The following contains spoilers for Episode 10 of Survivor Season 42.The current season of Survivor has presented a very interesting situation where there are multiple powerhouse strategists vying for power, and flying somewhat under the radar for the most part (that is, until this most recent episode). It seems like it took the players longer than it usually might in a season to start identifying the real strategic threats, and even after Episode 10's vote, they still haven't uncovered them all. This season has been a real masterclass in how to run the game without making that fact obvious to the rest of the tribe.
Speaking of powerhouse strategists, the episode starts with Mike expressing his frustration at the way Hai dictates every vote. This has been going on for weeks, but this is seemingly the first time that the players have clued in that this might be an issue and that he might be a real threat to win. Mike confides in Omar about his frustrations, and Omar sees this as the perfect opportunity to bring Mike over to his side and start orchestrating a plan to get Hai out. Omar has been secretly running the game for weeks now while totally flying under the radar, so it will be interesting to see how long it takes the other players to realize it.
If Omar is one of the main focuses of this episode, Lindsay is the other. Up to this point in the season, Lindsay has basically gotten what Survivor fans refer to as a "Purple Edit", named after Purple Kelly from Survivor: Nicaragua who barely made it onto the screen at all, didn't really have confessionals, and essentially had no impact on the game. Lindsay was kind of an unknown variable until this week, where it was apparently her time to shine as a lot of the episode's narrative revolved around her. It's always great to see a player escape from a Purple Edit and finally make the game their own, though it always begs the question: why did the editors cut so much footage of them to begin with if they become a major player later on?
Lindsay's story in this episode starts unfortunately when she, while hunting for an idol, walks right by one that has been revealed to the audience. Later on, Maryanne is out searching for firewood and kind of just stumbles upon this very same idol. This is actually great for her, since she just used her idol at the last Tribal Council and has now essentially had it returned to her.
Lindsay is able to redeem herself soon after, however, by winning the Reward challenge and earning herself some pizza and the chance to spend the night at the Sanctuary, where she'll be able to keep warm and dry. The weather has turned nasty, like it usually does at some point over the course of a season, and all of the players are visibly affected, shaking from the rain and cold. That makes this reward so valuable, and Lindsay chooses to take Omar and Mike with her. It works on two levels: it doesn't seem suspicious because her reasoning of taking them because they haven't had a reward yet is true, but she also specifically wanted to talk strategy with these two players.
At the Reward, they not only get shelter and food, but messages from their loved ones as well. These moments are the ones that really remind the audience of the players' humanity and makes it hit home how difficult it is to be out in Fiji playing this game. Omar has another conversation with Mike about Hai, and makes up a total lie about how he heard Hai say that Mike will do whatever he says. This makes Mike mad because he doesn't want to be controlled by anyone, and decides to work with Omar instead, not realizing that he's truly about to be puppeteered by Omar.
Back at camp where it's not warm and dry and full of nice messages from loved ones, the remaining players are really struggling in the cold and wet. Hai relates this situation to the kind of hardships he faced growing up when his family was poor and often hungry. He reveals that his parents immigrated to the US from Vietnam when he was 3, and the sacrifices they made so that he could have a better life inspire him. He notes that while they're all miserable at camp, this misery is temporary, and he tries to keep that in mind. This is a really nice moment of revealing some things about Hai's character and backstory, which only makes the later vote a bit more of a gut punch.
The Immunity Challenge becomes a tight race between Lindsay and Jonathan, but Lindsay eventually secures the win and Immunity for herself. Earlier, she was trying to decide whether her alliance should vote for Jonathan or Hai, and said that it would depend on who won Immunity. As it turns out, she won Immunity, and is now free to choose between either of them, in a great tie-up of the narrative thread weaving its way through the episode. Through discussions, the whole tribe begins to wake up and realize that Hai is playing a great game, and they basically unanimously decide to vote for him.
Omar, for some reason, feels like this vote is too easy and begins to consider voting Jonathan instead. Jonathan is still a threat to win, of course, as someone who is likeable and also a challenge beast, but it seems like a strange choice to suddenly want to go against the grain of the tribe when they've already made up their minds. This was likely something the editors threw in to cause at least a little bit of tension for the audience, rather than starting Tribal Council with the knowledge that it's definitely going to be one specific player going home.
At Tribal, Lindsay refers to this vote as "evening the playing field" by ensuring that everyone feels like they have a fair shot to get to the end. This is a wonderfully vague answer, as it could be in reference to so many different kinds of strengths that are found on Survivor, from physical to strategic to social. In the end, the tribe does decide to vote Hai out, and his reaction is hilariously delighted. Though he's obviously sad to not be in the game anymore, as a super-fan he is clearly excited by the idea of being voted out by blindside, even expressing that this is how he wanted to go out if he had to be voted off the tribe.
This episode really highlighted a few players, finally giving the audience some time with Lindsay, but also cementing Omar's status as the secret puppetmaster of the season. It will be fun to watch and see how long it takes the other players to clue into this fact, but Omar's strategy has been so stealthy so far that it truly might take them a while to wise up to it. His current edit might be hinting towards an eventual winner, as he's the remaining player with the most stake in the strategy game so far.