I recently had the amazing experience of talking to Maria Shrime Gonzalez of Season 46 of Survivor about her strategy and decision-making on the show. Maria began Season 46 on the Siga tribe and finished in fifth place after being deemed the biggest overall threat to win the game. During her time on the show, she won three individual immunities, only one short of the women's all-time record. For those of you who missed Season 46, I think that the best way to convey Maria's physical performance was that she had to be double-teamed in the Final Five immunity challenge.
Our conversation spanned everything from the implosion of the Journey Six, to the record-breaking idol plays (or lack thereof) in Season 46, to what Maria would do if she played again. Without further ado, I am excited to share some Survivor strategy insights from the one and only "Lieutenant Mom."
Siga Strong?
Maria's original tribe, Siga—affectionately referred to as "the vibe tribe"—projected an image of cohesion and kinship for much of the pre-merge. Maria corroborated that reputation when it came to communication during challenges but revealed that camp life was not always as smooth as it seemed due to the realities of spending 24/7 with a group of six strangers. She noted that "There was definitely cohesion when it came to the challenges. There was definitely unrest and rumblings behind the scenes." Ultimately though, Siga "could always pull it together for the challenges" and went to Tribal Council only once, preventing much outright conflict from occurring.
Two is Greater Than Three
Maria formed several alliances of varying sizes throughout her time on the island, from the infamous Journey Six alliance to a dynamic duo with Charlie. I asked her about the decision-making process behind joining each of these alliances and what her biggest conclusions about alliance size were after being a part of voting blocs of all sizes.
The Journey Six was both one of the most prominent voting blocs of the season, but also among the fastest to fall apart. Maria recognized the "brilliant" potential of the alliance but attributed its instability to the lack of trust within the group. When tribemate after tribemate turned on each other despite non-Journey Six members being vulnerable, Maria quickly realized that "This Six is baloney. Nobody's actually true to this Six." However, Maria did get something out of the Six—she credited her relationship with Q to the loyalty he displayed when Tiff, another member of the alliance, threw Maria's name out.
I had also long wondered about the viability of the "buddy system" strategy—forming a pair early in the game and sticking it out until the end. Maria explained to me her decision to align herself with fellow original Siga-member Charlie. In new era Survivor where tribes are made up of only six people, many alliances of two or three people form, and "two is safer than three"—in an alliance of three, she reasoned, one person will inevitably be the least trusted. With a group of two, you can hold the most trust. Of course, she conceded, there will always be a point where you must reconsider your partnership: "You have to be willing to constantly pivot. I knew from the beginning; this is who I'm working with until I need to find somebody else. If we ended up lasting the whole time, great. If I needed to make a change, I needed to make a change."
Her key takeaway for forming alliances? "The one thing that is good is having a lot of options."
Not-So-Hidden Immunity Idols
Season 46 holds the record for the season with greatest number of castaways voted out while holding an idol: five in total and four consecutively. I asked Maria her opinion on how to handle Survivor hardware, having been on the blindsiding side of this streak. She noted that she consciously played her Extra Vote before the merge so that she wouldn't be targeted for having an advantage. She told me that "I knew I had to come into that merge with nothing, no threat level that I was bringing with me. So not only are you a physical threat, but you have an idol too — it's a no-brainer." This strategy enabled Maria to stay on the island while players such as Tevin and Tiff were voted off in large part due to their advantages and idols.
Hiding Your Strong Hand
Ask anybody who has watched Season 46 who was seen as the biggest threat starting almost immediately after the merge, and they will say Maria. By the Final Six, almost everybody except for Q was gunning for her, as she seemed to have the greatest chance of winning. I asked Maria if she could sense this perception building and whether she believed there is any way to come back from being identified and labelled as a threat. She told me that she could sense the heat immediately after the merge, saying that "Right after I won that first challenge and was labeled a threat, I immediately went into 'lower my threat level' mode until I had to win." While fellow challenge threats such as Hunter, and advantage-holders such as Tevin were voted out early after the merge, by the Final Six, Maria was clearly the biggest target. She had spent much of the game focusing on taking out the big threats, but she came to realize too late that "it was the people on the outskirts that banded together." "Blindly, I wasn't looking at them," she said. If there was one thing Maria said could have rescued her, she "should have paid more attention" to these players on the outskirts.
"Put Me With People That Ruffle Feathers"
Maria's recommendation for the next returnee season: Villains vs. Villains.