CBS Angelina Keeley in "Survivor: David vs. Goliath"/Tori Meehan in "Survivor 42."
“Survivor 42” has seen its fair share of dynamic and outgoing personalities thus far; among them, 24-year-old therapist Tori Meehan. Tori, largely due to her character defined by melodramatic flair and occasional lack of self-awareness, has drawn many comparisons to legendary season 37, “David vs. Goliath” contestant Angelina Keeley since the start of the season.
Angelina, who has since become a legend in the “Survivor” community for a number of faux-pas and entertaining moments on her season, has recently given her thoughts on whether these comparisons have any merit, and has weighed in on what she thinks of Tori as a whole.
Here’s what you need to know:
Angelina: I Relate ‘a Lot’ to Tori’s ‘Aggressive Game’
On Friday, Angelina sat down with Rob Cesternino to discuss “Survivor 42,” where, among other things, they discussed certain big names of the season, including Tori. While naming off her favorite players, Angelina said that she gets a “kick out of Tori,” while adding that “she’s the villainess of this season for sure, without a doubt.”
She also said that she “[relates] a lot” to the “aggressive” style of gameplay Tori was exhibiting, adding that Tori is the kind of player who can effectively separate their home life from their gameplay, similar to Angelina. However, she said that this kind of gameplay also ended up being her own “downfall.” She explained:
I think in terms of the similarities I do see between us is that she’s playing an aggressive game. She’s playing a, ‘leave it all out there on the island’ game, and that was very much so my mentality going into ‘David vs. Goliath,’ for better or for worse, because I think it was definitely my downfall at times, playing too hard and trying too much.
However, Angelina said, one way in which they do not compare would be their athletic ability, as Tori, who has already won both of the first two individual immunity challenges, is “leaps and bounds more athletic than me.” Angelina said that “on that front, she takes the cake. But she’s awesome, I’m really proud of her for that.”
Angelina Thinks Tori Is ‘Really Fun to Watch’
Angelina also spoke of the benefits of playing a so-called “aggressive” game. She referenced how Chanelle Howell, who was voted out last episode, expressed her regret at having not done more in the game after being voted out. “And I think,” Angelina said, “given the choice of feeling regret of not doing enough versus regret of maybe doing too much, I’d rather err on the side of doing too much. And I think Tori is erring on the side of going all in.”
“She’s really fun to watch,” Angelina concluded, “and I think it’s always fun for me to see women who are just like bold like that and who don’t care! Who are just playing their own game.”
Some might argue that Angelina’s game was aggressive in style, though she ended up getting zero votes as a finalist, perhaps in part because of this aggression.
Tori, despite her athletic prowess and aggressive game, is also the majority’s #1 target as of now. A sneak preview for next week’s episode shows us that there will be a special “double tribal” episode, meaning we will see two people go home. Will Tori be one of the next two to go? Or will some players decide they want to take her to the end, in part because her chances of receiving jury votes are slim?
Tune into “Survivor 42” Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS to find out. The three-hour finale will air Wednesday, May 25, 2022.