'Survivor' recap: Swati Goel is voted out of her Ika Tribe after playing and losing "Shot in the Dark"

Survivor 42 featured the Ika Tribe voting out Swati Goel after she played her "Shot in the Dark" in a last-ditch effort to save herself but lost the gamble during Wednesday night's episode on CBS.


Swati, a 19-year-old Ivy league student from Palo Alto, CA, was voted out of Survivor on Night 9 at Tribal Council after she got caught playing both sides of her tribe.

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Swati was voted out in a 3-2 vote instead of Tori Meehan, a 25-year-old therapist from Tulsa, OK, who currently resides in Rogers, AR; however, Swati's vote for Tori didn't even count due to her choice to play "Shot in the Dark."

"I really do feel like if I had gotten that chance to continue playing this game of Survivor, I would've done really well. I feel like I became a new Survivor player after having made that one huge mistake," Swati said in her final words.


"But I didn't quit! So Boston Rob [Mariano] was out fourth his first season, so who knows, maybe you'll see me winning a season of All-Stars in the future."

The Survivor broadcast began over at Vati's camp on Night 7.

Following Tribal Council in which Jenny Kim was voted out, the Vati Tribe was now comprised of Lydia Meredith, a 22-year-old waitress from Fredericksburg, VA, who currently resides in Santa Monica, CA; Chanelle Howell, a 29-year-old executive recruiter from Hamden, CT, who currently resides in New York, NY; Daniel Strunk, a 30-year-old law clerk from Cincinnati, OH, who currently resides in New Haven, CT; Hai Giang, a 29-year-old data scientist from Gia Rai, Bac Lieu, Vietnam and Atlanta, GA, who currently resides in New Orleans, LA; and Mike Turner, a 58-year-old retired firefighter from Hoboken, NJ.

Daniel announced how he wasn't up for discussing "all of the ins and outs" after a very long night and would prefer to do that in the morning or soon thereafter.

Daniel had made the decision to trust Chanelle as his No. 1 alliance member but he said the trust wasn't really reciprocated when it became time to potentially go to rocks and they needed to convince Hai to vote for Lydia.


"She didn't really have my back, and I feel like I just totally, totally screwed everything up," Daniel said in a confessional.

But Chanelle wanted to speak her piece and said she was disappointed in Daniel's claim she had blindsided him. Chanelle felt Daniel had thrown her under the bus, and she thought it was confusing and unfair.

"I didn't do anything to change the plan. Was it my idea to get Lydia out? Sure. But I can't admit to that because then it would ruin my game," Chanelle told the cameras.

Chanelle accused Daniel of blowing up his own game and then flipping the script on her.

Regardless, Hai said he felt "blindsided" by everyone except for Lydia, who had been put through hell. Hai insisted he wasn't mad at anybody but owed Mike a lot of explanation.


Hai then told Mike how Chanelle and Daniel had asked him to write Mike's name down and split the vote between Mike and Jenny. Hai said he felt uneasy about that plan once he stepped up to the voting booth and so he wrote Jenny's name down.

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Hai had refused to change his vote to Lydia at Tribal Council, and so he was proud of having made Daniel "fold like a ton of bricks." Hai said Daniel had "no backbone," and then he called Daniel and Chanelle "two snakes" when speaking to Mike.

Mike admitted that Daniel was "way down" on his list after what he had pulled. Mike believed Daniel had gone behind his back telling other people their secrets, but he planned to move forward and adapt.

Mike agreed to work with Hai and Lydia from that point on and play in "survival mode."


Daniel subsequently admitted to Mike that he had lied to him because Chanelle had been his No. 1 going into Tribal Council. Mike acted like it wasn't a big deal since it was just gameplay, but trust between them had clearly been broken.

Daniel had been exposed for playing both sides, but he didn't understand how Chanelle had gotten off scot-free with her playing both sides. Daniel thought it was "crazy" Chanelle wasn't being subjected to any backlash, and he just hoped things would twist and turn in his favor.

On Day 8 of the game, the three tribes met Survivor host Jeff Probst for the next Reward Challenge.

The Taku Tribe consisted of Jonathan Young, a 29-year-old beach service co-owner from Gadsden, AL, who currently resides in Gulf Shores, AL; Lindsay Dolashewich, a 31-year-old dietitian from Morganville, NJ, who currently resides in Asbury Park, NJ; Maryanne Oketch, a 24-year-old seminary student from Ajax, Ontario; and Omar Zaheer, a 31-year-old veterinarian from Kitchener, Ontario, who currently resides in Whitby, Ontario.

And the Ika Tribe was made up of Swati; Tori; Drea Wheeler, a 35-year-old fitness consultant from San Antonio, TX, who currently resides in Montreal, Quebec; Rocksroy Bailey, a 44-year-old stay-at-home dad from Brooklyn, NY, who currently resides in Las Vegas, NV; and Romeo Escobar, a 37-year-old pageant coach from Los Angeles, CA, who currently resides in Norwalk, CA.


For the challenge, three members of each tribe were attached to a braided rope. On Jeff's "go," they had to work to untangle that rope and then use that rope to hook a sled filled with balls.

Once they pulled the sled toward them, each tribe member had to land one ball into a basket.

The first tribe -- and only the first tribe -- to finish would win Reward in the form of 10 freshly-cut fish delivered to their camp that they could clean and cook.

Rocksroy decided to sit this one out for Ika as well as Chanelle for Vati.

Taku essentially blew everyone out of the water and won Reward, and the other tribes realized Jonathan was a beast who had led them through the whole thing.

Jonathan announced he had such a solid four that his team worked great together and he was "stoked," but Tori told Jeff that everybody could see "Goliath" and his huge, buff body. Hai also called Jonathan "Thor" in a confessional, knowing his tribe would have to step it up.


Lindsay said her tribe was absolutely dominating and they had a big advantage being able to eat, but the tribe was angry at Jonathan for calling his tribe "a solid four." That wasn't good for any of them going into the merge, when they'd need more numbers.

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Maryanne was "angry" and Omar dubbed Jonathan "a dummy," but Omar also pointed out how Jonathan was "invaluable" to their tribe and they couldn't get rid of him any time soon.

Jonathan realized he would make a great shield for another player, but his tribemates knew everyone else would be gunning to get rid of him right away once Individual Immunity Challenges start.

Jonathan, knowing he's big and strong, planned to use his brawn as a service to his tribemates in order to stick around and seem like less of a threat.

The Ika Tribe then made fire thanks to Romeo, who said Rocksroy liked barking orders and taking credit for things. Romeo was clearly clashing with his tribemate but told the cameras he wouldn't say anything or ruffle any feathers.


Swati then spoke to Tori about how Drea's closest ally was Romeo and she had an extra vote, which put them in the minority. Swati didn't feel like she was in a power position in the tribe, and she said she wanted to change that.

Swati therefore intended to vote out Drea, who held a lot of power, with the help of a third person such as Rocksroy. Tori, however, was reluctant to work with Rocksroy.

"But here's the thing: Drea and Romeo literally came up to me and they were like, 'Drea, Romeo, me and Rocks, that's going to be a four. We're gonna vote out Tori,'" Swati claimed in her conversation with Tori.

Tori felt disappointed hearing that news, mainly because she didn't want to team up with "a narcissist" like Rocksroy, "whose way is THE way."

"Unless an idea comes from him, it's not a good idea," the therapist lamented. "And I work with clients who are narcissists, and sometimes the best advice is to get out, if you can. But I'm on a tribe with Rocksroy and I can't get out, and we're going to need him."

Tori then shared with Rocksroy how Drea had an extra-vote advantage and she'd never see it coming if the two of them teamed up and worked with Swati going forward.


Rocksroy, however, said he hadn't committed to anybody yet, and he told the cameras how Tori was at the bottom of the pecking order and so she was trying to scramble and save herself.

"It's not going to happen, because in my gut, I just don't trust Tori," Rocksroy said in a confessional.

Rocksroy spilled the beans to Drea, who then determined an all-female alliance was no longer a possibility. It "changed everything," according to Drea, who believed she had done everything to keep Tori in the game.

"Me too," Swati replied, playing it cool. "This is why I can't work with her now."

Swati said Tori had shared more information than she should have and got busted, which prompted Swati to reassess so she wouldn't get in trouble. Swati decided she wasn't about to go down with Tori even though the girls had been scheming together.

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On Day 9, the three tribes gathered together and met Jeff for the season's next Immunity Challenge.

Maryanne announced her "bunny in the mailbox" phrase again but heard absolutely nothing in reply. She told the cameras she was "so disappointed" neither of the other two tribes had found their hidden Immunity Idol yet and she didn't have a vote because of them.

However, Mike was intentionally keeping his idol to himself so he could save it for the merge.

For the Immunity Challenge, two tribemates would be tethered to a boat and they had to dive into the ocean and pull the boat, carrying two other tribe members, to a tall tower. The tribe members in the boat must then climb up the tower and leap off of it, grabbing a key.

Racing to the finish, the key would be used to unlock puzzle pieces. The first two tribes to finish their puzzle would win immunity and be safe from the vote.

The losing tribe would be forced to attend Tribal Council, vote out a member, and return their flint to Jeff.


Romeo and Daniel both sat out of this challenge.

Jonathan pulled the boat himself, just bringing Maryanne along for the ride, and Lindsay grabbed her ring on her first attempt jumping off the platform.

Omar lost his key in the water and lost some time because of that, allowing Rocksroy to catch up.

Once again, Taku had a commanding lead, with Ika in second place. Chanelle was trying to grab her key in third place.

Maryanne and Omar worked on the large and complicated fish puzzle for Taku, Swati and Drea did the puzzle for Ika, and Chanelle and Lydia attempted the puzzle for Vati.

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In the end, Taku won the challenge, although it was a close one this time. And Vati pulled out a second-place finish in the final seconds, sending Ika to Tribal Council.

After the challenge, Ika was glad to see they still had an ember left in their fire, and Rocksroy mentioned how Tori needed to go home that night because she couldn't keep a secret and she couldn't be trusted.

Tori then told Romeo how Swati had told her it was going to be him, Drea, Swati and Rocks working together to take Tori out. Romeo was surprised to hear Swati had leaked that information, and he seemed to realize in that moment Swati was actually starting the trouble.

Romeo acknowledged that Swati was playing -- and playing hard -- and so he pitched voting out Swati to Drea because Swati had been playing both sides. Swati also apparently told both Romeo and Drea that they were her "No. 1."

Romeo wondered if Swati had told every tribemate the same thing, and so Romeo no longer trusted her. Drea also agreed Swati had been trying to pit everyone against one another. Tori then confirmed with the pair Swati had called her "No. 1" as well.

Swati saw Tori and Drea talking, and so Swati tried talking Drea into voting out Tori again since Tori had spilled the news about her extra vote. Swati assured Drea that she never would have betrayed her.


Drea was trying to figure out who was telling the truth, especially since Tori had done something deceitful before. She was afraid to make the wrong decision.

At Tribal Council that night, Jeff asked Ika what their "vibe" was like, and Drea said they hadn't become one yet and it was hard because she was used to teamwork. Tori also agreed "the vibe was off."

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Swati announced someone trying to make a big move got caught and was trying to pin the blame on someone else.

"I'm not going to go home for somebody else's mistake and somebody else's wrong move," Swati declared.

"What did I do?" Tori asked, confronting Swati.


"Blindside Drea," Swati replied.

Tori said Swati was very good at "projecting her own paranoia" onto others and had been the one to recommend they blindside Drea, which Swati denied.

Swati insisted she was playing a loyal game and was speaking her truth and had not caused the division in the tribe. Romeo just hoped the vote that night would make them a more cohesive group.

Tori accused Swati of not operating in reality, and she added, "It's sad to me, but you've got to do what you've got to do."

Rocksroy then announced how he was proud of Swati for standing up for herself and allowing her personality to blossom, regardless of the outcome.

After everyone voted and Tori was shown casting her vote for Swati "in self-preservation mode," Swati played her "Shot in the Dark," which means she'd sacrifice her vote for a one in six shot at safety that night.


If the scroll revealed that Swati was safe, she could not be voted out. The scroll, however, determined that Swati was "not safe."

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Jeff then read the votes in the following order: Swati, Tori, Swati, and Swati.

The episode's closing credits later showed that Swati and Rocksroy voted for Tori, but Swati's vote did not count since she played her "Shot in the Dark."







About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski