‘Survivor’ Season 42 Episode 2: Going in Blind Over Big Emotions (RECAP)

The Tribe Has Spoken

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Survivor Season 42 Episode 2, “Good and Guilty.”]

When Survivor returned for its 42nd season last week, the hit CBS series ended the episode with two players going home, one from tribe Taku and other from tribe Ika.

And this week, the season’s second episode, “Good and Guilty,” we saw the fallout with the tribes bonding, none more than Taku. But as viewers know all too well, close bonds don’t always keep you safe on Survivor. In the end, it’s down to strategy and gambling. And a little immunity idol or extra vote here and there always helps.

Read on for a recap of everything that went down in the episode, including a vegan struggling to find food, emotional reveals, advantage idols, a blindfolded immunity challenge, and of course, teasing from host Jeff Probst.

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At the Camps: Losing My Religion (aka a Vegan Eats Crab)

As they wait for the impending immunity challenge, the tribes look for food and connect with each other. Everyone won survival tools last week, but it didn’t include rice. So finding food was first on the agenda.

At Taku, Omar shares his Muslim faith and says he’s happy to answer any questions they may have about his religion. Jonathan says the same to Omar about Christianity. Lindsay jokes she’s “not a very good Jew.”

At Vati, Jenny and Chanelle find a crab for everyone to eat, leading to a brief existential crisis for Hai, who’s a vegan. At first, he chooses not to eat the seafood. But he eventually decides he can’t deny any food source when they’re so scarce. And he also doesn’t want his teammates thinking he’s physically weaker by choosing against sustenance. He eats the crab and says he feels “good and guilty” afterward.

At Ika, Drea knows she has a good vibe with Rocksroy and Romeo, but she wants an all-female alliance with Tori and Swati as well. She reveals she has an extra vote for the Ika women, which she gained in the Summit Challenge last week. Tori and Swati secretly betray Drea’s trust in them, deciding to try and vote her out because of her extra vote and persuasion skills.

Back at Vati, Mike finds the first advantage idol. If he takes it, he must do what it says. Naturally, he takes it, learning it’s a three-way shared immunity idol. Each tribe has one, but in order for the idol to have power, the other two idols must also be found. To find out if other players found idols, he has to say “there is such grace in the game of soccer, it makes me cry” at an immunity challenge. The other two players with idols must say their phrases as well for the idols to activate. Once all three phrases have been said, then all three idols have power. Until then, Mike can’t vote at tribal council.

Robert Voets/CBS Entertainment

An unexpected bond forms at Taku between Jonathan and Omar. Jonathan can tell Omar trusts him. As for Omar, he says, “Jonathan is my meat shield, and I’m his brain shield. So, am I going to Jonathan and saying, ‘We’re ride or die, baby’? Yeah, it’s The Odd Couple.”

“Together we make, like, the perfect human,” Jonathan says about Omar. He sees an alliance between him, Omar, Lindsay, Maryanne. But he doesn’t know Marya well enough to trust her. Later on the beach, Marya shares her brother was the first healthcare worker to die of COVID in the United States. He was a nurse in New York who died in March 2020. Marya hasn’t had closure yet because she’s had to keep a strong front for her children. But she wears a necklace with her brother’s face on it, saying she plans to bury the necklace on the island to get closure.

“That would be worth more than $1 million,” Marya says.

Mike tells Jenny he found an immunity idol, who he calls his strongest ally. He tells Daniel about it next, and then they go on a goose chase to find where he hid it, which takes a hilariously long time. They eventually do, and Mike tells Daniel he can’t vote until it gets activated, so he’s trying to build strategic alliances in the meantime. Daniel advises him not to say his phrase at the immunity challenge, and then Daniel tells Chanelle everything. They agree to try to figure out a way for it to help them and Mike.

“I would prefer that the idols never be activated,” Daniel says to Chanelle. They agree the best way to do that is vote Mike out or convince him to never play it. Good luck with that one.

Robert Voets/CBS Entertainment

Immunity Challenge: Put On Your Listening Ears

The tribes meet Jeff at the immunity challenge. In the game, one person is caller, and the rest of the tribe is blindfolded. Using only verbal commands, the caller will instruct the players to collect three bags of puzzle pieces. Players are in pairs and connected by a rope. Once they have the bags, the caller will instruct a still-blindfolded pair to solve the puzzle.

The tribes played for immunity and reward. Reward for first place is a huge set of fishing gear. Second place gets a smaller set of fishing gear, but still very useful. The last tribe goes to Tribal Council and loses their flint. Jeff still has Ika’s flint, so they’re also playing to get that back. Daniel sits out for Vati.

Ika caller is Drea, Vati caller is Lydia, and Taku caller is Jonathan. Chaos ensues as everyone is yelling over each other on top of Jeff’s commentary. Vatu takes an early lead, but then it becomes anyone’s game. Taku gets all three bags back first, and Jonathan leads them to the next leg with everyone holding hands. Drea leads Ika closely behind. Lydia was leading well at first, but the chaos of middle section of the challenge made Vati fall behind. They start to catch up.

Omar and Marya take on solving the last puzzle for Taku. Chanelle and Jenny are solving for Vati. Tori and Swati are solving for Ika with Drea leading them, testing their all-female alliance. Vati wins first place. Ika wins second, getting back their flint in the process. Taku is going to Tribal Council.

Robert Voets/CBS Entertainment

Before Tribal Council: Don’t Be Afraid to Catch Feels

Taku had the best team camaraderie across the board in the downtime at the camps earlier. Interestingly, no one performed poorly enough in the challenge for that to be a factor in their votes. Everyone is deciding based on social game and future strategy now.

Marya and Maryanne are the only ones on the chopping block. Jonathan is indecisive. Omar thinks Maryanne is less trustworthy over time than Marya would be. Jonathan thinks Marya is more reliable than Maryanne because she’s a mother and Maryanne is so young, but he connects more with Maryanne. They agree they have to make both of the women feel safe so they don’t feel compelled to play their shot in the dark. They talk to Maryanne, and then Omar goes to talk to Lindsay and Marya.

Marya wants to vote Maryanne out, “because of how frazzled she gets,” and because she feels her personality is too over-the-top to interact with for 26 days. (Maryanne, we love you!) Maryanne can tell Marya wants her out, so Marya is the only person she’ll consider voting for. Marya tells Lindsay and Omar to tell Maryanne they’re voting for her to convince Maryanne she’s safe. This is the first time Marya shows her strategic skills. She decides to bring her shot in the dark to Tribal Council to be safe.

Robert Voets/CBS Entertainment

Maryanne has no idea she won an extra vote in the Summit Challenge last week. She smartly doesn’t tell anyone about that possible advantage. The 23-year-old then tells Jonathan she knows she can’t give in to panic, hinting she’s more in charge of her emotions than the older tribe members give her credit for. In case she loses her vote in Tribal Council (she won’t), she goes to look for an idol. She runs into Marya and Lindsay while searching, and they all say they’re looking for food. Lindsay notes that Maryanne getting flustered under pressure is a risk for future alliances.

Omar, Jonathan, and Lindsay debate sending Marya home. Omar sees the value of keeping both of them. Lindsay seems like she’s definitely voting for Maryanne.

Tribal Council

Maryanne joked earlier in the episode that Zach (who was voted out last week by team Ika) was the type of white guy she always goes for when dating. At Tribal, she joked not to send her to Zach yet — she’s not ready! Despite their (unfair) judgment of her big emotions, that got a laugh out of everyone.

Jeff basically asks Marya how anyone could vote for Maryanne when she’s been so sweet and vulnerable and open. Marya says part of her reason for coming on the show is to put herself first and stop acting like everybody’s mother. Jeff asks Lindsay how the tribe should feel after Marya (fairly) says she’s going to look out for her own interests over anyone else’s. She says you have to balance your personal relationships with the game you want to play for yourself. Jonathan says that in the end, they love each other, but they’re playing a game. And the vote begins.

In the voting booth, Maryanne learns about her extra vote. Marya plays her shot in the dark. If she’s safe, any votes cast against her will not count. If she’s not safe, all votes cast against her will still count. Shot in the dark played two weeks in a row?! We live for the drama. But Marya’s bet doesn’t pay off. She is not safe, and she is ultimately voted out. The credits revealed everyone voted for Marya, and Maryanne didn’t use her extra vote.

Overall, the whole tribe could’ve benefitted from having Tori the therapist today, because this judgment of Maryanne’s big feelings just isn’t cute! And clearly, big emotions aren’t enough to send you home… yet.

Survivor, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS