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.