There have been a lot of big personalities onSurvivorover 40 seasons.
Greg Buis used a coconut phone back in season 1.
Shane Powers upgraded it to an island Blackberry on season 12.
Wanda Shirk showed up with a song in her heart.
Benjamin Wade had dragons to slay.
They were all super fun to watch in their own weird and wacky ways.
There have also been a lot of incredible gamers over these 40 installments.
And were seeing several of them this season.
Its why what I wrote back duringSurvivor: Cagayanstill holds true today.
In fact, it may be truer than ever.
And that truth is this: Tony Vlachos is the most entertainingSurvivorplayer of all-time.
Search your feelings, Padawan.
You know it to be true.
And this week provided all the evidence necessary.
Again, A SPY NEST!!!
You have players that dont do half of that in anentire seasonand Tony did it in three days.
He is a madman, a lunatic, and, according to Kim, a psychotic double agent.
Because Tony embraces the experience unlike anyone else.
I dont know why its not illegal in Fiji!
Can you see how much fun this guy is having out there?
How can you not love it?
How can you not embrace it the way Tony embraces every single moment of hisSurvivorexistence?
There are a lot of people to root for this season.
There is a reason to root for everyone and a reason to feel positive about any of them winning.
I honestly believe that.
winning season 40 against 19 previous champions would be the most spectacular finish imaginable.
The guy has been making moves, finding idols, and winning immunities.
He has people laughing at his antics.
He has nobody voting against him.
Quite simply: He is putting on a clinic… while he at the same time probablybelongsin a clinic.
Nobody mixes nonsense and game sense like Tony Vlachos.
I just get to watch it.
God bless that man.
Okay, lets drill down a bit on a few of the big moments this week.
Cops R Us
The Tony and Sarah alliance over their two seasons has been fascinating.
Sarah, Kim, and Michele all prowled the runway while Sophie narrated the action.
The juxtaposition was never clearer as we then heard Tony say I want to do damage, man.
Both Sarah and Tony are smart players seemingly going about the game this season in very different ways.
It can ruin peoples lives to lose the game.
There are a lot of people that go home and struggle with it for years.
Sometimes we see the hidden cost of the game in exit interviews and salty reunion shows.
Tyson is right in that there are players who never quite recover from it.
Tyson also noted that Adam was going to have a hard time with losing.
Okay, jeez, sorry to get all introspective and maudlin there.
Lets get back to the bells and whistles!
And we all know advantages are there to be had on the Edge.
And the demands Natalie and Parvati set were exorbitant six Fire Tokens.
Thats a lot of damn tokens.
to realizing he was the one being extorted (This is illegal, man!)
But Tony being Tony, he was still able to smile and crack jokes about it.
Thats the punch in of thing that may burn him later, but for now?
What if Natalie had set the price of extortion at 200 Fire Tokens?
Its just giving people at the Edge way too much power.
Natalie and Parvati never played a single day with Tony.
Why should they be able to completely undo his game when they had zero interaction with him?
Not sure if philosophically I can get behind that.
Im not necessarily against the concept of extortion, and we know I am cool with Fire Tokens.
I just dont like that the transaction and massive decision-making power is coming from the Edge.
Weve seen variations on this many times before.
This one, youre just kinda in till you’re out.
Im not hating on it.
Its just not one of my faves.
Anyway, it came down to Tony and Jeremy, with Tony winning his second straight immunity.
Last-Minute Strike
The stage appeared set for a Jeremy ouster.
And then Tony struck.
Nick was in (although Im not completely sure why), but it was Jeremy who needed convincing.
Its like the time I tried to convince Jeremy that I would beat him at fantasy football.
He didnt believe me either … until he lost to me in the Rotten Coconutz fantasy football championship.
All wedidknow is that Sophie Clarke has VERY strong feelings when it comes to filling out college applications.
Nobody wants a resume thats super, super long but doesnt have any quality to it.
Its just very obvious that you are padding your resume for no reason.
Or, alternatively, as the newly installed CEO of IHateGirlScouts.org.
In truth, Sophie has her own self-doubt like the rest of us.
And hopefully, I have acquitted myself well enough with this weeks recap.
Not gonna lie: Its not my best.
Maybe its the self-isolation.
Maybe its just an off-week for me.
Its good stuff and you should check it out.
Drop by and say hi!
Loving or loathing the Extortion Advantage?
And does Nick look like a vampire?
Weigh in on the message boards and Ill be back next week with another scoop of the crispy!
