on the wall. Honestly, Liz won points in my book after that power move and seeing Ben Katzman enjoy pasta was nice since he has truly become the voice of reason towards the end of the game. Meanwhile, Maria went idol hunting alongside Charlie as she pitched the idea of getting Ben out instead of her. This would prove to be useless as there was no changing her fate. If there is any fairness, she should be back for an all-star season down the road. 

2. Burn Baby Burn: My favorite challenge of the season by far had to be this last immunity challenge. Everyone gave 110%, but the winner of this Plinko-like game was a surprised Ben. Honestly, for someone with so thin a resume, he needed this to have a fighting chance to win over the jury. More importantly, he decided who was to compete in the fire challenge, which was a good chance to get a major threat out of the picture and into the jury. He opted to bring Charlie to the Final Three and made the ladies make fire for the chance to join them. In comparison to fire making in seasons past, this was more a slow burn but “Pressure will burst a pipe or make a diamond” as Q noted. Kenzie was that diamond and sent Liz to the jury.

SEE ‘Survivor 46’ deleted scene: Q doesn’t ‘want a kiss’ when he gets home, he only wants Applebee’s [WATCH]

3. Final Arguments: The final three each had an interesting conundrum as they tried to win over the votes on the jury. Unfortunately, not one of them was completely successful in this regard.

Ben: Honestly, he had the hardest mountain to climb as his resume was limited. He visibly struggled to single out a move that he orchestrated to alter the course of the game, essentially throwing it over to Charlie. Unfortunately, Ben’s confidence could only get him so far with his answers as the jury could see he was more of a sneaky floater than a sneaky leader. Sodasia “Soda” Thompson summed it up best saying that Ben played the middle for most of the game, avoiding being targeted along the way. His answer to what the money would go to was heartwarming though.

Charlie: The strongest of the three resumes, Charlie had less to worry about, but there was the possibility of the jurors not wanting to reward one of the sneakiest players in recent memory. He was more than able to show that he made moves that altered the game, which was a major plus for him. His relationship with Maria proved to be very important to making the jury receptive to his answers as his sneaky leadership became more evident. In the end, his laser focus to win made him shine the most. 

Kenzie: The finalist that had the most personal connections in the trio also could boast that she was often on the right side of the numbers. Even more impressive, she braved the Yanu nightmare tribe and lived to tell the tale. She attempted to answer questions as best as she could, but Q proved to be an issue starting from the very first one. Yet, she was able to show that being a less vocal leader made her game slip under the radar.

4. A Winner is Crowned: When the votes were counted, it was closer than I expected, which is a nice way to say I did not expect Kenzie to do that well. In the end, Kenzie won the million-dollar prize and Charlie was visibly shocked. Turns out the Charlie and Maria wonder twin strategy bit him at the end of the day.

5. Reunion Fun: The jurors and finalists enjoyed champagne and pizza as they fielded questions from Jeff. Charlie’s reaction to Maria not voting for him was slightly awkward as he seemed disappointed. I was not buying his speech about how the jury always gets it right. Hunter McKnight was the MVP here and showed why he should be brought back on the show for an all-star season with his ability to analyze it all…a skill that he SHOULD have used in the game itself. Ben could care less that he failed to get any votes, which seems on par for his glass very full personality. The conversation about idols not being played was the one that I was most excited for though, we saw too many not being utilized, which made those individuals more endearing than they previously were in my eyes.

SEEexclusive predictions: Who will win ‘Survivor’?

Be sure to make your predictions to influence our reality TV racetrack odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before the next episode airs on CBS. You’ll compete to win eternal bragging rights and a spot on our “Survivor” leaderboard. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.

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