Survivor: Winners at War

Survivor: Winners at War
Season 40
File:Survivor Winners at War logo.png
Presented by	Jeff Probst
No. of days	39
No. of castaways	20
Location	Mamanuca Islands, Fiji
No. of episodes	4
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	February 12, 2020 (2020-02-12) – present (present)
Additional information
Filming dates	May 22 (2019-05-22) – June 29, 2019 (2019-06-29)
Season chronology

Survivor: Winners at War is the 40th season of the American competitive reality television series Survivor, airing on CBS in the United States and Global in Canada. The season filmed in May–June 2019 and features twenty returning winners from past Survivor seasons to celebrate the show's twentieth anniversary. It premiered on February 12, 2020. This is the eighth consecutive season (a record ninth overall) to be filmed in Fiji, the thirteenth season to feature returning players, and the fifth season to feature only returning players. Edge of Extinction, a twist first introduced in the show's thirty-eighth season, returned for this season.

The season was preceded by a retrospective special titled Survivor at 40: Greatest Moments and Players on February 5, 2020, which featured interviews with past players and series highlights, as well as the first few minutes of the premiere episode.

Production

The season's theme and players were announced at the finale of Survivor: Island of the Idols on December 18, 2019, revealing that the season would consist of twenty winners from past Survivor seasons. The winner will receive $2,000,000, making it the largest prize ever given out on any version of Survivor, and its largest for an American reality TV program since The X Factor. Probst stated that having a season of returning winners and a larger prize came from CBS president Kelly Kahl who had been a proponent for the show at the network from near its start. Kahl had spoken to Probst and the Survivor production team about making this 40th season special with the format and larger prize. The returning survivors were not told of the larger prize until Probst met them on the beach at the start of filming. According to Entertainment Weekly's Dalton Ross, of the players he had interviewed prior to the start of filming for Winners at War, only Ethan Zohn had guessed there might have been a larger prize for this season. The show's typical payouts for non-winners were higher for this season: whereas in previous seasons the first place out received a US$5,000 payment with an escalating scale, each returning winner in Winners at War was assured a minimum US$25,000 payment for participating in the season, as well as the standard US$10,000 for participation in the finale.

All but two of the challenges during the season were based on previous challenges that at least one of the winners had participated in. While this had been done before in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: Cambodia and Survivor: Game Changers, Probst stated that they will not draw attention to who had done previous challenges unless there had been a major event involving it from a prior season.

Game format

The Edge of Extinction game mechanic from Survivor: Edge of Extinction returned for Winners at War, in which eliminated players, instead of completely leaving the game, are taken to a different island, the Edge of Extinction. On the Edge of Extinction, eliminated players continue to survive under similar conditions until a point in the game where those players are given a challenge to allow one of them to return to the game, the rest either forced to return to the island or wholly eliminated from the game. At any point, an eliminated player at Edge of Extinction may opt to "raise a sail" to leave the game completely, upon which they are picked up and sequestered for the rest of the game. While the Edge of Extinction element had been controversial with fans when it was first used, the mechanic was added for this season as an assurance to returning players of a second chance to get back into the game, a concern that had been raised by some when Probst spoke to them about returning.

An additional twist, a form of currency called "fire tokens," allows players to purchase items, food, and advantages. Probst said that in trying to make this season memorable, they had come up with the idea of fire tokens to emphasize that the game is about creating a society, and these tokens could help in establishing that society. Each player starts the game with one token, and when eliminated by tribal vote and sent to the Edge of Extinction, they must give their tokens up to any player remaining in the game. Tribes (prior to the merge) and players (after the merge) can collectively use their tokens to buy reward items, which can include an advantage in the next immunity challenge. Players on the Edge of Extinction are able to secretly make deals with players still in the game to sell them advantages located only at the Edge of Extinction for their tokens; those players can then use the tokens at the Edge of Extinction to buy luxuries and advantages for the eventual challenge that will bring one player back into the game.

Casting

In his discussions with Kahl after the filming of Survivor: Edge of Extinction, Probst told him that he had spoken to previous winners in the past about returning, but most said they would not want to return. In a 2018 interview, Probst had explained that such an all-winners season was unlikely, as not all the winners were compelling people to bring back to the show, while some others did not want to spend another month-long period of survival for the prize money. Probst estimated that he had about ten winners that were appropriate to invite back and who were willing, but not enough for a full number of players.

When Probst reiterated his concern about getting a full cast of winners to Kahl, Kahl suggested he try asking the winners again. Probst knew that Sandra Diaz-Twine would likely say yes, despite just having agreed to participate on the prior season Survivor: Island of the Idols, as she had yet to refuse an invitation to return to the show. Probst first contacted the winners he felt were key standouts in terms of memorable winners on returning, Rob Mariano and Amber Mariano, and Parvati Shallow. Probst was unsure Rob would return immediately as he had just also been asked to participate on Island of the Idols, and knew it would be difficult for Amber to leave their four children, but to his surprise, both agreed and, in Probst's words, told him "we're gonna put the biggest target on our back we can". With Parvati, she had just given birth to her first child, and Probst thought she would refuse, but she felt that with her baby was old enough for her husband to care for during filming, she could participate. Subsequently, Probst found it easy to get other past standouts like Yul Kwon and Danni Boatwright to agree to come, and the cast was quickly filled out.

Certain notable past winners are not included. Survivor: Borneo winner Richard Hatch was not asked to return due to his inappropriate behavior from Survivor: All-Stars, according to Probst. John Cochran, winner of Survivor: Caramoan, was one Probst wanted back but declined to return, while Survivor: Fiji winner Earl Cole declined due to the birth of his daughter shortly before filming began. Tina Wesson, winner of Survivor: The Australian Outback, and Tom Westman, winner of Survivor: Palau, were both considered early in the casting process though did not make the final roster. Probst said that there had been a concern that the winners from earlier seasons of the show could not keep up with the newer changes to the game, but once they started making calls to the winners from early seasons and found them ready to accept, they focused their potential casting across the entire run of Survivor.

While none of the cast of Winners at War are the oldest players to play the game, the average age of the players for this season is the highest of any other prior season at 37.85 years, beating out Survivor: Nicaragua's average age of 37.6 years, and much higher than the average ages of players from several of the past recent seasons which have skewed younger. Probst said they did not even consider the age of the players when asking the winners to return, though did feel that older players are more interesting to watch, as their maturity brings unique facets to the game.

Contestants

Tyson Apostol

Danni Boatwright

Yul Kwon

File:Survivor+Micronesia+Finale+Reunion+Show+sX1sL4qHizkx.jpg

Parvati Shallow

List of Survivor: Winners at War contestants

Contestant	Original tribe	Switched tribe	Merged tribe	Main game	Edge of Extinction
Natalie Anderson 33, Edgewater, New Jersey San Juan del Sur	Sele			1st voted out Day 2	Current inhabitant
Amber Mariano 40, Pensacola, Florida The Australian Outback & All-Stars	Dakal			2nd voted out Day 3	Current inhabitant
Danni Boatwright 43, Shawnee, Kansas Guatemala	Sele			3rd voted out Day 6	Current inhabitant
Ethan Zohn 45, Hillsborough, New Hampshire Africa & All-Stars	Sele			4th voted out Day 9	Current inhabitant
Tyson Apostol 39, Mesa, Arizona Tocantins, Heroes vs. Villains & Blood vs. Water	Dakal			5th voted out Day 11	Current inhabitant
Sophie Clarke 29, Santa Monica, California South Pacific	Dakal	TBD
Jeremy Collins 41, Foxborough, Massachusetts San Juan del Sur & Cambodia	Sele	TBD
Sandra Diaz-Twine 44, Riverview, Florida Pearl Islands, Heroes vs. Villains & Game Changers	Dakal	TBD
Ben Driebergen 36, Boise, Idaho Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers	Sele	TBD
Michele Fitzgerald 29, Hoboken, New Jersey Kaôh Rōng	Sele	Sele
Wendell Holland 35, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ghost Island	Dakal	Sele
Adam Klein 28, Los Angeles, California Millennials vs. Gen X	Sele	TBD
Yul Kwon 44, Los Altos, California Cook Islands	Dakal	TBD
Sarah Lacina 34, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cagayan & Game Changers	Dakal	TBD
Rob Mariano 43, Pensacola, Florida Marquesas, All-Stars, Heroes vs. Villains & Redemption Island	Sele	TBD
Parvati Shallow 36, Los Angeles, California Cook Islands, Micronesia & Heroes vs. Villains	Sele	TBD
Kim Spradlin-Wolfe 36, San Antonio, Texas One World	Dakal	TBD
Denise Stapley 48, Marion, Iowa Philippines	Sele	TBD
Tony Vlachos 45, Allendale, New Jersey Cagayan & Game Changers	Dakal	TBD
Nick Wilson 28, Williamsburg, Kentucky David vs. Goliath	Dakal	TBD

Season summary

Challenge winners and eliminations by episodes

Episode			Extinction departures	Challenge winner(s)		Eliminated	Status	Token recipient
No.	Title	Air date		Reward	Immunity
1	"Greatest of the Greats"	February 12, 2020		Dakal		Natalie	1st voted out Day 2	Jeremy
			None	None	Sele	Amber	2nd voted out Day 3	Rob
2	"It's Like a Survivor Economy"	February 19, 2020	None	Dakal		Danni	3rd voted out Day 6	Denise
3	"Out for Blood"	February 26, 2020	None	Dakal		Ethan	4th voted out Day 9	Parvati
4	"I Like Revenge"	March 4, 2020	None	Sele		Tyson	5th voted out Day 11	Nick
5	"The Buddy System on Steroids"	March 11, 2020
6	"Quick on the Draw"	March 18, 2020

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Rating/share (18-49)	Original air date	US viewers (millions)
583	1	"Greatest of the Greats"	1.3/7	February 12, 2020 (2020-02-12)	6.68
20 returning winners arrived in Fiji to play an All-Winners season of Survivor. The two tribes of 10 (Dakal in red and Sele in blue) were informed that the grand prize this season would be $2 Million, and that the Edge of Extinction was in play. Lastly, Jeff introduced the Fire Tokens to the cast, where at their camps the tribes found out they could use their fire tokens to buy advantages and luxury items whenever they were at challenges. Reward/Immunity Challenge: In duos, the tribes compete to retrieve a ring on a post in the water. The first person to bring the ring to their tribe's post and touch it scores a point for their tribe. The first tribe to score 3 points wins flint and immunity. By Any Means Necessary challenge from Palau, Panama, Micronesia, Heroes vs. Villains, Caramoan, Millennials vs. Gen X, and Ghost Island. After Sele's loss at the immunity challenge, Rob and Parvati realized they would be an unexpected duo. The new school players scrambled to put out a name, with Adam and Denise's early "looking for water" separation putting a target on their backs. When Ben approached Rob for strategy talk, he spilled that Danni had been suggesting Rob as one of the options. Rob confronted Danni and, impressed with her honesty, formed an old school alliance with her, Ethan, and Parvati. When Adam found out that Denise and himself were targets, he tried to shift the target onto players with previous relationships like Natalie and Jeremy, the two having previously played together in San Juan del Sur. While the tribe scrambled before Tribal Council, Rob and Parvati were dumbfounded that they were not the targets. At Tribal Council, Denise and Adam pushed for prior relationships to be targeted over second-time players. Eventually, a majority of the old school alliance decided to send Natalie to the Edge to split up her and Jeremy. As Natalie left Tribal Council, she chose to bequeath her fire token to Jeremy. During her first day on the Edge, Natalie received an advantage and luxury item menu and was informed of finding ways to earn new fire tokens. Following a clue left by the Edge Sail, she discovered a hidden immunity idol that works for the next three Tribal Councils, which she could sell to anyone on the losing tribe. Immunity Challenge: The tribes must paddle out from shore to retrieve a bag full of numbers, before returning to a series of obstacles in the water (first leaping off boxed stairs into water, then climbing over a rolling pillar, and lastly getting over a cargo net incline before reaching the shore). At their tribe's station, one member must unlock three rings using the 3 two-digit numbers in their bag. Afterwards, two members must toss their rings to hang on paddles. The first tribe to successfully toss all 3 rings onto their paddles wins immunity. Blue Lagoon Bustle challenge from Blood vs. Water and Game Changers. The first two days were relaxing for Dakal, with Sandra and Tony patching things up from Game Changers, and Yul and Sophie gathering other first-time returners into a group. After the immunity challenge loss on Day 3, Yul and Sophie started gathering the former Game Changers trio (Sandra, Sarah, and Tony) to target Amber, Kim, and Tyson. Sandra discovered an offer for an idol had appeared in her belongings for a fire token, which she accepted under the impression that Natalie had made the offer from the Edge. Prior to the season, Tyson, Rob, Jeremy, and Kim had played in a televised Poker tournament with Tyson casually suggesting an alliance if the four of them were to play Survivor again. Kim and Amber felt the early pace of the game was overwhelming, with Kim shocked to find herself being actively left out of strategic talk by the majority of Dakal. At Tribal Council, all three tried to convince the tribe that there was no Poker Alliance in the game, with Amber and Kim trying to convince others to take out Nick for being the most recent winner. It was to no avail, with the disconnected players and the Game Changers sending Amber to the Edge fearing her natural alliance with her husband Rob at Sele. Before arriving at the Edge, Amber chose to bequeath her fire token to Rob.
584	2	"It's Like a Survivor Economy"	1.4/7	February 19, 2020 (2020-02-19)	7.16
Early on Day 4, Rob from Sele discovered he had received a fire token, voicing his concerns to Parvati that it might mean either Amber or Sandra had been sent to the Edge. Later in the day, Ben worked on his social game by showing Denise how to look for an idol, which she eventually found. However, the idol was split into two halves. She had to give one half to tribemate before sundown. After choosing Adam to discuss tactics with, he convinced her not to share the idol with her suggestion, Parvati, but with Adam instead. At Dakal, Kim still felt she was on the bottom of the tribe and went on an idol hunt of her own. She found the Dakal split idol and revealed it to Sophie as an attempt to gain trust with a person in the majority. Despite a rocky first season playing together in Cagayan, Sarah and Tony sought to use their six-year friendship to solidify a true trustworthy "Cops-R-Us" alliance. On the Edge of Extinction, a new advantage clue had Amber and Natalie searching high and low throughout the island. After giving up for the day, Natalie discovered a "safety without power" advantage hidden inside the water well. The advantage allowed a player to leave Tribal Council and return to camp before the votes are cast to protect themself. Natalie chose to sell it to Jeremy for a fire token. He accepted the deal, guessing that it came from Natalie and realizing that the Sele tribe wasn't fully aware of the potential of the fire tokens. Reward/Immunity Challenge: The tribes pushed a large wagon across an obstacle course, retrieved three keys from tall posts to unlock three heavy trunks with puzzle pieces inside, and put the trunks on the wagon. After loading all three trunks on the wagon, the tribes disassembled the wagon and pushed the wagon and trunks either through or over a fence. They then climbed over the fence themselves. They then re-assembled the wagon, put the trunks back on board, and dragged the wagon through more obstacles. Once at the finish, two tribe members used the pieces to assemble a vertical circular puzzle. The first tribe to finish wins a spice kit and immunity. Draggin' the Dragon challenge from Cagayan and Cambodia. After seeing that his wife had been voted out, Rob fumbled in the puzzle portion of the challenge, leading to Sele's blowout loss. Since old school players were at a numerical disadvantage, Parvati and Rob wanted to target new school players, primarily Jeremy or Ben as outsiders. Danni felt vulnerable as her alliances and Parvati were leaving her out of conversations. Danni revealed to Ben, in front of Ethan, that there was an old school alliance in her attempts to plead her case. Ben suggested Danni as the best to vote out due to her scrambling, while Danni started to pitch a Parvati vote to Rob. Jeremy and Michele tried to recruit Adam to join in the plan. At Tribal Council, the Sele tribe spoke about the rapid pace of the game and that the old school players were struggling to keep up. Parvati spoke about an old school and new school divide, and Ben revealed Danni's slip-up earlier in the day as an example of Sele's paranoia. The resulting paranoia amongst Sele led Rob to ask the entire tribe to dump their bags and expose if they had an idol. Denise and Adam kept their idol halves hidden from the view of their tribemates while the rest of Sele revealed the contents of their bags. After a flurry of whispering among players, the entire tribe voted out Danni for her scrambling. Before arriving at the Edge, Danni bequeathed her fire token to Denise.
585	3	"Out for Blood"	1.4/7	February 26, 2020 (2020-02-26)	7.14
After eliminating Danni, Adam sought to unite the new school players against Rob, Parvati, and Ethan, who he felt were running the tribe. Denise felt secure about her position in the tribe thanks to an extra fire token from Danni and her full idol (Adam had returned his half to her). At Dakal, the tribe continued to flourish thanks to Sandra netting a shark. Despite this, Tyson worked to gather numbers against Sandra in an attempt to get back on the plus side of the numbers. Yul had mixed feelings and ultimately told Sandra about Tyson’s plot. The three players on the Edge had a chance for a fire token; Natalie deciphered the clue and found a paper stating there was a "vote steal advantage" hidden in an opposing tribe member’s torch; she anonymously offered the advantage to Sarah on Dakal. After accepting the offer, Sarah had Tony camouflage her and she was able to retrieve the "vote steal" from Sele’s torches. Reward/Immunity Challenge: Castaways jumped between three sets of raised ramps, having to re-start if they fell. Tribes then dug a heavy ladder out of a sand pit, propped it upright so that one member could retrieve a monkey's fist on top of a tripod. They tossed the monkey's fist through a target in order to climb the first ramp of a tall tower. Afterwards, tribemates used their bodies to hoist each other to the top of a second ramp. Once at the top, two members solved a tree puzzle. The first tribe to finish their puzzle won immunity as well as chicken kebabs and a grill. Along the Watchtower challenge from Survivor: Ghost Island. Dakal edged out Sele for the victory. At camp, Adam, despite being in the majority with the new schoolers, attempted to get Denise, Ethan and then Rob on board with voting out Parvati, to Rob's confusion and frustration. This made Jeremy consider turning on Adam instead, but Michele suggested that the rest of the alliance vote out Ethan to keep the numbers. At Tribal Council, the old schoolers voted against Adam, but Michele’s plan came to fruition and Ethan was sent to the Edge. Ethan chose to bequeath his fire token to Parvati.
586	4	"I Like Revenge"	1.4/7	March 4, 2020 (2020-03-04)	7.08
Adam was stunned by Ethan's blindside and found himself as the outsider of Sele. Rob and Parvati feared the worst now that it was just them against the new-schoolers. While Adam tried to regain his tribe's trust by doing more chores around camp, Rob lied to Jeremy and Michele that Adam was still playing both sides. On Dakal, morale was high thanks to the tribe's winning streak, but Tyson suspected that Yul had been leading an alliance of one-time winners against the people with connections. Tyson tried to warn the others to no avail, while Sandra was still angry that Tyson threw her name around days ago. On the Edge, the four inhabitants were given a task to carry twenty logs, one at a time, from the top of the mountain back down to camp before sundown. They all struggled mightily, with Ethan almost fainting and requiring medical intervention near the end point, but all four completed the task and earned a fire token each. Reward/Immunity Challenge: Three tribe members sat in a boat to which the other four members are tethered as swimmers. The swimmers towed the boat to a tower, where three sets of keys are to be collected. The tribes then headed to a platform, where they used the keys to unlock puzzle pieces. Two members of each tribe then used the pieces to solve a block puzzle. The first tribe to do so won immunity as well as four egg-laying chickens. Beyond the Wheel challenge from Survivor: Edge of Extinction. Dakal built up a substantial lead on the puzzle as Sele repeatedly struggled to get any of the keys. Adam managed to pull through and get all three himself. Afterwards on the puzzle, Rob and Michele breezed past Nick and Sarah, who had to undo initial piece placement, and won Sele their second challenge. Back at Dakal, Tyson targeted Nick for struggling on the puzzle as it was the same one he succeeded on back in David vs. Goliath. The rest of the tribe, however, centered on blindsiding Tyson. Tony and Sandra debated whether to vote Nick instead and keep Tyson around a little longer to keep the target off of themselves. At Tribal Council, Tyson voted for Nick, who voted for Kim on the chance Tyson had an idol. The rest of the tribe (including Tony and Sandra) voted to send Tyson to the Edge. As Tyson left, he bequeathed his fire token to Nick.
587	5	"The Buddy System on Steroids"	TBA	March 11, 2020 (2020-03-11)	N/A
588	6	"Quick on the Draw"	TBA	March 18, 2020 (2020-03-18)	N/A

Voting history

		Original tribes					Switched tribes
Episode #		1		2	3	4	5	6
Day #		2	3	6	9	11
Eliminated		Natalie	Amber	Danni	Ethan	Tyson
Votes		7–2–1	6–3–1	8–1	4–3–1	7–1–1
Voter		Vote
	Adam	Natalie		Danni	Parvati
	Ben	Natalie		Danni	Ethan
	Denise	Natalie		Danni	Ethan
	Jeremy	Adam		Danni	Ethan
	Kim		Amber			Tyson
	Michele	Denise		Danni	Ethan
	Nick		Amber			Kim
	Parvati	Natalie		Danni	Adam
	Rob	Natalie		Danni	Adam
	Sandra		Amber			Tyson
	Sarah		Kim			Tyson
	Sophie		Kim			Tyson
	Tony		Kim			Tyson
	Wendell		Amber			Tyson
	Yul		Amber			Tyson
Tyson			Amber			Nick
Ethan		Natalie		Danni	Adam
Danni		Natalie		Parvati
Amber			Nick
Natalie		Denise

Reception

Viewing figures

United States

Viewership and ratings per episode of Survivor: Winners at War

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)	Ref.
1	"Greatest of the Greats"	February 12, 2020	1.3/7	6.68	0.6	2.70	2.0	9.40
2	"It's Like a Survivor Economy"	February 19, 2020	1.4/7	7.16	0.6	2.36	2.0	9.54
3	"Out for Blood"	February 26, 2020	1.4/7	7.14	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
4	"I Like Revenge"	March 4, 2020	1.4/7	7.08	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
5	"The Buddy System on Steroids"	March 11, 2020	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
6	"Quick on the Draw"	March 18, 2020	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

Canada

No.	Air date	Total viewers (millions)	Rank (week)	Refs
1	February 12, 2020	2.128	2
2	February 19, 2020	2.046	3
3	February 26, 2020	TBD	TBD
4	March 4, 2020	TBD	TBD
5	March 11, 2020	TBD	TBD
6	March 18, 2020	TBD	TBD

External links

• Official CBS Survivor Website