The Big Picture

  • Q Burdette's Survivor gameplay is perplexing as he preaches loyalty but betrays allies and tries to quit multiple times.
  • Q started on a tribe that kept losing pre-merge, formed alliances, and then turned on them after the merge.
  • Likened to infamous Survivor characters Coach and Phillip, Q has a polarizing gameplay style that may lead to his downfall.

Castaways must strike a balance of getting along with fellow contestants to stay and hopefully win their jury vote. But they also have to vote someone out every week on Survivor. The smart move is to stay under the radar as long as you can on the reality series, then, in the finale, make your case that you had power in the game. Q Burdette has undoubtedly had power in Survivor 46, but what he has done with it is perplexing.

Q is a real estate agent with an athletic background. He tried to coach his fellow castaways when they were spiraling only to later spiral himself. Q constantly preaches about loyalty in his confessionals. But he took out his allies. He has talked down on quitters while talking about quitting repeatedly. An alum has formally put him in a specific category of Survivor players.

survivor-poster-jeff-probst
Survivor
TV-PGAdventureReality TVGame Show

A reality show where a group of contestants are stranded in a remote location with little more than the clothes on their back. The lone survivor of this contest takes home a million dollars.

Release Date
May 31, 2000
Cast
Jeff Probst
Main Genre
Reality-TV
Seasons
46
Studio
CBS
Creator(s)
Charlie Parsons

Q Burdette Is Added to the List of Outlandish 'Survivor' Characters

A still from Survivor: Tocantins featuring contestant Coach Wade in the middle of his legendary trip to Exile Island
Credit: CBS

Everyone had big reactions to the "Hide-and-Seek" episode including the alums of the game. Wendell Holland won Ghost Island, and returned for Winners at War and placed 13th. "My man has solidified his spot as one of THOSE historic characters. We’ve had Coach. We’ve had the Phillip the Specialist… And now we have Q!!!! How in the world does a person so dynamic as _____ get voted out, and yet the only thing the internet is talking about is Q!?!?!" he tweeted.

Q started on the Yanu tribe, which kept losing pre-merge. He was a castaway with promise, since he brought physical strength to the tribe and showed some strategy. He made a six-person alliance with Hunter McKnight and Tim Spicer on a journey. Each of them would bring one partner into the alliance, which were Tevin Davis, Maria Shrime Gonzalez, and Tiffany Nicole Ervin. However, that quickly fell apart after the merge.

Survivor-Season 46 cast balancing on floats out at sea L-R-Q Burdette-Ben Katzman-Tiffany Ervin-Hunter McKnight-Jeff Probst-Kenzie Veurink.
Related
’Survivor 46’s Latest Twist Is a Wild Strategy Killer
After ‘Survivor 46’s merge, the tribal lines are no longer drawn as self-preservation takes over.

Q targeted Tim, who wanted to target Hunter, and voted him out. He then pitched to Charlie Davis to join their alliance. Q then turned on Tiffany for wanting to target Maria. That failed when Liz Wilcox created the plan to target Tevin with the majority of votes. Q threw everyone for a loop at Tribal Council when he asked them to vote him out, which is the third time he's tried to quit. The real estate agent also has a playful side. He asked the castaways to play the alphabet game during an immunity challenge. He had the whole cast play hide-and-seek, and then he claimed he was learning about their Survivor strategy through their performance.

Benjamin "Coach" Wade was a contestant on Tocantins, Heroes vs. Villains as a villain, and South Pacific. He was runner-up in his last season. He claimed to be honorable while betraying his fellow castaways, which is similar to Q. Both players have been accused of having huge egos and trying to coach others without having much knowledge of what they're doing themselves. But Q might be seen again and improve if he's following in Coach's footsteps.

Phillip Sheppard was on Redemption Island and Caramoan. He told everyone that he was a federal agent and loved his country. He often put his foot in his mouth, which was entertaining for fans and eye-rolling for his fellow competitors. Phillip would also hang out at camp in his underwear.

Q certainly hurt his game trying to quit in the last Tribal Council. It's unclear if he can recover from burning so many bridges. But there is one thing for certain. It'll be entertaining to watch.

Survivor can be streamed on Paramount Plus.

Watch on Paramount+