Shh! It's a "Live Tribal" on 'Survivor,' So the Vote Might Not Go According to Plan

Every season of Survivor has new and different drama. For lifelong Survivor fans, whenever a new type of move is made, it becomes a piece of history. From blindsides to even forming an alliance, there’s a first to everything. Since Season 1, Episode 1, however, there’s always been one constant, and that’s Tribal Council. During Tribal Council, one player is voted out of the game by their tribe.

Host Jeff Probst talks to the tribe before the vote to get a feel for where the votes are going, but that can also create some of the show’s best moments. It has led to emotional moments and discussions about race, gender, and sexuality, but it has also led to some hilarious and chaotic blindsides. And now one of the most chaotic plays is a staple of the New Era: the “Live Tribal.”

Before “Live Tribals” took place, Tribal Council was relatively straightforward. Players would talk to Jeff while trying not to give away their true cards and still show loyalty to their alliances. But they’d typically know who they wanted to vote out in advance. However, New School Survivor introduced the “Live Tribal,” which is when players change the vote during Tribal Council.

Someone will typically start a Live Tribal by getting up and whispering to someone in a different area. In doing so, others start to freak out and whisper to one another to see if the plan is still in place. Sometimes, vital information comes out during a Live Tribal that can change the outcome of the vote, and therefore the game.

The first Live Tribal is often dated back to Malcolm’s move in Survivor: Philippines when his idol bluff actually caused players to talk to one another about how to change the vote. But others say it began with Malcolm’s move in Game Changers, which he admitted to coming up with.

“True story: I came up with the concept of that move before landing on the island,” Malcolm said in his Entertainment Weekly interview. “I have the notebook to prove it, slowly molding in a stinky garbage bag with all my old island clothes and memorabilia.”

“Essentially, I had this wild idea about ‘forced time,’ that if you were in trouble, you could create a frenzy by changing the dynamics of a vote when you knew a deadline was close — sitting at Tribal, waiting to vote — which prevents your rivals from reconvening to plot a new strategy.”

Now in Season 46, a Live Tribal began after Q asked the tribe to vote him out out of the blue. No one could understand why, which caused chaos. Q used the chaos to tell Tiffany that the tribe wanted to vote for her, which was his idea initially. As it was happening, Tevin remarked that he was part of a “Live Tribal.”

While it seemed like the votes could have gone anywhere, the tribe seemed to stick to Plan B and take out Tevin, which Liz mostly orchestrated. While a Live Tribal is always fun and chaotic to watch (as long as the mics pick up what they’re actually saying), too many Live Tribals in a season can get repetitive, so it’s definitely a special occasion.