SEASON 40: WINNERS AT WAR (Episode 7)

Full disclosure... I'm still not over LAST week's episode. I mean I know there's the saying "my jaw fell to the floor" but I didn't know jaws could legitimately fall to the floor. My jaw FELL. TO. THE. FLOOR. at the end of that Tribal Council guys. I was shook. Shooketh. Shocked. This quarantine has left me with way too much time to replay it over and over again in my mind. 

Anywho... last week's dramatic (traumatic) ending with the blindside of all blindsides on Queen Sandra segued us into this week's sentimental beginning...

• Sandra arrives at the Edge of Extinction, and almost immediately announces that she's not planning to stay. I'd be lying if I said I didn't well up a little bit watching her raise that white flag to symbolize the end of her time in the game. Selfishly I wish she stayed so we could see more of the Sandra/Rob dynamic unfold, and so she'd serve as a member of the jury, but I think we all know her odds of getting back into the game would be slim to none. The hardest part of it is accepting the fact that this may be the last we see of Sandra on Survivor ever. We'll miss the red polo, the Sandra bench, the sass, and the pot stirring. But hey, never say never. (If you want to see a weird but oddly good Sandra Diaz-Twine tribute, check this out) 

"At the end of the day, I'm still the queen and I'll always stay the queen"

• The episode then takes us to the Sele camp where we watch Wendell continue to shine through as the villain of this season as he ~attempts~ and fails to apologize to his tribemates for his actions at tribal council. This is a pretty big shift from the way we saw him back in Season 36 Ghost Island. The guy who was once seen as the lovable, easy going, furniture maker is now being portrayed as the $h*t talking, unapologetic, bad boyfriend. Yikes. I can't help but wonder if he's crumbling without the support and guidance of his old partner in crime/personal meat shield, Dom.

• Sele kinda seems like a dumpster fire right now, and instead of running as far away from it as possible, Michele is diving into said dumpster. She gave one of her fire tokens to Wendell??? But WHYYYY??? My message for Michele: ~Catch fire tokens, not feelings.~ 

• Anddddd we're back at the Edge of Extinction with another tear jerker moment from Survivor hero, Ethan Zohn. He opens up to Parvati about how difficult it's been for him out on the edge, and we watch as Parv does her best to make him laugh and remind him to be positive. I always love these small human moments when we see players put each other before the game. <3 

• The sentimental moment quickly comes to a halt when it transitions to another fire token challenge on the EoE. And boy was that good TV. One second, Tyson is calling Rob a "portly chap," and next thing you know, we're watching what looks like 28 year old Rob Mariano completely dominating in true Boston Rob fashion.

Same Kim, same.

• Over at Dakal we're given some more quality Tony content as we watch him race against... himself... to a palm tree.

• ...And Kim (fiiiiinaalllyyyy) all season may have #options:

• Tensions at Yara are bubbling like a boiling pot of rice. Adam's getting annoyed with Ben. Sarah's getting annoyed with Adam. And Sophie is just chillin with the idol, and zero target on her back. 

• IMMUNITY CHALLENGE: That was quite possibly the CLOSEST ending to a challenge in Survivor history. Is Wendell's big mouth to blame? Maybe. But it clearly wasn't enough to get him voted out...

• Which leads us to Tribal Council where our hearts are ripped out and stomped on for the 3rd vote in a row. I GET IT GUYS. YOU'RE SCARED OF THE OLD SCHOOL LEGENDS. BUT COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yul????????????? It was a smart vote for sure. Yul was PLAYING this game, and was absolutely one of, if not THE, biggest threat left in the game. But heading into the merge with no old school players left is a major bummer for us as fans. Keeping my fingers crossed that someone epic comes off the Edge of Extinction soon to mix things up. 

This Week's Points:

Things have kindddaaaa stayed the same. Brian (296), Joyce (291), and Matt (285) maintain their leads, while Olivia, Amanda, and Kathryn continue to trail at the end of the ranks due to most of their tribe members being voted off already. But on the bright side... IT'S THE MERGE which means everyone's "alternate" will be added to their tribe next week as long as your alternate hasn't fully departed from the game (@Sandra). The castaways bringing in the biggest points this week were Sarah and Sophie who each were ~bequeathed~ one of Yul's fire tokens. This is the first time we've seen someone with multiple fire tokens split them between two people instead of one. Looks like Yul's still playin the game.  Here's an accurate portrayal of all of us not so patiently waiting for next Wednesday while in quarantine. 

Catch ya next week!