SEASON 40: WINNERS AT WAR (Episode 2)

The game continues to move at the speed of light. And frankly, it's torture that we only got to see <1 hour of footage this week. Can there please be a 24/7 webcam that we can tune into?! That being said, last night's episode fit a lot into a short amount of time. We saw a glimpse of the Edge of Extinction which I know is controversial amongst many Survivor fans, but I'm liking that there's at least SOMETHING they're doing there that involves strategy. It will make it more exciting when one of them finally gets back into the game. We saw a brand new advantage introduced when Natalie sent Jeremy the opportunity to leave tribal council before votes are cast. We saw the discovery of two hidden immunity idols (both needing to be split in half in order to have power!!!) Oh, and we saw the DEATH GLARE Boston Rob gave the Dakal Tribe when he learned that Amber was voted out in the last tribal council. Yikes. 

Some Notable Moments (the good, the bad, and the awkward):

• Adam saving Denise from a potentially game ruining move by convincing her not to give the other half of her idol to Parvati. Has Denise not seen Heroes vs. Villains??? What was she thinking??? Parvati is like the idol charmer. People hand those things out to her like free samples at Costco! 

• The difference between Yul's strategy for retrieving fruit versus Tony's strategy for retrieving fruit. Couldn't be more reflective of their personalities. 

• Sophie declaring herself "the devil" after being given the second half of Kim's idol....... BE NICE TO KIM, SOPHIE!!!

• The Cops R Us alliance making a comeback. If this alliance sticks, that duo will cause some serious chaos. And I'm here for it. 

• Possibly Boston Rob's worst challenge performance EVER??!??? The loss wasn't entirely his fault, but nonetheless it was paaaainfuuulll to watch the challenge LEGEND fail under pressure like that. Will Amber being voted out be the thing that finally breaks Boston Rob? (As VP of the Boston Rob fan club, I sure hope not)

• Ethan, the resident "nice guy," coming right out and telling Boston Rob "...dude, you sucked today" after his poor challenge performance.

• Danni completely blowing the "Old School" alliance's cover in front of Ben. This was a prime example of how getting paranoid can be catastrophic to your life in the game. 

• Adam not being able to find the correct hole for his torch at tribal council, and Jeff needing to signal to Ben to give him a hand.

• Last but certainly not least, a Survivor first....... Rob convincing everyone in a matter of seconds to EMPTY THEIR BAGS AT TRIBAL IN SEARCH OF THE IDOL!!!!!??!!!??! I mean come on. This guy needs to teach a masterclass on the art of persuasion. Denise and Adam really got lucky with the seating arrangement on this one. It helped them hide the idol. If they were sitting in the middle of the group, I have a feeling they would have been busted by the Robfather. 

HOW DID WE DO?!

Brian, Joyce, and Matt came in at the top this week thanks to their tribe members Kim and Denise who both found idols this episode. This makes Brian the frontrunner with a total of 122 points, and Joyce and Matt close behind him both with 118 points. Adam, Amanda, and Olivia brought in the least amount of points this week as a result of having mainly Sele members on their tribes. This leaves them at the bottom with 77, 76, and 79 points respectively. But if you're watching, you know this is still anyone's game. The madness has only just begun!  Some fun behind the scenes stuff... Another great recap of this week's episode by Dalton Ross on EW Parvati teaching Ethan how to lie Tree mail!!! Amber on the Edge Here's to hoping Danni can handle the Edge of Extinction as well as Reem did.............

See you next time!