Survivor season 42 episode 1 power rankings

Survivor season 42 kicked off with a bang. Over the course of its two-hour run time, we got to know most of the 18 new Castaways on the island, before having to say goodbye to two of them. Of course, Jackson Fox’s departure was much different from the usual exit, but it certainly left an impact. Following that heart-felt moment, we got to see some good old-fashioned Survivor gameplay in Zach Wurtenberger’s boot.

Now that there’s an episode in the books, we can start to get a real picture of how this season is going to shake out. Of course, there are several players in the game who we’ve just barely gotten to know, so most of this is guesswork. That said, we’ll work with what we have.

Survivor 42 week 1 power rankings

18) Jackson Fox (Last: 15) – Jackson’s exit doesn’t really seem like any fault of his own. He also didn’t seem like he was in any real place of danger on his tribe, so it sucked to see him go out so early. At least Survivor gave him enough screentime to tell his story.

17) Zach Wurtenberger (Last: 4) – Zach definitely seemed to overplay his hand in regards to the Tori Meehan situation. Obviously, everyone is going to be looking for idols, but to try to pin suspicion on her and then also try to bill yourself as an ally to her is a tough needle to thread. He wasn’t able to do that and his poor showing at the immunity challenge sealed his fate.

16) Rocksroy Bailey (Last: 18) – We’re pretty low on Rocksroy after his opening episode. As we often expect from older players surrounded by young guns, he came off as overbearing. He does have Swati Goel and Romeo Escobar potentially on his side, but it’s hard to see him making a deep run at this point.

15) Marya Sherron (Last: 15) – Marya was relatively invisible this week, so it’s tough to rank her. We’re keeping her at this same spot simply because we’re not sure what to do with her.

14) Lydia Meredith (Last: 17) – As expected, Lydia isn’t bringing much at camp or in challenges, but she does seem tight with Hai Giang. If she can ride that duo, she might be able to make some strategic moves. We still struggle to see her going far unless she’s a goat, but she’s been a lot of fun in her confessionals so far.

13) Maryanne Oketch (Last: 7) – Maryanne is a tough one to rank after last week. It doesn’t seem like she’s in much trouble, but we do wonder if her personality might grate on people after more time on the island. She seems like one of those people who is a delight to be around until she isn’t. For her sake, we’re hoping those good vibes last as long as possible.

12) Chanelle Howell (Last: 9) – Another player we didn’t see too much out of. All we know is that she’s seemingly locked in with Daniel Strunk. Hopefully, they can bring over one of the other duos and make some noise.

11) Mike Turner (Last: 13) – Mike got more screentime than many members of the Vati tribe, but we still don’t really know much about his standing. He does seem to be attached to Jenny Kim, who has proven herself a strong puzzle-solver early. If Mike brings the muscle, that could be a good combo.

10) Lindsay Dolashewich (Last: 10) – Lindsay got an early advantage, which could be great. However, we didn’t see much of her strategy. We really didn’t see much from Taku as a whole with their story being mostly centered (and rightfully so) around Jackson this week.

9) Omar Zaheer (Last: 8) – We sound like a broken record, but there’s not much to say about Omar after his first episode. He seems like he’s in a fine spot, but who really knows?

8) Tori Meehan (Last: 1) – Tori was able to navigate out of a tough spot and get the entire tribe to vote against Zach. Hopefully, that means she’s back in their good graces, but early idol stink can be hard to wash off.

7) Drea Wheeler (Last: 6) – Drea has two advantages, but also seems to be playing really hard. That’s not always a bad thing, but we’ve seen it blow up in a player’s face before.

6) Swati Goel (last: 14) –

We were a little down on Swati leading into the season because of her age. However, she’s shown early that she’s comfortable working with just about anybody. Even Rocksroy seemed to go to her first before talking with his alliance. That’s good news for Swati.

5) Johnathan Young (Last: 12) – Johnathan is, very obviously, the most physically fit man on this season. Considering his tribe is already down a person, we can’t see them targeting him at the next boot. He seems destined to make the merge and then get cut almost immediately.

4) Daniel Strunk (Last: 2) – In his own words, Daniel pulled a Stephenie LaGrossa and dislocated his shoulder in the first challenge. That almost knocked him out of the game, but now he looks to be in a good spot. He has Chanelle working with him and seems to be on good terms with Mike. It’s hard to say for sure since we haven’t seen much from the Vati tribe, but we like his chances so far.

3) Hai Giang (Last: 3) – Hai made a few moves that we liked in the first episode. Obviously, getting the advantage early was huge. We also love that he’s partnered with Lydia, who seemed like someone that might struggle to make connections with other players on the tribe. Now, he can use that twosome to solidify numbers and keep himself safe if Vati goes to tribal council.

2) Romeo Escobar (Last: 5) – Romeo seems to be in a position of power over on the Ika tribe. He’s the person several people were coming to and seemed to have some say in who went home. Of course, he’d have preferred Tori, but knowing when to cut your losses and stick around as someone the tribe can trust shows us that he’s thinking ahead.

1) Jenny Kim (Last: 11) – Jenny dominated two puzzles and is partnered with the most physically fit person in her tribe. That’s a strong position early as players probably won’t be looking to get rid of her. She might be at risk when the game becomes individual, but we love what she’s brought to the table thus far.

Watch a new episode of Survivor season 42 on March 16 on CBS.