Adios to the Queen. After being sent to the Edge of Extinction, two-time Survivor winner Sandra Diaz-Twine is the first player officially eliminated from Winners at War. She wastes no time in pulling the flag, signaling an end to her time on the island.
After realizing what she would be going up against, and with accurate self-awareness of her extreme disadvantages in nearly all challenges, she decided spending time on the Edge wasn’t worth it for her. And I agree with her and don’t blame her in the slightest. This isn’t season 38, where the contestants didn’t really know each other, didn’t know how they might stack up against each other in challenges. Plus, that was their first Survivor experience; they all had something to prove.
But Sandra? If there is anybody on this season without something to prove, it’s her. She won Pearl Islands. Then she came back and won Heroes vs Villains, widely regarded as one of the best seasons in the show’s history (the best, if you’re asking me).
Now, with all that said, do I like that Sandra left the game this way? Not especially. I always prefer to see the players see the game through to the end. And that’s especially true on an historic Survivor season like Winners at War. I want to hang onto as much of these people as possible. But at the end of the day, it’s Sandra’s decision and I take no issue with her choice.
But elsewhere on the Edge, there were Fire Tokens to be had! The group receives a package, with a scroll for each. There were four new Fire Tokens scattered across the island, with maps leading to each location. As soon as they finish reading, they take off like they’re filming the reboot of It’s a Mad, Mad,Mad, Mad World.
Tyson finds one of the Tokens fairly easily. After the players regroup, the consensus is none of the other three were found. But then we get a series of flashbacks, in a bit of editing reminiscent of the excellently-edited David vs. Goliath. As Boston Rob gleefully informs the audience, he in fact found the other three himself.
Camp Life
So while each tribe had their share of semi-entertaining moments, the extended time spent on the Edge meant less time for the tribes. We’ll just cover some quick hits from each.
Sele
Yul is upset after Wendell’s comments at Tribal Council and pulls him away for a conversation. Yul thinks it goes well, but then sees another awkward interaction between Wendell and Michele. Wendell has seemingly not recovered from last week’s episode’s actions and comments
Dakal
Tony thinks he can now use Denise to hide behind, after her big move against Sandra. But Jeremy is on to him, and still views Tony as one of the biggest threats left in the game.
Yara
Adam is insistent that either Ben or Sarah has the idol (Sophie does). But (of course) nobody cops to it, which proceeds to annoy Adam. The annoyance is made greater by what Adam deems “fake” attempts by the other three at looking for the idol. To be fair, he’s at least right about Sarah and Sophie on that front.
Immunity Challenge
Each tribe carries large saucer to a water tower. They fill the saucer and make their way through a series of obstacles, where they empty into into well. Once the well fills, puzzle pieces are released. Two members finish by solving a puzzle.
Yara wins, with Dakal beating out Sele by mere seconds.
Tribal Council
Much of the first half of the episode would lead viewers to believe Wendell was going to be the easy vote. So much time was spent on Wendell, in fact, that it maybe was too big of a hint that he would find a way to safety. Which he did. Nick and Michele began to fully realize the strong hold Yul had on this game. He’s next level smart and it’s been showing. Neither of them wanted to find themselves post merge completely under Yul’s thumb. And now would be a prime opportunity to take him out. Wendell knew he was vulnerable, so he should logically jump at any plan that would get him through to another day.
After being voted out, Yul is the first player to split his Fire Tokens, leaving one each to Sarah and Sophie.
Final Thoughts
Merge next week
Just once, can Survivor not show that in the “Next time, on Survivor” segment?
If there was ever a season to let the merge be a surprise to the viewers, it’s this one
With the merge, there was no preview of an Edge of Extinction challenge
One more vote, with the Edge challenge the following week?
Sandra has to be the only person to quit from the Edge this season, right?
I just can’t see anyone else, barring injury or other extenuating circumstances, leaving the game
The Fire Tokens have been cool and fun and all, but I’d love to see them become even more relevant in the coming weeks
