Fantasy Survivor – Episode 8

As I’ve watched each episode of Survivor this season, I’ve thought about what I’ll write in this space, whatever intro I use to tease the episode and make some jokes. I had some ideas for this week’s episode … and then the night’s second tribal council really threw all that out the window.

Survivor has many virtues and many vices. But for better or worse, it has worked as its self-proclaimed “social experiment” for a long time now. That leads to some interesting outcomes when, for example, you get Mike observing Omar praying toward Mecca and learning about something outside his own upbringing. It also leads to some extremely emotional moments like we got Wednesday night, with two Black castaways seeing two other Black castaways sent off back-to-back and having their own personal reckoning with what it would mean to see another one. I’m a straight white dude and have nothing of value to add to what happened in that tribal council beyond saying that I get why basically everyone involved reacted like they did. I could say more, but who the heck cares what I think about this sort of stuff when more relevant voices said more relevant things. So let’s get to the recap.

Deep breath. There was a lot. And that was only one half of the night’s eliminations. Let’s take a look at Episode 8 of Survivor 42, including some key takeaways and an update on our preseason picks.

Survivor 42 Episode 8 Recap

Romeo tells the tribe no hard feelings after last week’s tribal council, knowing he got some “protect against an idol” throwaway votes. Then he makes it clear to the camera that there are, in fact, hard feelings. 

Hai (correctly) suspects Romeo of casting a vote against Hai, which Romeo denies, and then the editors toss in a clip where they might as well have said “LOL yes you did.”

Rocksroy proposes a guys’ alliance to Mike and Jonathan, planning to loop Hai and Omar in as well. The big guys agree, but then when Rocksroy talks to Omar, he’s clearly not barking up the right tree, and then when he goes to Hai, he straight up calls it misogynistic, so I’m thinking Rocksroy’s plans might not quite work out.

We go straight to the immunity challenge, which might tell you how much we’re in for this week. It’s the traditional “stand on a triangle in the water with plans to get gradually higher until there’s one person left,” with the addition that our tribe of 10 will actually get divided into two groups of 5, with one member of each winning immunity and then the two groups going to separate tribals and each voting someone out (and the overall winner earning beef/veggie kebabs for their team). Also, the “plans to get gradually higher” part is straight comedy, because the wind is so hard and the water so choppy that we lose 70% of the competitors inside the first minute.

Anyway, the teams are five guys — Mike, Rocksroy, Omar, Romeo, Hai — and “Jonathan and the ladies.” Hai wins immunity for his side in less time than it took for me to remember which five people were on his side, while Jonathan outlasts Lindsay to win his side, then outlasts Hai to win the food. There is a lot of crazy wobbling in the wind, and can I just say, deciding to hold this season inside a wind tunnel led to some very comedic outcomes.

So Jonathan wins his first immunity, and the difference between how the necklace looks on him compares to how it looks on Hai is hilarious. The dang thing’s like a choker on big ol’ Jonathan.

Mike sends us into commercial with an extremely “famous last words”-y declaration that it’s clearly Romeo and things are easy.

The losing side returns to Taku’s old camp, where Rocksroy says he is “banking” on the guys being stereotypes and not changing anything or doing anything surprising. Omar has other ideas, wanting to rally Hai and Romeo to vote Rocksroy for his pushiness (and keeping Romeo because he’s such an easy vote whenever they want it). Hai doesn’t want to do it without getting Mike’s OK, and Mike is reluctant.

Other at the winning side, Jonathan gets the noting of making a “big move” and getting rid of Drea’s idol (sounds like he’s only aware of one of her 476 advantages?) while making her think it’s Maryanne (why not Tori? No idea). Drea keys in on Jonathan’s squirrelliness and her radar goes off.

So when I was in seventh grade, there was this kid named Gene who came to our school. He started playing people in chess and winning over and over. My buddy Travis and I were the two most active chess players in the school, and we hadn’t played him for a while. And then we each played him, and we each lost. And then we played him again, and we each won. And then he could never beat us again. Because it took us no time at all that Gene had a very good strategy to go on the offensive and win quickly, but if you countered it (and once you noticed it, it was extremely easy to counter), he had no backup move. He would go from winning to losing in a matter of three moves, because as soon as his first tactic failed, he had no more strategy.

I say this because Lindsay very clearly points out that, while they could flush out Drea’s idol if they get rid of her, but she could also just play her idol, and at that point Maryanne goes, and that’s no good. Lindsay (very sensibly, I think?) raises the idea of having Tori as an insurance vote, but that is a wrinkle in Jonathan’s strategy that he can’t really deal with (he legitimately has a several-second “wait what?” stare at one point), and he just talks over Lindsay until she gives up. She gives an interview that is not very pro-Jonathan.

The losing team hits tribal in some miserable weather, with the tiny Hai and Romeo both looking miserable. After some commiserating over the conditions, we get to the real talk, with Rocksroy declaring how chill their camp was and Probst and jury-Chanelle both being like “Dude, you have to get why that’s bad,” but Rocksroy totally not getting that. Romeo calls out all the dudebro-ness of the guys’ alliance, but Rocksroy is like “Yeah, that’s what we’re doing, let’s go.”

They vote, and I’m reminded again how much the editors have to love when two castaways have names that start the same, because the two candidates to go this week are Romeo and Rocksroy, so they can show Mike write “R-O” without giving anything away. Anyway, Probst reads votes, and after the first vote goes to Romeo, the rest are for Rocksroy, and he’s out. He takes it well, until he gets to the jury box and tells Chanelle “I hope they freeze.”

And then the episode turns especially serious. The winning team comes in, and to a person their “Wait, Rocksroy?” faces are comedically shocked.

Before things go full serious, we need to talk about how miserable Maryanne looks at tribal. Because I felt bad for Hai and Romeo during their tribal, but I was legitimately worried about poor Maryanne’s health until her adrenaline kicked in.

OK, so Drea just stares at Rocksroy sitting in the jury box next to Chanelle, and it doesn’t take long for her to see the clear story of “We had four Black people like five minutes ago, now two are gone and maybe I’m next.” She basically turns into full warpath and declares she is using her idol no matter what, because she’s not going to allow three straight Black people to be voted out. Jonathan suddenly realizes this means he has to re-strategize, and their whispers appear to land on “Vote Tori out but tell her to stay on Drea because she’s not actually going to use her idol.”’

But that’s because Jonathan and Tori don’t realize how legitimately serious things have gotten, because Tori half-begs Maryanne to stay on Drea and Maryanne goes full “I am not voting for Drea, it’s not happening.” And what follows is honestly an extremely impressive monologue from Maryanne, especially considering how miserable she has to feel in that weather, about how a vote for Chanelle is one thing, another for Rocksroy is just whatever, but if Drea follows next she can’t live with herself, and she feels like she has to use her idol even though she’s not really at risk because she doesn’t want people to say that she only made it through because she played the race card. And y’all, that is a really good point. She made a move there that certainly hurt her long-term healthy in the game, because eventually the game ends and she has to deal with her reputation afterward, and that’s a big deal.

Meanwhile, Jonathan (very understandably) struggles with the difference between “These vote-outs have a racial theme” and “The people doing the votes are racist.” That clearly wasn’t what Drea was saying, but it’s very easy to understand how Jonathan in the moment, still on gameplay before broader social statement, keys in on part of it. They assure him they aren’t calling him racist, but then that turns into them being frustrated that even their big moment has to turn into them reassuring a white person that the white person did nothing wrong, and y’all, this got heavy.

It’s really hard to go from that to the whole “let’s walk to a silly booth to vote” rigamarole, and Probst can clearly sense that, so he agrees they can do an open vote. Drea and Maryanne both pop up to turn in their idols, and with Jonathan immune, that means it’s either Lindsay or Tori, and everyone is honest with Tori that she’s going. She says she’ll play her Shot in the Dark, and Probst clarifies that that means either Tori’s Shot succeeds, and Lindsay goes home, or it fails, and Tori goes home.

(Why didn’t Lindsay also play her Shot in the Dark? There are two in there. Why leave it up to Tori’s chance and leave yourself no recourse? I don’t know what the show does if everyone is immune, but you have to try. Honestly, part of me feels like Lindsay wanted to, and the backup plan would have been drawing rocks, and the show wouldn’t allow even a 2-in-5 chance of Maryanne or Drea going home after all that, but I hope that isn’t it. I don’t know.)

Tori draws her scroll, Probst unrolls it, and she’s not safe. Tori goes, and she totally understands. She heads out, and we’re down to eight.

Recapping My Picks

Omar is running things, and he’s doing it extremely behind-the-scenes-y. He has no advantages and not much chance at individual immunity, but at this point I’d be surprised if he doesn’t make at least the final four.

Hai is getting increasingly paranoid and confrontational. I still think he’s in good shape, but not great shape.

Stock Rising

You always have to consider the editing here, and Drea is getting one hell of a winner’s edit. It’s also possible she goes out before the final jury with a heartfelt “I gave it my all,” but at this point, if she can make it to Final Tribal, she’s gonna with this damn thing.

Maryanne finally appears to be getting a long-term character arc as well, not just “Geez, she talks a lot and is emotional. I think Drea has the brighter future of the night’s featured players, but Maryanne is interesting.

Stock Falling

Jonathan frustrated everyone this week, didn’t understand what was happening at tribal, and saw his newly formed alliance fall apart instantly. Dude won his first individual immunity but still saw his chances dim.

Romeo didn’t go home, so I guess you can say that’s good for him, but he’s an easy eviction whenever they want it and has no votes on the jury. There’s no path for him.

Tracking the Advantages and Wrinkles

• Amulet Advantage: Lindsay, Hai, Drea
• Extra Vote: Maryanne, Drea
• Immunity Idol: Mike 
• Knowledge Is Power Advantage: Drea