Fantasy Survivor – Episode 2

They say, in the theater, that the worst night to see a play is the second night. First night, everyone’s on point. Later, the kinks are ironed out. The second night? The adrenaline is diminished, the wrinkles show.

The second episode of Survivor is often the same way. The first episode is devoted to at least a cursory introduction to our characters, an adjustment to the world of the season. Later, we know the plot machinations and how the story is going to unfold. The second episode? We get to establish some storylines, but since there’s nothing tangible to grab onto, it’s always the most ephemeral episode of the season.

Below Is our look at Episode 2 of Survivor 42, with some key takeaways and an update (a sad one) on our preseason picks.

Survivor 42 Episode 2 Recap

We get the obligatory visit with each tribe coming out of Episode 1, starting with Ika’s debrief after voting out Zach. Initially it seems like everyone’s pretty happy to build from Zach’s ouster to a plan to evict Tori, but further conversation circles it around to Rocksroy and/or Drea on the eventual chopping block. (When a single tribe gets this much “who are we going to eliminate?” talk long before an immunity challenge, you know it will be irrelevant that week, because they ain’t tribalin’.)

At Vati, Jenny and Chanelle catch a crab, which leads to an emotional moment for Hai, because he’s a vegan but is also on Survivor, and those two traits don’t coexist well. He eventually eats the crab (and likes it!), but it creates inner turmoil for him about whether he can forgive himself. (When a single tribe gets this much largely non-game-related-but-also-not-meaningful talk, you also can probably guess it will be irrelevant that week.)

Over at Taku, we learn that Maryanne is just a whole, whole lot to take, which is not a surprise to anyone who say Episode 1. Extremely nice, just enthusiasm boiling over at all times. Omar explains that he is a Muslim and that he will do his prayers, and it moves into a whole conversation about what it’s like being a Muslim the last 20 years. (The funniest part is when he very awkwardly is like, “If you have any questions about it, shoot,” and Jonathan replies, even more awkwardly, “Yeah, and, uh, if you have any questions about Christianity…” as though Omar could live in North America and not have it drilled into his head. And then Lindsay follows that up with “Yeah, I’m a pretty bad Jew.”)

A bit later, Marya has the whole conversation about her brother being the first health-care worker in America to die of COVID-19, meaning both she and Omar get big emotional moments in the episode. (Big emotional moments like that — in any reality show — tell you one of two things: Either the person is going home that night, or they are going to be around a long time. Stay tuned!)

In between those moments, we skip back over to Vati, where Mike (a) finds a Beware Advantage, (b) hides the Beware Advantage, (c) tells Jenny and then Daniel about the Beware Advantage despite saying he didn’t want to tell people about it, and then hilariously (d) loses the Beware Advantage for a while because he can’t remember where he dug his hole. Daniel seems completely unwilling to be Mike’s advantage helper and is in fact already plotting against him.

The reward/immunity challenge is the standard “Tribe is blindfolded and there’s a caller” challenge, which means we get shots of people trying to project their voice and so, so many quick cuts of blindfolded people donking into things, and lord help me, if I’m ever on Survivor (unlikely since I’ve never applied) and I’m around for this challenge, I will absolutely sprint to the sit-out bench that week. Lydia turns out to be the best caller in the world, with only a moment of blindfolded people getting tangled in rope keeping her from coasting to victory, and even with that delay, Vati wins anyway. And then Ika (forgive me) ekes out the second-place slot over Taku by — if the editing is to be believed — approximately 0.4 seconds. So Taku is off to its first tribal, despite already losing a member (Jackson) last week.

Back at Taku, it becomes clear that Jonathan, Lindsay and Omar are pretty united, and with Jackson gone (I’m always going to wonder how this would have shaken out in a six-person tribe), it’s between Marya and Maryanne, weighing between “Marya is a good person but not doing much for us” and “Maryanne is … a lot.”

In the end, Marya reads the writing on the wall and tries her Shot in the Dark, just like Zach last week, and it’s exactly as fruitful for her, as she becomes out second straight unanimous vote-out. (The editors had to be doing a happy dance at the two up for eviction being “Marya” and “Maryanne,” because they could linger on people writing letters so much longer than normal.) And thus endeth the all-too-brief tenure of my preseason pick to win, in case you thought I knew what I was doing about anything.

Recapping My Picks

Well, my preseason pick to win Marya is out, and after her “barely there” appearance in Episode 1, I had a feeling she wasn’t going to have a long run. As for my other preseason maybes:

• Omar appears in good shape in a three-person alliance with Jonathan and Lindsay (there’s something of a bromance here, with Jonathan saying “If you combine the two of us, we’re like the perfect person”), so long as the tribe can stop losing members.
• Jenny catches a crab, which should earn her some brownie points? We didn’t get much there.
• Hai literally is only around to be a vegan and then (briefly) stop being a vegan. Hai and Jenny are both on the most successful tribe so far, which is a good thing for their potential longevity, but it means they aren’t getting much screen time.

Stock Rising

Omar latching on to Jonathan but also being pretty clear that he’s willing to eventually throw Jonathan to the wolves if that’s what he needs to do seems like good strategy for a long run.

Swati over at Ika appears to have the most strategic head on her side, devising the “vote out Drea” plan and getting Tori to sign off while also making it seem like Tori was the one to make the decision.

Daniel knows about Mike’s Beware Advantage and is already devising how to use that to his advantage, and while I still don’t think he’s anything like a contender, I think he could be a chaos agent for a while.

Stock Falling

I was pretty impressed with Drea after Episode 1, but then she immediately spills the beans about her extra vote and puts a big old bull’s eye on her back.

Maryanne will not win this game. I don’t think anyone (not even Maryanne) is under any illusions to the contrary. Marya most certainly was ready to be away from her, even if it meant her own ouster (I laughed out loud at the face she made about Maryanne at tribal). She’s basically camera-time cannon fodder for whenever people need the cannon fodder. Nice, nice girl, though.

Tracking the Advantages

• Amulet Advantage: Lindsay, Hai, Drea
• Extra Vote: Maryanne, Drea
• Beware Advantage: Mike (can become an immunity idol, but until then he cannot vote)