Over the last couple of weeks, the Survivor Instagram (whose social media manager is on fire this season, by the way—shout out to SMMs everywhere!) has been sharing exclusive Q&As with each new jury member in the days after their elimination episode.
This week they revealed how Mary Zheng felt coming out of the season and, as we've come to expect from her, she did not hold back.
And it seems even Mary knew she was being more blunt than most since she even commented, "i’m actually so surprised they cleared these lmfaooooooo."
Mary's answers actually give us some great insight into what we might expect from her as a jury member.
In sharing what she wishes she did differently to prepare and play, she makes a joke referencing episode 2 when she was the only person on the journey to lose their vote after not finishing the puzzle. But her emphasis on wishing she'd been better at puzzles lines up with her preferred style of gameplay: strategic.
Just last week in episode 11, while Mary was trying to pull Shauhin Davari in to blindside Joe Hunter, she emphasized that the game is about outwitting and outlasting, not "outloyaling."
And that perfectly leans into the next few questions regarding her friendship with Sai Hughley and the impactful bonds she made on the island, to which she basically said neither exist.
"In the game, there was no evolution in my friendship with Sai because Sai started off not my friend and she ended not my friend," Mary said.
While she did play well socially with some, her game was never about making friends, she played to get to the next day. And unfortunately for her, in the end, this was not the season for that strategy. Eventually she ran out of chances and didn't have the bonds to back up her push for a big move.
So how will it play out for a final group of players who made it to the end in an alliance built on friendship against a jury who wanted to play the game, not make friends?
Mary confirms that her final vote won't go to someone she likes, but someone who played a game she respects.
"As a jury member, I don't necessarily need to like who I vote for but I do need to respect them," she said.
And she's not the only one. In his post-elimination Instagram interview, Cedrek McFadden shared he's looking at people's moves and the reasoning behind them, as did Chrissy Sarnowsky.
Depending on who ends up on the jury tonight—and who puts them there and how—it's looking like the group is favoring strategy over social. But would a strong social game that prevented people from playing strategically end up on top?
One more week until the finale and Survivor 48 winner is crowned!