The moment Jonathan Young first stepped onto the beach in Survivor 42, castaways and fans alike knew he’d be a challenge beast and an exciting player to watch. And in tribe challenges, he definitely—more than—pulled his weight most of the time, even going as far as to individually finish some group challenges that other tribes gave up on. There were a number of impressive physical displays from him, but the dreaded fire-making challenge kept him from the end.
Now, going up against some of the best physical players in Survivor history who also have a high understanding of both social and strategic gameplay that Jonathan didn’t quite exhibit as much of in his season, will he be able to keep up in Survivor 50? That's the big question.
Jonathan’s Quick Stats
Survivor Career: Survivor 42 (4th Place)
Total Days Played: 25 days
Total Votes Against: 7 votes
Individual Immunity Challenges Won: 2
Individual Reward Challenges Won: 1
- Combined reward and immunity challenge
Immunity Idols Played: 0
Advantages Played: 0
Survivor 42
A member of the Taku tribe, Jonathan’s size immediately regarded him as a physical threat, which he followed through on for the most part—oftentimes physically dragging his tribe across the finish line. Though Taku didn’t win the marooning, Jonathan ensured his tribe avoided every pre-merge Tribal Council except for one where his alliance of Omar Zaheer and Lindsay Dolashewich led the vote, opting to keep Maryanne Oketch, though she was on the bottom.
But at the merge, the Taku Four worked to stay strong in their numbers while Jonathan also built a strong relationship with Mike Turner. The hourglass twist left Jonathan vulnerable at the first post-merge Tribal Council, but his relationships kept him safe.
By Final Nine, he and ally Lindsay were the top individual challenge threats, which created a divide between the two, ultimately ending the Taku Four alliance at the Final Six when they finally turned on each other. Jonathan and Maryanne worked to blindside Omar and Lindsay in back-to-back votes.
But when Romeo Escobar won the Final Four immunity challenge and chose to take Maryanne to the end with him, Jonathan finally had to go up against his closest ally Mike, competing in fire-making for the last spot in the finale. Mike won, which sent Jonathan to the jury, where he cast the only vote for Mike in an otherwise unanimous decision to crown Maryanne as this season’s Sole Survivor.
Survivor 50 Predictions: How far will Jonathan go?
While Jonathan’s previously proven himself as a good player to have around in the early game to help win the physical challenges, he’s doesn’t have a 100% guarantee win record—even in the early game—and he might not be seen as someone people want to keep around out of fear of how he might perform in the individual game. He also has a very public friendship with Survivor legend Boston Rob Mariano, which could also put a major target on his back. No one wants to go up against Boston Rob, so if Jonathan brings some of his strategy into the game, it could be an early game over for him.
Jonathan Young Survivor 50 Player Score
While Jonathan’s legacy revolves around his physical gameplay, oddly enough, he really doesn’t even hold that impressive of a record. He only won two individual immunity challenges, not coming anywhere close to the record, and as someone who competed in every single challenge of the season, he only has a 47% win rate, which is pretty low, especially for someone Jeff Probst regards as “one of the best.”
Compared to other physical players he’s up against this season—Colby Donaldson competed in every challenge the season he got 2nd place (23, 4 more than Jonathan) with a 52% win rate, Ozzy Lusth did the same on his 2nd place season (22 challenges) with a 72% win rate, and even the most recent winner Savannah Louie won 60% of the 20 challenges in her season—we have to wonder if he’ll be able to make it through again or if he’ll be an early target.
Outwit (Social Game): 5/15
Outplay (Physical Game): 9/15
Outlast (Strategic Game): 3/15
Wildcard Factor: 2/5
Total Player Score: 19/50
I’m very interested to see how Jonathan measures up against the old school players, especially since he’s been mentored by Boston Rob in the lead up to the new season. We’ll see if any of his friend’s mentorship pays off when Survivor 50 premieres Wednesday, February 25 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount +!