The ranking of Survivor seasons *updated with s40*

Winners At War delivered a once-in-a-lifetime cast, super competitive gameplay, satisfying stories and the production value was higher than ever. And yet, is it unappreciative to think that it could've been more? Look, I get the logic behind having Edge of Extinction to ensure the stars stayed the whole season, but it's a bad twist and it took up a lot of airtime that could've better explained some of the gameplay. Alliances and relationships just came and went from nowhere, and it's those little things that keep it just outside of perfection for me.

1. Pearl Islands
2. Cook Islands
3. Heroes Vs Villains
4. Micronesia
5. China
6. Cagayan
7. David Vs Goliath
8. Winners At War
9. Kaoh Rong
10. Vanuatu
11. Nicaragua
12. Philippines
13. Millennials Vs Gen X
14. Cambodia
15. Palau
16. Caramoan
17. Blood Vs Water
18. Game Changers
19. Worlds Apart
20. Samoa
21. Tocantins
22. All Stars
23. Exile Island
24. Guatemala
25. Gabon
26. San Juan Del Sur
27. Amazon
28. Island Of The Idols
29. Ghost Island
30. Heroes Vs Healers Vs Hustlers
31. Australia
32. Borneo
33. Fiji
34. One World
35. South Pacific
36. Redemption Island
37. Africa
38. Marquesas
39. Edge Of Extinction
40. Thailand

Winners At War Episode 14: King Of The Jungle

Jeff Probst kicks the finale off...from his garage. Just another bizarre layer to add to the season. He hypes this up as the best season ever and thanks all the players, who are on a Brady Bunch-style split screen from their own homes.

A tangled web: choke now and it's all for nothing

Onto the game then. The final five arrive to watch the EoE return challenge, which is the same one as season 38: ropes, then a table maze. Parvati, Yul and Wendell all get to skip the first part. Natalie has three advantages, meaning she can skip the dig and have her rope bridge partially done too. However, the challenge starts and she gets stuck on the ropes. Wendell is first to get out, whilst Rob and Sophie catch up to Natalie. Natalie gets through and onto the bridge, same as Yul and Parvati. Wendell gets his done, as Natalie has to rehook. Wendell gets a ball and just needs one more. Natalie and Tyson both get a ball. Natalie wins, and is back in the game...she can't quite believe it.

Probst asks the losing players to wrap up their story. Kim says she didn't have to be perfect. Tyson says he doesn't need Survivor anymore because he's a dad. Amber says she was here for Rob, as Rob praises her toughness. Ethan mentions how his Survivor winnings actually funded a drug that saved his life. And now they're all off to the jury. There's a poignant feel to it as you sense a lot of them are finally closing the book on their journeys.

Natalie arrives back at the camp she left day 2 and the other players have questions for her. Natalie relishes the fact she can tell any story she wants, and immediately blows up Tony's game. Tony tries to convince Sarah that Natalie can win if she gets to the end. Sarah's main takeaway is she needs to get her story out there because she's not getting enough credit, which she thinks is because she's a woman.

History repeats itself

The immunity challenge sees them having to tackle three different obstacles to collect bags, going down a giant slide each time, and then finishing with a three-tier puzzle. Ben is first to get a bag, then Tony. Michele is slowest but is doing the hardest one first. Ben gets all his bags first, and Natalie is sprinting to the top when she gets hers. Michele is last but has done this puzzle before. Michele gets the first tier, then Natalie and Sarah get it. Michele then completes it to win immunity again.

Michele finds a friend at last

Tony is nervous that Natalie might have an advantage. Tony wants to vote Denise out to be safe, but he won't budge and is still stuck on Natalie. Natalie tells Michele that she does have one and they plot to make Tony think he's getting the votes so that he plays his idol. Sarah is absolutely insistent that Natalie doesn't have anything despite Tony's pleading, even delusionally suggesting that her 1-day relationship with Natalie would be enough for her to tell her.

Tribal council and the jury are finally looking fresh. Ben is worried Natalie might've made friends on the Edge of Extinction. Sarah says she's thankful she got a heads up that she needs to retool her game. She then talks about the gender bias and says she can finally stop being hard on herself for Game Changers now. Jeff admits his male bias, as Sarah says she wants the last name treatment now.

Waiting for their fate to be decided

Natalie plays her idol, as Tony shouts "I knew it" and plays his. Ben plays his too, and cancels Natalie and Michele's votes against him. We now have no votes and must revote between Denise and Sarah. Since everybody else is immune, it'll come down to a fire challenge. But the girls decide not to force a tie, and Denise goes out unanimously.  In her exit words, she says she's happy she's still the Queenslayer at least.

Tony is annoyed he wasted an idol as Ben apologizes for not believing him. Tony gets a headstart on looking for the next one but he doesn't get it in time and now everyone else is searching. Natalie is the one who gets it, and Ben and Tony start to get very concerned when they realize they haven't found it.

The immunity challenge is to make it through water obstacles and unlock sandbags to throw on a table. Michele hits a roadblock with the beam as everyone else goes past her. Ben lands the first bag and comes very close to getting a second. Tony gets one and it's a race between the two guys, which Tony wins.

Tone flew over the cuckoo's nest

Natalie wants to try and get Sarah to vote out Ben and goes off to the water well where Tony is in his spynest. Sarah spots the idol in Natalie's buff and she comes clean. Tony gets the intel he needed and hilariously flops down complaining about how long he was up there. Tony and Sarah plot to get Michele out now, and Michele sees it coming. Ben tells Sarah he is willing to give her permission to vote him out so that she can have a big move without Tony. Sarah is touched, she doesn't want to do it, but knows she has to do something to separate herself. I can't believe this best-of-the-best season has a virtual quitter at final 5.

Falling on his sword

At tribal council, Sarah says she has learned to forgive herself. Ben details his growth. Michele hopes she can work her way in but hasn't been able to do that yet. Natalie is unsure of what to do with his idol but plays it on herself. Ben is voted out, blindsiding Tony, and hugging both Sarah and Jeff on his way out. I guess it really was important for him to prove that he could make alliances this time.

We cut straight to the final immunity challenge, which is putting balls in a track. Tony is first out, then Sarah. Michele and Natalie get up to 6 balls which has never been done before, and some of the saves Natalie is pulling out are insane. The frantic race ends with Natalie victorious. She can't believe she went from first boot to final 3.

Tony and Sarah are pretty sure it's gonna be them making fire and they're all practicing, even Michele, who is pretty good. Natalie knows it's best to get Tony out, but doesn't want Sarah beating him and getting the credit. Tony is getting flustered, and Sarah likes her chances of beating him.

Playing with fire

At tribal council, Natalie says this moment is what kept her going on Edge of Extinction. Tony says he has no preference for who he would face, but Sarah says it would be fitting if the cops shoot eachother. Natalie says she considered doing it herself but doesn't feel confident giving it up. In the end, she takes Michele to the end and says it's time to break up that alliance.

Tony starts bawling

Sarah and Tony both get a flame going and as Sarah's licks the rope, her win seems inevitable. But it goes out and she has to rebuild. Tony then gets a big one and is able to snatch the win to the sound of claps from the jury. Sarah is OK in defeat and says there's no-one she'd rather have take her out. though she wishes it could've been Cops R Us in the final 3 together. Jeff sends her off with "Lacina, the tribe has spoken".

Jersey rules

The final 3 give one last holler as they eat the final day breakfast. Michele says she's closed a wound from feeling like an undeserving winner. Natalie recognizes her journey has not been traditional, but that she played the best Extinction game she could. Tony says he wants to prove he's one of the best players ever, and is hoping he can be the King to Sandra's Queen.

Despite claiming "stage fright", Yul is the one that kicks off final tribal council by outlining the outwit portion. Denise asks for their biggest missteps. Natalie says getting voted out first obviously. Michele says she built great 1-on-1 alliances but nothing bigger. Tony says he didn't have any and played the game he wanted to play. Ben vouches for Tony's loyalty, but Jeremy disputes that. Natalie talks about painting the picture she wanted from the Edge. Rob accuses Natalie of isolating from the EoE people. Tony mentions the spynest, which gets a lot of laughs and Adam is eating it up. Michele mentions having to reintegrate and adapt. Ben gives a hat tip to a fellow controversial winner.

Onto the outplay section, Natalie lists all the advantages she sent into the game and how that was her way of influencing the game. Tony and Michele talk about how important their immunity wins were. Rob asks why didn't Natalie take out Tony herself in fire, and she says it was about making the alliance eat itself. Tony and Michele talk about the EoE twist. Tony says he only got bad things from there, whereas Michele saw it as a positive since she got advantages.

Standing ovation

For their final statements, Natalie says her game was not the hand she thought she would be dealt but she's proud she overcame the target she had from coming back in the game thanks to Chris. Michele says she worked hard, made relationships and played the best game for her. Tony says he was leading votes and nobody ever put his name down. The jury all give them props and a big clap (well except Sophie).

Courtesy of COVID-19

Time to cast the votes. Rob's is a message to Natalie, saying she should've taken Tony out ("I said if you got back, you had to play perfect...you almost did"). Parvati votes for Natalie, and so does Tyson. Nick's sounds like it could be for Michele, but we don't see it. Ben gives another to Tony. After Jeff collects the urn, we transition back to Jeff's garage for the vote-reading, where the final 3 are watching on video call. Jeff encourages them to bring in their families to witness it, and we get a fairly expected landslide win for Tony (Natalie got 4, Michele got 0). We wrap it up somewhat anti-climactically for such a big season, with no reunion, but I guess you gotta make do with what you have. None of this changes that Tony is the King now, a epic winner for an epic season.

STAR OF THE WEEK: TONY VLACHOS

I wrote Tony off pre-season, but he somehow pulled it off. He laid low in the beginning to take the target off him and when he got a chance to go full Tony, there was no stopping him. Tony is a force of nature, there's nobody that works harder and he's a fitting representative of the ultimate champion showdown.

Winners At War Episode 13: The Last Supper

Benception

Michele feels in a bad spot after tribal having not been in the loop, and Jeremy gives her the coin back. Jeremy and Tony argue about how many days they have left whilst looking at their super cool calendar, Tony claiming it's two weeks. Tony doesn't want Jeremy to go as then the hyenas will come after him. Sarah knows that Ben gunning for Jeremy is a problem, but decides to try and convince him to vote Nick. It's a tall order, but it actually works, and Ben is now fully on board with the new plan.

Catch me if you can

The immunity challenge is to throw two balls down a track and catch them on the other side, dig under a log, then solve a slide puzzle. Jeremy is first to get one, whilst Tony misthrows. Sarah gets one and Ben's ball bounces way off track. Denise, Nick and Ben all get one as Jeremy gets his 2nd. Sarah, Nick, Ben and Tony join him on the digging but Jeremy is first through. Everybody gets to the slide puzzle except Michele who can't even catch her first ball. Tony, who is not known for his slide puzzle ability, seems to know what he's doing this time...but Nick gets it and wins immunity. Just what the rest of them didn't want.

Fireman down

Sarah wants Denise, but Ben is still set on Jeremy. Jeremy doesn't trust the Denise plan and wants to ask for the coin again, but  Ben is trying to create a rift between Jeremy and Michele over it. The two of them figure out what he's doing and now want to get Nick and Tony to vote Ben out. Tony doesn't want that and gets the rest of them to split the vote between Jeremy and Michele so that it doesn't matter what she does with her advantage. Sarah is scared that Nick is gonna flip his vote.

At tribal council, Michele talks about her challenge struggle. Ben says it's hard to not be who you are when you're depleted. Sarah says it's hard to be a jerk when you know the people you're playing with. The players also talk about what it was like going back home after the show and the trust issues it caused. Michele says she's gonna play the coin tonight but doesn't say who for.

Flipped off

After the votes are cast, Michele decides to flip the coin for herself and it comes up safe. Two votes for her are canceled and then it comes down to Jeremy and Ben, with Jeremy going home. Tony apologizes as Jeremy tells him it was a bad move. Jeremy leaves his tokens with Michele and is off to the Edge.

Tony and Ben confirm that Michele is next, with Tony pointing out she has become a goat after being left out of so many votes. Michele is mad at Nick and asks what he thinks their path to the end is from here. Nick wants Ben out next. Michele says she's gonna bring out sassy Jersey Michele, and decides to go for broke and throw out Tony's name to Sarah as the person nobody can beat at the end.

Game of thrones

Jeremy hates the Edge of Extinction and their meagre rice rations. Yul brings back a clue that mentions a "stone of throne" and they all take off looking. Danni thinks it might be in the water, whilst Wendell goes to the top of the cliff. But Natalie, having been here longer than anybody, knows exactly what to look for and gets it first. Opening the box, she sees she can sell a challenge disadvantage for as many tokens as she wants, and she just wants to pick somebody in the majority so they can pool tokens.

Nick receives the advantage offer and has to find 8 tokens to buy it, but he only has 6. He decides to go to Michele and work together on it, and now they have to think what would cause the most chaos.

I guess all is forgiven?

What do we do now?

The immunity challenge is to stack dominos on a beam without them falling over. Nick gives Ben the disadvantage and now he has more to stack. I suppose if they'd given it to Tony, they would've known Michele had a hand in it. The challenge starts and Ben keeps losing his blocks. Michele and Tony look to be getting off to the best start, with Sarah behind them cheering for Tony. Michele loses a block and has to redo one. Nevertheless, she gets to the end first...and gets the much-needed win. Ben is cursing because he only had one more to go and most likely would've won without the disadvantage.

Cutting Tony out is gonna be harder than it looks

Back at camp, Denise says she feels like it's her and offers to use her tokens to buy rice for the tribe if they cook what they have left. But she's not as defeated as she seems and is hoping the plan is still on to vote Nick. Ben says he's confident in the plan and doesn't feel like he needs to play his idol...well, that could be famous last words. Nick tells Tony he's worried Ben is a threat in the fire challenge, and he's considering making the move. Tony hides in his spynest and overhears Denise tell Sarah and Ben she's worried about Tony at the end. Tony now wants Denise out and pitches it to Nick and Michele by saying he doesn't think he could get Sarah to vote Ben. Sarah and Tony debate switching up the plan to put Nick in their final 4 instead.

At tribal council, Michele says she knew she needed the win, which Jeff uses as an example of why to never let people know they're in trouble. Ben doesn't know who gave him the disadvantage. Michele talks about how just getting fire tokens after a vote that didn't go her way meant a lot to her. Ben gives a funny analogy about a lion breaking out of a cage and pinning a steak to someone's back. Denise is playing defeated, which Adam senses is a fakeout.

Nick votes for Denise and talks about slaying the Queenslayer. But the vote comes back for Nick, and Michele is left out again! He gives a holler on the way out which seems to confuse Denise. Poor Nick, he essentially paid 6 tokens to get voted out. Now his mind is just on the re-entry challenge, which he knows is tomorrow.

Finally leaving purgatory

Day 35 arrives and the Edge of Extinction players are happy to be done. They enjoy one last sunrise, and congratulate Natalie and Amber for going the whole distance. The players with tokens - Wendell, Yul, Parvati - talk about spending theirs on a challenge advantage. Natalie has a mountain of tokens (14!) so she's gonna be able to get three advantages, peanut butter, and in addition to the idol she already has, even buys another for Tyson. Jury management, I like it.

The episode ends with the Edge players walking off and an extensive recap of how we got there and who's left. How will the returnee shake things up? Can anything stop King Tony's march to a perfect game? Next week the clash of champions comes to an end and we'll be left with one victor.

STAR OF THE WEEK: MICHELE FITZGERALD

A great episode for Michele, even if she didn't vote anybody out. She saved herself when she needed it most and seems to be the only person who can see Tony's frontrunner status. Now we're gonna see her really have to scrap to get to the end.

Winners At War Episode 12: Back Together

Sarah is furious after tribal and lets Tony have it, accusing him of ruining her game. Eventually she promises to let it go, but says "if I get voted out, don't talk to me ever again". Tony tries to repair trust with Ben by telling him about the idol, and gets shit on...no, literally.

Tony goes airborn

Tony decides to premiere his new spy method - the spynest. Well, now we've seen it all. Ben is not talking to Jeremy, which Jeremy is finding ridiculous. Kim is ready to start making some moves and get Tony out, which she tells to Denise, Ben, Michele and Nick.

Blood, sweat and tears

On Edge of Extinction, there's another chance to get some fire tokens by transporting coconuts, but only for the top 6 finishers. Rob takes the lead for the first few laps, whilst Danni knows to pace herself. Adam is struggling, and Tyson is not doing as well as you'd think either. Rob slips and cracks his elbow, which is basically game over. Sophie and Natalie are now in the lead, with Natalie winning. Yul gets 3rd, then it's Parvati and Tyson. Wendell and Danni are competing for the last spot and Wendell gets it. Rob decides to carry on anyway for his pride.

Nick is happy everyone is fighting and decides to form a final 3 with Denise and Michele. Their targets are Sarah, Jeremy and Tony since they're the biggest jury threats. Everybody is out looking for the new idol. Ben casually finds it whilst talking with Tony, but he sees it so he has to come clean to make Tony think he's with him.

Idol brothers

The immunity challenge is to hold up your hand attached to a bucket, and there's a male and female winner. Ben is willing to drop out for food after 5 minutes. Jeremy is first out and Ben touches the edge. Sarah is the first one out for the women. Nick offers Tony one of the tokens if he lets him have it, but he wants his 3rd. Kim and Michele step out for food, making Denise the winner for the women. Nick makes Tony give him a token and then drops out as well,

Don't strain yourself

With the plan to take out Tony on the back burner, Nick says he's willing to take out Jeremy. Ben tells Tony that Kim is gunning for him and now he wants to switch it. In trying to corroborate it with Nick, he fumbles his response. Talking with Sarah though, she would still rather Jeremy go so that they don't lose Ben. Tony tries to talk Ben into voting Kim. Michele wants to use her advantage to save Jeremy, giving him another possible lifeline. But he decides to talk to Ben himself too, just to let him know he doesn't want to fight with him.

Again with the whispers, ugh

At tribal council, everyone talks about how fast the game is shifting. Kim admits she regrets stepping down for food. Tony whispers to Ben to get Nick to vote Kim, but he refuses. Jeremy and Kim decide to talk, and Sarah tells Tony to play the idol for her if necessary. Denise says she's ready to vote, as Jeremy asks whether she's sure.

Michele votes for Jeremy, but she's hoping he'll use the coin. When Jeff asks for idols, Tony says he'll play it for Sarah but Sarah says he doesn't have to do that. Jeremy then decides not to play his coin. Jeremy gets votes, but the majority fall on Kim. Wow, the legend is mortal after all. The remaining girls get her tokens. She says she doesn't regret going after Tony, but I think we know what her big mistake was. Just goes to show you, even the best of the best can have off days.

STAR OF THE WEEK: TONY VLACHOS

Tony got out Kim before she got him and seems to still have people willing to work with him. Now we'll see whether he can survive as the biggest name left.

Winners At War Episode 11: Back To The Old Me

Jeremy is back at camp after pulling his Houdini trick and is waiting to see who joins. He's disappointed when he sees it's Tyson that's gone. Ben wants Jeremy out next but Jeremy is trying to persuade him that he'll the biggest threat without him. Michele and Kim agree they are on the outs.

With everybody asleep at night, Tony decides it's finally time to go and look for an idol. Only thing is, Nick soon wakes up and joins him. Tony manages to get rid of Nick by sending him to search by the well, and he is able to find the idol.

Here he goes, creeping again

Too sexy for this shirt

Sarah hosts a fashion show that all the girls participate in, but Tony is not having it. Tony decides to play double agent and tries to win back Jeremy's trust, and Jeremy buys it. Kim doesn't, and lets the others know.

Whilst collecting firewood, Natalie and Parvati find a bottle with a clue on it. They eventually figure out it's under the shelter and Natalie has to wait for everyone to move away to watch the sunset to get it. It's called the extortion advantage, where they can demand as many fire tokens as they want or the victim won't be able to play in the immunity challenge or cast a vote. The girls are really excited to mess up the game with it.

Definitely NOT an advantage

Tony finds the note in his bag and is super excited about it...until he realizes it's being used on him. He has to find 6 tokens and only has 3. The first person he asks is Michele but she doesn't have any and has to invent an advantage she bought. He then goes to Jeremy and he agrees to give him 1. Nick and Ben also give him 1. He managed to get three different people from two different alliances to help him out...that's impressive.

The immunity challenge is to stand on a beam and use a pole to keep a statue balanced. Kim is out first and Denise, Michele and Sarah struggle with the first transition. Nick and then Sophie fall next, leaving just three guys left. Ben and Jeremy then fall right after the other, giving Tony another win. And now he's super grateful he was able to play in it.

Last minute switchup

Kim has decided to go back to the other side since she knows Jeremy doesn't have the numbers, and agrees to vote him out. Sarah suggests putting to votes on Michele too. Jeremy thinks he has a plan to vote out Ben (who he has been very irritated by lately), but Denise is with Kim and thinks it's time for Jeremy to go. Tony wants to take advantage of the split and go to Jeremy and Michele last minute to vote out Sophie, along with Nick. But Jeremy doesn't believe Tony when he says the girl aren't with him, which puts the plan in jeopardy.

At tribal council, Ben says he's always waiting for the bomb to drop because he doesn't know all the info. Jeremy says everyone is telling half-truths. The players discuss resumes, and Nick says some moves you don't want credit for. Sophie doesn't want to be a resume padder and wants her moves to make sense. Jeremy justifies the move to play his advantage but is not confident tonight. Sarah says a good blindside against these players can prove you are the best.

I've never been here before

The votes come in with a split between Jeremy and Michele as planned. But then the last 4 votes send a stunned Sophie out of the game. "Nooo, idol in my pocket!" she yells, as she stumbles around in a daze to get her torch snuffed. Sarah and Ben look pretty shocked too, as Jeremy gives out the death glare. Sophie is pretty sad at Extinction, but feels like she's proved she's not a bottom tier winner after all. I agree, she was clearly one of the stars this time. Now we'll see what impact the Sarah/Tony split has on the rest of the game.

STAR OF THE WEEK: TONY VLACHOS

Tony was all over this episode: finding an idol, overcoming extortion, winning immunity and pulling off an epic blindside. Cagayan Tony is back, and it's good to see him again.

Winners At War Episode 10: The Kids Are Alright

Too much love to even fit in one frame

Jeff brings the contestants out for a challenge and surprises them with an earlier-than-usual loved ones visit. Kim's husband and her 3 kids are first. The other parents all get to see their kids (with Denise's grown daughter towering over her providing a fun contrast), and seeing Tyson cry is quite a rare sight. But it's Val and the Collins clan who steal the show. Then Jeff tells them there is no challenge and they can all just go back to camp.

The players have all let their guard down and are having a family day out on the beach. Meanwhile on Edge of Extinction, they're all apprehensive when a boat approaches...but it's a family visit there too. Nadiya is there, as is John Fincher, and the Mariano daughters.

First boot sisters: Natalie looking for some auntie luck

A fun callback to a past misspelling

Back to the game now, with an immunity challenge that involves stacking blocks on a table, and two fire tokens for the winner. Tony, Kim, Tyson and Nick are the early front runners. Kim losing her blocks opens the door for some of the chasers, with Tony now looking good. Tyson, Nick and Jeremy drop, leaving Tony and Ben in it. Both guys place their last block, and Ben has to decide if he's gonna try and go faster or hope Tony drops. In the end, Ben drops and Tony takes the win. "Wow, I won a game of patience" he exclaims.

People are coming to Tony now since he's safe and Jeremy wants to split up Sarah and Sophie, but Tony shoots it down. Sarah and Tony also have conflicting targets, with Sarah wanting to go for Kim and Tony for Tyson, but after some bickering, they eventually go with Sarah's plan, Jeremy then goes off to talk with Kim, which sketches out the guys, and now Tony wants to blindside Jeremy.

Kim, Tyson and Jeremy (remnants of the poker alliance) agree they need to stick together and want to vote out Sophie. They try to get Michele and Denise on their side, as Kim reveals her idol. Sarah is annoyed when the vote has changed, but is OK when she hears Jeremy was coming for her. Jeremy reveals he can leave tribal but Tyson urges him not to since then they won't have enough votes. Sophie wants Sarah to use her vote stealer since that will avoid a tie.

Who shot first?

At tribal council, Nick is over his sour grapes and feels like he's playing Survivor now. Both sides are whispering as Tony says he's glad to be safe. After it calms down, Jeff is ready to call for a vote, and Jeremy and Sarah both call for Jeff at the same time. Both want the other to go first and eventually Jeremy relents, choosing to use his advantage and go back to camp. The other side are now not sure what to do, and Sophie wants to taker her five off to the side to make a decision. The leftovers of Jeremy's squad debate their own plan. Sarah then plays her vote steal to take Denise's vote.

One return trip he was not looking forward to

Kim then gets up to play her idol and decides to play it for Denise. Whoa! The vote is 2 for Denise, 2 for Sophie and the rest for Tyson. Kim laments her misplayed idol but not even their whole crew stuck together. Tyson has no tokens so he just flips off the drop boxes as he walks past. For the final scene we get to see the jury all hug Probst as a thank you for the family visit Aww!

Well we now have two clear sides, even if it would've been nice to see them fleshed out a little more. Did Jeremy make a cowardly move? Perhaps, but with a game this fast-paced, who's to say alliances won't change anyway? Next week could be anyone's time to go.

STAR OF THE WEEK: TONY VLACHOS

Tony was lucky enough to get to sit out of the drama after securing his safety with the "bulletproof vest". And he was able to be on the winning side and get out who he wanted. This new side of Tony has been very successful in managing to not stand out too much.

Winners At War Episode 9: Podium Finish

Nick is ready to let the others have it after tribal, whilst Michele calls them all dingbats. Adam uses it as an opportunity to rope them in, and tells Michele his theory about the fleur de lis on Jeff's podium being an idol.

Advantage deja vu

Parvati leads a yoga session on the Edge when they get a clue that talks about history repeating itself. They head off to where some of the past advantages were, but Danni has a theory it might be hidden in the same spot as season 38. Sure enough, Parvati and Danni find the advantage, which is called the 50/50 coin...a coin you can flip to give you a chance of safety. They decide to offer it to Michele for 4 tokens, and let the rest of the players (sans Yul and Wendell) know, as she plans to get them some food.

The reward challenge is to grab and transport a net full of giant fish that will then double as puzzle pieces. Jeremy and Kim end up the captains, and Jeremy picks a team of Tyson/Adam/Tony/Nick against Kim's team of Sarah/Ben/Sophie/Michele. Kim's team get a lead on the carrying part. On the puzzle, it's Jeremy and Nick vs Michele and Sophie. Nick can't find the spot for his last piece..and the girls get the win. However Sarah decides she wants to give it up to Nick for his birthday.

Trust the cookies

Tony tells Sarah he thinks she made a bad move as it gives people an opening to talk about her. The crew eating takeout agree to open up their fortune cookies in pursuit of a clue. Michele receives her coin and is truly 50/50 on what to do. She takes advice from her fortune cookies which told her "when the purse is empty, the heart is full" and to take big risks...and goes for it. Oof, that is a lot of tokens for an advantage that could easily be useless.

Everybody was kung fu fighting (well, just Ben actually)

The immunity challenge is to balance on a platform in the water. Michele is first out, then we lose Denise before round 2. Tyson is next, and Jeremy falls comically too. Tony is out and that annoying song starts up again. Adam can't get on top and is out. Most of the others fall quickly this round, leaving it between Ben and Kim, where Kim gets the win.

The easy votes right now are Nick and Michele, so the majority propose a split. Nick decides to throw out Sophie's name, having nothing to lose. Adam suggests Sarah instead since she's too close to Ben, but Tyson now wants Adam out because of how quickly he got that switched. Sarah is mad when she learns her name is coming up, and Ben interrogates Adam about what he said, which he refuses to answer. All sorts of names are coming up...is it Adam, Nick, Sarah or Tyson? Nobody knows, but Adam is still planning on going for that idol.

Too many names

At tribal council, Sarah details the chaos and calls it a solo game now. Nick says he's happy to fight, he hated the caginess. The whispering starts, as Adam and Ben argue. Adam senses he's the target and the deadly silence he receives as a result speaks volumes.

Worth a shot, right?

After the votes are cast, Adam stands up to fiddle with what he thinks is an idol. He can't even get it out, but Jeff offers to let him play it anyway. You kinda get the sense Jeff is fucking with him and no, it's not an idol in the end. Adam is voted out, even though Nick picks up some votes. Adam laments his mistakes, and gives his token to Denise, even though he suspects she knew he was going.

Adam ended up being a surprisingly big character this season and I enjoyed the hot mess. Whilst he was wrong about the idol, he lost nothing for trying. And I'm willing to bet we'll probably have a real idol at tribal within the next few seasons.

STAR OF THE WEEK: PARVATI SHALLOW

I've never given it to an EoE player before, but I really do think she was the winner of the episode. She secured the deal of the century and is finally rich again. She's also in the main "alliance" on Extinction, which can't hurt.

Winners At War Episode 8: Lions, Hyenas And Snakes, Oh My!

They're coming for you!

The players on Edge of Extinction get the news that their opportunity to re-enter is here, and now is the time to spend their fire tokens. Natalie picks 1 advantage and an idol. Rob also buys an advantage and an idol, with Amber's fire token. Then they walk off with a badass Reservoir Dogs-esque shot.

The other players are brought together and everybody throws off their buff when Jeff tells them they are merged. Then it's time to find out who the 12th member of the tribe will be as the EoE players arrive for their return challenge. Jeff asks Natalie, Tyson and Rob how their experience on the Edge has been, and they get emotional about it.

Buffs flying like graduation caps

The challenge is to go over nets, use sticks to get a key and then do a ball maze. Tyson and Rob are first to get their bags. Parvati, Amber and Yul are left digging since they couldn't buy advantages. Rob hooks his key and is first to attempt the maze. Tyson and Natalie get it next, and Yul has impressively caught up too. Soon only Amber is left behind. Tyson cuts it close but is still on course. A nailbiting close contest between Rob and Tyson results in Tyson returning to the game.

Drinking the blood of her enemies

The merge tribe arrive at their feast and see the prices for rewards have gone up. Denise tells her "Queenslayer" story, though it's just making her a bigger target. Wendell talks with Jeremy, and Jeremy wants Nick out since then he can be Wendell's number one. Tyson, Ben, Jeremy and Tony are all banding together to try and take out some of the lower profile players.

"I'm so scared"...won't be the last time

Rain hits the Koru camp hard, and that continues into the next challenge, which is to hold onto a pole. Sophie is crying from the cold before she even starts. There'll be a male and female winner of this challenge, and they'll both get a fire token too. Adam looks wobbly, but Michele is out first. Adam, Sarah, Tyson, Wendell and Tony all go down in quick succession. Once Sophie goes, Denise and Kim are the last two women. Both are slipping, but Denise manages to get it. It's Jeremy vs Nick for the men, and Jeremy is staring him down. Jeremy holds on longer, getting the win. Now he can push for Nick, risk-free.

Mind if I drop in?

Ben and Tony agree to the Nick vote, who is being annoying by butting into conversations. Nick wants to vote out Adam as he's tight with Denise. Sophie worries the big guys are taking over and wants to take out Wendell to weaken Jeremy. Ben lets Jeremy know Wendell's in trouble, and now is trying to change the vote to Adam just to save him. Adam is nervous and Sophie tells him not to be paranoid. But how can he, when Ben is so clearly playing dumb?

At tribal council, Tyson says he's not gonna be as loose-lipped as he was before. Sophie says it actually helps Tyson to not have baggage. Adam talks about not getting as many conversations as he would like, and Sophie says you have to be OK being out of the loop. Sarah says everyone's keeping their cards close to their chest. Tony just wants to go with the current.

Adam votes for Wendell, saying it'll be one of them. The votes are read, and it sure looks like Adam is going at first...but Wendell turns out to be the unlucky one. He doesn't know who betrayed him, but decides to give one token to Nick and one (back) to Michele. Good call, as both of them were clearly shocked at the vote.

Wendell becomes the first new school casualty in a while, but now it feels like this game could truly go in any direction. Who's gonna be on whose side by the time we get to next tribal? Anyone's guess.

STAR OF THE WEEK: SOPHIE CLARKE

Sophie demonstrated that she's incredibly perceptive, and managed to get her way tonight. I'm very impressed with how she's played so far and hope it can continue.