'Survivor 46': Soda Thompson, Tim Spicer both got blindsided eliminations
"Feels like I was the lone wolf out there," Spicer said
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Survivor 46 is heating up with this week's episode seeing two castaways voted off the island, Soda Thompson and Tim Spicer. For both of the players, complicated relationships and alliances ultimately led to their elimination.
"Feels like I was the lone wolf out there," Spicer told Yahoo Canada. "I didn't really have an ally. ... I felt like I was playing alone to an extent."
Spicer was voted out at the end of Wednesday night's episode, but actually, it looked like Ben Katzman was going to be the castaway voted off the island.
"[Q Burdette] didn't like that I didn't agree with the plus six alliance," Spicer said. "I think, besides Tiffany, I was the only one that challenged his thoughts."
"That's why I thought it was me. I thought it was going to be Ben and I was sad by it, but I just knew that I wasn't voting for Ben. And I told Ben. I said 'Ben they're voting you, they want to write your name down, but let's vote [Hunter McKnight].' So I think a little more convincing, or another angle, probably could have gotten us both out of that situation."
Watch Survivor Season 46 by adding the STACKTV channel to your Prime Video subscription. 14-day free trial then $12.99/month
Soda Thompson, Venus Vafa feud
For Thompson's elimination, we first saw Canadian Venus Vafa approach Charlie Davis and Maria Shrime Gonzalez with different plans, including getting rid of Thompson. So we knew that either Thompson or Vafa were going to be voted off, and onto the jury.
"I was just honestly shocked at first," Thompson told Yahoo Canada. "I wasn't even trying to run through my brain who could have done this. It was really more of just like shock."
"I'm somebody who's like, I'm going to feel whatever I feel because that's what I do. And so I was like shocked and in disbelief, and then sad that it was over, and happy that I got to be there. So grateful. It's literally like taking the pill and ... not staying in the matrix."
Looking back on Thompson's relationship with Vafa, they started as allies, but that certainly evolved. Thompson recalled that she wanted to have an alliance with Vafa but when Thompson went to Tevin Davis, Hunter McKnight and Randen Montalvo, they all didn't want to work with Vafa.
"I'm like, you need to try to make inroads with these people, I can't do that for you," Thompson recalled. "And at the same time, I'm not just going to treat you like you're on the outs, so I would go in between her and Tevin, ... go between her and Randen."
"That's why Tevin and her have a deleted scene where they're talking, I encourage them to talk. And every time it's edited that we're having these spats, it's not me going to her like starting stuff. ... I'm trying to be Switzerland. I'm trying to be neutral. ... And also I'm like, you don't see the gap between who you think you are and how you're actually being received, so you should go work on that. It's not being listened to and I'm getting all this attitude, and trying to like set my boundaries too."
Looking back at his strategy overall, Spicer said that if he could go back and change his strategy, he would have pitched to the Yanu girls in his final tribal.
"I didn't know how vulnerable or fed up they were with [Q] and him flip-flopping too," Spicer said. "If I had a little context about that, I wouldn't have said the Yanu girls should play with the Siga boys, and we should vote out [Q]."
For Thompson, the only thing she would change about her experience is not going to tribal sooner.
"I just didn't have an opportunity to adjust the Soda dial in a meaningful way that would have actually mattered, because ... we didn't go to tribal," she said. "You're at camp and you're just together, and you go back to camp and you're just together. Nothing's changing. It doesn't matter."
"You need to put it to the test. If you don't, nobody sees your cards, at least the ones that you're willing to show."
'You're doing a lot by yourself'
Spicer revealed that what's particularly difficult about being on Survivor is how disconnected the castaways are from the world, but also having to get used to never really being alone.
"It might seem so freeing, but you still have to follow the rules and the parameters, and there's always a camera in your face," Spicer said. "You're not really anywhere alone unless you're taking an aqua dump. I couldn't really aqua dump so I was never alone."
Watch Survivor Season 46 by adding the STACKTV channel to your Prime Video subscription. 14-day free trial then $12.99/month
Having to go to jury, Thompson said there was definitely a significant "transition" from the island to Ponderosa.
"The transition from island to Ponderosa was very emotional," Thompson said. "I was separated from everybody else because I was jury."
"So I went into a room by myself and I was showering and crying, and eating and crying ,and writing and crying. Just because I needed to put it all down. You don't have your people to put it all down to when you're out in the game. So it is really tough. You're doing a lot by yourself."
Looking at what drew her to Survivor in the first place, Thompson went in feeling like she really does represent the "every woman."
"Particularly every Black woman who goes through this recycled trauma history and you deal with a lot of pressure," she said. "I feel like we're expected to just do and take so much all the time, but not necessarily get acknowledged for it."
"I've been to hell and back, and I spent the last five or six years really curating ... who I am, so that I could thrive. And that's the person I wanted to put out on the island and I wanted to do that to show other people that you are the only thing getting in your way. It's all in your brain, because your mindset is connected to your actions, reflects your values, reflects your actions. And so I wanted to be a testament to that. The every woman who's in a minority group, who struggles with their weight, who might have a parent who's an addict, who has a high [Adverse Child Experiences] score. ... Get out of your own head, get out of your own way."
Being able to have watch parties, and see his experience on Survivor with friends and family as well, Spicer revealed that one of his sons, Carter, got sad seeing him voted off Wednesday night.
So if Spicer's sons wanted to be on Survivor in the future, his response would be: "Great. Let's do it."
"I think that would be totally cool," Spicer said.
