Survivor 42 Discussion Thread

[PUSH]

This season is already fantastic! The editors must have learned a thing or two.

Right now, I have six people I am looking at closely: Mike (too obvious?), Chanelle, Jonathan, Omar, Lindsey, and Swati.

I love Maryanne, but I cannot see someone with her editing winning. I fear she may be gone soon.

It's too early for "front runners", but there aren't many people I've ruled out as winners. I would say Tori and Maryanne are probably not winning. I don't think they'll be perceived as winner material, even if they make it to the end. Outside of that, there's still a possibility for any of them to do it. Some more likely than others.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

It's a fun cast. For a season that feels like a rerun of last season in many ways, they're really making it fun to watch. Losing the idol is pretty funny.

You would indeed think people would know by now not to share that they have an advantage. It seems to paint a target every single time. Granted, the vote loss complicates things because it forces people to rely on others moreso.

Seeing new strategy with the beware advantage is fun. I don't expect we'll ever see this exact element again, so it's nice to see it being approached in a different way.

 

[PUSH]

Wow. That may have been the craziest pre-merge episode ever. From the challenge, to the lack of votes, to the Tribal Council. An A+ episode. I'll start from the top.

What's worse for Stephen Fishbach? Gastrointestinal distress or Maryanne not watching six episodes of Tocantins? I imagine there will be lots of fun with that on the Survivor KIAs in a little bit.

Maryanne is the perfect person to say one of the phrases. It just sounds normal coming from her.

The challenge was insane. Jonathan single-handedly carried four people through that challenge. Literally carried. It was an incredibly well-shot and edited sequence in the rough, choppy waters.

The vote predicament was very entertaining. I can't believe Chanelle risked her vote there. It's such a minor advantage to gain, but a crucial vote to lose. She made a terrible decision. Imagine if Jenny had risked her vote in the first episode. There would have been three active votes.

Hai did a good job reading Chanelle's idea to split the votes. It was a smart one by Chanelle, but Hai was great, too. He must have flipped to voting Jenny instead of Mike... unless that was never actually his plan to split the votes. If he did choose to flip, that was a great move.

Once we got to Tribal Council with 20 minutes to go, I was able to figure out that a rock draw was coming. And once Jeff said Mike and Chanelle can't be part of the decision, I knew Daniel was going to save himself and take out Jenny and Hai was not going to budge. However, it was still amazing to watch. Daniel really blew up his relationship with Chanelle. It was a terrible social move, but he panicked. It isolated him from his closest ally, and it lost Mike, too. Maybe it gains Hai and Lydia's trust back, but even if it does, those are still two rocky relationships. He would have been better off to say he's voting off Jenny just because he can't risk his own life in the game. And just leave it at that. At least that's a respectable decision that doesn't alienate Mike and Chanelle. They may not like it, but it makes sense. Much better than blaming Chanelle for his vote.

I do wonder if he can use the knowledge of Mike and Maryanne's idols to his advantage. Could he convince the others to take Mike and his idol out first? It's all so murky now. Ultimately it'll come to Hai and Lydia now and what they want to do. Did they mean it when they promised they wouldn't hold it against Daniel? Or is he too shady to keep around? Do you trust Mike and Chanelle enough? And does Mike's idol get activated? That throws another wrinkle into the tribe. Very interesting dynamics. I think we've seen the best we'll ever get out of Shipwheel Island. It's probably time to retire it.

Also... Daniel losing Mike's idol was gold.

 

[Jedijax719]

Funny how Jeff pretended to blow off Maryanne as if she was just saying something crazy lol.

Great episode except for Ika. I don't think ANY tribe in history was completely ignored like this.

Chanelle is looking GREAT as a possible winner!

Daniel is a ridiculous mess. And we thought Deshawn was all over the place!

Btw, they are doing a MUCH better job giving women more equal airtime this season.

 

[PUSH]

Great episode except for Ika. I don't think ANY tribe in history was completely ignored like this.

This episode was really hard to give three tribes screen time. There was too much going on with Maryanne finding an idol, Daniel losing Mike's idol, an insane challenge, a trip to Shipwheel Island, strategy, and a wild Tribal Council. In 42 minutes, there wasn't really a way to edit what happened any differently. It was a jam-packed episode. Many of these things would be a highlight of a season, but they all happened in a single episode.

 

[dmw]

This was definitely my favorite episode of this series!

Jonathan... wow! But the previews show people going against him?!? I'm keeping him on my team no matter what until at least the merge. Gotta win the challenges and if they are physical, he is key.

Totally agree that the idol phrase was such a Maryanne thing. And, she was so fast with an actual story! Big kudos to her. Only Mike (and Daniel) would recognize this was a phrase. The others... just another Maryanne moment. She's the perfect person to have this idol.

Tribal was really exciting to watch. Hai's expression when the votes did not add up (TWICE!!!) was priceless.

Daniel... the guy is so messed up. He's gone in the next vote, if his team is smart. He probably has no chance to win, but if I'm on his team no way I would trust him for any vote. I'd vote him off just to remove an unpredictable variable.

Still to early to predict a winner, but some likely losers are starting to become more evident (e.g. Daniel).

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Maryanne continues to be television gold. The fact that she unintentionally created a persona where she can say goofy phrases and attract zero suspicion is hilarious. However, sharing the fact she has two advantages could come back to bite her.

Chanelle was just bad all around. She flat out said she needed her vote so of course the other person was going to risk it.

Chanelle didn't seem to do anything at tribal council to salvage relationships or her spot in the game either. Daniel had the power here. Maybe there wasn't much to do given Hai being set, but she didn't seem to do anything to curry the favour of the only two people with power.

This is the rare time I really want to re-watch the ending to review what went on, and look forward to reading & listening to the analysis.

Questions about the idol remain. The clue says players must say the phrase, but there is no apparent consequence to not doing so. The players have found a loophole and the producers are just sitting there going "huh", I guess.

 

[Jedijax719]

I have to give props to Hai for sticking to his guns and keeping his vote, even if it meant going to rocks. Daniel came right out and said he did not want to go to rocks, so Hai forced Daniel to vote for Jenny.

I may be in the minority, but I didn't see Chanelle as being too bad. She acknowledged that she may not have a vote, told us she wanted to play a risky game, and then did a decent job in avoiding Daniel's rabbit hole at TC. She did what she could to deflect blame and avoided sides either way.

I cannot see anyone from Ika winning. I thought nobody from Luvu would win last season, but this was different. Completely ignoring a tribe for an entire episode is a HUGE red flag if not doomsday for editing.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Some interesting points gleaned from Twitter and podcasts.

Daniel and Chanelle should have pushed Hai and Lydia to both vote for Mike, and could do so by pointing out that he is close to having an idol. The revote would have then been Hai, Daniel, and Jenny. They would then vote out Lydia.

The spilt vote they did try didn't work in large part because it was the first vote. People are still waiting to see who is actually working with them. You don't split the vote with people until you are sure they are with you.

Daniel's opening gambit of saying he won't go to rocks wasn't necessarily a bad move. It's seen as him capitulating and giving Hai all the power, but that's not a bad thing. He can say he had no choice. It was all the other stuff he said and did that were bad choices.

He could have justified going with Hai whether he opened that way or not. He can say that Hai had zero motivation to flip (as doing so would seal Hai's fate next tribal) so he had no choice but to avoid rocks. He seemed to burn his relationship with Chanelle for no reason.

 

[PUSH]

Tonight was another solid episode. Not much talk of advantages or idols. Lots of camp life and social interactions. It's what so many people have been asking for.

At the start, Daniel did a poor job of explaining last week's vote. He really should have just owned it and said, "Yep, I made a mistake, Mike." Mike seems like the type of guy who may appreciate that. But he is definitely not the type of guy who is going to appreciate the obvious facade and saving face.

I really love everyone left on the orange tribe. I can't remember their tribe name, but all four of them are great.

Ika is such a mess. It seems like Drea and Romeo are the only ones aligned. I have a feeling that Rocksroy and Swati were, but we didn't get shown that for some reason. Swati made the mistake a couple weeks ago of immediately telling Tori she wanted to get Drea out when Drea approached them about the all-girls alliance. I'm assuming she did so because she was tight with Rocksroy, but she should have taken a step back and approached it later. She should have realized Tori and Rocksroy weren't going to get along and be in an alliance.

Tori is a sloppy player, but so far we've seen that she is able to clean up when it matters most. She's clinging to the bottom of any alliance she can, and she's bouncing all around. So far it hasn't bitten her, but Swati was clearly playing all sides and angles. I know everyone probably tells everyone that they're each others' number one, but Swati got caught in her web of lies. Romeo was able to piece everything together, and while Tori was going behind him and Drea, it was more out of necessity of keeping herself alive. Whereas Swati could have stuck to the Tori plan, or the girls alliance, all along and been fine.

Overall I'm really enjoying the start to the season. There are a lot of good characters, and pretty much everyone left brings something to the season.

 

[Jedijax719]

I may be the only one who saw value in what Jonathan said. Of course, it requires knowledge that the other tribes are fractured. They are, but how would Jonathan know that.

He could be saying "hey, look, we're a solid unit so if you feel like you're on the outs, we'd love to have you join us in the merge". But he may have been a bit over enthusiastic about it.

Quick question: What if someone plays the shot-in-dark and is safe but all the others voted for that person? Do they vote again for one of the others (and the SID person still has no vote)?

 

[PUSH]

Quick question: What if someone plays the shot-in-dark and is safe but all the others voted for that person? Do they vote again for one of the others (and the SID person still has no vote)?

I think how that's how it would go. That's why the first two votes weren't big risks for the tribes. If Zach is safe, they just vote out Tori. If Marya is safe, they just vote out Maryanne. There isn't much risk when it's unanimous. The bigger question is if Tori or Maryanne should have put a vote on someone else just to be safe.

 

[Jedijax719]

I think how that's how it would go. That's why the first two votes weren't big risks for the tribes. If Zach is safe, they just vote out Tori. If Marya is safe, they just vote out Maryanne. There isn't much risk when it's unanimous. The bigger question is if Tori or Maryanne should have put a vote on someone else just to be safe.

Good point and good strategy. I wonder if that will come into play at all.

 

[dmw]

Jonathan... Goliath... Thor... Asset or target? I really like him and hope he wins. But, can he survive? Up to this point he's been safe by helping his team win challenges. But, what happens when they face a challenge that does not require so much physical strength?

The merge is going to be very interesting. Vati and Ika are unorganized from an alliance perspective. Taku, for now, seems to be a strong four. But, will that carry over to a merge? The post-merge scramble for new alliances is going to be fun to watch. I don't think we will see any old tribal alliances try to remain tribe-strong.

 

[PUSH]

Jonathan... Goliath... Thor... Asset or target? I really like him and hope he wins. But, can he survive? Up to this point he's been safe by helping his team win challenges. But, what happens when they face a challenge that does not require so much physical strength?

The merge is going to be very interesting. Vati and Ika are unorganized from an alliance perspective. Taku, for now, seems to be a strong four. But, will that carry over to a merge? The post-merge scramble for new alliances is going to be fun to watch. I don't think we will see any old tribal alliances try to remain tribe-strong.

I can see Taku staying strong and picking up pieces from each of the other tribes. I can't see Vati and Ika getting together to overpower Taku. I see it more as a "voting blocks" scenario where there may be groups of 2 or 3 that shift to other groups throughout the post merge.

Honestly, I could see someone like Tori doing well in the post-merge this season. She doesn't have any tight allies, and she's already shown she had the abilities to bounce around a little bit without taking much heat. Can that win her the game? Probably not, especially with her sloppiness. But she has to make the merge first.

It will also depend on if there's any more Shipwheel Island alliances, or if they do the hourglass twists again where only half the tribe is vulnerable to be voted out.

Outside of the Taku 4, it seems like Romeo and Drea are tight, and they have Rocksroy as a loyal number to use. Hai and Lydia are tight, with the possibility of Mike tagging along. Tori, Daniel, and Chanelle seem to be floating free agents. However, they all come with some people they can't or likely won't work with. Tori and Rocksroy won't be allies, Daniel and Chanelle likely won't realign unless it's out of necessity.

Should be an interesting rest of the season!

 

[PUSH]

Another really good episode tonight.

The first ten minutes were all about camp life and the relationships within the tribes. It is really refreshing to see.

I thought Ika made the wrong decision voting out Swati last week, and Tori kind of confirmed it. She is not loyal to this tribe, and I can't imagine she's going to be very loyal to anyone. She's a weasel, and her game is to wiggle her way through the cracks, just narrowly avoiding the line of fire. I don't think it's a winning strategy for her, but it's also not one you want to keep around your tribe.

Now that all three idols are activated, Drea is loaded. She has the amulet, an idol, and an extra vote. I also think the real reason Mike activated his idol was because he needed his vote back. If they end up going to Tribal Council, which they did, he needs it to guarantee a 3-2 majority. If he doesn't activate it, Chanelle and Daniel for force a tie.

Lydia was wise to not risk her vote. Rocksroy was, too. An extra vote really isn't that big of an advantage. It needs to be used in very specific circumstances in order for it to have any value.

I was initially confused as to why Mike got a vote put on him. It was Chanelle. After thinking it through, it all makes sense, and I credit Chanelle for having the ability to come up with it. Let's talk it through...

If everyone puts their votes on Daniel and he plays the SitD, all votes are negated and Chanelle goes home on the revote. If they split the votes between Chanelle and Daniel, it's either 3 votes on Daniel or 3 votes on Chanelle. In those situations either Daniel or Chanelle goes home. If they're on Chanelle, she goes home regardless of whether she votes for Daniel or someone else. However, if they split the votes and put 3 on Daniel and 2 on Chanelle, even if Chanelle puts her vote on someone else, they'll still revote and take out Daniel since he was their original target. Essentially it was a safety net for her in case it's unanimous on Daniel and he plays his SitD successfully. Pretty smart, forward thinking.

I see next week is the "merge". I really hope they don't do the same twist as last year, but it looks like there's some kind of twist. I hope it's something different and better.

 

[dmw]

The immunity/reward challenge was exciting. Not much physical strength needed, but Jonathan sure pulled it out with accurate shooting.

The merge of three tribes into two will likely be exactly like last season, with the twist that the "safe" tribe goes to tribal. That's my prediction since Probst said they would be repeating much of the same twists and advantages in 42 since the survivors have not seen 41.

Same as last week, I don't think there are any strong tribal alliances that will carry forward into the new tribes, but I could be wrong. Aligning with someone you know so that you have numbers in this first vote is the safe way to play. It's going to be an interesting episode to watch.

For game play, I definitely do not like the idol advantage that requires all three players to say a phrase. It has funny moments for TV, but I prefer the immediate and individual hidden immunity idol.

I see no front runner at this point in the game, but there are some who I think will be easy votes off. Jonathan is still my fav survivor, but I don't know if he will survive to win.

 

[PUSH]

The merge of three tribes into two will likely be exactly like last season, with the twist that the "safe" tribe goes to tribal. That's my prediction since Probst said they would be repeating much of the same twists and advantages in 42 since the survivors have not seen 41.

The only thing that makes me think they may tweak it a bit was Danny's reaction to it last season. Apparently he went off on Jeff about how bogus it was. Apparently Jeff said it's something they'll look at. But I agree, it's probably going to be quite similar. Perhaps they do everything the same, but eliminate the hourglass twist. That wouldn't be too bad.

 

[Jedijax719]

I'd say that, based on editing, the front runners seem to be Mike, Omar, and Hai. We are made to think that Jonathan is a front runner but he's being shown to be "too good" and that won't last.

 

[PUSH]

This was a really good merge episode. I also don't know why they don't just call it the merge... just say you're merged as one tribe. Half of you will win immunity now, the other half will get one more chance at an individual challenge. Since they're all voting and living together, aren't they all on the same tribe? It'd be different if they weren't.

I also just have to reinforce how I don't like the hourglass twist. It seemed like Jeff and production knew it wasn't going to go over well after Danny went off on them in 41, so Jeff tried to make it seem like they altered it. In reality he just said the person sent can change the game. Incredibly vague. Most would probably assume he gets an idol or individual advantage. Not change the outcome of a challenge altogether, when you've been told multiple times you've made the merge and will be safe at the next Tribal Council. It's one thing for production to not tell you about something... it's totally different for them to straight up tell you something they know will most likely end up being a lie.

If you can get past that, it actually was probably a good thing that happened. Otherwise it would have likely been a boring Chanelle vote.

After seeing that Hai voted for Lydia, it sounds like his attempt at getting the numbers to save her failed. A good preservation move for him, but it's kind of confusing if you aren't paying attention to the final words or listen to hours of Survivor podcasts. The plan must have been to split on Lydia and Maryanne to make any Jonathan or Lindsay votes not matter.

Also, Drea's straightforwardness is hilarious. She just tells it how it is.

I feel like these players are all over the place, and I can't wait to see how the rest of the season unfolds. I'll start doing my rankings again now that it's the merge.

Tier 1 - These players as of right now would be obvious threats if they make it to the Tribal Council.
Hai
Jonathan
Omar

Tier 2 - These players could win, but at this point there are some concerns. They could win with the right combination next to them.
Mike
Drea

Tier 3 - These players have all the potential to win, but haven't shown it yet. They may be dark horses, or laying low until the time is right.
Lindsay
Romeo

Tier 4 - These players aren't winning. They either lack the skills, or are too poorly perceived to recover.
Tori
Maryanne
Rocksroy
Chanelle