Survivor 46: Contestant Bhanu Gopal’s Unique Goal Sparks Debate and Controversy

The Unpredictable Journey of Bhanu Gopal in Survivor 46

“My point on Survivor is not to win a million dollars. I want to win a million hearts. That’s more important to me.” — Bhanu

Okay, I’m going to stop you right there. First off — and maybe this is just me — but I generally don’t like my Survivor contestants to be folks that have no interest in, you know, winning the game. Like, totally fine if you say it’s not about the money, but you need to have an unquenchable thirst for victory. That should be attribute number one for every player that goes through the Survivor casting process.

Also, not to nitpick on Bhanu, because I generally do like the guy, but saying you want to go on Survivor to win a million hearts is a bit odd, no? So you’re saying you only came on the show to be popular? Do we have a future influencer in our midst? I’m not saying you need to show up on Survivor and play that same cliché “I’m not here to make friends” song, but if your chief concern is being loved, then I’m not sure you’re on the right show.

I’m also not sure if you are on the right show if your tribemates are saying things like “He doesn’t have a strategic bone in his sweet little body” and “He has a passion for the game, but he doesn’t understand the game” about you.

It sounds like I am dissing and dismissing Bhanu, but I have said it before and will say it again: I have been loving what an absolute mess the Yanu tribe has been. Jelinksy, Jess, and Bhanu will go down in reality TV history as the true holy trinity of cocky, kooky, and self-proclaimed wackadoodle. And I can’t help but be entertained by their hijinks. I mean, have we ever seen a tribe so obsessed with Kenny Rogers lyrics? Or one that had an actual mermaid dragon on it, for that matter?

Watching Bhanu on Survivor has been like watching a horror movie in real time. You know that character in the film that inevitably suggests “Hey, we should probably split up” and you’re like “NO! FOOL! YOU WILL GET MURDERED! DO NOT SPLIT UP!”? Watching Bhanu play Survivor is kind of like watching that guy. You don’t want his literal or proverbial torch to get snuffed, but the man just makes it sooooooo easy for it to happen.

Q is right. Bhanu is a massive Survivor fan yet seems to have no clue how to play Survivor. Q essentially told Bhanu that he was his Phillip Sheppard and Bhanu was like, “Cool! Let’s do this!” And I don’t know in what universe it was a good idea for Bhanu to tell Ben and Liz everything happening on his tribe, because if I were Ben and Liz after that epic spillage, would I feel confident trusting Bhanu with anything? No. No, I would not. Bhanu spilled so much he needed the Bounty quicker-picker-upper lady to follow his every footstep of that Journey.

Bhanu is clearly a good dude. I met him out there in Fiji. I liked him. But holy smokes is he overwhelmed. And he would be the first to tell you that. In fact, HE TELLS US THAT EVERY 30 SECONDS ON THE SHOW! But Bhanu offers a different flavor of contestant — the messy delight. Someone that can cause chaos and drive story just through out-of-control emotions, terrible strategy, and lips that simply can’t be zipped. All that said, Q would have been out of his mind to keep Bhanu around over Kenzie because Bhanu is too damn unpredictable. He can’t be kept in check and could inadvertently blow up your game at any minute without even realizing it. Which is what makes him such a delight to watch.

Island time travel

Survivor has gone a bit Tarantino the past few seasons by experimenting with non-linear storytelling and showing things after they happened, but it’s usually pretty soon after the fact. And it is usually as a flashback coming after someone has revealed some news in a confessional interview to show you how something went down. So seeing “Siga Four Days Ago” at the bottom of the screen to lead into our Siga camp footage of the week was still pretty jarring. I mean, not as jarring as Bhanu crumbling to his knees on the Journey in front of two relative strangers, but jarring nonetheless.

The Hunter becomes the… Hunter

In what can only be described as the biggest middle finger to 3-D printers ever, Hunter constructs his own big build challenges in his backyard and then stores all the stuff inside in some sort of Survivor wonderland. Seriously, I felt almost guilty looking at it, as if I had snuck into the back room of Santa’s workshop to see how all the toys are made. Insanely cool. But maybe not to Venus.

I don’t know if Venus is just jealous that Hunter has the fanciest island bed since Thuston Howell III or what. I also assume that the only members of the cast who possibly have any idea who Thuston Howell III is are probably Tevin and Hunter due to their love of old school television. But regardless of all that, it seems Venus felt like Hunter was running the tribe due to all his connections with everyone and therefore she wanted him, not unlike the SS Minnow, completely gone.

A barrel of fun

I don’t know if we’ve seen this full exact challenge before, however all the elements (jump in the water, go through obstacles, dig something up, land sand bags on targets) have certainly been there. But let’s be honest: It’s all about the barrel.

Kicking rocks

After the challenge, Ben, Liz, and Bhanu were sent on a Journey, where they had to pull rocks to see who would have an emotional meltdown, and then pull rocks again to see who would spill all their tribe secrets, and then pull rocks again to see who get back on a boat and not have to risk their vote for an advantage. Liz pulled the white rock on the last one, leaving Ben and Bhanu to fail at forming a cube puzzle and losing their next Tribal Council votes.

The show definitely got some drama by throwing these three together with the ramifications of Bhanu’s loose lips — and those ramifications look like they may play out on next week’s episode as well — but the game itself was definitely less intriguing than the skull, torch, vote card thing from the premiere. In that one, folks had to navigate a super tricky situation and balance dueling instincts to figure out the best short-term and long-term paths. In this one, they just pulled rocks and tried to do a puzzle. Totally fine, but not nearly as dynamic as the first one.

Randen goes limp

Randen Montalvo will go down as the first Survivor player to injure himself out of the game simply by sleeping. It’s an absolutely brutal way to go, made even more brutal by the fact that Randen probably would have been just fine if he had stayed in the game. Of course, there was no way to know that at the time.

The trouble began when Randen woke up after an uncomfortable night sleeping with a prickly feeling on his arm and leg. Eventually, his right hand went limp and he could not grip or feel anything. The second-most-famous Dr. Will in reality TV came out to take a look and thought it might be a pinched nerve and said they would keep an eye on it. PHEW! That was a close call.

But wait a minute: Why would they show that scene if Randen is okay? Players get checked out by medical all the time and it doesn’t make it to TV because the story ultimately does not go anywhere. If they were showing this visit, then it was for a reason. And that reason was revealed later in the episode when Dr. Will returned with the last person you ever want to see at your beach — unless you are a member of Yanu, that is — Probst.

The coach almost quits on his team

I get that elite athletes want to take the blame when they don’t perform in big spots rather than putting it on someone else. It’s noble and it’s admirable. That said, we were looking at some prime Survivor knuckleheadery here when Q told his allies to vote him out of the game for losing the challenge.

Dude, I get it that you lost your high school football team a big game and then had to see your name in a really unfortunate headline. If it makes you feel at all better, I once did this to Owen Knight with a headline. Personally, I would take fumbling over that any day of the week. Thankfully, Tiff seemed to talk some sense into Q. Q then returned the favor by trying to talk Tiff into voting out her rock solid ally in Kenzie. Like I said earlier, I recognize that “Bhanu has said he just wants to make the jury; Kenzie wants to win.” But seeing as many times as Bhanu has already sabotaged his own game in just a few days, what makes you think he can’t sabotage yours as well?

Kicking rocks

Fortunately for Yanu, they were not required to go to Tribal Council this week due to a medical evacuation on another tribe. It was revealed that Randen had suffered a possibly serious injury and needed to be pulled from the game for further medical evaluation. It was a devastating turn of events for both Randen and the tribe, as his injury could have long-term consequences. It was a reminder of the risks and unpredictability of being a contestant on Survivor.

As the game continues, the remaining castaways will have to navigate the challenges, alliances, and surprises that Survivor has in store for them. They will have to adapt, strategize, and overcome obstacles to outwit, outplay, and outlast their rivals. With each passing week, the competition will become more intense, and the complexities of the game will test the limits of the castaways’ abilities.