Survivor Season 40 Winners at War Week 3 Recap and Live Blog

A new episode of Survivor: Winners at War airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap and join the discussion here.

The episode begins on the morning of Day 7 at the Sele tribe camp. We hear a confessional from Adam. He says Rob, Parvati, and Ethan are running the show, and Danni was voted out because they betrayed her. He says Rob is unwilling to adapt and needs to be in control all the time. Adam wants to draw a line in the sand and target big dogs. He talks game with Denise, and they both trust each other. Adam hands her back the other half of the hidden immunity idol, meaning the idol now has power. Denise is also glad to have received a fire token from Danni. Adam tells Denise that the target should be Parvati, but he wants to maintain a relationship with Rob and Ethan. He is aware that it’s dangerous though. We hear a confessional from Denise. Denise feels like she’s in a good spot with the idol and extra fire token. She trusts Adam. Denise also wants to take control. They talk later with Ben and Michele. Ben says he can’t work with Rob anymore, but Adam says Parvati is more dangerous. Michele agrees that Parvati is playing a cutthroat game. Ben would rather see Rob go home. Later, Adam talks game with Ethan. Adam lets Ethan know that he has his back, but he tells him that he doesn’t trust Parvati as much as he trusts him. He even suggests voting out Parvati. In his confessional, Adam is aware it’s risky to reveal this to Ethan, but Adam still needs Ethan to trust him. However, in Ethan’s confessional, Ethan says he’s cool with Adam, but he says it was a silly mistake to tell him he wants Parvati gone. Ethan says Parvati is his #1 in the game and more important to him than Adam.

At Dakal, Sandra says in a confessional that she’s retiring playing Survivor after this season. She wants to prove her worth around camp by catching some fish, so she sets a fishing net in the ocean. Tyson says in his confessional that he’s aware that he’s everyone’s target, so he wants to point the target toward Sandra. Sandra has won the game twice, so he thinks people would be on board to vote her out. Tyson talks game with Sophie and Yul, and he throws Sandra under the bus to them. Yul says in his confessional that he does not trust Tyson, but voting out Sandra could be an option. Next we see a small shark was caught in Sandra’s net. Tony picks it up, but it almost bites him. The tribe later enjoys a shark breakfast. Yul says Sandra is keeping morale up, so he does not want to lose Sandra. Yul lets Sandra know that Tyson is targeting her. Sandra says if someone comes after her, then she better not find out about it.

At the Edge of Extinction, Danni says you do not eat there unless you provide for yourself. There are no coconuts and there is a very limited supply of rice. She goes spearfishing for the first time and is excited when she catches a fish. They later get tree mail. Each of them gets a bamboo tube decorated with shells and a note inside. The note is a sketch of a tree, and the three of them explore the island together to locate that tree. They find it, which also happens to have a puzzle nearby. They must solve a number combination to unlock a chest, and there is a note that says they already have all the information they need. They guess some possible combinations, but to no avail. Amber walks away and returns to camp. She remembers numbers painted on crates, so she copies them down on a piece of parchment and goes back to the puzzle. However, she is still unable to open the chest. However, Natalie finally figures out the answer. She realizes there is a sequence of shells on the threads attached to the bamboo note. Natalie chucks one of the tubes into the bushes and breaks the shells on the other while Amber and Danni are away. She keeps hers and returns to the puzzle. Natalie manages to put the correct numbers in and opens the chest. She learns she now has the opportunity to earn another fire token. She can sell a clue to a steal-a-vote advantage to another player.

At Dakal, Tony is still talking about the shark when Sarah finds the steal-a-vote advantage clue inside her bag. She wants it, but it’s risky. Not only will she lose her only fire token, but she must sneak into the Sele camp and find the advantage hidden in one of their torches. However, she’s willing to take the risk. She also brings her “Cops R Us” ally Tony for backup. Tony helps camouflage her with ashes before she sneaks into the Sele camp while everyone else is asleep. She makes her way to the torches and finds the advantage. “Mission accomplished,” she says.

It’s Day 9 and time for the immunity challenge. They must go through a series of obstacles to retrieve a ladder and rope to use to go up a platform to solve a puzzle. The first tribe to solve the puzzle will win immunity and a kebab reward. The challenge begins, and Dakal gets the lead as they are the first to go across the ramp walls. They also dig out their ladder from the sand before Sele does, but Sele is not too far behind. Tony manages to retrieve the rope for Dakal before Jeremy gets it for Sele. Wendell uses the rope to loop around a hook to hoist the tribe up the platform. All of Dakal continue to climb the platform until they reach the top. Sophie and Sarah get started on the puzzle. Rob finally loops the rope for Sele, allowing Sele to reach the top of the platform. They continue to climb up the platform until they reach the top. Rob and Michele get started on the puzzle, and they manage to catch up to Sophie and Sarah. They even manage to take the lead away from Dakal, but Dakal makes it even again as Sophie and Sarah place more pieces on the puzzle. It becomes a very even challenge as Dakal and Sele keep switching on which tribe is in the lead. The puzzle comes down to the wire, but it is Dakal that solves the puzzle first. Dakal wins immunity!

The Sele tribe returns to camp. Rob says the tribe feels like a standoff as everyone waits to see who wanders away first. Jeremy says it feels like the calm before the storm, and he’s not surprised when Ben follows him when he walks away. The new school winners of Adam, Denise, Jeremy, Michele, and Ben are on board to break up the trio of Rob, Parvati, and Ethan. Later, Adam reveals to Rob the plan to vote out Parvati tonight. Rob is unhappy to learn about this, but he pretends he’s okay with this plan. After his conversation with Adam, Rob goes over to Michele and Jeremy and confronts them about the plan to blindside Parvati. Michele and Jeremy pretend the plan is to vote out either Adam or Denise, but Rob lets them know that Adam already revealed to him that Parvati is the target. Before Rob continues, Michele and Jeremy tell him that Parvati is not going home tonight. They agree to vote out Adam, and Michele and Jeremy say Adam might have an idol. Rob goes to Parvati and Ethan to let him know that voting out Parvati was the plan. Parvati is stunned, and she’s on board to vote out Adam tonight. Meanwhile, Michele and Jeremy still believe weakening the trio of Rob, Parvati, and Ethan is necessary. They’re unhappy with Adam for revealing their plans to Rob, but Michele suggests voting out Ethan to weaken Rob. In her confessional, Michele says she and Jeremy hold a lot of power tonight. They decide whether they break up a power trio (Rob, Parvati, and Ethan) or vote out the person playing both sides (Adam). Michele says there were people who didn’t think she deserved to win her season, so she wants to prove her naysayers wrong by making the right move.

It’s Night 9 and time for tribal council. Jeff asks Ben how does the tribe feel about losing again. Ben says there was forty seconds of silence when they returned to camp, but then everyone went to go scramble. Jeremy adds that they need to figure out the problem with the tribe and why they keep losing. Ethan says they all have to take care of themselves. Adam says everybody is close to everybody on the tribe. He says it’s not simple to vote for certain people. Michele compares finding out who to trust to dating. She hopes they have the same feeling and they choose her too. Rob says it’s a game where you have to trust somebody, but it’s also a game where you shouldn’t trust anybody. Parvati says she feels like a “billboard target.” She says people would have to want to work with her as she doesn’t have many options. Adam says people who played multiple times or have statues are targets. Rob doesn’t appreciate Adam’s remark as the statue comment is about Rob’s Island of the Idols statue. Rob says Adam doesn’t need to remind people of that, but Adam says no one needs a reminder as they are all aware of it. Ben compares the strategizing in the game to bunkers and they are all pointing weapons at each other. Jeff asks how they can navigate this, and Ethan says he can’t think too far ahead since he won’t know who will still be in the game. Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.

Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…

Parvati

Adam

Adam

Adam

Ethan

Ethan

Ethan

Ethan

Ethan is the fourth person voted out of Survivor: Winners at War. 

Ethan, Rob, Parvati, and Adam are clearly blindsided. After Ethan gets his torch snuffed and walks away, he bequeaths his fire token to Parvati.

And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor. Thanks for reading, post your thoughts in the comment section below, and come back next week for another live recap.

About Steven Curtis 538 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.