Survivor Fans Have So Many Thoughts About Bhanu, And I Feel All Of Them

There’s always a castaway or two that Survivor fans are drawn to each season. There’s just something about them that viewers latch on to, either because they can’t get enough or because they need the person off the island as quickly as possible. We saw that in Season 44 with Carolyn, whose quirky energy was a huge hit with some and way too much for others. We saw that in Season 45 with Brandon whose sneaky humor, passion for the game and unmatched challenge incompetence produced a variety of different reactions. Now we’re seeing that same divisiveness with Bhanu Gopal on Season 46, and somehow, I seem to agree with almost every take, even the conflicting ones.

Let’s get into some spoilers. So, if you’re not caught up on the new season yet, bail out of this article and go fix that ASAP. Season 46 is wild, and you’re gonna want to be in on the conversation.

Anyway, Bhanu is part of the Yanu Tribe, which is right up there with Season 45’s Lulu and Season 28th’s Luzon in a battle for the worst group in Survivor history. So far, they’ve lost all three challenges, have a shelter full of holes and still haven’t made fire. It’s a mess. The tribe is populated with very strange and vibrant personalities, but even amidst those eccentrics, Bhanu stands out. 

He’s maybe the most honest contestant in Survivor history, blurting out all of his feelings every time at Tribal Council. He’s cried on at least a half dozen separate occasions, bizarrely compared himself to fan favorite Spencer Bledsoe and is convinced everyone else left on his tribe, who seem like perfectly nice players, are Parvati, Sandra and Boston Rob level masterminds. He’s also openly said he’d rather win a million hearts than a million dollars. 

Initially, many fans enjoyed Bhanu’s over the top, very in the moment personality, but after he spilled every single secret his tribe had to outsiders during last week’s episode, the Twitter responses went to a whole nother level. Here’s a sample tweet…

I relate to this tweet so much. I must have said out loud five different times during last week’s episode that this dude needs to go. You can’t play with someone who can’t keep their mouth shut. It’s impossible to trust them or strategize with them. Knowledge is power if you keep it to yourself, and it’s a massive liability if you tell every single person in Fiji everything you know under even the lightest of questioning. 

But yet, even with all my frustrations and loud comments about how he needs to go, I was very worried he was going to go as tribal council approached. Somehow, I just wasn’t ready to see him get his torch snuffed. He’s such an original personality, and I started to think about what might happen to him if he makes the merge. That has the potential to give us some all-time comedy and drama, and there are plenty of others who want to see him stick around too, which fortunately for him happened after another player had to be medically evacuated…

Bhanu is not going to win Survivor, but if his fellow Yanu castmate Q has any say about it, he could be a non-competitive finalist. During one exchange between the two castaways, Q told Bhanu he wanted him to be his Phillip, a reference to Philip Sheppard, a one vote finalist who worked closely with Rob Mariano during Redemption Island. Philip was widely considered an eccentric who clung to Boston Rob and voted however instructed. Bhanu seemed to take the comment as a big positive, but many of us watching at home did a shocked double take when it was said out loud…

That’s the fun thing about Bhanu though. He’s openly said he’s not interested in winning. He just wants to have the adventure and connect with viewers. Phillip was also open during his first season about how part of his theatricality was an act so everyone would want to keep him around until the finals. I don’t think Bhanu has that same level of cunning in him, but I do think his lack of strategy could help carry him to the finals with the right partners, if he’s able to make the merge, which is a big question right now.

I still don’t entirely know how I feel about Bhanu. Sometimes I find him really endearing, just an untarnished soul in it for the love of the game. Other times I find him way too much, a chaos agent who can’t ever behave in his own interest. Regardless, I’m excited to watch more, and I’m pretty sure no matter what happens, Survivor fans will have strong feelings about it.