Survivor Season 40 Winners at War Week 13 Recap and Live Blog

A two-hour edition of Survivor: Winners at War airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap and join the discussion here.

The tribe returns to camp after tribal council. Michele says tribal council was a disaster. She’s glad Jeremy is still in the game, but now everybody knows about her advantage. Michele came into this game wanting to play an aggressive game, but she feels like she is struggling. She compares it to bringing a butter knife to a gun fight. She doesn’t know how to recover. In his confessional, Jeremy calls it Groundhog Day. Three tribal councils in a row he has been a target. We see Jeremy give Michele her advantage back, and he explains in his confessional that he doesn’t want his game to come down to a 50/50 coin flip. He predicts the game will start to get really ugly now.

The next day we see Tony and Jeremy talking. Tony knows Jeremy is a number for him, so he wants to keep him around. He thinks the hyenas will band together if Jeremy leaves. Later, Tony and Sarah talk game. They are still in their Cop R Us alliance, and Sarah knows Tony wants to keep Jeremy. Sarah wants to get rid of Nick next, but Ben hates Jeremy. She says she has her work cut out for her to sway Ben to target Nick instead of Jeremy. Sarah talks to Ben. She tells him to take out people that are not their numbers, but she’s presenting this argument so it will make it seem like targeting Nick would be Ben’s idea. Right afterwards, we see Ben asking Tony about voting out Nick. Ben says Nick is playing both sides and can’t be trusted. Plus, he thinks Denise will vote however he wants.

It’s time for the immunity challenge. The castaways will race out with a ball and toss it onto an overhead track and catch it on the other side. Once they have both of their balls through, they must race under a sand obstacle and reach a slide puzzle. The first to complete the puzzle will win immunity and two fire tokens. The challenge begins, and Jeremy is the first to get a ball across. Sarah, Denise, and Nick are right behind him. Ben loses his ball, but he catches up too. Jeremy stays in the lead as he gets two balls first and goes under the sand obstacle, and Denise and Michele remain in last place. Jeremy is the first to reach the puzzle, but Nick, Ben, Tony, and Sarah start on their puzzles not too long afterwards. Denise eventually begins work on her puzzle, but Michele is still in last place as she is unable to catch one ball. Nick is the first to solve the puzzle. Nick wins immunity!

The tribe returns to camp. Sarah, Jeremy, Nick, and Ben sit together by the shelter. Sarah suggests voting out Denise, and they agree. However, Ben would rather Denise stay in the game. He wants to try to make Jeremy and Michele distrust each other, so he asks Jeremy to try to get the 50/50 advantage away from Michele. Meanwhile, Jeremy and Nick talk alone together. Jeremy does not believe the vote is going to be as simple as the other claim. Everybody is telling him the easy vote is Denise, but Jeremy does not trust Ben at all. Meanwhile, Ben is telling Michele that Jeremy is going to ask Michele to give him her advantage later. She tells him she’s not going to give it to him. Ben is putting his plan to split up Michele and Jeremy in action, but Michele and Jeremy compare notes about Ben. They realize what he’s doing, and both Jeremy and Michele want to blindside Ben tonight. Later, Jeremy approaches Tony and Nick about voting out Ben tonight. Tony says he is open to this idea, but he admits in his confessional that he does not want to get rid of Ben tonight. Afterwards, Tony sits in the shelter with everybody except Jeremy and Michele. Tony reveals to Ben, Sarah, and Denise how Jeremy’s plan is to vote out Ben tonight (and Nick confirms this is true). They agree on a plan to split the vote between Jeremy and Michele tonight in case Michele’s 50/50 advantage comes into play. However, Sarah does not trust Nick, and she says in a confessional that she is unsure if they can count on his vote. In his confessional, Nick says he’s going to make the decision that benefits his game and gets him to Day 39 to win the $2 million.

It’s time for tribal council. Jeff asks them about having a persona to use in the game. Ben says it’s hard to be someone you’re not as they are too physically, emotionally, and mentally drained to try to be someone else. Sarah says they have to be confident in the way they talk to others without being a jerk. Jeff asks if it’s possible to win this game by saying it’s a game and nothing is personal. Nick feels like everybody is being truthful this season. Jeremy says the game is personal, but you can’t play completely emotional. They have to find a sweet spot. Ben says they are in a tactical war. There are still lies in the game. Jeff asks them about struggles with trusting people, and Michele remembers having her guard up after her first season. Ben relates to that as he remembers having trust issues after his first season. Jeremy admits he didn’t feel right for three months after his second season, and he had a rough time believing people. This time he wanted to have more fun and not get in his head. Nick adds that it was tough to come back to play Survivor again so quickly. Nick says Survivor is not a strategic game, but a social strategic game. They are not chess pieces. He says they need to focus on social relationships to win the game. Jeff asks about the game moving forward, and Tony says they all know which soldiers they want to march forward with. Jeremy says everybody has their idea of a group. Sarah says people have been nervous before and advantages have been played. She even brings up Michele’s 50/50 advantage. Michele admits she gave it to Jeremy last time, so everyone found out about it. She expects it to be played tonight. Tony says he would play it if he had it. Denise says she has an idea and a hope for tonight’s vote, but she is unsure since she isn’t safe. Jeff notes how there is no chaotic whispering tonight. Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.

Before Jeff reads the votes, Michele plays her 50/50 advantage. After some time thinking it over, she plays the advantage for herself. She flips the coin, and the 50/50 advantage lands on the “Safe” side. No votes for Michele will count.

Jeff reads the votes.

The first vote is for…

Michele

Michele

Ben

Jeremy

Ben

Jeremy

Jeremy

Jeremy is the fifteenth person voted out of Survivor: Winners at War. Jeremy asks who did it, and Tony apologizes to him. “Bad move, dude,” Jeremy says before he gets his torch snuffed and walks away. Before he leaves for the Edge of Extinction, Jeremy bequeaths his two fire tokens to Michele.

Tony and Ben talk after tribal council. Tony is glad he’s been on the right side of the votes unlike Michele. He thinks a player like Michele could be viewed as a goat to take to the end of the game, but he says there are no goats in an all-winner season. He and Ben agree that Michele needs to be voted out next, but Tony is also worried about Nick winning challenges. Meanwhile, Nick talks to Michele about the vote. He says they would have no chance winning the game against Jeremy, but Michele tells Nick that they have no path to the Final 3 now. She says that she will be public enemy #1, and then he’ll be voted out right after her. Michele thinks Nick is naive to think the other people will want to go to the end with him. Although Michele feels cornered in the game, she is determined to keep fighting.

The next morning, Michele and Sarah talk game. Michele says she sees the writing on the wall, and she knows the plan is for them to vote her out next. Sarah says this is not true, but Michele continues her campaign. She tells Sarah that Tony is running the game and that Sarah cannot win against Tony. “You don’t think so?” Sarah asks. “Hell no!” Michele tells her. She tells Sarah that all the jurors are going to see how Tony is running the show. “How do you know who is running the show?” Sarah asks her. “Perception is everything,” Michele says. In her confessional, Michele says they should go after the biggest threat in the game. Between herself and Tony, it’s clear Tony is the bigger threat. After her conversation with Michele, Sarah goes to the shelter and tells Tony, Denise, and Ben how Michele said Tony is unbeatable at the end. “At least she’s trying,” Sarah says. “A for effort.” Sarah calls Michele an unpredictable person who can’t keep her mouth shut. Sarah says Michele needs to go.

Back on the Edge of Extinction, Jeremy said he was up all night thinking about what he could’ve done differently. He just hopes he can reenter the game. Later, Yul reads a new message for them to earn more fire tokens. After he finishes reading the clue, people get up and go searching for a “throne of stone.” It’s apparently a race between Natalie and Wendell, but Natalie is the one who realizes where it is. She retrieves the advantage, saying she knows the island very well since she arrived there first. Natalie kept her head in the game and never gave up. She decides to read the advantage together with everybody so it can be a group activity. The advantage is for a player still in the game to place a disadvantage on one person in the next immunity challenge. Natalie’s goal is to earn as many fire tokens as possible.

Later, Nick finds the advantage in his bag. He can anonymously place a disadvantage against someone in the next immunity challenge. However, it will cost him eight fire tokens. He later tells Michele about the advantage. She tells him she has two fire tokens, so they have enough since Nick has four fire tokens. Michele says her fire tokens are only souvenirs if she is voted out next. So, even though Nick has hurt her game, she says she can only work with what she has.

It’s time for the immunity challenge. They are going to have to stack blocks on a beam while stepping over trip obstacles. The first person to stack their blocks and then have those blocks fall like dominoes and hit a gong will win immunity and two fire tokens. Jeff reminds them that today is the last day they can earn or spend fire tokens. Jeff also reveals how a disadvantage is being played today. He says the disadvantage is that one player will have 30% more beam and 30% more blocks to work with. Jeff reveals how the disadvantage is being played against Ben. Ben is displeased, and he says he must not be making as many friends this season. The challenge begins, and Tony and Michele are in the lead with Sarah right behind them. “Come on, T, go faster,” Sarah says to Tony. Michele drops a block on the ground, allowing Tony and Sarah to surpass her. However, Sarah ends up dropping a block right when Michele makes her first attempt to knock down her blocks. They all fall like dominoes and the last block hits the gong. Michele wins immunity! Michele notes how no one is clapping when Jeff puts the immunity necklace on her. They halfheartedly start clapping for Michele, but she tells Jeff how she knew she needed immunity tonight.

The castaways return to camp, and Denise says it’s unfortunate how Michele won immunity. Denise proposes making a big pot of rice. She says she is aware how she could be voted out tonight, so she wants to go to the Edge of Extinction will a full belly. She also uses her fire tokens to buy some extra rice. She hopes the tribe will want to keep her if she plays up the role of a dejected player. However, Nick is the target for the majority alliance tonight. They seem set on this plan, but Nick and Michele campaign to Tony to vote out Ben tonight. They tell him Ben is a strong candidate to win the fire-making challenge at the Final 4, and Tony does not want to be eliminated in the game due to a fire-making challenge. Tony then goes to his spy nest up in a tree, and he overhears a conversation among Denise, Sarah, and Ben. Denise mentions how big of a threat Tony is, and she wants to go to the Final 3 with Ben and Sarah. After hearing this, Tony wants to get rid of Denise tonight. He later talks to Nick and Michele about voting out Denise. Michele reveals in her confessional that Denise wouldn’t be her first pick to go tonight, but she’s fine with this plan. Later, Tony talks to Sarah about voting out Denise tonight. He knows about the conversation and how Denise would pick Ben over them, meaning that he and Sarah will be competing against each other in a fire-making challenge. Sarah is receptive to Tony’s thoughts. Denise took out Queen Sandra and has played the game without making people mad at her. However, Nick has an underdog story that can endear him to the jury. She and Tony are the swing votes tonight, and Sarah says this is the biggest vote they will be making thus far in the game.

It’s time for tribal council. Jeff talks about the immunity challenge and why this was a big win for Michele. Michele says she knew she was on the bottom of the tribe as no one would talk strategy with her. Sarah says they might’ve took their foot off the gas tonight by revealing to Michele she was in trouble. Ben says he does wonder who played the disadvantage on him, but he doesn’t know if it came from someone on the Edge of Extinction or someone still in the game. Nick says they are at the point of the game of knowing who they want to keep. Nick says they will have the numbers to know after tonight. Sarah says they have to manage not just their tokens, but everyone else’s tokens. Michele says she’s gotten emotional over the fire tokens she has received throughout the game. Michele says the tokens have given her the hope she needs to keep going. Ben says the next few votes will be scary as people are going to be turning on each other as they near the end of the game. Tony says it will come down to bonds and trust. Denise says the moves she can make tonight are limited without immunity. She even admits it could be her. “Endure and let go,” Denise explains. She is not giving up, but she does not want to scramble anymore. Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.

Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…

Nick

Denise

Denise

Nick

Nick

Nick

Nick is the sixteenth person voted out of Survivor: Winners at War

It’s the morning of Day 35 at the Edge of Extinction. It’s their last day there, and they are all preparing to compete to reenter the game. Amber says it feels like it’s been ages since she first got there, but it also went by quickly. She thinks she will miss it despite how miserable it has been. She says it’s beautiful and peaceful there. Tyson reads the note informing them that they are indeed about to go compete to reenter the game. Kim says she will have to bring it. Wendell has two fire tokens, and he can buy an advantage in the challenge. Yul says the fire tokens have added an interesting dynamic to the game. Parvati says there is still a game bubbling under the surface. She will buy an advantage too. Ethan hopes for the win even without fire tokens to spend. Natalie will have multiple advantages. She says she has been grinding slowly. After 32 days of being on the Edge of Extinction, Natalie has 14 fire tokens. She has used her tokens to buy peanut butter, a hidden immunity idol, and three advantages in the upcoming challenge. She uses her extra fire tokens to buy a hidden immunity idol for Tyson. Tyson is touched, and it gives him a little more extra motivation.

The episode ends with a recap of the season. Next week is the season finale of Survivor: Winners at War. Who will be the winner of this 40th season of Survivor? Thanks for reading, and come back next week for the live recap when the winner is crowned.

About Steven Curtis 541 Articles
Steven is a graduate of the University of West Florida with a bachelor's degree in communication arts. He enjoys watching reality competition shows, such as American Idol, Survivor, Big Brother, and The Amazing Race.