'Survivor' recap: Omar Zaheer voted out after Maryanne Oketch uses her extra vote to blindside him

Survivor featured Maryanne Oketch orchestrating Omar Zaheer's blindside with her extra vote and getting the job done during the Season 42 episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.


Omar, a 31-year-old veterinarian from Kitchener, Ontario, who currently resides in Whitby, Ontario, was voted out of Survivor 42 at Tribal Council on Night 23 of the game in a split 3-2-2 vote against Romeo Escobar, a 37-year-old pageant coach from Los Angeles, CA, and Jonathan Young, a 29-year-old beach service co-owner from Gadsden, AL, who currently resides in Gulf Shores, AL.

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Maryanne, a 24-year-old seminary student from Ajax, Ontario, used her extra-vote advantage to seal Omar's fate when only six players were left in the game.

"Maryanne got me! She got me good! And I knew playing with her was like playing with fire," Omar said in his final words.


"I should've listened to my gut, but I was Survivor confident, and that is the worst thing you can be. But I still had a blast, and this was the best experience of my life."

The Survivor broadcast began on Night 21 at the Kula Kula camp following Drea Wheeler's vote off.

Lindsay Dolashewich, a 31-year-old dietitian from Morganville, NJ, who currently resides in Asbury Park, NJ, was thrilled she had picked the correct "Do or Die" box, and now her Amulet advantage had become an idol -- and so she planned to use that at the next Tribal Council session.

Omar bragged about how his plan regarding Mike Turner's hidden Immunity Idol had worked out perfectly and now he had Mike, a 58-year-old retired firefighter from Hoboken, NJ, exactly where he wanted him.

Omar gave Mike's idol back to him to build trust, and so his goal for the next few days was to pull Mike and Jonathan apart by making them mistrust each other. He wanted to plant the seed in each of their minds that either Mike or Jonathan needed to go next.


"When that time comes, I can pick a side and it will be a clean swipe -- Mike or Jonathan out," Omar told the cameras.

Mike had an idea, however, that Omar was going to betray him since he's so likable in the game. Mike therefore determined he must cut Omar loose, and he shared his plan with Maryanne.

But Maryanne had been close with Omar since Day 1, which made her a little uneasy. Mike told Maryanne that she'd never beat Omar in the end, and she agreed because Omar had transformed from a caterpillar to a butterfly in the game with Drea's ouster.

Maryanne then shared with Mike how she had an extra-vote advantage in her pocket.

Maryanne trusted Omar and said he had grounded her for the past 22 days but she probably needed to make this move in order to have any shot at winning.


"It's terrifying," Maryanne said of the idea of taking Omar out.

On Day 22, Maryanne told Omar, Lindsay, and Romeo that Mike was super paranoid and would probably play his idol at the next Tribal Council.

The group agreed Jonathan couldn't win the next Individual Immunity Challenge, and Lindsay said she really wanted him gone. But Mike tried to get Jonathan onboard with the Omar vote.

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The men hoped Maryanne would "keep her mouth shut," and Mike believed Maryanne's word was good. Jonathan no longer trusted Omar and Lindsay and could tell the pair had been working closely.


"The truth is, they both have to go. If I'm going to win this game, I need to get them out," Jonathan said. "The Taku 4 has made it to the Final 6, and that's as far as they're going to go... It's time to break up."

Later that day, the Kula Kula tribe met Survivor host Jeff Probst for a Reward Challenge, which required each castaway to spin to unspool a coil of rope and then make his or her way through a series of obstacles, collecting a key along the way that would be used to unlock puzzle pieces.

The castaways would then use those puzzle pieces to solve a block puzzle.

The players could choose "sustenance" in the form of grilled chicken and vegetables or "decadence" in the form of chocolate cake and cookies.

The puzzle turned out to be pretty difficult, and Omar won the Reward. The invitation for chicken and vegetables would go out to two more players while the cake and cookies would enable three more players to eat.


Omar decided to give to more people, and so he selected cake and cookies. Omar invited Romeo to join him since Romeo hadn't eat much of anything in a while, and then he picked Maryanne, who had been struggling and could use a meal.

And finally, Omar invited Mike to eat with him since he thought Mike really needed the food as well. Omar just hoped there wouldn't be any backlash to the decision he had made.

Omar thought leaving Jonathan behind would make him less energetic at the next challenge. Meanwhile, Jonathan thought Omar was trying to make Mike feel comfortable so that he could blindside Mike at the next Tribal Council.

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Lindsay agreed with Jonathan, but Jonathan was well aware they were no longer allies and both up to something.

"If Jonathan wins immunity, Mike is absolutely still the target -- so I need him to feel comfortable that Jonathan is going home," Lindsay said in a confessional.


Mike, however, wasn't feeling safe at all because he believed Omar was definitely gunning for him. Mike was also convinced that Lindsay and Omar were playing the game together.

Mike later whispered to Jonathan how Lindsay couldn't win Individual Immunity because she could potentially give her idol to Omar, which would result in them both being safe.

Mike told Maryanne that if he heard her name being tossed around at Final 5, he would play his idol for her.

He essentially made a deal with her, saying that if she helped him get to Final 5, he would protect her so that she'd be a member of the Final 4.

Maryanne already had an idol of her own, so she felt "double safe" and extra good about getting Omar out.

Mike then shared with Maryanne how Lindsay had a hidden Immunity Idol, which really hurt Maryanne because she thought she had been very close with Lindsay.


Maryanne wanted her castmates to know she was a real contender and "not just a goat to be herded."

On Day 23, it became time for the season's next Individual Immunity Challenge.

The challenge required each castaway to race over a series of obstacles and then across a bridge, taking puzzle steps along the way. Each player must use those steps to build a staircase and then maneuver a bag of balls to the top of a very tall tower.

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Once there, each castaway would use those balls to finish a table maze.

The first player to land both balls would win immunity and be guaranteed a spot in the Final 5.


Jonathan had a bit of an early lead, with Maryanne far behind the pack.

Jonathan and Lindsay went head-to-head at the table maze, and in the end, Lindsay won safety.

Lindsay's win was Mike's worst nightmare, and so he said "Plan B" needed to come into effect. Lindsay felt awesome for taking down "a giant Goliath of a human."

Jonathan recognized that if Omar didn't go home, he and Mike were the biggest targets. Jonathan therefore told the cameras they were going to vote for Romeo in case Lindsay played her idol for Omar.

Lindsay, however, thought Jonathan was going next, and she thought Maryanne was onboard. Romeo also thought he was "locked in" on that vote with the girls.

The group decided they didn't need to split the vote because Jonathan would vote for Mike and Mike would vote for Jonathan.


Omar assured Mike that his vote was going to be on Jonathan, so Omar thought his plan was set and "foolproof." Omar really wanted Jonathan out and noted how Mike would be the backup option.

Lindsay and Omar discussed how the two of them would vote for Jonathan along with Mike's help and then Romeo would vote for Jonathan. Omar thought Maryanne's vote made for five and then it would be two votes on Mike.

"This could be perfect," Lindsay gushed. "Everyone is onboard with getting Jonathan out tonight."

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Lindsay shared in a confessional how she didn't want to play her idol that night because then it would re-enter the game and be back in circulation for someone else to find.

Maryanne, who had her extra vote, said the plan to take out Omar could still happen and she just needed to decide which side she should team up with.


Maryanne subsequently asked Mike to tell Jonathan to vote for Omar.

Mike wanted Maryanne to vote for Romeo and promised her that it didn't make sense for Omar to go that night.

Mike thought it made the most sense to put four votes on Romeo in case Lindsay played her idol for Omar.

Mike admitted having his fate in Maryanne's hands was very scary, and Maryanne pointed out how Mike was paranoid.

Maryanne went on to tell Romeo that there were going to be seven votes at Tribal Council that night because she had an extra vote.

She said they, along with Jonathan and Mike, needed to vote for Omar or else Omar was going to win the game.


Maryanne also told Mike and Jonathan to vote for Romeo, whereas she and Romeo would vote for Omar. Maryanne said her extra vote would also be put on Omar, and she trusted Romeo.

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"I am not confident in Romeo at all. He has been back and forth throughout the whole game, and if he votes me, then I could go home. So I think it would be a dumb move to not vote out Romeo," Jonathan told the cameras.

Mike still begged Maryanne to put safe votes on Romeo, but Maryanne insisted their road to the end would be more difficult that way and this Omar vote was a risk they had to take.

On Night 23 at a rainy Tribal Council, Mike announced how there was nowhere to hide and there were very few people to talk to.

Romeo shared with Jeff how people were starting to think about whom they wanted to sit next to in the Final 3 rather than simply vote off next and the game had taken a turn from short-term to long-term thinking.


"We're thinking, 'What are my best odds to feel comfortable in the Final 3?'" Lindsay said.

But Omar disagreed and said those thoughts had been in people's minds from the beginning.

Omar said he was "Survivor confident" in what was going to go down that night, and Jonathan, Lindsay and Maryanne declared how they'd be shocked if the vote turned out to be a clean sweep.

After votes were cast, Jeff asked the group if anyone would like to play an idol or advantage, and no one stepped up to the plate.

Jeff then read the votes in the following order: Jonathan, Romeo, Jonathan, Romeo, Omar, Omar, and Omar.

"You did it?" Romeo quietly asked Maryanne.


"I did," Maryanne replied.

Omar appeared surprised and totally blindsided, and he told his tribe "good job" on his way out.

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The episode's closing credits showed that Maryanne voted for Omar twice, and Romeo also voted for Omar. Lindsay and Omar voted for Jonathan, and Mike and Jonathan voted for Romeo.







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