Survivor 42

[MrPryck2U]

Yes, Drea got in that parting shot to Omar. He was largely responsible for Drea leaving. Mike would have been screwed without Omar passing along The Secret.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Omar’s obviously playing an incredible game and he’s the only hope for a truly great winner this season. That being said, I don’t really give a shit who wins as long as they obviously deserved it more than the other player(s) sitting at Final Tribal Council. The shift from the Final 2 to a final 3 and then, later, the firestarting challenge were obviously intended to give extra outs to top players but I never really cared if some great strategist went out in third or fourth place. That’s just Survivor.

Lindsay would also make a good winner. She made a boneheaded decision in that last immunity challenge but has otherwise had her pulse on the game and held her tongue at the right moments. Still, Omar’s playing a next-level game over everyone else.

I liked Romeo and MaryAnne coming to the realization in the preview that they’re basically goats. Not sure if there’s anything they can do to change that because one of Omar, Lindsay, Mike or Jonathan is guaranteed to make the finals at this point. Perhaps the relative in-eloquence of Mike or Jonathan’s verbal pitch(es) could allow MaryAnne to get the emotional appeal and win (doesn’t hurt that three jury members are black). Seems like the play for Romeo/MaryAnne would be to use their idol on the next target and make a Final Three pact with them. They’d get props for the big move blindsiding someone else and potentially cement their road to the finals.

 

[Hewson]

Well, that was well played.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Yep. And now Maryanne is definitely the frontrunner for the $1 million. Will get cred for Final 5 idol and she’s charismatic as fuck. Also helps that the jury will have a whopping three black players (two of them women) and black woman has not won this show since Season 4.

Final 5 is a no brainer. You vote out the one of Lindsay/Jonathan that doesn’t have the necklace on.

If Final 4 challenge isn’t random, remainder of Lindsay/Jonathan wins it and obviously takes Romeo to the end, setting up what could be a million dollar fire challenge between Mike and Maryanne.

Maryanne’s got three outs:

- Final 4 IC
- Firestarting challenge
- Someone underestimating her and taking her to the end (perhaps Romeo who might not give a shit anyway since he’s guaranteed zero jury votes)

 

[Hewson]

(perhaps Romeo who might not give a shit anyway since he’s guaranteed zero jury votes)

That presumes Romeo wins the final 4 IC.
Unless that challenge is sliding your entire body through a 2" crack in a wall, don't see that happening.
Dude is useless and a guaranteed Becky.

 

[MrPryck2U]

Maryanne's move was huge. I really don't get why the others didn't go along with her, but Omar was the largest threat. I read an interview on Yahoo that he had an Idol nullifier that wasn't mentioned on TV. He could have sabotaged Mike. I think Lindsey or Maryanne win this thing.

 

[Hewson]

Clearly Jonathan and Mike were wary of Lindsay giving her idol to Lime the Emu and figured Romeo was the safest target.
Maryanne sussed out that Lindsay and Omar felt so confident that they might not play the idol, brilliant move. Stupid move by Lindsay to basically waste the idol because of the fear of it being re-introduced into the game. She ended up losing her strongest ally (but also ultimately someone she'd never have beaten at final TC, so it could end up benefitting her). Her facial expression was priceless when she realized what was happening.
Maryanne also was smart enough to concoct a plan that had a backup option if LimutheEmu was given the idol. They'd have had a tie between Romeo and Matuszak and then could still go after Romeo.
Definitely biggest, brightest and boldest move of the season and vaults her from 5th out of 6 on the hierarchy to 1st out of 5.

 

[MrPryck2U]

I suppose as the game has progressed, Maryanne has gotten less annoying.

One thing I'll add is that the remaining participants have all played a reasonably solid game.

 

[Hewson]

Aside from Romeo, I agree.

Mike and Jonathan have shown remarkable awareness for when others are trying to play them.

 

[MrPryck2U]

I'd throw Romeo in the mix just because he's made it this far and doesn't appear to be a coattail rider. Do I think he'll win? Hell no!

 

[Hewson]

Meh.
What moves has he orchestrated? None.
What challenges has he won? None.
What alliances is he controlling? None.
He's not a classic coattail rider like a Becky because he's not attached to one person, he's just there because nobody considers him a threat and they are all targeting one another, knowing he stands zero chance of beating any of them at the end.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

That presumes Romeo wins the final 4 IC.
Unless that challenge is sliding your entire body through a 2" crack in a wall, don't see that happening.
Dude is useless and a guaranteed Becky.

Well, we both got played because the “Romeo bringing Maryanne” hypothesis did end up happening.


Going into final tribal, Mike had the better overall case than MaryAnne who I think should have saved Lindsay at Final 5 in order to pad her resume and prove that she was in control of the game. But Mike royally fucked up adhering to the “honor and integrity” nonsense and you could see the jury flipping out at him because he may have tossed an extra $900,000 into the toilet.

That being said, MaryAnne is a perfectly acceptable winner. There was no real mastermind this season and she orchestrated the biggest move of the season. No viewer is going to walk away disappointed but Omar would have made for a really good winner and Lindsay/Jonathan would have been fairly unique ones with a solid resume. But that’s Survivor and as long as the most deserving person won in front of a truly open-minded jury, what more can you ask for?

 

[Hewson]

Yeah, Mike definitely hurt himself at the final TC.
And Maryanne's reveal of the idol she never used was an aha moment that seemed to definitely sway the jury. I kind of expected her to win, but more like 5-3-0, not 7-1-0.
Would have been interesting had Jonathan won the fire challenge to see how it would have played out. I think he'd have handled jury questions better than Mike, so he might have had a shot, though ultimately I think he'd probably have lost 5-3 or maybe there'd have been a tie. (I could see him getting Mike and Rocksroy for sure and probably Drea. The question would have been could he have swayed anyone else in his favor like maybe Hai.)

As you said, no issues with Maryanne. And unlike last season, doesn't feel in the slightest that they gave it to her because the jury was dead set to not give it to a straight white male, the votes felt 100% on game merit.

 

[MrPryck2U]

I enjoyed this season. Once Romeo won that last challenge, I knew Maryanne would win the game. I knew Mike's downfall would be his honor and integrity thing. Thought the vote would be 5-3, not 7-1. Maryanne came on really strong at the end. I do miss the days when the entire cast would reunite. Even before Covid hit, they were reducing the number of contestants at the reunion. They could have had a montage or something.

 

[MrPryck2U]

We need Sicy to make a cameo appearance.

 

[Sicy]

Yes hello! Maryann super annoyed me but good for her.

 

[MrPryck2U]

For a while she was annoying, but she grew on me.