What you DIDN'T see in the Survivor: Winners at War season premiere - Entertainment Weekly News, Entertainment Weekly

Not all Survivor seasons are created equal. I suppose this is somewhat obvious by virtue of the fact that I provide (highly-debatable) season rankings . Some seasons are, naturally, better than others. When all is said and done, I have no idea where

Winners at War

will fall. But I can tell you this: Being out there for filming, it felt special. It felt like a milestone for the show. The fact that it was season 97. The fact that 29 winners were standing side by side on a sandspit in the middle of nowhere. The fact that there was a $ 2 million prize. Watching them learn about the prize money. Watching them toast with champagne. And then launch immediately into a physical battle in a heavy current. It felt like the type of thing you have waited years to see.

I’ve been on location (times for Survivor now, and there are few instances where I’ve had that feeling before. My first trip out was for Survivor: All-Stars and I was, quite simply, in awe. Hatch! Rudy! Tina! Colby! Jerri! Ethan! Rupert! All together! I couldn’t believe it was happening. Day 1 of Survivor: Micronesia started simply enough with each of the returning favorites coming around a bend to be introduced one by one, but then the skies opened and a torrential storm erupted as the players had to race across to another island to grab immunity idols. I was soaked, but also stoked, knowing I was there for something incredibly special.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains would be, bar none, the most epic opening in the show’s history. The cast flew in on New Zealand military choppers and then engaged in the most physical battle imaginable. Stephenie separated a shoulder. Rupert broke a toe. Sugar flipped people off while topless. The entire scene was electric.

In all those instances, you knew you were witnessing something special, and

Winners at War had that same feeling. The theme (all winners) was something we had been pining for for years. The list of winners they got was insane. The setting was gorgeous. Of course, there was one teensy weensy tiny little cloud in those otherwise perfect skies …

Edge of Extinction was back.

[Pause. Deep breath. Find your happy place. Repeat after me: Serenity now… Serenity now… Serenity now…]

You all know my stance on the Edge of Extinction twist. I am not into anything in which voted out players are still in the game, and the reason is simple. It neuters the most powerful and important moment of the entire show: the vote-off. If the person voted off is not actually voted

out , then you have diluted the impact, and that moment and impact should be sacrosanct.

There are, of course, other reasons to dislike it. The fact that you can get voted out and then befriend jury members in a non-game setting and all bond in unity against the people that voted you out – and then use those bonds when you get back into the game to go and win it – is just insanely unfair and goes against the entire purpose of the game which is: How do you vote people out and then get them to award you a million dollars? That’s something Chris Underwood never had to do.

I usually spend Redemption Island or Edge of Extinction seasons going on ad nauseam about their inherent evils, but outside of that mini-rant above, I am not going to do that for this season. Why? Because it’s happening. And now it’s time to make the best of it. I can tell you this: Members of the press were in stunned delight when we saw the names of the competing people. Even as someone who has lobbied for all-winners for years, I never thought they would get this many great names back. We were all riding high. And then we found out Edge of Extinction was back as well. We were bummed. Sad trombone noises started wailing in our heads.

Producers will tell you they think Edge is a good thing because it keeps dynamic players and personalities like Parvati or Boston Rob in the game and on the show if they are voted out. I get that. I do. I would counter, however, that watching an all-time great get snuffed and sent out creates MORE drama on its own. And yes, I recognize I am the same guy that complained about all the best people going early in Game Changers , but I’d still rather them go early than sit around at Edge, or get back in later and then have a tarnished victory.

Nobody wants a tarnished victory in Winners at War . The season is too big and too important. Jeremy Collins said exactly that to me when we spoke before the game . (Keep reading for reactions from other players) to EOE later.) It should also be noted that Jeff Probst told me before the game that some of the winners would not have come back

without Edge. That opens up a very interesting debate: Would you rather have this stellar cast with the Edge twist, or risk possibly losing a few big names to get rid of it? Personally, I would take the latter, but I do understand both sides.

But what’s the point of me harping over and over about EOE week after week? I also don’t want to be so arrogant as to assume that my feeling about EOE reflects the feelings of all. It’s okay to like it, and if you do, you don’t want me constantly talking smack about it. One of my favorite things about Survivor is the way we can all RESPECTFULLY discuss and debate and often disagree about the show. That diversity of opinions is a good thing, not a bad thing. Jeff Probst likes Edge of Extinction. I do not. That’s fine! I know he loves the show with all of his heart. And so do I. That’s what matters. And that’s the common ground we all share. Passion always rules over apathy in my book.

So I’m just going to let it go. It’s an exciting season and an exciting premiere, so let’s focus on the things we’re excited about. And there is a lot to be excited about. Also, this week’s recap is going to be a bit different. I’ll still hit on all the big things that happened, but since I was on location for the events of these first three days, I’ll reveal some of the stuff I saw that did not make it to air, especially at the two Tribal Councils. Some juicy tidbits in there so I suggest you read on.

We’ll also have an exclusive deleted scene every week, so make sure to give that a look-see, and if you missed any of my approximately 8 gazillion pre-game article, interviews, and videos, they can all be found in a thread off of this pinned tweet . I can say with all certainty that this group of pre-game player interviews were the most fascinating I’ve ever done in trips to location. Do yourself a favor and check them out. They’re worth it. Okay, let’s start with…

The Marooning

As a terrible human being that takes an inordinate amount of joy out of watching people fall on their ass, I knew this season was off to a great start when four people – Adam, Denise, Danni , and Amber – all fell getting out of their boats. Here they are, former winners, trying to look all tough and badass for the toughest and most badass season ever and… DOINK! Amazing.



I love human misery, but I’ve also gotten soft in my old age, which is why I thought the champagne toast was an awesome touch. Jeff Probst told me the idea originally came as part of a bigger devilish twist – and it was fun watching Ethan follow where the cork landed and Adam check the bottom of his glass for something – but just to have a nice, clean tribute to 34 winners launching into season 102 was a fitting tribute. I mean, it would have been nice if they had saved a glass for the guy who has been covering this show since day 1, but fine, whatever.



Probst also introduced the fire tokens, and if you were confused at all about what they can do you can read more about them right here . A lot of fans seem wary of the Fire Tokens concept, but if you are, like me, a super nerdy boardgame type, then you can envision a way in which adding a currency could be pretty cool. Societies have currencies. Survivor is a society, so introducing one is not nearly as far-out as some may have you believe. I don’t know if it will work, but I think this is exactly the type of twist that is totally worth trying. Especially if they are going to make us endure Edge of Extinction again. I’m completely on board with trying this one out. If it doesn’t play, then fine get rid of it. But you don’t know unless you try. I’m intrigued to see where this all goes.



The tribes were also officially dived up as follows:

SELE (blue)                             Rob                             Natalie

                            Ethan

                            Parvati                             Ben

                            Michele

                            Danni                             Denise                             Jeremy

                            Adam

DAKAL (red) Tony

                            Wendell
                            Amber                             Kim

                            Sophie                             Nick

                            Sarah                             Yul                             Sandra

                            Tyson

Immediate Immunity (and what you did see)

Now that we had our teams, it was time for an immediate challenge – and this one was for immunity. Doing an immediate immunity challenge right off the bat was a great move by producers. That’s the way to set the immediate stakes. Back around Heroes vs. Villains , I pitched starting with an immediate

individual immunity endurance challenge with one man and one woman each winning an individual immunity. Producers were less than impressed with the idea, but I still think that would be cool. In any event, I love getting right to it.

The challenge, in this case, was a classic in which teams of two have to run out in the water to grab a ring, and the first pair to get it back to their pole wins. It’s essentially a water-based (read: safer) version of the Heroes vs. Villains day 1 battle. What you saw on TV was Dakal winning pretty easily 3-1. But there was plenty more to this competition that you did

not see. First off, the wind and swells were crazy! It took an army of crew members both under and above water just to get the flags in due to the conditions. (Check out the video right here on my Instagram.)

Because of those swells, I’m not sure the Sele tribe ever had a chance, as the current kept pushing, if you were facing the water, from left to right. Probst even alluded to this at one point, mentioning a big swell that carried the competitors over towards the Dakal side. That happened constantly. Think of it this way: If you were treading water by yourself out there, the current would have naturally moved you to the right, so Sele had to battle against both that and the other team.



I want to be absolutely clear about something as I tell you this before any conspiracy theories pop up. Nothing was done to give Dakal any sort of advantage. I found out the spot on the beach picked for the contest was picked precisely because it was the most neutral. Plus, currents can be super unpredictable and change at any time. This was a random and unprogrammable natural element that had to be managed just like any other. Think about when players are lined up in an individual endurance balancing challenge. The wind can be different depending on where your spot is. One area could be buggier. There are a million ways you can win or lose due to factors of chance in this game. In this instance, Dakal definitely got the advantage, but it easily could have gone the other way. I’m sure the Sele players noticed this in the course of the competition, and I did not see one single player complain. It’s Survivor . Just like a tribe swap – some factors may favor you. Others may not. Deal with it.



To prove what an advantage Dakal may have had, this was not actually a first tribe to three challenge but rather a first tribe to five, and Dakal won the two rounds you did not see. After Boston Rob and Ben won their round to bring Sele within 2-1, there were two other rounds that did not make it to air. In one of them, Sandra and Sophie defeated Michele and Danni relatively easily, in just 1 minute and 31 seconds. After that, Yul and Nick destroyed Ethan and Adam in just 100 seconds. (For perspective, Sarah and Kim’s victory in round 2 over Parvati and Natalie took 2 minutes and seconds. I do think had the current been even on that one that Natalie and Parvati would have won.)



I shouldn’t have to say this (because it’s obvious) but will anyway. The reason those two unaired rounds were not shown was solely due to time constraints. Survivor routinely edits out inconsequential rounds in challenges (and sometimes does not show a reward challenge at all ). Much in the same way they film way more at the tribe camps than they can show on TV, challenges are condensed because sometimes if they showed an entire challenge, that would be the entire episode! Nobody wants that. I would have cut those rounds out as well. But at least now you know what happened in them, especially if you were wondering why it appeared that certain players did not compete.



Last thing I want to mention about the challenge. Love the shot from the camera placed inside the ring. It really made you feel like you were right there in the heat of battle. The crew of this show never ceases to amaze me with the incredible work they do. We like to talk about players and twists, but the boots on the ground production on this show is out of this world and should be recognized as such. It’s something that Jeff Probst – as the guy who steers the ship – should get a lot more credit for. Survivor , as a television show, has never looked better.



Poker Player Alliance

Let’s start with what happened at the Dakal beach, because if you are a long time

Survivor viewer, this was pretty fascinating. I remember attending the second Tribal Council last May and thinking to myself: “Well, how are they going to edit that?” The reason was this: a major topic of discussion was the alleged “poker player alliance,” which – depending on whom you talked to – could consist of people like Kim, Tyson, Rob (and, by extension, Amber), Jeremy, and Adam.

But even though these are all returning players, and even though most of them have mingled outside the game, the show usually likes to contain game talk to stuff that happens on the island. Yes, what happened in the past in previous games is often discussed, but what might have happened

outside the game is usually off-limits in terms of what is shown to us. There have been plenty of times where contestants have dated outside the game (perhaps even on this season) or had other connections and you never hear them even mentioned on the broadcast. So how would the producers handle all this poker talk, because that is usually the first stuff to hit the editing room floor?

This time, it wasn’t. In fact, they leaned right into it. Not only did they show the talk at Tribal, and not only did they show how it became the main talking point back at the Dakal beach, but they even at one point showed a clip from an actual poker tournament with Kim, Rob, Tyson, and Jeremy, as Tyson said how they would all be in a power alliance out on the island. Why did they show this clip? Because Yul referenced it. And why did Yul – arguably the most removed person from the entire Survivor community and could probably care less about a poker tournament – even know about this clip? Because Yul is the freakin ’man and did his freakin’ homework. He scouted his opponents, found something to use against them, and then applied it with devastating results right out of the gate.

Damn, Yul is good. He told me before the game all about the poker alliance and his fear of it and his hope to use it against them. And that is exactly what he did, painting immediate targets on Kim, Tyson, and Amber. It was brilliant, and it worked. As a result of Yul’s effort, three distinct groups started to form on Dakal. Sophie dubbed Kim, Amber, and Tyson the “cool kids alliance,” Tony, Sarah, and Sandra (who all played in Game Changers ), were the “gritty group,” and then Sophie, Yul, Nick, and Wendell were the free agent “unconnected alliance” who all aligned and then appeared to be running the show.

It helped that Sandra was mad at Rob for not telling her during their days on Island of the Idols that he would be playing in season . “It’s very rare for me to take something so personal and feel so hurt about it,” said Sandra. “But on Island of the Idols, Boston Rob told me he would never come out here.”

With Yul targeting anyone connected to Rob, and Sandra now wanting revenge, the die seemed pretty cast on Dakal for what they would do when it was time to vote someone out, but that would not be until later. One other thing worth noting before we head over to the other beach, and something else you did not see on TV. Sarah was definitely in a funk on day two. When I was at the camp, she had retreated into her own little space around the bend from the shelter and was sitting there alone, seemingly not in a good emotional place.

It should be noted that this is not rare, especially early in the game as the culture shock of being removed from your family hits hardest. We all remember Lisa Whelchel and her infamous #SurvivorBreakdown. I watched Dawn Meehan on day 2 in South Pacific crying her eyes out. Both of them rebounded. I don’t know exactly what was going on with Sarah here and whether it’s game-related or something else, but I expect her to rebound as well.