# 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:** 3
**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:** [February 27, 2020, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/41 "2020-02-27T13:42:24Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Do you think they would have shown the entire Tony/Sarah scene if the episode wasn’t airing on Ash Wednesday? I don’t understand the question. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/42 "2020-02-27T13:49:53Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I don’t understand the question. Yesterday was [Ash Wednesday](https://www.christianity.com/church/church-life/what-is-ash-wednesday-why-do-christians-celebrate-it.html), the first day of Lent, when Catholics have their forehead marked with ashes in the shape of a cross. In the episode, they included a somewhat useless 3 minute segment of Sarah asking Tony to help her get ready for her commando raid of the other camp, which included spreading ashes on her forehead as camouflage. It just seemed an odd way to take up 3 precious minutes of airtime, then funny when I realized it was Ash Wednesday. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/43 "2020-02-27T13:52:34Z")
Ah, gotcha. Funny how the mind works. During that scene I was uncomfortable in a blackface sense. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/44 "2020-02-27T14:44:45Z")
Covering your face in ashes while wearing a white hoodie is less than effective, though. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/45 "2020-02-27T14:51:23Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Covering your face in ashes while wearing a white hoodie is less than effective, though. Yes, its effectiveness seemed to be about the same as Tony’s spy bunker. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/46 "2020-02-27T14:52:21Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Yes, its effectiveness seemed to be about the same as Tony’s spy bunker. Didn’t he actually overhear a plot to take him out with his spy bunker? The next time he played he tried to dig a hole to hide in and that didn’t work out. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/47 "2020-02-27T15:28:38Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Didn’t he actually overhear a plot to take him out with his spy bunker? The next time he played he tried to dig a hole to hide in and that didn’t work out. The camouflaged hunting blind that he built above ground in his first season was the spy **shack** (there were 2, actually), and was very effective. The next season he was on, he dug the underground spy **bunker** , and was caught almost immediately, and voted out soon afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/48 "2020-02-27T15:32:05Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > The camouflaged hunting blind that he built above ground in his first season was the spy **shack** , and was very effective. The next season he was on, he dug the underground spy **bunker** , and was caught almost immediately, and voted out soon afterwards. Ah, I didn’t remember his names for them. Dalton Ross at EW mentioned that he tried to dissuade Tony from building the bunker before that season began. The guy’s his own worst enemy. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/49 "2020-02-27T16:30:17Z")
My first guess on the puzzle combination on EoE was going to be the seasons that Danni (11), Amber (08), and Natalie (29) won. I wonder if any of them tried that. Also bewildered by not voting out either Rob or Parvati. Tony is very entertaining, but I don’t understand why they didn’t spear (or stab) that shark before grabbing it. I remember Richard Hatch catching a shark in All Stars and the shark bit him in the arm. He was swimming naked at the time. Things could have gone badly [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xpDEzYmaGfI/maxresdefault.jpg "Survivor: All-Stars, S08E03 Shark Attack, Richard Hatch") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpDEzYmaGfI) ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/50 "2020-02-27T17:03:23Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I really don’t get why they decided to break up the old winner’s alliance by voting out it’s weakest, least strategic member. Parvati & Rob are huge threats, take one of them out first to force the other one to work with you. Ethan not so much. It’s happened time and time again over the years. An underdog alliance has a chance to take out a General, and instead they aim at a footsoildier. It baffles me every time. I guess even past winners aren’t immune to it. Having said that, voting out Parvati would have validated Adam’s idiotic gameplay, and they were smart enough not to do that. Still, they had the votes to take out Boston F’ing Rob. _Why do you not take out Boston F’ing Rob??_ ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/51 "2020-02-27T17:12:47Z")
Yeah, once Adam spilled the beans to Rob, they couldn’t go with Parv, so why not take out Rob? Maybe there was concern that he had an idol, but it didn’t make it to the edit. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/52 "2020-02-27T19:34:31Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Covering your face in ashes while wearing a white hoodie is less than effective, though. I don’t think the hoodie was white. It just looked that way in the grayscale night vision camera. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/53 "2020-02-27T20:11:29Z")
Two reasons to keep Rob: he’s actually pretty damn good at challenge puzzles (previous episode excepted) and he is a great “bigger target” to have around if you are worried that you might be seen as a threat. Ethan so far has been presented as a somewhat attractive goat (or at least not nearly as big a threat as Rob/Parv) so it could make sense to cut him now. Even more so if you get the feeling that Adam is trying to groom Ethan as an ally. It really isolates Rob/Parv as a twosome that are outside the majority. I really liked the vote for the majority - make it clear that Adam can’t play both sides while still weakening the “old school” group, not your own. Kind of the opposite of what Rob/Parv did by voting out Danni last time, which just made their own position weaker. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/54 "2020-02-27T21:26:12Z")
While it certainly didn’t make them stronger, it could be argued that Danni is such a loose canon that voting her out was more of a lateral move than weakening them. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/55 "2020-02-27T22:47:29Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Two reasons to keep Rob: he’s actually pretty damn good at challenge puzzles (previous episode excepted) and he is a great “bigger target” to have around if you are worried that you might be seen as a threat. > > Ethan so far has been presented as a somewhat attractive goat (or at least not nearly as big a threat as Rob/Parv) so it could make sense to cut him now. Even more so if you get the feeling that Adam is trying to groom Ethan as an ally. It really isolates Rob/Parv as a twosome that are outside the majority. > > I really liked the vote for the majority - make it clear that Adam can’t play both sides while still weakening the “old school” group, not your own. Kind of the opposite of what Rob/Parv did by voting out Danni last time, which just made their own position weaker. These are all really good points. But I still say, if you have a chance to get rid of Rob, you should get rid of Rob. They may not get another opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/56 "2020-03-05T14:15:34Z")
Well, Rob certainly recovered his puzzle solver cred yesterday! That was an impressive come-from-behind victory. On the other hand, how pathetic was Adam’s boasting about ‘Adam always accomplishes what he sets out to do’ after failing at the grab-the-key, what, a half dozen times? ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/57 "2020-03-05T14:33:58Z")
“You guys have so much firewood!” ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/58 "2020-03-05T14:38:19Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Well, Rob certainly recovered his puzzle solver cred yesterday! That was an impressive come-from-behind victory. > > On the other hand, how pathetic was Adam’s boasting about ‘Adam always accomplishes what he sets out to do’ after failing at the grab-the-key, what, a half dozen times? He’s the embodiment of the mantra: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try, try, try, try again. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/59 "2020-03-05T14:39:06Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Well, Rob certainly recovered his puzzle solver cred yesterday! That was an impressive come-from-behind victory. > > On the other hand, how pathetic was Adam’s boasting about ‘Adam always accomplishes what he sets out to do’ after failing at the grab-the-key, what, a half dozen times? Not only that, he got choked up and mentioned his eighth grade teacher. Dude, you are on a beach with Boson Rob and Parvati, it’s the big leagues. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/60 "2020-03-05T15:03:52Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > On the other hand, how pathetic was Adam’s boasting about ‘Adam always accomplishes what he sets out to do’ after failing at the grab-the-key, what, a half dozen times? Eh, he’s the one who actually finally grabbed it, not one of his teammates. > [@Borborygmi](#): > > “You guys have so much firewood!” Best line of the season. Almost makes EoE worth it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829.md?page=4)