Survivor 42, Episode 2 - Good and Guilty
IKA - NIGHT 3 AFTER TRIBAL
After Tribal Council, Romeo leads our episode off with an embarrassing attempt at being social media relevant by citing that there was “no #skinnyguy alliance”. Come on Romeo 🙄
VATI (DAY 4)
It’s one thing to find out that there will not be any rice on your Survivor season. I’d imagine that when I get on my season i will look forward to having rice. But what do you do if you have none AND YOU DON’T EAT MEAT? This is the predicament faced by Hai. Hai is a vegan and without being able to rely on rice, he has to go against his real life choices and have some meat.
Love Hai’s commitment and ability to adapt to the game and what it requires of him. This boosts Hai in my possible winner rankings. If he is willing to eat meat, what else is he willing to do??
TAKU (DAY 4)
The buzz at TAKU is that Maryanne is beginning to nudge people the wrong way. The wear and tear of her personality is taking effect and I don’t know how long it will last for her. If TAKU finds themselves at Tribal, I think the tribe will vote Maryanne out, despite all of her Tinkerbell qualities. Despite all the positive that is Maryanne, too much of a good thing is also too much.
Camp life from there gets us deeper into who Omar is. We learn that Omar is Muslim, he will be praying multiple times a day and is happy to answer any questions that people may have. Jonathan returns the education piece about Christianity, and Lindsay admits her less than adequate Jewishness 🤣. Maryanne again shows how empathetic and kind her heart is by weaving Omar a palm frond mat for him to pray on, but one thing that also stands out to Omar is when he communicates about being a Muslim he mentions that when he is doing _____, he IS NOT LOOKING FOR AN IDOL. I believe Omar. I do. He strikes me as a genuine person and likely someone that will be trusted in this game. But after seeing what Hai was willing to do to adapt to the game (eat meat despite being a vegan), the question is would Omar use religion to help his game? (ex: excuse to be alone and look for an idol) We shall see.
DREA SPILLS THE BEANS
Drea has an EXTRA VOTE that she won from the Prisoner’s Dilemma, thanks to Jenny choosing to protect her vote. Silly move Jenny. But, Drea pulls the silliest (to be nice) move of the game so far, even more senseless than Tori’s premature idol hunt. Drea approaches Tori and Swati and TELLS THEM SHE HAS AN EXTRA VOTE! I know that all the Old School and most, if not all New School players are shaking their head at this maneuver. But, like 41, Drea follows suit in the early game and decides to push her chips to the center of her tribe’s poker table and go all in on a girl’s alliance with Tori and Swati.
Here’s my prediction, it gets used against her and the person with 2 super early advantages just gave desperate Tori and Swati crucial information to use against her should the fire be put to their feet should they go to another Tribal. Drea may have 675K followers on IG, but this move is one I would certainly UNFOLLOW.
MIKE FINDS A “BEWARE ADVANTAGE”
“There is such grace in the game of soccer, it makes me cry.” - Beware phrase 1
Well the Beware Advantage Part 2 is here and the ridiculous phrases are so far, not THAT crazy. Mike mentions being a coach, albeit football, but that’s soccer in the rest of the world. I think if he said something like “Hey Jeff, I’m a coach and I know how hard challenges can be in sports but when you overcome them, it makes you cry.” Then, he brings it back and adds, “I coach football but so everyone can understand me, There is such grace in the game of soccer, it makes me cry.” and then talk about football making him cry and how the grace of the game comes in winning.
The key is to do a Beware Advantage sandwich. Start off with some story that then weaves sports into it and winning and grace and the joy/tears of winning, then say the phrase, and finish it off with talking again about the grace of sports and not being afraid to shed a tear after winning. “So if we win a challenge and I cry, you all better not rat me out to my football players back home, HA, HA HA”. I think this is a solid way to go.
Another good strategy, like Boston Rob’s Strategy For Life taught us, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! Mike, do NOT be the first one to say the phrase. Don’t be premature. Wait for everyone else to say it and then, and only then, should you blow your cover, otherwise, it could just blow up on you.
TAKU (DAY 4)
Jonathan is strong, Omar is weak. Jonathan is muscles, Omar is flab. Jonathan is serious, Omar is funny. Get it? They are complete opposites and especially in Jonathan being Brawn, Omar being Brain. Jonathan is smart enough to know his own limitations and someone like Omar’s strengths.
Marya opens up about her brother. In March 2020, her brother James, a healthcare worker in NY was the first healthcare worker to die from COVID. She has a necklace with his photo on it that she’s intending to bury there and from Survivor, gain closure. Powerful.
MIKE SPILLS THE BEANS
Why can nobody keep their mouth shut? First Drea, now Mike. Mike has lost his vote at Tribal until the other 2 phrases are said. Mike decides it’s a great idea to try and build trust by telling Jenny and then Daniel.
Mike, Mike, Mike. You made such a good move last episode by convincing the tribe to go SAVVY over SWEAT but you blew it on this one dude. You gave Jenny and Daniel the true power of having this information. With it, they can tell others (Daniel tells Chanelle) and they can use it against you. Daniel even comes up with the brilliant idea to not try and activate the idol at the next Immunity Challenge. Great idea, right Mike? Yeah, except the Yale educated guy can take the power of this information to control the idol. If they vote Mike out, the idol and other camp’s idols die. Or, they can pull a Shan and Ricard and convince Mike to never use it and thus keep control of the idol to themselves.
Mike is a good dude who wants to play this game by building trust through sharing information. Chances are he never thought that his attempt to build trust with Daniel would blow up in his face and be a fire that he could never put out.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Tribe is blindfolded, caller directs pairs through obstacle course to unlock and gather 3 bags of puzzle pieces, and caller helps the still blindfolded tribe members to put the puzzle together.
REWARD - Big fishing gear (1st), Small fishing gear (2nd)
Lydia Jonathan, and Drea are the callers. Lydia has her tribe out to an early big lead. Jonathan sounds like the lead singer of a Dark Metal band who worships the underworld. 🤣.
To describe this challenge in a word, CHAOTIC! From the word Go!, the challenge is an endless array of shouting, crashing, and tension all culminating with what else, the puzzle.
1st Place, Large Fishing Gear - VATI
2nd Place, Small Fishing Gear - IKA
Tribal Council, Loses Flint - TAKU
PRE-TRIBAL SCRAMBLE
After a photo finish loss to IKA at the Immunity Challenge, TAKU is faced with having to go to their first Tribal Council. However, let’s not forget that they are down a person with Jackson being taken out medically. Only 5 are heading to Tribal with a chance of being voted out - Jonathan, Omar, Lindsay, Marya, and Maryanne with all her energy, crushes on Zach (really?), and comparing going to Tribal to a blind date!
Jonathan and Omar are tossing it up between Marya (older, wiser) and Maryanne (a beautiful person). Marya says echoes our fear with Maryanne
“I don’t know if I could do that for 26 days” - Marya on Maryanne
In other words, as wonderful as Maryanne is, she is a lot to handle.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
As I’m typing it feels like Maryanne is the obvious choice. She’s young, “too much”, got caught idol hunting, but has the most amazing heart and smile of anyone this season. She references being 23, being rejected in her love life, connecting her Survivor experience to being placed by God into Zach’s arms but not too soon, and that love is very much on her mind. Though she is likely more manipulatable than Marya, Marya isn’t as manipulatable.
Marya is here for a different reason. She “needs to put Marya” first. Survivor is her chance to be Marya, not someone’s mom or another title in her life. This is empowering and inspiring for viewers and moms at home alike, but if you’re her competitor, that’s a giant red flag. Why would I want to keep someone around that is here for themselves?
Tough choice but looks like Maryanne.
The monkey wrench in this vote could be that Maryanne is about to discover her EXTRA VOTE. If she feels threatened, she can cast 2 votes Marya’s way and maybe tip the scales in a 5 person vote. However, will she let Cupid influence her to save it for a rainy day and the possibility of it helping her solidify love in the game, or read that the “date” she’s on with TAKU isn’t going well at this Tribal and use her EXTRA VOTE to cast a 2nd vote for Marya?
Enter the next wrinkle…
MARYA PLAYS HER ‘SHOT IN THE DARK’
In Season 41 only 1 ‘Shot in the Dark’ was taken, by the one and only (ask and she’ll tell you), Sydney. It didn’t work for her in 41 and as we are seeing early in 42, like Probst says, “got nothing for ya!”. Marya shoots and misses. Marya taking her ‘Shot’ comes a bit as a surprise to the viewer only because it seemed like Maryanne was being considered by some, especially after Lindsay and Omar catch her CLEARLY idol hunting.
Also, by taking the ‘Shot’, Marya loses her vote at Tribal. I like this rule. Makes the ‘Shot’ seem even darker. With Marya taking her shot the evidence is clear, she felt desperate, more desperate than the episode illustrated. Bravo editors. 👏
VOTES
Marya - 4 (all votes cast)
Marya - lost her vote via ‘Shot in the Dark’
Maryanne - has EXTRA VOTE
With Marya being voted out, TAKU now has 4 people remaining. Jonathan, Omar, Lindsay, and Maryanne. We learned in this episode that Jonathan and Omar are a budding pair in the game and Lindsay rounds out a strong 3 at TAKU.
Then there is Maryanne. Maryanne is likely next to go should TAKU find themselves at Tribal. My read on Maryanne going forward is despite all the beauty in her soul and smile, she’s too emotional and the unpredictableness of that could lead to a disastrous mess. Think Abi Maria. In other words, she isn’t like everyone else at TAKU, or in the entire cast for that matter. Her emotions can go from 0-100 in an instant (ex: her whaling over Jackson) and the way she wielded that machete, had 6’4” 250lb Jonathan moving over. That look in her eye was next level and tells me that sabotage or kamikaze gameplay is within the realm of her possibilities should things go sour. I DO NOT want to be on the other side of that.
Let’s say there is a swap or change from 3 tribes to 2, and I was put on a new tribe with only Maryanne from my old tribe, I’m not putting all my eggs in that basket. Keep “TAKU Strong”, sure, but in actuality, she’s just a shield in the new phase of the game. Keep around because she trusts me, but keep her and her personality infront of me. Keep the target off me and make my threat level minimal so I can build other bonds. If you trust her or keep her around too long I think it spells trouble. Plus she has an EXTRA VOTE. Finally, I will put it this way, Maryanne is capable of pulling a Jack Torrance to someone’s game and that’s not a “hotel” I would overlook.
Maryanne as Jack Torrance “The Shining”
