So I know a lot of people are upset about the Maria vote, however I think we owe a large portion of why this season is so good due to her vote.

Had she voted for Charlie, it's very likely that the season is edited much differently to show him in a better light and so we can see things from his point of view. Kenzie being on a train wreck tribe really allowed us to see the unhinged side of survivor.

More importantly however , it allowed us to see votes as these chaotic fun events where everyone is just blindsided with idols, and while yes that is what happened. If charlie is the winner the more likely edit he gets is that he's using Siga Q to control the game and just using Q as a human shield. It would end with him blindsiding Q and taking out Maria.

As good as the editing is at making it seem like the season was a chaotic mess (and ultimately it was) if it was told by Charlie's eyes he was/is the mastermind of the season. Post merge he voted correctly every time and had a part of who was going home. While the "Mastermind" edit and seasons can be good, I prefer the chaotic Gabon style editing and I don't think we would've gotten as much of it had Charlie won.

Survivor editors where having a field day when a contestant was breaking down , cursing god while also hyping up the future winner.