On Wednesday night’s dramatic and heavy episode of “Survivor 42,” 24-year-old therapist Tori Meehan became the third member of the jury after a long and intense Tribal Council, culminating with her and Lindsay Dolashwich becoming the only players vulnerable.
Tori left amidst a larger conversation about race and social and cultural dynamics within the game, prompted by black players Maryanne Oketch and Drea Wheeler upon seeing that Rocksroy Bailey had been unexpectedly eliminated by the other group just a few minutes prior. Given these circumstances, Tori has since opened up about what it was like leaving under such extraordinary conditions, and how she feels looking back on it, nearly a year later.
Here’s what you need to know:
Tori Feels at ‘Peace’ With Her Exit, Given the Circumstances
Talking about Wednesday night’s episode in her exit interview with Rob Cesternino, Tori said that, although it was her lifelong dream to go on “Survivor” and hopefully make it far, she understood that her elimination was taking place in a grander context, and that it would have been far more difficult for either Maryanne or Drea, as well as much of the community back home.
“I was tanked,” Tori said upon realizing that it was likely her going home, “but I was okay with it. Because I saw that … if I go home that night, it’s just my ‘Survivor’ dream that’s coming to an end – which still sucks, like it’s a huge dream of mine – but I understood in that moment, [that] if Maryanne or Drea were to go home, it would be a lot deeper and more hurtful for them, and so I was okay.”
She mentioned in an exit interview with ET Canada that she, as well as the rest of the “Orange” group, were “100% sure” that it would be Romeo Escobar sitting on the jury bench, rather than Rocksroy, hence the utter confusion and sudden change of plans upon Orange entering Tribal Council that night.
In her interview with Cesternino, she said that she has “had peace” about the moment ever since it happened, nearly 11 months ago now, and that she is happy. “I’ve had peace this whole time about it,” she said. “Of just kind of giving them space, removing myself from that situation … [and] just being like, ‘I want this moment to be a moment. I’ll go calmly play my Shot in the Dark and see what happens’.”
Tori Felt ‘Uncomfortable’ Near the End of Tribal
YouTubeThe “Orange” group attends Tribal Council in episode 9 of “Survivor 42.” Tori Meehan sits on the far left.
As discussion was winding down near the end of the Tribal, viewers will recall that Tori declared that she would be playing her Shot in the Dark advantage, because it became clear that she was the majority’s target over Lindsay. In her exit interviews, she talked about how she felt “uncomfortable” having to “go straight back to scheming,” namely when she went up to the voting booth and formally deposited her die and withdrew her scroll.
“I felt very uncomfortable in that moment,” she explained in RHAP, “because it was such a real moment and it felt uncomfortable for me to have to save my game [by] interject[ing] and strategiz[ing], try to fight, manipulate, and I just didn’t want to do that.” She added that, due to this unusual context, she believed that taking out all the formalities with no one actually casting a written vote “felt more appropriate, and respectful.”
Tori also did mention that that night’s Tribal Council had a special significance to her as a therapist, as she truly felt in that moment as though “healing needs to be done.” “This doesn’t feel comfortable doing it in the confines of the game,” she said, “but just giving space and not invalidating people. Because I think just because you don’t understand someone’s point of view doesn’t give you the right to invalidate them, and that’s what I just tried to do.”
“Survivor 42” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS. The three-hour finale airs Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
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