Vati Tribe
Vati returns to camp after tribal council. Chanelle is glad she survived the vote, but she says it was scary. She voted for Mike in case Daniel played his shot-in-the-dark. Mike is angry with Chanelle, but he tells her it’s no big deal. He asks her not to write his name down again. However, he says in a confessional that he will never trust her moving forward. His only allegiance will be with Hai and Lydia.
Ika Tribe
Rocksroy is annoyed Tori keeps asking him about his journey to the summit. Tori says it doesn’t make sense that he won’t share any information. She says it’s clear Rocksroy doesn’t want to work with her. Rocksroy calls Tori unpredictable. He doesn’t want to stay aligned to her for the rest of the game. As Rocksroy and Tori are bickering, Romeo and Drea listen to what they’re saying. They say Tori is very pushy and not someone they want to work with. They also want her out of the game.
Reward Challenge
Jeff speaks directly to the camera before the castaways arrive at the challenge. He informs the audience they are bringing back the hour glass twist from last season. The castaways will be faced with the decision to choose power or reward. The castaways greet Jeff. He tells them to drop their buffs. They are excited to merge, but Jeff reveals they have not merged yet. They will be divided into two teams and compete in a challenge. They must push a boulder through obstacles and collect keys. They then will have to climb atop a tower to unlock a puzzle. The first team to finish the puzzle will earn immunity at the upcoming tribal council and an Applebees reward. The castaways draw rocks to determine the teams, as well as two players who will not compete. The two players who drew gray rocks will sit out of the challenge. Their fate will be decided by the winning team.
Orange team – Jonathan, Lydia, Maryanne, Hai, and Tori
Blue team – Drea, Mike, Romeo, Omar, and Chanelle
Gray – Lindsay and Rocksroy
The challenge begins, and the Orange team takes an early lead. Once again, Jonathan is the most valuable player. He’s helping the Orange team maintain their early lead by pushing the boulder and lifting them up the ladder to the platform. Eventually, Maryanne and Lydia work on the puzzle before the Blue team has reached the puzzle. Mike helps pull up his tribe members up the platform, but Drea is struggling getting up. Mike offers his legs to let Drea climb up, but he accidentally kicks her in the face. The Blue Team eventually get to the puzzle, but the Orange team is too far ahead. Orange team wins! They must now choose what to do with Lindsay and Rocksroy. Jeff informs them one will join them on their reward and have a merge buff too. The other will be sent to live in exile for two nights. Jeff also warns that the exiled player will have the power to change the game. If they want, one person on the winning team can swap places with the exiled player. The Orange team chooses to bring Lindsay to the reward with them. No one wants to swap with Rocksroy, so Rocksroy will be sent to exile. However, after all the castaways leave, Rocksroy shares with Jeff that he was hoping to be exiled since he will be getting an advantage in the game.
The Haves and Have Nots
Jonathan, Lydia, Maryanne, Hai, Tori, and Lindsay enjoy an Applebees reward. Jonathan wonders what the power could be, but he would rather have food. He’s the biggest guy there and used to eating a lot of calories. He says he’s starving. While they’re enjoying their reward, Tori shares info about the Ika tribe. She makes it clear to everyone that she is not on good terms with her tribe and is willing to flip. She’s glad to finally be at the individual portion of the game. She’s done working with the Ika tribe. Back at the Vati camp, the other castaways each get a single serving of rice. They speculate what the power Rocksroy will get. Drea correctly guesses that Rocksroy would have the power to make the immune players vulnerable and the currently vulnerable players safe. Later, Drea and Mike discuss the hidden immunity idols. Drea tells Mike she trusts Romeo and Rocksroy, but she doesn’t trust Tori. Mike tells her he trusts Hai and Lydia, but he doesn’t trust Chanelle. They seem to be on board with working together.
Exile Island
Rocksroy arrives at exile. He gets to work making fire and building a shelter. He also sees the hourglass, but he doesn’t know what to do with it yet. As he’s working, he takes in the sights around him. He gets emotional, and he calls himself the luckiest person to be able to experience the environment around him. He clarifies that he knows this isn’t a reward and it’s work, but he’s appreciative of getting to be in Fiji and taking in the views.
Getting to Know Each Other
After the Applebees reward, the members of the Orange team join the others back at the Vati camp. This will be the new camp for the rest of the game. Drea, Lindsay, and Hai meet up to discuss the amulet advantage they each won together at the start of the game. They agree to work together, but the amulet becomes more powerful when put together. Hai is still nervous Drea and Lindsay will try to strike first to make their own amulet stronger. Meanwhile, Maryanne believes she has many options. She has a hidden immunity idol and an extra vote advantage in her possession. She’s listening to everyone to figure out what she wants to do next. While all the castaways are on the beach talking, Mike and Jonathan form a bond. They relate to being perceived as dumb due to their muscly physiques. Mike tells Jonathan he was fit like him when he was younger, and he knows the stigmas Jonathan faces due to his physicality. Romeo and Hai also bond due to both being members of the LGBT community. Romeo says he is used to hiding his sexuality, and some of his family members don’t know he’s gay. Romeo sees how open Hai is, and he calls it refreshing. Romeo and Hai have a heart-to-heart conversation, and Hai tells Romeo he has his back in the game. Later, Omar joins Hai and Romeo. Hai tells Omar not to trust Chanelle. Omar thought he formed a bond with Chanelle when they went to the summit together, but he learns from Hai that Chanelle lost her vote after the summit. Chanelle didn’t give Omar a heads up that he won’t have a vote at the next tribal council, so Omar is doubtful he can trust Chanelle.
New Alliances
Hai wants to establish a majority alliance. He wants himself, Lydia, Mike, Jonathan, Lindsay, Omar, Drea, and Rocksroy to be an alliance. He proposes this to Lydia, Drea, and Jonathan. They are on board with this alliance. They also share some details from their tribes. Hai says to not trust Chanelle, and Drea warns them not to trust Tori. Jonathan shares that Maryanne would’ve been the next one voted out if Taku went to tribal council. The game talk ends when Chanelle approaches them. They also get up and leave when she joins them, and Chanelle is aware that she walked in on an important game conversation. She worries she’s on the outs. She asks Lydia for information, but she doesn’t tell her the truth. Chanelle can tell Lydia is withholding information. Chanelle says she doesn’t trust anyone. Hai, Omar, Jonathan, and Drea talk game again later. Omar confesses he might not have a vote at the upcoming tribal council, but Drea lets him know she has an extra vote. She wants to make sure the proposed alliance of eight people stay together. They plan to vote for Chanelle at the upcoming vote.
The Hourglass Twist
Jeff visits Rocksroy at exile. He reveals to him the hourglass twist. If Rocksroy smashes the hourglass, then he will reverse the outcome of the challenge. The people who are safe will now be in danger and those in danger will now be safe. Rocksroy is worried about the consequences of smashing the hourglass. He fears he will have a target on his back, but he knows he will be helping his former Ika tribe members Romeo and Drea if he smashes the hourglass. Tori will also be vulnerable if he smashes the hourglass, and she is someone he doesn’t want in the game. What will Rocksroy do?
Immunity Challenge
The castaways greet Jeff for the next challenge. Rocksroy returns after two nights in exile. Jeff also reveals the twist. Rocksroy chose to change history. He smashed the hourglass, so the winners of the previous challenge lost immunity and will now have to compete for safety. The previously vulnerable are now safe. Hai is understanding of Rocksroy’s decision, but Tori is angry. Jeff explains the rules for the challenge. They must hold a rope to balance a table to build blocks spelling out the word “immunity.” They will have to walk back and forth to place one letter at a time. If any of their blocks fall, then they will have to start over. The challenge begins with Jonathan, Lydia, Maryanne, Hai, Tori, and Lindsay competing. Jonathan takes the early lead, but Hai eventually passes him. Maryanne is in last place. However, Lydia, Hai, and Jonathan drop their blocks right after another. Their mistakes suddenly put Tori in the lead. Lindsay is close behind, but she drops her blocks too. Tori keeps a slow and steady pace. She remains in the lead and avoids dropping any block before spelling out “immunity.” Tori wins immunity! Chanelle and Tori were the two names on the chopping block, but now they are both safe. Everyone will be voting, but only Jonathan, Lydia, Maryanne, Hai, or Lindsay can be voted out tonight.
Before the Vote
Jonathan informs Rocksroy about the proposed eight-person alliance. Meanwhile, Romeo is pitching to Tori to vote out Jonathan. Romeo also tries to gather more votes against Jonathan, but Maryanne admits in a confessional she doesn’t want to vote out Jonathan. However, she knows options are limited. Meanwhile, Lindsay pitches to Chanelle and Lydia to vote out Maryanne instead. She even shares she believes Maryanne has an advantage. However, Chanelle and Lydia believe Lindsay is just trying to protect Jonathan. Omar and Lydia talk their options. Lydia is wishy-washy and says she’s torn between Jonathan and Maryanne. Omar wants to keep Taku together, so he uses Lydia’s comments against her. Omar goes around telling the eight-person alliance that Lydia is already having doubts to stay true to the eight. He says since Maryanne could have an idol, then they should just vote out Lydia tonight. Omar also lets Maryanne know her name has been thrown out, and she may need to play her idol. Maryanne is upset, but she knows she needs to keep calm. Omar also lets Hai know Lydia might be the one to vote out tonight, but Hai is not on board with this plan. Lydia is his closest ally, and he wants to try to gather enough votes to put on Maryanne instead. He says this is the part of the game where Survivor players either fold or prevail.
Tribal Council
Jeff asks if this is a defining vote. Hai says yes, but he says the game is fluid. Tribal allegiances aren’t as much of a factor. Jeff asks them what to base trust on. Romeo says it’s a gut feeling. They need to figure out if people truly want to start a conversation or not. Drea sees both sides. Sometimes people can be too intimidated to start a conversation. She admits that sometimes you cannot wait and just have to approach someone. Hai says they have to either be a driver or a passenger in the game. Hai wants to play with confidence and be the best version of himself. Lydia agrees, and she adds they’ll feel better in the game if they’re their authentic selves. Jeff asks about paranoia. Jonathan says all they can do is hope they did everything they can to stay in the game. Rocksroy says it’s tough entering the game talk late after his time in exile. He also feels bad his decision will be why someone goes home. Maryanne says the theme of this vote is figure out who to continue working with and who to work with for a long time. Drea doesn’t agree. She thinks alliances are always changing. There’s more talk about authenticity. Maryanne says she’s on the show to show her true self, regardless if her quirks annoy her tribe members. Chanelle says if you’re not authentic, people will see through it. Hai says whether people are authentic or not, lies will be revealed tonight. Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.
Before Jeff reads the votes, he asks if anyone wants to play an advantage or an idol. No one does.
The first vote is for…
Jonathan
Lindsay
Jonathan
Maryanne
Maryanne
Lydia
Lydia
Lydia
Lydia
Lydia
Lydia is the seventh person voted out of Survivor 42.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor. Thanks for reading, and come back next week for another live recap.
