# Survivor Season 40: Winners at War **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2020, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829 "2020-02-12T17:50:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/181 "2020-04-03T16:02:27Z")
FWIW, according to Dalton Ross’ interview with Jeff, the idols that Rob and Natalie bought before the return challenge are gone, as well as the fire tokens they used to buy them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/182 "2020-04-03T18:49:28Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > FWIW, according to Dalton Ross’ interview with Jeff, the idols that Rob and Natalie bought before the return challenge are gone, as well as the fire tokens they used to buy them. Yes, and they could have bought up to FOUR advantages. That’s what I would have done. Altho honestly peanut butter the day before wasnt crazy, if you had extra tokens. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/183 "2020-04-03T19:11:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, and they could have bought up to FOUR advantages. > > That’s what I would have done. Altho honestly peanut butter the day before wasnt crazy, if you had extra tokens. I get Rob buying the idol, because he definitely would get knocked out as soon as he came back in. Natalie made a big mistake though. Most of the people who voted her off are on EoE! I’m curious as to what the other advantages would do. It would’ve been cool if everyone could pick which advantage they wanted and see how that played out. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/184 "2020-04-03T19:17:35Z")
Speaking of fire tokens, here’s the new menu at camp: Merge Camp Steal a player’s spot on a reward (3 tokens) Send a personal note to any player on the Edge of Extinction (2 tokens) A small bag of beans (4 tokens) A regular bag of rice (5 tokens) Two pillows and two blankets (4 tokens) A tarp (5 tokens) I’m kinda surprised there’s no real advantages. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/185 "2020-04-03T19:28:51Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Heck, how about the episode where Boston Rob got voted out. Last time we saw anyone talk about voting was Rob, Ben & Adam at the well agreeing to vote Sarah, then they all sat around staring at each other because of Rob’s lockdown rule. Unless they all communicated by blinking morse code, there must have been some conversations between the 4 of them. Sarah had a steal a vote, and Sophie had an idol, I can’t believe neither one of them played something just based on trusting what Ben & Adam told them before the challenge. Of course they had a chance to talk before the vote. Rob (along with everyone) did a talking head confession right before the vote. And even Rob does not have a cast iron bladder. Besides that, they talked before they lost the challenge. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/186 "2020-04-03T19:34:11Z")
Here’s a link to [all 3 Fire Token menus](https://survivor.fandom.com/wiki/Fire_Token). Scroll about halfway down. The changes between the original tribal menu and the post merge menu was they took away the Advantage a Challenge (4 tokens) and Coffee & Pastry (3), and added steal a reward spot (3), and note to someone on EoE (2). ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/187 "2020-04-04T04:25:17Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > That would be awesome. Even just an after the fact video that has some confessionals explaining why folks voted how they did, what conversations they had, etc. I would sign up for All Access (at least during Survivor season) just for that. > > I agree the editing seems to have been dumbed down, or just plain sloppy, the last few seasons. It’s getting much harder to get a feel for who is doing what and for what reason. Unless, of course, it’s that the players themselves have gotten far more cagey with what they are willing to say on camera - which is certainly possible I suppose. But there had to be some conversation between Kim/Tyson/Sarah/Sophie where they decided Wendell. I don’t buy for a second that the big guys (Ben/Jerome/Tony) made that call and everyone else just went along with it. I feel very confident it’s the editors. They have become addicted to “blindsiding” the audience at the end of every episode, at the expense of being able to actually follow the gameplaying. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/188 "2020-04-05T00:23:23Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Does anyone remember what the fire token menu at EoE had? I remember they could get an advantage for the return challenge or an idol, but I don’t remember how much. They had a revised menu right before the challenge: 1 token: Your don’t have to dug up your string 2 tokens: Same as 1, plus [something I forget] 3 tokens: 1 and 2, plus 3 of your sticks will already be assembled (the long stick to grab the key) 3 tokens: immunity idol If I were Rob, I might have gone with 2 advantages each to Rob & Amber to maximize the chance one of you gets back in. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/189 "2020-04-05T02:43:56Z")
Interesting idea, but I can see why he bought the HII, given that he would have had a huge target on his back immediately upon returning to the game. It came within a fraction of a second of working for him! ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/190 "2020-04-09T01:59:48Z")
Missed most of the episode because of severe weather warnings. What a clusterf\*\*\* of a tribal council. Wiki has TV ratings which have spiked about 15% in the last three weeks. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/191 "2020-04-09T02:26:02Z")
It was absolutely wild. All the running around before TC was crazy too. I’d love to see some kind of chart showing what all plans were floated by whom and to whom. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/192 "2020-04-09T02:28:47Z")
“You thought it was an idol?” “Yeah.” “Are you sure it isn’t?” Best host on TV. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/193 "2020-04-09T07:12:12Z")
There is some dispute on Twitter as to whether Probst was being unnecessarily cruel. I thought he was fine and even acknowledged at the end that it was worth a shot. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/194 "2020-04-09T13:12:55Z")
Nah, Probst wasn’t too cruel - Adam was just desperate and the actions of desperate people always make us cringe. Sometimes in a good way, but for me at least Adam’s were more “sad-cringe” than “laugh-cringe”. Maybe because I tend to like him, and the dead silence when he asked for some reassurance was pretty cold. I guess he could take it as them liking him too much to lie to his face (except Ben), but still… Better editing this week, I think, as they made it pretty clear the vote was between Nick and Adam and where the major players stood on the issue. The scramble at TC made it a bit up in the air, but not so much that it was shocking that Adam was snuffed. As for Adam himself, I think he nailed it. He just made too many mistakes, starting on basically day one. He also never really cultivated the alliance with Ben, and was way too quick to throw other names out there to “change the game”. He possibly could have kept his profile down and survived this vote, since it was actually shown that Ben had his back (changing it from Nick/Adam and Nick/Michelle). But he just can’t play that way for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/195 "2020-04-09T14:03:52Z")
Saw this making the rounds on twitter. On an international version of survivor (Australian Survivor) there was an idol hidden in plain sight on the hosts podium. > Adam took a swing and he struck out, but you never hit a home run if you don’t swing. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/196 "2020-04-09T14:44:39Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > As for Adam himself, I think he nailed it. He just made too many mistakes, starting on basically day one. He also never really cultivated the alliance with Ben, and was way too quick to throw other names out there to “change the game”. He possibly could have kept his profile down and survived this vote, since it was actually shown that Ben had his back (changing it from Nick/Adam and Nick/Michelle). But he just can’t play that way for some reason. He was screwed as soon as he started that “Break Sarah and Ben up” and couldn’t say anything other than he heard “other people” say it. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/197 "2020-04-09T22:45:14Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > He possibly could have kept his profile down and survived this vote, since it was actually shown that Ben had his back (changing it from Nick/Adam and Nick/Michelle). But he just can’t play that way for some reason. Rob Cesternino and Stephen Fishbach talked about this on the “Know-it-Alls” podcast. Rob’s assessment was that Adam could probably have coasted to the end as a goat that everyone wanted to sit next to if he just stayed quiet and didn’t make waves. But he doesn’t want to be a zero-vote finalist, so he’s bound and determined to make moves to build a resume, even if that makes it more likely he gets voted out early. Rob seemed to have respect for that approach, and I do too. There is a guy who used to post here who has a podcast on the RHAP network, and he and I have argued in the past about whether there is any point to doing whatever it takes to stay around another week (including throwing your allies under the bus or helping people you loathe advance). I say no, but he represents a school of thought that you should always do whatever it takes to “survive and fight another day” because “you never know”. I think sometimes you \*do \*know. > [@notfrommensa](#): > > Saw this making the rounds on twitter. > > On an international version of survivor (Australian Survivor) there was an idol hidden in plain sight on the hosts podium. > > [https://twitter.com/thepickydog/status/1248085271834320897](https://twitter.com/thepickydog/status/1248085271834320897) > > Adam took a swing and he struck out, but you never hit a home run if you don’t swing. Agreed. I have heard more and more that Aussie Survivor is supposed to be good. Have any of you watched it? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/198 "2020-04-10T00:44:24Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Agreed. I have heard more and more that Aussie Survivor is supposed to be good. Have any of you watched it? I watched one season, the first one I think. It was pretty good. They made way more episodes, so there were more episodes without vote-outs. One thing I liked about the season I saw was that before the reveal of the winner was done, they had the families of the finalists come out and stand with them. When the winner’s name was ready, their family was with them. Very cute and fun. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/199 "2020-04-10T08:01:29Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Saw this making the rounds on twitter. > > On an international version of survivor (Australian Survivor) there was an idol hidden in plain sight on the hosts podium. > > [https://twitter.com/thepickydog/status/1248085271834320897](https://twitter.com/thepickydog/status/1248085271834320897) > > Adam took a swing and he struck out, but you never hit a home run if you don’t swing. That’s not Australian Survivor. I think it might be South African. Aussie Survivor is usually pretty good. The extra episodes give you more time to get to know the contestants. There were 2 seasons a while ago, which were terrible (not actually Survivor), and five seasons since the reboot. The second season of the reboot (called Season 4) is my favourite season, and season 4 (aka 6) is good too. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/200 "2020-04-10T13:06:33Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > There is some dispute on Twitter as to whether Probst was being unnecessarily cruel. I thought he was fine and even acknowledged at the end that it was worth a shot. He wasn’t being cruel. No more cruel than when someone plays a fake idol and he says “This is…not a hidden immunity idol.” and tosses it in the fire. Besides, apart from major physical injury, I see the players as puppets going through suffering for my amusement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829.md?page=11)