Hey, it’s Cho and I’m back with another Survivor 40 Recap! I’m so sorry for the lateness of this post. If you didn’t know, there’s this new game called Animal Crossing New Horizons that I have been absolutely OBSESSED with! I spent all of the last few nights playing it until early in the morning. I’m sorry. I’m here now. My best friend Lisa told me that this episode was “savage”, so let’s see what she means by that.
Last episode’s Tribal Council was a complete cluster fuck. Jeremy’s secret advantage granted him a critical immunity during a time where he needed it most. However, it also caused him to have to immediately leave tribal and return to camp alone. He’s in a really pissy mood and anxiously waiting to see who was voted off. He’s upset to find that Tyson is gone. Then, we get back to camp, there’s an argument between Jeremy and Ben who just tried to blindside him. Ben is a fucking idiot. Everyone is still reeling from the multiple levels of chaos. Michele, Jeremy, Kim and Denise are the obvious outsiders in this tribe of 9.
Sarah’s Fashion Show
We get the most hilariously touching scene where Sarah has decided that she’s become a fashion designer while on the island. She is having everyone perform in a fashion show with the different pieces of clothing she has created. Michele, Kim and Sarah walk down the runway while Sophie MCs. A round of applause is heard across the island. I think Sarah should give Kyle Richards some pointers on how to conduct a fashion show.
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Tony can’t be bothered to use Sarah’s tactics of having an actual social game. Instead, he is still fretting over the fact that he was unable to get Jeremy out in the previous tribal council. After finding a hidden immunity idol despite Nick’s clinger-on snooping, he goes undercover to manipulate the outsiders. He’s lying so hardcore, and I don’t think anyone is actually believing him. Spoke too soon: Jeremy is actually believing Tony. But Kim doesn’t believe the shit. This is why we love Kim.
An Easy Target for Extortion
On the Edge of Extinction, Natalie and Parvati find a clue and vow not to tell anyone else about it. Working together, they finally decipher that the answer to their clue has to be under their sleeping arrangements. When people finally leave the shelter to go watch the sunset, Natalie takes the opportunity to find the “Extortion Advantage”. This grants her the ability to block one person from participating in the next challenge AND voting at tribal council unless they give her fire tokens. She relishes in the opportunity to potentially cause mass amounts of chaos in the game since she has 0 allies.
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Of course, Tony is the one Natalie attempts to extort, because she knows he’s a hot mess. At first, he’s really giddy to find the note in his bag. He’s happy to see the word extortion, because in real life, he can’t do it as a cop. He’s already thinking about ways he can use this to his advantage. Finally, he realizes at the end of the note that he’s the one being extorted. Suddenly, he says that extortion is illegal in the states so it should be illegal on the island! He only has 3 tokens, but Natalie is asking for 6.
Slave to the Lender
Tony decides to get creative by going to his allies for help. He starts with Michele hoping that she will “lend” him some tokens. In a confessional, Michele reminds us that she paid a ridiculous amount of tokens for a coin toss advantage, but she doesn’t want to reveal this to Tony. Instead, she gives him some bullshit excuse about an advantage that she can only use on the Edge of Extinction. Everyone in this game lies so much with a straight face, it’s kind of hilarious. Tony believes her lie and says inflation is real on the island! Tony actually gets tokens from Jeremy, Ben and Nick. I don’t think his social game is as bad as Sarah claimed earlier. IMPRESSIVE!
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The immunity challenge is really intense: they’re balancing a statue with a long pole while also balancing on a beam. The irony isn’t lost on me that the statues are shaped like pawns on a chess board. We get down to Tony, Ben and Jeremy. I think Jeremy really needs to win this challenge to have a shot at staying. Ben is out, and Jeremy drops almost immediately afterwards leaving Tony with his second win in a row! He now plans on paying back Ben and Nick for his fire tokens and blindsiding Jeremy!
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Tonight SHOULD be simple with Jeremy leaving right? Kim knows that Tony is bullshitting Jeremy, but she doesn’t feel like she has the numbers to do anything significant so she joins the other side. Their plan is to split the vote between Jeremy and Michele. She and Denise are telling Jeremy that they can take Ben out, but they really have jumped ship and plan on blindsiding him. After getting gassed up, Jeremy thinks he actually has a shot at taking Ben out.
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Having the immunity necklace can sometimes give you an adrenaline effect. Tony is ready to flip flop and cause fucking chaos. With his alliance splitting the vote, he doesn’t need many votes to turn the game upside down. He wants to take Sophie out in order to separate her from Sarah. He gets Nick to jump on board with this plot, but he needs Jeremy and Michele to vote with them. Tony intentionally waits until the very last minute to tell Jeremy the real plan surrounding his blindside. Unfortunately, Jeremy doesn’t believe him during the one time that Tony is ACTUALLY telling him the truth! LOL
Landmines Everywhere
Jeremy gets frustrated and interrupts Ben to say that everyone is telling half-truths at all times which makes it difficult to fully trust anyone. Sarah says everyone is also trying to make big moves to build credit with the jury. We get into the debate about when to make big moves, how to pad your resume and why. Everyone is strangely calm despite the fact that a lot of people are potentially in danger. It’s time to vote. No one plays their immunities. Jeremy, Michele, Jeremy, Michele, Jeremy, Sophie, Sophie, Sophie, and Sophie is blindsided as she exclaims that she had an idol in her pocket. WOW! She stomps off saying that she can take the idol out of her crotch now. Tony fucking did that.
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I can’t believe what I just watched. That was definitely a SAVAGE move, and one for the books. Now we’re left wondering, will Tony be able to speak to the jury about this resume building move or will he face massive backlash and get his torch snuffed next episode? What about Jeremy? I feel like he’s letting the game emotionally get to him and he’s becoming overly frustrated and bitter. Are you excited to see the demise of Sarah and Tony’s alliance next episode? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section! If you like what I do here on the site, be sure to support me in my other ventures elsewhere on the internet!
Right before Sarah did her fashion show and she in a deadpan way said yeah people say I’m smart and pretty but I’m also creative too, I was so mad at myself bc I totally miss read her and didn’t know that was her sense of humor style! Now I wish I could rewatch some of her scenes.
This episode was so great and tribal totally surprised me. I’m not sure yet if I want Jeremy to win but I at least want Ben to go before him.
I totally love Sarah and her sense of humor. The fashion show was an underrated part of the episode. It was such a throwback to classic Survivor where we got a ton more of what they did for camp life.
I’m glad someone is with me on the Ben dislike!
Agree 100% on Ben. He needs to go! I can’t stand him! I’m still pulling for Jeremy. But I’m loving Kim too! Over on extinction island, I give props to parv as much as Natalie in the latest extortion thing. Without parv distracting the others nat probably wouldn’t have had a chance to get under the bed long enough to find it so I hope they split the six tokens. AND, let’s not forget that there’s still one more chance for an EoE person to re-enter the game at some point! Can’t wait for that to happen and cause even more chaos! I’m loving the Natalie & Parvati bond and even though I love me some Rob, I can’t help but root for one of these ladies to get the opportunity to go back in. If Natalie gets back in before Jeremy gets voted off, I can see them having a F2. Oh, and Denise is also a fave but I see her being a target now that she’s shown what a badass she is. I’m looking forward to the drama when Sarah figures out that Tony is the one who orchestrated Sophie’s vote out. Tony is entertainment but not worthy of winning the game imo. He’s kind of a short sighted clown lol.
Thanks for continuing to recap, Cho! I’m finally caught up and for some reason this is the only show that brings me joy and even though I have to rewind a lot, it’s the only show that keeps my attention these days.
Sending virtual hugs to all!
Oh, and I think we’re going to get another pre-recorded finale this season. That, or some virtual one thanks to corona. I read that they had to postpone season 41 also. Bummer.
Yeah production on everything is completely shutdown. I’m not going to comment on whatever your read somewhere else, but these shows were shot MONTHS ago which is why every post ends with NO SPOILERS. So I would think the reunion already filmed as this show filmed back to back with Island of Idols or whatever it was called which was why Sandra was pissed Rob didn’t tell her he was on this season. He literally lied to her while filming the other show.
So who knows what will happen with the reunion. I am sure they wanted a live one but they are not going to get it. You are probably right, we will either get a virtual one or something.
I HATE THIS SHIT. THIS IS 50 DAYS when I have to depend on the kindness of strangers to get me cigarettes. FIFTY FUCKING DAYS TODAY.
I’m sorry you’re having a hard time. I hate this shit too! I’m vacillating between preparing to stay inside for another year and running outside with no mask and licking the pavement just to get it over with. (KIDDING about the last part but agreed this shit IS GETTING REALLY OLD) I stopped counting the days/weeks because it was just making me crazier.
I only read on cbs a very old statement that they were having to postpone the next season but who knows what is going on. I’m just guessing about the finale/reunion. It’d be a shame since this season is so epic. I love this show and I hope we at least get a decent finale however they do it. Sorry if I broke any commenting rule… I was just thinking out loud. I rely on you and Cho to give us the real info. Hang in there…hugs
You would think that if they could get everyone tested including Jeff and production, they would be fine filming on an isolated island in Figi, That said, Jeff and some of production sleep in hotels. So… I’m hoping that they already shot season 41.
Thank you so much for the comment. I almost forgot that one more person gets to come back into the game. That will be interesting. I imagine it’s happening really soon. Final 6 or F8 perhaps?
There’s still a lot of people that I absolutely love and want to see do well, but this has become the Tony show. I think he will continue to dominate the screen time. Kim is also doing well. And I love Sarah too. Denise has fallen a bit under the radar, but don’t count out the queen slayer!
It was interesting that Sophie was targeted because she and Sarah were close, however, she left Sarah zero of her tokens. One other note, I was shocked Ben, Jeremy, and Nick handed over a fire token without attempting to extract some sort of payment over and above the fire token repayment.
She left Sarah and Kim her tokens
Mickie and Superfly, Thanks! I completely missed that.
Sophie left a token to Sarah and Kim
Cho- Great recap! I kinda feel like Jeremy is frustrated because he doesn’t know which end is up. He doesn’t know who to trust and keeps getting blind sided. The tribe members gave him crap for using his advantage to leave tribal last week but even if he stayed it wouldn’t have mattered because Sara used her steal a vote advantage. Tony is hilarious! He will probably be a target now. Kim has to know she is on the bottom of Ben’s alliance so maybe she can work with Tony, Jeremy and make move next week.
Jeremy is TOTALLY justified in using his advantage last vote. Us the view knows that Sarah would have used her advantage and Jeremy would have been voted out (especially if Kim used her idol on Denise still). The way Tony and Ben tried to gaslight Jeremy was fucking infuriating. That being said, the game is totally wearing on Jeremy.
I think Kim understood that she was on the bottom, but figured she didn’t have a choice and better to make connections with Sophie/Sarah than to defiantly stay on the bottom of an alliance getting picked off.
Michele really is skating by too. She still has Jeremy as a meat shield. She may be in the bottom, but she can also be used as a vote like she was this last tribal.
Thank you for the great recap!
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Thanks Hannah for leaving a comment. That tells me that what I’m doing has some value for you! <3
Tony just went up ten notches in my book. I still can’t understand how he convinced THREE PEOPLE to give him a token! Masterful. If they find out he’s gone but damn that was impressive.
In my large chunks of time these days I’ve discovered Australian Survivor. It’s hosted by John LaPaglia, Anthony’s brother. He copies Probst in every way, but John’s easier on the eyes. They start with 24 players and are there for 55 days. They only win $500k AU which is about $372k US. It took me a minute to commit to 26 episodes but once I did it made sense. You really get to know the players and their strategies. They use some challenges that we’ve seen on US but not for a long time so it’s pretty cool to see them again.
If I’ve already posted this forgive me… I have VODKA! Screw you Gov Wolf!
Where are you watching Australian Survivor? I need this in my life?
Whoops – I meant to type I need this in my life!!! 🙂
Dailymotion dot com. You’ll want to do a search for “Australian Survivor S03 Ep01”. Season 3 is really season one from 2016. They are two parts for each ep, it can get confusing.
THANK YOU! <3
Thank you BeetsWhy!! And thank you Cho, for the great recaps. I am shy so I don’t comment much but I look forward to your posts all week. I thought this past episode was hilarious. I was never a huge Tony fan but he has really grown on me. And I love, love loved the Sarah fashion show. I miss these type of Survivor moments. I
I’m actually looking forward to the implosion of Sarah and Tony’s alliance. I love them both and it will be interesting to see how eah one scrambles and finagles new allegiancess. And please God, make Ben be the one evicted this week. I can’t find a single likable thing about him! last thing, I am still rooting for Jeremy too but he needs to get his shit together and get his head in the game. I am tored of him being bitter, I want to see him play.
Don’t be shy, Laura! I don’t even BARK on Survivor posts let alone BITE. I mean unless it is CHO, lol Denise being UTR right now is great. I want her to win the whole thing! OMG my ads are back praise the Lord.
I’m starting to think I like it when you bite me.
Omg Laura thank you SO much for commenting. I appreciate the comments so much! I have to say that I agree with pretty much everything you said. I think Tony is the most lovable villain ever. Or not even a villain, but just chaotic neutral. He’s like a little rambunctious child who has ADHD. I love him! lol
Omg Tony’s social game is so underrated. The fact that he was able to get 3 people to give him tokens is absolutely mindblowing. It’s going to be interesting how Tony explains this to Ben and Sarah whom he betrayed. Nick was ALSO in on the scheme, so at least Tony isn’t alone in having to do damage control.
I’ve heard many good things about Australian Survivor. Where can I watch, and do you recommend I start from the beginning?
I agree about Tony’s game. I was in shock that THREE people gave him tokens. That was crazy and so impressive!
Cho, forgot to ask… I’m sure you have seen online interviews with Probst after the episodes air. He mentions all these “things” that happen behind the scenes that don’t get aired. He has done this a couple times.
Given our current stay-home situation do you think CBS may have a blooper-type episode for us? I sooo wish they would! They could even make 2 or 3 eps out of Ponderosa? Something to get us through for a bit? Editors can work from home?
Thank you for your updates ?
Sadly no Ponderosa since everyone is still on an island
Thanks for the question. I love the extra tidbits they show online. It’s always so well done. A bloopers reel would be great to have, but I’m unsure if they’ll be able to do that effectively.
I’ve always wanted them to do extended episodes covering the Edge of Extinction. 15 minute episodes every week on how they’re doing, what they’re doing and how they’re feeling. There has to be interesting dynamics at play there with them living together with no end in sight.
I’m so glad for the recap because my recorded show was our weather men talking about the Southeast Texas tornados. I live just a few hours from where they started and an hour from where they finished.
I’m glad you were able to figure out what happened. It was QUITE the hot mess of an episode just like the last several episodes!! lol Hopefully your friends and family are ok post-tornado???