The following contains spoilers for Episode 9 of Survivor Season 42.In most Survivor seasons, the post-Merge is when things really kick off from a gameplay perspective, as players start to cement their strategies and even turn on previous alliances in order to further their own game. Season 42 isn't an exception, necessarily, but it seems like so far, the post-Merge episodes have been a little slower on the intense strategizing front than previous seasons have been. However, to make up for the lack of scrambling and master plans, there have been a lot of heavy discussions and really human moments from the cast this season, as it seems like Survivor is increasingly moving towards reflecting more of the real world and its social issues in the game.
Survivor has always been about being a microcosm of the real world, because it's a social experiment at its core. The point, at least originally, was to see how people of different backgrounds would interact and survive while being stuck on an island with each other. However, in recent years, th game has been at the forefront and has been discussed quite openly and constantly on the show. As the world around Survivor changes, the game must adapt as well, and it has certainly moved more towards open discussions of social issues, much like the outside world itself has.
At the start of the episode, Rocksroy proposes an all-male alliance, but both Hai and Omar are quite reluctant to take him up on the offer. For one thing, they don't particularly like or trust Rocksroy, and the entire idea of the men needing to band together to ensure victory for one of them seems a bit strange when men have been the dominant winners of the game anyways. Though their intentions likely weren't to come off this way, Hai cheekily referring to this potential alliance as the "Misogyny Club" was a funny observation, and also perhaps set the tone for later in the episode of people making moves against certain groups without realizing the consequences or being aware of any biases.
At the Immunity Challenge, host Jeff Probst reveals that the players will be split into two teams, and that each team will go to Tribal Council separately. While this means that there are two Immunity necklaces up for grabs, it also means that two players will be going home. The challenge itself barely lasts five minutes, as the choppy waters make it nearly impossible for the players to stay balanced on their platforms for long. In the end, Hai and Jonathan win on their respective teams, and are thus both safe from the vote. Ironically, one of the teams is comprised of all the remaining men except for Jonathan, which means that the all-male alliance will instantly have to turn on itself.
That all-male team heads back to their camp for the day and begins to discuss strategy. Omar and Hai are seemingly in the power positions, though Omar continues to completely fly under the radar of the other players, who don't seem to perceive him as a threat at all despite how much of the game he's been controlling up to this point. They want to vote Rocksroy, but Hai insists on including Mike, who is his number one ally. Mike doesn't want to vote for Rocksroy after giving him his word, because he worries it will make them look untrustworthy.
Back at the other team's camp, Jonathan decides that now is his moment to make a big move. He orchestrates a plan to have everyone vote against Drea (because of her idol and power in the game), but tells her that the vote is Maryanne. This plan is great until it isn't, as Lindsay deftly points out that this plan instantly falls apart if Drea becomes at all suspicious and plays her idol, because then that leaves Maryanne as the only other vote and with her gone, they would lose their numbers. The way that this simple observation instantly takes the winds out of the sails of Jonathan's "master plan" is incredibly entertaining to watch.
The first Tribal Council passes without much incident. The tribe discusses the classic element of Survivor that is having a plan at the beginning of the day but then having to completely revamp it by the time Tribal actually rolls around. The game is unpredictable, and even the most thorough of plans can fall apart in an instant when one player switches loyalties or wins immunity. In the end, the majority decides to vote out Rocksroy, and he instantly joins Chanelle on the jury as the second half of the tribe walks in.
All of these players are clearly surprised to see Rocksroy on the bench, but Drea seems particularly disturbed by this turn of events. Her face is clearly confused and upset, and she is unable to articulate herself properly when Jeff initially asks her a question. She eventually reveals that she feels uncomfortable with the fact that the jury is made up of two black people when she clearly still feels like she is on the chopping block herself, and she does not want to perpetuate a pattern of black players being voted off one right after the other. When Jeff asks if she thinks it's specifically related to race, she says she does, as some players might even have unconscious biases that they're not aware of. She then announces that she's going to play her idol to ensure that she's not going home.
The discussion that follows is likely to raise the hackles of some viewers who prefer to keep serious discussions about issues like racism out of Survivor, but once again, the game has always been about reflecting the outside world. There was even a whole season of the show dedicated to dividing players into tribes based on race as a social experiment. Players are obviously going to bring their lived experiences into the game, as it's very hard to separate those things, and it's clear that those experiences are why Drea is so affected by this vote in particular. Drea makes it clear that she's not trying to call anyone racist, but is rather feeling the burden of needing to be a representative for black women on TV, and she doesn't want to simply be the next in a pattern of black players being voted off.
Jonathan, in a move that can only be described as a very bad look on his part, tries to argue against Drea's view and insist that he's not subconsciously racist, though he calls her words and actions at Tribal "aggressive", despite the fact that Drea was speaking quite calmly, though emotionally at times. This is a perfect example of the unconscious biases she's talking about, as he saw her bringing race into the discussion as an aggressive act in and of itself. The other members of her tribe, at least, voice their support for her and make a point to talk about empathy and trying to see things from her perspective despite the fact that they will never know what those experiences and struggles are like.
In the end, the group votes Tori out after her failed attempt at using the Shot In The Dark. They decide on this vote through verbal discussion, as no one feels comfortable going through the dramatic motions of a normal vote after the serious conversation that just happened. This episode is fairly run-of-the-mill, perhaps even a little boring in the beginning, but to its credit, it dedicates quite a bit of time to Drea's feelings during Tribal Council and doesn't just brush off the hard discussion. Sure, it might alienate some people, but it's important to hear from and try and understand a variety of perspectives, and to empathize with the ways in which people's real lives are going to affect the way they play this game.