The Survivor 42 final five speak!
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They survived hourglasses. They survived amulets. They survived goofy phrases, prisoner's dilemmas, shots in the dark, and even unseen idol nullifiers. And now five players — Mike Turner, Maryanne Oketch, Romeo Escobar, Jonathan Young, and Lindsay Dolashewich — are each on the verge of winning a million dollars and being crowned the champion of Survivor 42 tonight on CBS.
Three of those five will be peppered with questions by the jury — a jury we already peppered with questions of our own. And now it is time for the final five to answer our questions. Questions like: What are the moves they are most proud to have made? What were their favorite non-game moments? And when were they at their absolute lowest?
We also asked them to weigh in on the juror who was the biggest threat to win it all. If you're looking for intel and insight into what has transpired so far in the game as we head into the finale, you've come to the right place. (Also make sure to check out our interview with the Survivor 42 jury, as well as Jeff Probst previewing the future of the franchise while also mulling over bringing back the entire season 42 cast to play again.)
Robert Voets/CBS The 'Survivor 42' final five
What is the move you were most proud of in the first 23 days?
MIKE TURNER: The best move I made in the first 23 days was when Omar and Lindsay had told me about Drea's KIP advantage and said I should give my Immunity Idol to Omar for safe protection when Drea plays the KIP against me. I was very hesitant and wasn't going to do it because as far as I was concerned there had never been an advantage like that (we hadn't seen season 41 yet) and they had to be lying.
However, through my relationship with Jonathan, I found out there was such a thing as a KIP and Drea was going to use it on me. He also told me I could give it Omar because he had an Idol Nullifier and would rather use that on me at 5 so he'd have a big jury splash.
So I realized I could give him the idol, saving my idol, letting him and Lindsey know I absolutely trusted them and plan early how I could defend against his Nullifier — which I then accomplished by using it to convince Maryanne to flip on Omar at 6 because she had no idea Omar had the Nullifier, meaning she was not in Omar's endgame plan.
MARYANNE OKETCH: I am going to cheat and say two moves: The first, obviously, would have to be the plurality vote from last episode. That was the first time in the game where I spearheaded a vote, and to see it not only go so well, but to also be the first person in Survivor to use an extra vote in a way that changed the vote outcome? The superfan in me was PROUD.
The second, but still just as proud, move that I did was my fake crying at the merge immunity challenge when I sat out for rice. Going into the challenge, I felt that I was not the primary or secondary target, but I wanted to establish more agency in my game, as I was still on the bottom. I decided to perform a "hail mary," pretending that I felt very unsafe, and hoped that someone would feel guilty and include me in strategy talk, as no one was really talking strategy to me after the Lydia vote. And lo and behold, after the challenge, Hai came up to me and included me in the alliance he was in, which allowed me to begin to slowly integrate back into the tribe.
ROMEO ESCOBAR: Two parts. For pre-merge, it was definitely running Ika and being the only member of the tribe to never be in danger of being voted out. I did that by having a final two deal with all my tribemates and never getting caught! I knew even if we had been decimated in challenges, I would have still been okay and made it to the merge.
For post-merge, going from top to bottom was hard! So I am most proud of making it to the final 5 despite being at the bottom and always having my name brought up at every single Tribal Council. I became the "in case" person. "In case" the real target has an idol, vote for Romeo. "In case" the real target's Shot in the Dark works, vote for Romeo. "In case" the real target has an advantage, vote for Romeo.
So even though I always knew who was going home, I had to vote for another random person just in case the real target pulled out an idol or played their Shot in the Dark. So I am proud I made it to the final 5 and going into self-preservation mode as the ultimate underdog. There is still a lot of game to be played going into the finale, so I am excited to see what happens.
JONATHAN YOUNG: The game was constantly changing, but I was very much aware of what was going on around me. Every time my name was put down at Tribal, I had a good idea of what was going on and who was against me.One of my big plays had to do with Omar's idol nullifier. I was with Omar when he found it. Before Drea was even voted out, I noticed that Omar's game play became more relaxed and there was inconsistency with Omar's and Lindsay's stories. I knew that I could no longer work with them.
I went to Mike and told him about the idol nullifier and how Omar wanted to play it on him (Mike). I had a good feeling that Omar and Lindsay might be coming after me, so I rallied Mike and we convinced Maryanne to work with us. Mike, Maryanne, and I decided to put two votes on Romeo in case Lindsay played her idol for Omar. I used the knowledge not only of the idol nullifier, but of all the advantages that each player had, to make the move to get Omar voted out.
There came a point in the game where the knowledge of knowing all the advantages everyone had was more important than having an advantage itself.
LINDSAY DOLASHEWICH: The move I was most proud of was thinking of the idea for Mike to give his idol to Omar to save him from the Knowledge is Power advantage. This, in addition to keeping playing! I was beating myself up so much for choosing the Do or Die challenge that I was convinced I was going home. If I did not keep my chin up and continue to fight and play, then that move would have never happened. I was proud of myself for continuing to fight, and I was proud of myself for thinking of a move that ended up being successful and looked at as a great power move.
Robert Voets/CBS The 'Survivor 42' final five
What was your favorite non-game related interaction you had with someone out there over your first 23 days?
MIKE TURNER: My favorite non-game interaction with someone is easy: when Omar and I discussed our religious beliefs. Him being Muslim and me being Christian, I had always thought there were major differences in what we believed. However, after us having a great interaction, I came to understand, learn, and totally respect his beliefs!
MARYANNE OKETCH: There were so many non-game related interactions! Too many to count! I remember reading these before going on the show and being like: There can't be TOO many, but now, I get what past players mean! I think I can highlight two interactions that I had. The first was every moment that I spent with Tori! Tori was my best friend on that island, and we would always crack laughs, and reference vines! Every day on the island was a blessing!
Also, I had so much fun with Omar! Omar and I are both superfans, and we would just talk about past seasons while playing the game! Ironically, I had never met a Survivor superfan until I went on the island, so being able to talk about superfan things on the game that I love with a person that I love was one of the best things ever!
ROMEO ESCOBAR: I would say our pre-merge days at Ika. Helping Rocksroy build the shelter. Going to look for tarot with Drea because she was allergic to coconuts. My pageant talks with Tori as she competed in pageants before and I do pageant coaching. Relating to Zach about our weight and super fandom, Talks with Swati about how proud her family would be of her being out there.
Those nights of all of us being in the shelter looking up at the sky talking about our lives and laughing. The day we all went out crabbing and looking for food was a blast. When Rocksroy caught an octopus and I cooked it for the tribe. The day we all sat around taking turns slurping the remaining broth like dogs from a small crab soup we made. Those were my favorite non-game interactions. We were not always fighting.
JONATHAN YOUNG: This is a hard one because when you are in the game, everything becomes game-related. However, in the early part of the game, the Taku tribe became very close. We would share some in-depth stories about our lives and personal experiences. Those talks bonded our tribe and made us stronger.After the merge, Mike and I became close and would sometimes wake up early in the mornings and watch the sunrise. We would soak up the beauty of Fiji and talk about how thankful we were to even be there playing this game. It was all very surreal.
LINDSAY DOLASHEWICH: Honestly, I had so many great non-game related interactions with people throughout this game. I had the best time of my life out there. One moment that stands out in my memory was going out fishing for clams with Rocksroy.
At this point in the game, I did not get a true opportunity to bond with Rocks. The two of us went out into the ocean searching for clams, and we had to have gone out at least 100 yards out into the ocean. Besides the fact we were both enjoying this beautiful landscape we were in, we had a lot of fun. We found two GIANT clams!
What we didn't know (or what I didn't know), was when you take the clam out of the ocean, it spits water out. Rocks tricked me into picking up the second clam and right as I took it out of the water and looked at it, it spit right in my eye! It was hysterical. We both wished we could have gotten that moment caught on camera, but it is a memory I will never forget.
Robert Voets/CBS The 'Survivor 42' final five
What was your lowest moment out there over the first 23 days?
MIKE TURNER: The lowest moment in the game for me was when it had rained for 3 straight days and was very cold and we had to go perform at an immunity challenge. Fortunately, Lindsay wins the challenge and took me on the best reward of the season! Seeing my family!
MARYANNE OKETCH: The lowest moment for me was the two nights after Tori went home. There was non-stop rain on the island, and all of my clothes were wet, and I had about 30 minutes of sleep that night. I was hoping that I would be able to get some of my clothes dry, but the rain never let up and we were unable to get a fire going. Knowing that I had to spend another night with little to no sleep, when other members of the tribe were off on the reward with warmth was truly the lowest moment in the whole game.
ROMEO ESCOBAR: When I realized I had gone from being CEO at Ika to janitor at Kula Kula. It was my lowest moment out there. This ultimately caused the perceived "paranoia" to kick in when I rightfully saw this was happening around me.
JONATHAN YOUNG: My lowest moment in the game was when I was getting very depleted from not having any food. It got pretty rough after day 20. I had spent a lot of my energy trying to collect and catch food for myself and everyone else. At this point, I was running on fumes. My servant / leader role worked, but definitely took a toll mentally and physically.
LINDSAY DOLASHEWICH: The lowest moment I had in the game was losing the Do or Die challenge. I felt so comfortable in my alliances, and was overall feeling very good in how I was playing the game, that I was annoyed at myself for allowing my personality to take over my decision-making at that moment and risk my position in the game.
I went into that challenge that day planning to win, so once Jeff explained the Do or Die portion of the game, I thought "Well, this doesn't apply to me since I plan on winning this thing" — forgetting to assess WHO was going to choose to play. If I took more time to calculate my decision, I would have realized it would have come down to me and Jonathan. All of that hard work I put into the game, and ACTUALLY feeling I was playing a great game, and to lose it due to my competitiveness was a hard pill to swallow.
Robert Voets/CBS The 'Survivor 42' jury
Of the six people already on the jury heading into the finale, who was the biggest threat to win the game and why?
MIKE TURNER: Undoubtedly the biggest threat to win the game of the 6 in the jury was Omar! Even though none of us out there knew how great of a game he was playing, I'm sure we would have realized it once at Ponderosa. At that point, I would have bowed and praised him on what a magnificent he played game!
MARYANNE OKETCH: Omar. He was the person behind every vote, and had great relationships with everyone, including me! From navigating the social game, to him saving me at the fake merge, I credit a lot of my life in the game to Omar, and if he got to the end, his masterful navigation of the game while balancing the interpersonal relationships of all the tribe would have made him one of the most deserving winners ever.
ROMEO ESCOBAR: I would say Omar. He had everyone fooled. No one knew he was playing all sides and making alliances with all of us! I even had a final three deal with him! It wasn't until his lies came to light that we realized we had to vote him out. If he was sitting at the final three, he probably would have won as everyone liked him up until that point before he was voted out.
JONATHAN YOUNG: I would have to say out of the six on the jury, Omar would be the biggest threat to win the game. I had noticed that Omar was pulling a lot of strings and had alliances with everyone. He helped me stay connected with what was going on in the game, but I also knew he was doing a lot of this with other players. He had such strong social game and could communicate with everyone. He made some big moves in the game, especially when he came up with the plan to get Drea out. I knew the jury would look at him as a top pick.
LINDSAY DOLASHEWICH: Drea was the biggest threat in my eyes. She has this aura about her that is magnetic that makes you gravitate to her. I respect strong women, and she is a very strong independent woman. I assumed everyone else felt this vibe from her as well. Plus, she was locked and loaded with advantages! What a résumé to have. Between having so many advantages throughout the game and being well liked, I thought she would be a solid contender if I ended up sitting next to her at the final 3.
The ultimate thought I had at the end was that I did not think she would bring me as far as I would bring her, so I had to put my emotions aside and play the game, knowing everyone here is here to win the title of Sole Survivor.
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