Survivor's Tribal Council is all about strategy, but the latest episode has fans wondering if race plays a role too.
The April 27 episode saw two Black contestants sent to the jury: Rocksroy and Chanelle. Chanelle's position was already in jeopardy because of her lack of alliances, but Rocksroy initially seemed to be safe after he tried to form an alliance with Mike and Jonathan.
Nonetheless, Rocksroy was sent to the jury, much to the surprise of the other contestants. Drea was visibly upset, telling host Jeff Probst, "I was so proud because we have four Black contestants in Survivor. And then it always happens where at one point the Black contestants get booted out—Boom! Boom! Boom!—and then that's exactly what this is right now. So yeah, I'm pissed."
Probst asked her if he thought the vote was "race related," to which Drea said, "Subconsciously, a little bit."
Drea wasn't going to let another Black contestant (namely, herself) be eliminated and decided it was time to play her Idol: "It's a reset for me. This was a game changer."
And Maryanne wanted to prevent another Black contestant from leaving too, so she told Tori that she could no longer vote against Drea, explaining, "I walked into Tribal, I saw two Black people, I cannot write her name down. I am so sorry. I literally can't. Morally, I cannot write her name down."
She added that they may all have the same odds of winning Survivor, but "because we all come with our burdens and all come with our privileges, that 1 in 18 might be bigger or smaller for some people."
And even though she was technically safe from elimination, Maryanne went with Drea to hand Jeff their Idols as an act of solidarity. As Maryanne explained, it was important that they both use their idols to prevent critics from claiming "they only stayed because they made it a race thing."
She added, "Jeff, with 1,000 percent certainty, I can tell you that if both of us don't play our idols tonight, there will be someone watching and saying, ‘They used race. Nothing is off limits in Survivor.'"
While this could've been the end of the conversation, the other contestants were upset that race was even brought up. Jonathan, who had the immunity necklace, told Maryanne and Drea, "I don't feel this is right, because you're coming at this like we're racists."
He went on to call Drea "aggressive," to which she replied that this wasn't a personal attack on any of the contestants. As she put it, "this is my situation, my issue."
Probst acknowledged that this was a serious moment that deserved to be handled with sensitivity, so he opted for the contestants to discuss their votes instead of writing them down privately. And since Jonathan, Drea and Maryanne were safe, Tori and Lindsay were the only ones up for elimination. After playing her Shot in the Dark, Tori was sent to jury.
Although social media users are divided on whether race played a factor in the Tribal Council—as Maryanne predicted, many Twitters users are saying she and Drea pulled the "race card"—Maryanne and Drea are not alone in highlighting the importance of diversity on-screen. In 2020, viewers and former contestants called on CBS to cast more Black and Indigenous people of color (BIPOC) because of the show's lack of diversity. Shortly thereafter, CBS announced that it would require that all of its reality shows feature a cast of at least 50 percent BIPOC.
Survivor airs Wednesdays on CBS.