What an episode of Survivor! After last week’s dud (apologies to the fans of the loved ones visit; it just doesn’t do it for me) it was wonderful seeing the show get back on the awesome path it had been forging for most of the season. And above all, we have one person to thank for that: Officer Tony Vlachos. My goodness this man is an electric factory. When he is on, he is on.
It was on full display his first time around in Cagayan. He went full tilt again in Game Changers, to the tune of being the second boot. He reigned himself in for the first 10 episodes of Winners of War, quietly biding his time, waiting for his moment to act. And boy did he have a lot of pent of energy and scheming to unleash upon the Survivor world – not to mention his fellow castaways. So with that, let’s get into it all.
Koru
Nothing of much consequence happened back at camp immediately after the vote. Jeremy and Ben argued over who was a bigger threat between the two of them (*yawn*). Some gave Jeremy a cold shoulder, unable to completely hide their dissatisfaction at being unable to vote him out. It was less explosive than I maybe would have thought, to be honest.
And here we begin the Tony Show. We all knew the man could only contain himself for so long. He admits as much in a confessional. He knew he had to bottle himself up, he couldn’t go 100% Tony right out of the gate. Tony has displayed an immense amount of self-control in hanging around camp, not drawing suspicion to himself. But while the rest of the tribe sleeps after Tribal, he pounces, heading off into the jungle to to hunt for his beloved immunity idol.
And after a brief scare when Nick happens upon him – Tony quickly dispatches him to search an area he himself had already checked – Tony comes across his golden goose, the hidden immunity idol. There’s just something that fees right about Tony having an idol. Minnesota sports and breaking your heart, lamb and tuna fish, Tony Vlachos and immunity idols. They just fit together.
Edge of Extinction
I guess Survivor didn’t want to give viewers a perfect episode, because boy does this advantage stink. Natalie and Parvati find a clue on the beach, though it’s unclear what exactly it’s a clue for. They become convinced that whatever it is is hidden underneath the shelter bed. After waiting all day for the others to vacate the shelter, Natalie has a chance to investigate. And what she finds just plain sucks.
It’s an Extortion Advantage. She can send it to any player still in the game, and that player is blocked from participating in the next immunity challenge and is also barred from voting at the next Tribal Council. Unless, that is, he or she can come up with a payment of Fire Tokens, in an amount determined by the sender. Yikes, that’s bad. That is waaaaay too much power, and that’s only magnified with it coming from the Edge.
Natalie and Parvati send it to Tony, demanding six (!) Fire Tokens; Tony only has three. Tony approaches his fake alliance, trying to get the tokens from them. Michele tells him she has zero, though lies about the actual advantage she has. He ends up getting Jeremy, Nick, and Ben to all give him one Token, thus allowing him to pay the extortion demands.
While six Fire Tokens is a huge amount, what would have prevented Natalie and Parv from demanding even more? If they didn’t care about actually gain more tokens, what would have stopped them from asking for 10, 20, 50, 100 Tokens? Give the person no chance to come through with payment, and dooming them to a miserable Tribal Council experience?
Thankfully they sent it to Tony, who made the whole experience as entertaining as possible. Had someone less, oh let’s say, crazy, received it, the sequence of events would not have been nearly as captivating or interesting. Once again, thank the Survivor gods for Tony Vlachos.
Immunity Challenge
Newly-found immunity idol notwithstanding, it was a good thing Tony came up with the scratch to pay off the Survivor mobsters, as he ends up winning immunity for the second time in a row. The challenge itself was nothing great, balancing a statue with a long pole while standing on a narrow beam.
Pre-Tribal
As soon as everyone returns from the challenge, strategy talk begins. It starts off seeming like a simple, straightforward Jeremy vote, with two votes going on Michele in case Jeremy has something up his sleeve again. But as we all well know, votes are rarely ever this easy on Survivor. And this one proves no different. Tony gets to work.
Whether real, imagined, or a combination of the two, he loves the extra power that comes with having the immunity necklace. And he wants to wield it. He wants to take advantage of the split vote and blindside Sophie. He wants to wrangle in Nick, Jeremy, and Michele. I loved Tony’s move to try to time these discussions for just before they have to leave for Tribal Council. Convince them and leave them with little to no time to rethink that decision.
Tribal Council
Heading into Tribal, the show hadn’t given a real clear indication of who we should expect to go home between Jeremy and Sophie. But in the end, Tony’s plan worked to perfection, blindsiding Sophie 4-3-2, with Jeremy and Michele, respectively, receiving the rest of the votes.
It was a great move by Tony, capping off a great episode, headlined by the manic cop himself. Tony is playing a fantastic game, but you have to wonder if his recent actions have made his days numbered. I certainly hope not. Survivor is better with Tony Vlachos, and watching him try to keep – or regain, if needed – his footing after this move is sure to be a treat.
Final Thoughts
Two words: SPY NEST
Folks, this was a true blindside
I’m sick of players talking about the possibility of themselves being blindsided
If you’re aware you could be a target, it is not a blindside
Sophie truly had no idea she was on the chopping block
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Tony has not received a single vote against him yet this season; simply astonishing
It needs a strong finish, but Winners at War is on a path to potential be the best Survivor season ever
