# 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:** 4
**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, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/61 "2020-03-05T15:06:28Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Eh, he’s the one who actually finally grabbed it, not one of his teammates… Yeah, I noticed that no one else was even trying, he kept going up there again and again, it must have been exhausting. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/62 "2020-03-05T15:09:38Z")
Sandra has always irritated me, but man oh man she’s really getting to me this season. Why is she allowed to sit out of so many challenges!? ---
**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:** [March 5, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/63 "2020-03-05T15:39:20Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Best line of the season. Almost makes EoE worth it. Honestly, I’m not minding EoE nearly as much this season. While it does kill the drama, at least I want to watch these people still. I didn’t need 39 days of Reem. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/64 "2020-03-06T00:02:44Z")
Teams needed to have a tall (and presumably athletic) player in the boat (therefore) as a jumper for the keys/buoys. The Sele Tribe had Adam, Denise, and Parvati on the jumping task. They needed either Jeremy or Ben doing the jumping in place of one those players. (Ethan would have been good too!). Ben looks to be about 5-6" taller than Adam and Jeremy/Rob are about 3" taller than Adam. Adam is the shortest of the guys, Denise is really short, and Parvati is about Adam’s height. Just bad postioning from the Sele tribe. But they did need the swimming muscle to pull the boat across the water. ---
**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 6, 2020, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/65 "2020-03-06T00:33:05Z")
Speaking of the “Sandra Memorial Bench”: Probst has said that they couldn’t have gotten all the players they did if they hadn’t had the EoE twist. That some of the winners would not risk the embarrassment of coming back and getting voted out right away and be gone without a second chance. Do you suppose that another change was lifting the old ‘you can’t sit out twice in a row’ rule? It certainly takes away a bit of extra pressure towards getting Sandra off your team early on. I mean, yeah, she doesn’t help in contests, but it lessens the likelihood that her lack of ability at challenges will CAUSE your team to end up at TC more often in the early game. ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/66 "2020-03-06T00:39:02Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Sandra has always irritated me, but man oh man she’s really getting to me this season. Why is she allowed to sit out of so many challenges!? Wasn’t there always a rule that the same person can’t sit out 2 challenges in a row? Or did that only apply when there was a reward challenge separate from the immunity challenge? ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/67 "2020-03-06T06:12:41Z")
> [@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? I don’t think that was pathetic. He got all 3 keys for his tribe after they bungled the decision on the roles. It looked like Denise and Parvati weren’t even trying anymore at the end, as they rightly realized they were too short and not athletic enough to make the jump. Adam seems to be about the same height as Parvati. They’ve had challenges like this in the past, and the keys have been way lower. It can also be hard to gauge height from a distance accurately, so I’m guessing they thought the jumping part was a given, and just wanted to put the strong and tall guys on the swimming bit. ---
**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 6, 2020, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/68 "2020-03-06T14:15:43Z")
> [@Lips\_Obsession](#): > > Wasn’t there always a rule that the same person can’t sit out 2 challenges in a row? Or did that only apply when there was a reward challenge separate from the immunity challenge? Yes, the exclusion rule never crossed over episodes. If you sat out the reward challenge early in the episode, you couldn’t sit out the immunity challenge later in the episode. But it reset at the beginning of the next episode. The show is interested in drama and viewership. They aren’t even the tiniest bit interested in fairness. Otherwise it would be random who sits out, or you’d have to cycle through the whole tribe before someone could sit out again. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/69 "2020-03-06T15:03:07Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > The show is interested in drama and viewership. They aren’t even the tiniest bit interested in fairness. Otherwise it would be random who sits out, or you’d have to cycle through the whole tribe before someone could sit out again. What is “fair” in the context of survivor? Everything you do impacts how you appear to the people who can vote you out. If the tribe doesn’t like Sandra sitting out, they can vote her out for doing so. If the other tribe doesn’t like going against a strong opposing tribe, maybe they shouldn’t have voted out a strong player that could help in the challenge (Ethan). In any case, they know a tribe switch up must be imminent so any one of them is just as likely to benefit from Sandra sitting out next time. If by some miracle they let Sandra make it to the final again, her sitting out will cost her some jury votes. So why not let her take on that stigma if she wants to? ---
**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:** [March 9, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/70 "2020-03-09T15:30:00Z")
> [@sohvan](#): > > They’ve had challenges like this in the past, and the keys have been way lower. It can also be hard to gauge height from a distance accurately, so I’m guessing they thought the jumping part was a given, and just wanted to put the strong and tall guys on the swimming bit. I think the movement of the water also hurt. That thing was really rocking. You need to time your jump so the platform is right at the peak of moving up. There were a few times where Adam jumped and the platform was on the way down. ---
**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 9, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/71 "2020-03-09T20:10:44Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I think the movement of the water also hurt. That thing was really rocking. You need to time your jump so the platform is right at the peak of moving up. There were a few times where Adam jumped and the platform was on the way down. The beam he was jumping from and the pole holding the keys were all part of the same structure. So there was no relative motion between them, and it doesn’t matter when he jumped. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/72 "2020-03-09T20:24:32Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Best line of the season. Almost makes EoE worth it. Add me to the group that does not mind EoE this season because I like the people that got sent there and want them to return. I’m hoping for Ethan, but would be fine with anyone over there right now. ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/73 "2020-03-09T20:52:22Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > The beam he was jumping from and the pole holding the keys were all part of the same structure. So there was no relative motion between them, and it doesn’t matter when he jumped. Sure it does, if you jump at the bottom, while you’re in the air the key is moving farther away from you. If it was moving steadily, you’d be right, but since it was oscillating, best time to jump is just before the peak. Also the key was swinging all over the place so that was his main concern, being able to grab it while it is hanging down vertical. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/74 "2020-03-09T21:01:45Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > If by some miracle they let Sandra make it to the final again, her sitting out will cost her some jury votes. So why not let her take on that stigma if she wants to? Sandra could easily spin that as a tactical move—by sitting out challenges, she avoids any responsibility if her tribe loses. It fits perfectly into her strategy of staying in the background and keeping the target on anyone but herself. Personally, I can’t stand Sandra, but she’s won twice with this strategy and I can easily see her cruising to a third victory this time. None of the other players seem to view her as a serious threat. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/75 "2020-03-12T04:34:58Z")
I hate how they edit the show these days. They’re so fixated on creating “exciting blindsides” every week that they cut out much of what used to make the show interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/76 "2020-03-12T17:29:02Z")
I guess I’m not sure what was missing this week. They pretty clearly laid out the groupings at each of the new tribes. They didn’t waste any time with EoE (not even showing the Rob arrival scene). I do agree there were probably communications between Adam/Ben and Sophie/Sarah that made it clear that Rob was going home. I don’t mind them cutting it, since I think the talking heads and shots they got that showed how much Adam and Ben resented Steroidal Buddy System that it was pretty clear what was going to happen. They always try to at least create _some_ drama even for obvious votes like this one. Still pretty ballsy of Sarah to not play her Steal-a-Vote - I think I would have had to play it there just to lock down this vote 100% and worry about the next vote later. I guess by holding it she now guarantees that her twosome will have the advantage over the other 2 should they have to go back next episode… Still takes a lot of courage based on what we saw (which probably also hints that there were more solid guarantees given by Adam/Ben than what we saw). ---
**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:** [March 12, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/77 "2020-03-12T19:47:31Z")
I presume they all voted for Rob except Rob himself? ---
**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:** [March 12, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/78 "2020-03-12T19:48:56Z")
And how the heck did this episode _not_ end with Rob showing up at Extinction saying, “Honey, I’m home!” ---
**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 12, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/79 "2020-03-12T20:09:37Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > And how the heck did this episode _not_ end with Rob showing up at Extinction saying, “Honey, I’m home!” Which reminds me - Probst always makes a big point in interviews how important the “loved one” visits are to the players, how they supply much needed incentive to go on, yadda yadda. And those are for visits that mostly last just a couple of minutes before they’re sent away again. Rob and Amber are going to get 24 hour a day ‘loved one’ visits for the rest of their time on EoE. Just another way in which this game was set up in an unbalanced manner. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829/80 "2020-03-12T22:27:16Z")
Hey Rob, while you are giving Production a Talking Head about the Buddy System guess who is back at Camp discussing the upcoming vote. That would be Adam, Ben, Sarah and Sophie [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-season-40-winners-at-war/847829.md?page=5)