S42.E02: Good and Guilty

[Whimsy]

Quote

An unlikely friendship forms when 2 castaways bond over their differences. The beware immunity idol returns, forcing castaways to consider all options before entering this unknown territory.

Original air date 3/16/22

[Lady Calypso]

Not me not realizing that Marya and Maryanne start with the same five letters so I thought Omar was writing Maryanne's name down.

Decent episode. Proud of Daniel for trying to game the idol that Mike found. He may not be good competitively, but I appreciate some strategic gameplay behind that.

Maryanne is exhausting. I do like her as a person, but she'd be too much for me. She seems nice and I am not upset at her sticking around, especially since they gave Marya so little to do, but I probably wouldn't have kept her.

Drea is already a target for Swati/Tori. Yikes. I like Drea better than Swati and definitely better than Tori, so I hope she prevails. 

People gotta stop blabbing to people about idols and advantages. At the very least, stop telling MULTIPLE people. 

[Lamb18]

Why wasn't Maryanne wailing when Marya was voted out?

[mojoween]

If I make it to Survivor, I am definitely not going to tell anyone if I find an idol.  Ok except for maybe this lady.  Oh also that dude too.  But I’m sure he won’t tell anyone about it.  It’s going to be FINE.

[Guest]

Maybe it's just that all the "new" twists aren't as new anymore, but it feels like they're doing a better job this time of not having them swallow the show. Another pretty well balanced episode, with just about everyone getting a moment.

I felt bad during the whole "Mike finds (then loses, then finds again) the idol clue" segment, not just the embarrassing part of it, but when Daniel and Chanelle were discussing a way to keep him from activating it -- like, I felt sorry for him, but didn't hold it against Daniel/Chanelle at all. It helps that they weren't mean-spirited about it. That's the problem with having so many likable people.

Superficial note of the week: Lindsay has a very nice smile.

[LadyChatts]

Two people revealed they had an advantage or potential idol, and two of the people they told now want to vote them out.  Not sure what Mike was thinking telling Daniel, and I loved it that Swati immediately seemed to turn on Drea for being too powerful in the game.

Great editing by the show, I had no idea Taku was going to lose, and really thought they were setting MaryAnne up for her swan song.  I think I'm glad she survived, but I hope she dials it back about 10 notches. 

Blindfold challenges always give me anxiety on this show, and I'm not even competing in them.   

[Lady Calypso]

Just now, tracyscott76 said:

That's the problem with having so many likable people.

For sure. It's still early, and some could still show their true colours, but there's not very many I actively hate this season. 95% of them are actually fairly likeable.

[LadyChatts]

1 minute ago, Lady Calypso said:

For sure. It's still early, and some could still show their true colours, but there's not very many I actively hate this season. 95% of them are actually fairly likeable.

I actually liked more people this week than I did last week.  Which is usually the opposite for me.  Still don't like Tori very much, and not sure about Rocks.  MaryAnne is sweet but I need her in small doses.  Everyone else is cool. 

Was also glad we got to see more of the dynamics on tribe green and obviously tribe orange.  I hate the three tribe format when one tribe virtually gets ignored the whole time until they lose immunity.  

Edited March 17, 2022 by LadyChatts

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

People gotta stop blabbing to people about idols and advantages. At the very least, stop telling MULTIPLE people.

Yeah, I actually got Mike's reasoning for telling Jenny, since he wouldn't have a vote until the idol was activated and she was his top ally. But telling Daniel, too? There are other ways to bring someone in your alliance, my friend!

[Carey]

11 minutes ago, Lamb18 said:

Why wasn't Maryanne wailing when Marya was voted out?

The show was up against it, so they had to edit it out

[vb68]

Between all the talk about who they are outside the game, sad stories, Maryanne gasping that her potential new boyfriend is gone, Maryanne in general sucking up all the oxygen, yadda yadda yadda, it seemed like there was precious little time for the actual game.

. 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, vb68 said:

Between all the talk about who they are outside the game, sad stories, Maryanne gasping that her potential new boyfriend is gone, Maryanne in general sucking up all the oxygen, yadda yadda yadda, it seemed like there was precious little time for the actual game.

. 

I won't dispute the Maryanne part, but I felt like the rest of the personal stuff we got this week added to the game as it was playing out. Without hearing about Marya's loss and her desire for both closure and to do something for herself, her getting voted out would have just been a "shrug" moment ("oh well, they voted out the quiet one instead of the talkative one"), but instead it made me somewhat invested in the outcome of the vote.

The piece about Omar went a long way toward showing how the dynamics on that tribe were shaking out, and how a potentially important alliance (Omar and Jonathan) was born.

And even the segment about Hai being a vegan and struggling to eat meat was put in terms of his role in the game and his tribe ("if I don't eat something, I could be seen as a liability").

So it worked for me, for the most part!

[Carey]

Yeah, there's just no reason to promote to anyone you have an idol.  As mentioned, Mike didn't have a choice.  Eventually one might have to disclose it, but after 2+ decades of Survivor and over a decade & and a half of the Hidden II Era, these people need to know better if they're destined to survive.  Way too soon to tell others.

I doubt I would've lost sleep over Maryanne getting booted, but I would have felt awful for her.  Eventually she might end up going, but I'm hoping it's not for a long time and at the point where she knows she's done.

One reason why I'm not a fan of the shot in the dark thing is that's it's such a longshot.  However, the odds are the same when it comes to Craps, yet, the seven shows up more often than not the first roll after the first point has been established!

[North of Eden]

I will admit I was dissapointed to see someone that I liked last week turn out to be a snake....Daniel I'm looking at you.

With that said if I was ever out there on that island playing the game NO ONE would ever know I had an advantage, idol or whatever until I stood up at tribal council and played it. Anyone who as ever watched the game should know better than to say a word...the results are instantly predicatable...the person you trust blabs and now you've put everything in jeapordy.  Hush already!

Marya to me anyway looked like that Rachel Dolenzol chick who made headlines a few years ago with the race hoax. ANyway the editors tipped their hand like they always do when they featured a segment on her tragic backstory (and it is tragic...bless her brother for giving his life to help others)...it was clear they had to get that in because she was going.

Getting a serious manipulative vibe from Lindsey and it's not good.

Jeff would have been sooo dissapointed if Maryanne left....you can tell he likes her and she is an actual character standing out amongst a lot of currently interchangeable folks. Besides every desert isle needs a Maryanne.

I thought Jenny would be the caller just so she could direct the puzzle.

Suddenly there is a Chanelle? Where did she come from?

Lastly Tori and the Vegan guy...where did they think they were going....Club Med? Let him starve came to my mind.

Edited March 17, 2022 by North of Eden

[ProfCrash]

OK, I am really liking Jonathon and that really surprises me. He seems like a nice guy. And I am enjoying his relationships with the other tribe members. 

I loved the religion conversation. Omar was letting people know he was going to pray and not get an idol, Maryann offered to make him a prayer mat. Then the comments about learning more about the different religions ending with the “I’m a bad Jew” was very enjoyable. Everyone was cool, it was an honest exchange and ended with a bit of humor. 

Maryann is going to drive me crazy. She is just always on and on and on. She is not fake on but just on. 

Not sure how Ika won because they are pretty awful.

And the game play is just about as good I expected it last week. Drea tells both women about her vote so they can form a womens alliance and it automatically turns into “Vote Drea out”.  Mike finds the idol not idol and tells Jenny and Daniel. Then Daniel tells another tribe member. I just don’t understand how it is that people always tell people about the damn idol and advantages. Seriously. They show people doing this and then people automatically want those people out. Just why?

 

[vb68]

2 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Without hearing about Marya's loss and her desire for both closure and to do something for herself, her getting voted out would have just been a "shrug" moment ("oh well, they voted out the quiet one instead of the talkative one"), but instead it made me somewhat invested in the outcome of the vote.

That does the opposite for me. Those kind of flashbacks just make my eyes glaze over. I have seen too many many of those on other shows like Idol and The Voice.   

Edited March 17, 2022 by vb68

[OutOfTheQuestion]

Presumably some of the tribe's logic in keeping Maryanne was "if we vote her out first, the viewers at home and the producers are going to haaaaaate us."

I can't totally blame Mike for telling others about his idol.  These twists are so complicated that if I was out there for a few days with no sleep and no food, I would want another set of eyes reading the parchment over to make sure there wasn't anything I missed out of pure delirium. 

[PaperTree]

33 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

Besides every desert isle needs a Maryanne.

Indeed!  LOL!

[Cotypubby]

I’m sure Maryanne is genuinely a sweet person but 5 minutes of her was enough for me. I have no idea how her tribe mates can spend multiple days with all that nonstop energy coming at them without wanting to commit murder. She is just way too much.

[ByaNose]

When I play Survivor I swear I will not tell a single sole about any idol or advantages. I know I can do it and I’m looking forward to do so. 

[Melina22]

Tonight was a Survivor first for me. In the middle of the blindfold challenge (my favourite kind) I had to pause the show for a full 2 minutes to get a grip on myself. I was laughing so hard I was crying, couldn't see or hear. I also rewound certain bits because they were so hilarious. 

I'm a bad person, aren't I? But I'll probably rewatch it tomorrow. 😁

Edited March 17, 2022 by Melina22

[Valerie]

Glad my cinnamon roll Maryann survived another episode though it's clear she is going to be an early boot. The problem with these shorter seasons, if 42 follows 41, is that there won't be a tribe swap so she will have to survive her tribe long enough to make it to the merge.

Lydia did a great job as caller during the challenge.

Mike originally annoyed me in the premiere but I found him more entertaining rather than annoying in this episode. Rocksroy didn't get a ton of screentime ("You have to avoid the balls, Rocksroy" from Daniel SENT ME) so I'm still iffy on him.

Marya didn't do much but she had a graceful exit. The thank you to health workers in honour of her brother was a nice touch by production. I hope she got a chance to bury his necklace.

[Grizzly]

I really hope those shorts were not chosen by Lydia. That is a lot of white thigh. I thought there was a nice mix of tribal life tonight. I liked the catching and eating of the crab, the sharing of religious viewpoints, the budding bromance, and Mike finding and losing an idol. Jeff better hope Maryanne doesn't develop a crush on him.

[grandmabegum]

Was going to put this in the media thread but didn't want people to miss it. Mike's Twitter is pretty delightful.

 

[Wandering Snark]

My thinking on Maryanne is like my thinking on kids especially in the super cute stages... I love to take them to the park and chase them around and get in tune with the wonder they see in life and... then have them go home with their parents. It's not a 24-7 kinda thing which I know I wouldn't be able to handle. That's Maryanne. She seems crazy fun to be around and a little infectious what with that smile to light up the place but then I like turning off my tv and her not being next to me when, say, I'm trying to sleep.

[mertensia]

I laughed when Daniel, sitting out the challenge, said blankly "I have no idea what's going on".

Geeze, Maryanne, tone it down. 

[choclatechip45]

I really like Maryanne so I'm glad she stayed.  I thought her crush on Zach was cute. 

I really liked the Omar/Jonathan friendship. 

[Lantern7]

I'm trying to be detached . . . but, once again, Maryanne is my people. I get how she can be seen as exhausting, I'm thinking running from her and risk people thinking I'm idol-hunting becomes more of a possibility the longer I'd be with her . . . but I relate to her.

We should just start referring to Mike as "Fireman Tony." Same vibe.

How long has it been since there was a blindfold challenge? Always entertaining to watch players batter themselves senseless. I'm thinking the medical team camped out at the challenge site overnight in anticipation.

Another unanimous vote thanks to Shot in the Dark. It's just a matter of time before we get an episode where everyone at Tribal Council winds up immune from the votes. I'd like to think Probst would go, "Ah, fuck it, all of you stay in the game" . . . but Jeff is not built like that.

Edited March 17, 2022 by Lantern7

[ByaNose]

So far, Season 42 is way better than 41 which I liked. It seems like everyone is playing but there isn’t a true power couple/alliance from what I can tell. Maryann seems genuinely sweet and happy but we’re only seeing for 45 minutes once a week. I’m sure 25/7 might be different. LOL!!!!

It was so funny about her crush on Zach and they weren’t even on the same tribe. I am curious if she makes it to the merge and how deep she goes if she does. I think it will depend a lot on Jonathan in the next immunity challenge if it’s physical or not to help or hurt her chances. 

 I think everyone’s back story has been told and it’s now about the game, idols and advantages from here on out. It’s getting exciting.

[TVFan1]

I had a feeling that Mayra was going to go tonight. I felt bad for her hearing about her brother and I wanted to see her be safe when she played her shot in the dark. 

I hope Maryanne tones it down in the future. She's a little too much.

[LadyChatts]

3 minutes ago, TVFan1 said:

I had a feeling that Mayra was going to go tonight. I felt bad for her hearing about her brother and I wanted to see her be safe when she played her shot in the dark. 

I hope Maryanne tones it down in the future. She's a little too much.

I was kind of surprised that she went since she had her story about her brother revealed in this episode.  I feel like that's usually a sign the person is safe.

Agree about MaryAnne.  I thought she was digging her own grave at TC when she kept going on and on (and on).

Quote

So far, Season 42 is way better than 41 which I liked. It seems like everyone is playing but there isn’t a true power couple/alliance from what I can tell. Maryann seems genuinely sweet and happy but we’re only seeing for 45 minutes once a week. I’m sure 25/7 might be different. LOL!!!!

I feel like everyone has at least gotten air time, and it's only episode 2.  Erika, last season's winner, barely got featured until their was like 2 episodes left (not counting the hourglass twist she initiated).  I said it before, but the editing was clever tonight.  I really thought Green or Blue was going to TC.  The fact that Marya played her shot in the dark made me realize she knew she was in more danger than they were letting on.  I was actually expecting Lindsey to be blindsided by her boot, but she voted along with her tribe.

[bankerchick]

19 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

I think everyone’s back story has been told and it’s now about the game, idols and advantages from here on out.

From your lips to God's ears.

[Andyourlittledog2]

Maryanne really does remind me of Suzanne from Orange is the New Black.  Except she's not crazy (I think).  I could not be around her for more than fifteen minutes at a time though.

Damn, people. Stop talking to everyone about your new found idols and advantages. What compulsion is it that makes these contestants just blurt it out to everyone they think they trust? You've been together for a minute. You can't truly trust anyone.

[Chicago Redshirt]

3 hours ago, North of Eden said:

ILastly Tori and the Vegan guy...where did they think they were going....Club Med? Let him starve came to my mind.

Vegan Guy explained what he was thinking and had a point. Before S41 which had not aired when this one filmed, Survivors were given a base level of rice. So he went in thinking that he could rely on rice plus coconuts and other non-animal things. But the producers changed things up and took rice away as a base to make the shorter game tougher. That hits Vegan Guy in a hard way that he could not reasonably have expected. 

I am a bad person for enjoying him bending his principles to continue in the game ("yes, strike that crab down! it is defenseless!"), and for thinking of the Brandon Routh character in Scott Pilgrim. 

[Primetimer]

Just posted Joe Reid's recap. He writes that where last season's edit seemed to throw out all the rules (who saw Erika coming?), so far Survivor 42 seems like a return to basics, editing-wise:

Quote

One of the oldest tricks in the editors' book came into play for Marya: the heretofore invisible cast member who suddenly gets a ton of backstory out of the blue. This has historically been a terrible omen and almost always results in the newly visible person getting voted out that episode. 

More here:
https://www.primetimer.com/features/survivor-editing-logic-might-not-be-dead-after-all

[grandmabegum]

For some reason I always picture the ostrich on Omar's shirt is screeching (it's not] and I just want Maryanne to wearing cause a think a loud ostrich would be a good spirit animal for her (but her excitement is happy, not angry]

[Tachi Rocinante]

Did Lydia actually yell, "You two bitches come here!"  Or something like that? Whatever it was, it worked.

[ProfCrash]

I thought the Vegan story line was interesting. He had every reason to think there would be rice, sometimes there is even beans. He could make that work with what ever fruit they found around the island. It wouldn't be easy per se but it was workable. I appreciate that he made a hard choice and that his Tribe was supportive. You could see that this wasn't a trend chosen thing but something he believed in. And I think it was good that he could see that the crab tasted good but that he felt guilty. 

I do believe that most people would make a similar choice in a real survival situation but I can see how eating meat for a TV show would be a different type of choice because then it is not "eat crab or die" but "eat crab to be able to stay in a game to win a million dollars" and that feels different.

[AncientNewbie]

Solid if unexceptional early boot episode. 

Although "Gotta protect the balls" (or however Daniel said it) should have been the ep title. 

[KeithJ]

12 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Drea is already a target for Swati/Tori. Yikes.

 

12 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I loved it that Swati immediately seemed to turn on Drea for being too powerful in the game.

 

11 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Drea tells both women about her vote so they can form a womens alliance and it automatically turns into “Vote Drea out”.

I don't understand Swati's (and now Tori's) thinking here.  Someone comes to you proposing a girls alliance that gives you the numbers.  She even tells you about her advantage and immediately it's "Drea is too powerful, she has to go!"?  It's day three?  Use the alliance to your advantage.  I really hope their tribe loses the next immunity challendge and Swati is voted off next.

[peachmangosteen]

15 minutes ago, KeithJ said:

I don't understand Swati's (and now Tori's) thinking here.  Someone comes to you proposing a girls alliance that gives you the numbers.  She even tells you about her advantage and immediately it's "Drea is too powerful, she has to go!"?  It's day three?  Use the alliance to your advantage.  I really hope their tribe loses the next immunity challendge and Swati is voted off next.

This. Swati is an idiot for that. 

This episode was so great. Some genuinely interesting and touching moments and also so much comedy. Loved it!

[ProfCrash]

6 minutes ago, KeithJ said:

 

 

I don't understand Swati's (and now Tori's) thinking here.  Someone comes to you proposing a girls alliance that gives you the numbers.  She even tells you about her advantage and immediately it's "Drea is too powerful, she has to go!"?  It's day three?  Use the alliance to your advantage.  I really hope their tribe loses the next immunity challendge and Swati is voted off next.

Yeah, the game play for the Blue tribe has been bad. 

Zach seems to have placed a target on himself with the way he approached losing the immunity challenge. Swati has a talking head about how Zach held her back on the puzzle but she was there too. Why was Zach taking all the blame? What was her role in the puzzle? And then Zach is ready for Drea to throw him under the bus to Tori. 

Drea gets an advantage and tells two people who she is not aligned with about it. She doesn't approach Tori and Swati an alliance or working together and see if there is any interest there. You know, test the water, get a feel for things, see how things develop and then tell them about the extra vote. She pulls them together, says a women's alliance would be awesome, and then tells them about the extra vote. Never mind that if the women' alliance was a thing, they had a 3-2 advantage in numbers and that there was no good reason to share that info. Drea had an alliance, decided a different alliance would be better for reasons she failed to share, and tells her new alliance about an advantage with no prompting. 

Swati's comment makes some sense to me. Drea is trying to control the game. is playing hard (possibly too hard), and the random nature of the alliance and advantage reveal would concern me about how Drea is playing. 

Rocksroy social play is text book awful. "Hey, people, here is how not to play. Tell everyone what to do. Micromanage shelter building. Tell them to wash their shoes. Be belligerent sounding in every conversation."

Tori is coming off as phony and has isolated herself from the people. She seems to be more of a swing vote that some people are working to use and that is it. 

Swati is screwed once people figure out that she is willing to stab everyone n the back. 

I am not sure about Romeo. He seems more flexible and less over the top which is probably a great way to play with Rocksroy, Drea, and Tori putting targets on their backs. Romeo is in a good place to hide amongst th awful game play. If he makes it to the merge, he is not going to be a challenge threat. The rest of that tribe is all over the place enough that I doubt anyone is going to want to work with them. 

[JudyObscure]

There are 27 calories in one ounce of crabmeat. It looked  like Hai had about a half ounce at most.  Nowhere near enough to give up your principles, just enough to wake up your insulin and make you hungrier.  They should have rice, Jeff!  There's no excuse to starve people just so production can cut it shorter and say it's just as tough.

[MsMalin]

How many of those crabs would they have to catch to make a solid meal 200? 

I have worked with people like Maryanne and while likable, eventually you just want to tell them to stfu. And eventually you start to think they are narcissists because everything is all about them.

[Guest]

What bugged me the most about Maryanne's, ah, enthusiasm, actually had nothing to do with her. It was when she was chattering at tribal council, and Jeff leaned in to rest his chin on his hand with this big grin on his face, like he was so fascinated with her. And then when she stopped: "Oh, I was just getting comfortable!" It was one of the fakest things I've ever seen him do (which, you know, is pretty bad). Like the producer in him was seeing this potentially lovable character that the audience was going to eat right up, so he had to make her seem even more lovable with the hand on chin act. Bleh. Don't do crap like that, Jeff. It often has the opposite effect of what you intend, which was the case here.

[Asha124]

So, is Zach the new Candice from the Raro tribe? 😃

Edited March 17, 2022 by Asha124

[ByaNose]

25 minutes ago, Asha124 said:

So, is Zach the new Candice from the Raro tribe? 😃

Well, to be fair Candice was still in the game when Billy Garcia made his declaration. LOL!!!

Edited March 17, 2022 by ByaNose

[iMonrey]

It really irritates me that we seldom understand why a tribe votes for a certain person because the editing wants to keep up the suspense. It really seemed like Taku was leaning towards voting out Maryanne, only to turn around and vote out Marya instead. And  . . . we will never know why. It's not like they are going to come back from tribal council next week and explain "Well, we decided on Marya because . . . " I want to know what is guiding these decisions - that's an important part of the game we don't get to see.

Quote

Between all the talk about who they are outside the game, sad stories, Maryanne gasping that her potential new boyfriend is gone, Maryanne in general sucking up all the oxygen, yadda yadda yadda, it seemed like there was precious little time for the actual game.

If by "actual game" you mean challenges, then no thanks. I'm glad we're still doing one combined challenge instead of two. These elaborate obstacle course/puzzle challenges all look alike to me anymore and they bore me. Especially with Jeff Probst yammering away through the whole thing. It was especially annoying this week because the challenge involved callers so three people were trying to yell instructions to their team while Probst was running his mouth at the same time.

Quote

One reason why I'm not a fan of the shot in the dark thing is that's it's such a longshot.

I'm also suspicious of how this works. They have some sort of token they drop into some sort of container and out pops a little scroll of paper. Is that just random or are those placed into that container in some sort of order? If the latter then they know whether or not someone is going to get the "safe" paper in advance. (And before anyone starts in with that "it's a gameshow there are rules against fixing" bullcrap, please. That belief has been widely discredited.)

[fishcakes]

2 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I'm also suspicious of how this works. They have some sort of token they drop into some sort of container and out pops a little scroll of paper.

The scrolls are all in a bag next to the container. They reach into the bag and grab one of the scrolls.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

It really irritates me that we seldom understand why a tribe votes for a certain person because the editing wants to keep up the suspense. It really seemed like Taku was leaning towards voting out Maryanne, only to turn around and vote out Marya instead. And  . . . we will never know why. It's not like they are going to come back from tribal council next week and explain "Well, we decided on Marya because . . . " I want to know what is guiding these decisions - that's an important part of the game we don't get to see.

There was quite a bit of talk about the pros and cons of both Maryanne and Marya ahead of the vote (Marya is calmer, less volatile; Maryanne could be more loyal, has more energy we'll need going forward), so I don't think it seemed like they were leaning toward voting out Maryanne over Marya. It seemed fairly even. They gave reasons for keeping both, and so when Marya was voted out, we know why. And as for the bolded, they often do this very thing at the beginning of the next episode.