Survivor 42 Week 1

• 8:13AM March 10, 2022
• Charles Bergeron

Drop the 4 and keep the 2

We're back in Fiji, with 18 new castaways ready to vie for a million bucks and the title of sole survivor! Is it just me, or does this cast seem especially laden with superfans? Everyone this episode gets at least 2 confessionals, nice to get to know a bit about everyone this early, especially in the three tribe format. Maryanna says the episode title in her rollercoaster analogy to pick up a few more confessional points.

The game starts with a bang with a reward challenge, but is brought to a halt by a tempting advantage - One Hai, Drea, and Lindsay all take (+5). While Drea and Lindsay agree that fake blood is overkill and way too suspicious, Hai is already elbow deep in it. Looking forward to seeing how that one gets explained. Amulets seem interesting, with social tension built in, scaling power, requiring trust and cooperation to use, but incentivizing removing the other amulet holders! A balanced advantage/twist?? Also, Blue tribe takes home the reward challenge, earning themselves a pot, flint, and machete.

Glad to see tribes pick up the triangle puzzle this time, given the small tweaks to the rules (two guesses, only one person doing the water), it's that much more clear it's the better option. Jenny kills the puzzle, and we got some fun editing in Maryanne's confessional. John realizes when he's 40 triangles short that maybe he should start on the shelter instead. Teamwork!

Really sad to see Jackson go so early, and for such an unfortunate reason. He seemed like he would have been a fun character in the season. Perhaps we'll see him again in a returnee season. Sorry to the Jackson drafters, but that's the game. Anyone with Daniel on their team worried yet? That shoulder's already been in bad shape twice now.

Shipwheel island returns, giving Maryanne and Drea the opportunity to earn extra vote advantages (+5). No advantage for Jenny, but she did correctly read the actions of the other two, preserving their votes for this round.

A brutal immunity challenge, and the tribes seem overall lighter on raw strength than the average cast - Eventually the orange and green tribes pull through, sending blue to tribal. The Blue team puzzlers really beat themselves up over it, but the other tribes seemed to have a fairly insurmountable lead.

Zach takes his shot in the dark, and rightfully so, but no luck - It's a truly unanimous vote, and superfan Zach is the first boot. At least he's got that unanimous vote on his wiki now, as he pointed out.

Questions, concerns, did I miss something? Reach out in the comments below, or on twitter at @Charrberg !