Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 42 as they list their top moments in various important categories. This includes the most essential information, the stand-out castaways, and the key moments from the week.
Here, Christine and Gia break down all the action from the fifth episode.
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Top 3 Moments
Jonathan vs. Maryanne
Christine: Taku served us a lot of Old School Survivor camp life drama this week, and Jonathan and Maryanne were at the center of it. After Jonathan vented his frustrations about Lindsay and Maryanne’s talkative natures (in my opinion, they seem fun to hang out with, but I get that patience wears thin when you’re on the island), Jonathan and Maryanne got in a bit of a tiff over whether or not he almost hit her with the machete. Omar was, rightfully, distressed about how these widening cracks in the tribe might impact Taku moving forward into the eventual merge.
Drea is Survivor Rich
Gia: Who is really doing it like Drea? Absolutely no one. Taking big risks for advantages doesn’t always work out for the players, but Drea has managed to rack up a nice collection of toys in the pre-merge. She has the Advantage Amulet, an extra vote, and now a hidden immunity idol. It turns out Drea was actually the one to find Ika’s idol, instead of Tori, which the previews alluded to pre-season. She’s mastered the art of obtaining advantages, but now she just has to have the foresight of knowing when to use them.
The Idols are Activated
Gia: Once again, the tribes waited until the last possible moment to activate their idols, and once again, it’s the blue tribe’s fault (also, kind of Mike’s fault too). Originally Mike wasn’t planning to say his phrase at all since the idols activate at the merge anyway, but I think the excitement got the best of him when Maryanne and Drea said their phrases. Now we once again have three idols going into the merge. For their sake, let’s hope they have better results this season than they did in 41.
Tribe Breakdown
Ika
Gia: Vati may have been the stars of the episode, but Ika held a steady supporting role this time around. It turns out Rocksroy did not know about the plan to vote out Swati, but he handled the news incredibly well and was ready to move forward with his tribe. Someone that isn’t looking to move forward with Ika is Tori, who is ready to flip the first chance she gets. Romeo got his time to shine with his backstory as a pageant coach, and Drea found the idol to add to her collection of advantages. Suffice to say, there is a lot going on with Ika, and I’m so excited to see their stories play out at the merge.
Taku
Gia: Taku’s two main storylines thus far have been 1) Jonathan being amazing at challenges and 2) Maryanne being on the outs. To no surprise, that’s pretty much all we get from them here. The spat between Jonathan and Maryanne is the height of drama that we’ve gotten with Taku. But Maryanne’s idol may be just what she needs to get out of this tight spot. With everything going on on Ika and Vati, it may appear that Taku is the most secure of the tribes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if their presumed strength makes them easy targets early on in the merge.
Vati
Christine: Most viewers likely saw the Daniel vs. Chanelle showdown coming from a mile away after the fallout of the Jenny vote, and Vati’s choice to ultimately oust Daniel wasn’t terribly surprising after his challenge performances and chaotic gameplay. The vote itself ended up being a little unpredictable, with Chanelle causing a 2-2-1 by voting Mike as an insurance policy in case Daniel successfully used his Shot in the Dark. While a logical defensive move, it ended up not being necessary, so it will be interesting to see how Chanelle recovers with Mike next week. Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention #GaysForMike, a hashtag I started at the start of the season that grows more relevant every day, especially now that Vati is now made up of Mike and three of this season’s out queer players.
Stand-Out Castaways
Romeo
Gia: Romeo has been the calm, steady force that is barely keeping Ika unified, which is no easy feat from what we have seen. Now we are finally getting to know more about him as an individual, particularly about his passion for being a pageant coach. We also learned how his tight bond with Drea relates to the strong women who supported him growing up. It was a touching segment, one I’m hoping is a sign of great things to come for him in the game.
Lydia
Christine: We finally got some confessional content from Survivor 42’s resident zoomer Twitter queen this week! It was nice to finally get to know Lydia a bit more beyond her hilarious social media presence with a touching personal segment about her journey with her body image. Lydia and Rocksroy’s Summit visit was ultimately the most uneventful (and awkward) one of the season, with neither player risking their vote or giving up any information about their tribes. Even though it led to an uneventful outcome, Lydia’s decision was the correct one in light of the mess of Jenny’s vote out that Chanelle’s Summit decision caused.
Daniel
Christine: Oh, Daniel. While far from my favorite personality on the season, Daniel will go down as a memorable pre-merge character with a decent case to be considered for another Second Chance season. Daniel had a hard road after the Jenny tribal. Between his challenge ability and his perception as a “snake,” it was an uphill battle against Chanelle, who, despite some major mistakes, had a much better case for convincing her tribemates she was a trustworthy ally in the long run.
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