The Penultimate Step of the War

The Penultimate Step of the War
Episode Information
Version	United States
Season	Winners at War
Episode Number	13/14 (596)
Original Release	May 6, 2020
Viewership (in Millions)	7.57
Ratings/Share (18-49)	1.4/5
Episode Chronology
Previous	"Friendly Fire"
Next	"It All Boils Down to This"
Subpages

The Penultimate Step of the War is the penultimate episode of Survivor: Winners at War.

Story

Night 29

	Michele	“	Tribal Council was a disaster, as usual. I think the votes are all going to Jeremy, so I gave Jeremy the 50/50 advantage, and he decided to not play it. But I guess this Tribal Council ended with a positive outcome because Jeremy is still here. On the flip side, people know that I was willing to play my advantage for him, so now everybody knows about my advantage. I've been wanting to play this really aggressive game, but I sort of feel like I took a butter knife to a gunfight, and I don't really know how I can recover.	”

	Jeremy	“	This is Groundhog Day for me here. Three Tribals in a row that everybody is coming after me. I-I wish I knew why I was so popular around here.	”

	Jeremy	“	But I have a connection with Michele, and Michele gave me that 50/50 Coin to play if I needed it. But I give that 50/50 back to Michele. I want nothing to do with that. My game is not coming down to a 50/50 Coin flip. This is the penultimate step of the war. This is right before we take off, and it's gonna get really, really ugly.	”

Day 30

	Denise	“	Last night at Tribal Council, I just said to Jeff, like, "I'm done." But when I say I'm done, it's not I'm done with the game-- it's I'm done with dealing with things the way that I've been dealing and getting myself as upset as I have been about the process.	”

	Denise	“	I'm not a tattoo gal. I don't have any tattoos. Probably never will. But then I was laying in the shelter last night, and I thought, "No, I need two tattoos." I need the one on the left hand that says, "Endure," to remind me I can. I'm capable of staying out here for another 9 days. But then I also know that it's okay to let go. Like, "Endure" and "Let Go" and know that both of those are totally okay.	”

	Tony	“	This thing, right, with Jeremy-- he's a fireman. I'm a police officer. We're always feuding, and-and we have a little rivalry going. It's for fun over here on Survivor. But I know Jeremy is a number for me. I know he trusts me. So, right now, my plan is to try to keep Jeremy around. Because if Jeremy goes home, the hyenas are gonna come out in a full pack and start attacking us.	”

	Tony	“	So, Sarah and I, we've played this game. Six years ago, we formed an alliance, Cops-R-Us, and I burned her.	”

	Tony	“	Now I got to know Sarah, and we said, "Let's just stick together and just keep this Cops-R-Us going all the way to the end." And we've been doing good so far. I mean, that's our plan right now, is to take Cops-R-Us all the way to the end.	”

	Sarah	“	Ben, Sarah, Tony. We're in a lock solid final three. Period. No ifs, ands, buts about it. Here's our problem that we're running into is Ben wants Jeremy gone. But if we got rid of Jeremy, Tony and I are sitting ducks. So, at this point, getting rid of Nick would be the smarter option for my game. But what's smart for my game is not the smartest for Ben's. And, at this point, Ben's pretty stubborn, and he's not gonna budge. So I figured I would have my work cut out for me this afternoon, to have to try to convince Ben to get rid of Nick.	”

	Sarah	“	If Ben never gets a turn at driving, Ben's not gonna go to the end with me. So if we make Ben believe that this is his decision, then everything's good. But this is just a ploy so we can vote Nick out.	”

	Ben	“	Jeremy is more beneficial for my game at this point. So there's this thought of keeping Jeremy, Tony, and Sarah. With seven people left, keeping them around is a shield for me. They're bigger threats. Where Nick, on the other hand, he's walking around frantic. He's trying to play both sides, and he's not doing a very good job, 'cause everybody's seen it. And Denise, she's lockstep with me, and she'll vote any way that we want to vote. This right now, in this war, is the hardest mission yet. The reason why is because it's gonna be a huge blindside. Plus, there's a 50/50 immunity that we have to flush and do this correctly. At this point in the game, if this goes screwed up, our squad and this mission is blown out.	”

Day 31

	Denise	“	Nick gets immunity. The one person that we've been hoping initially wouldn't get immunity so that we could vote him... got immunity. So then it was instantly like, "I wonder what the plan B is gonna be."	”

	Ben	“	Nick winning was a bad thing for us. You know, we were trying to target Nick and blindside him, and so now we have to come back to camp and rethink how we're gonna pull this off.	”

	Ben	“	So, it would be easy to take Denise out. However, Denise is my friend and a number right now. And I've been debating on whether or not to push Jeremy to go or whether or not to keep him. It takes one of the shields out for me, but, in the same breath, it breaks up Michele and Jeremy. So, at this point, I'm trying to create a little distrust between Jeremy and Michele and also make sure we know where that 50/50 idol's going.	”

	Ben	“	I started planting seeds in Jeremy's head and being like, "Hey, can you get that 50/50 from Michele? Let's start-- let's try to vote out Michele."	”

	Jeremy	“	Everybody's saying Denise's name 'cause this is the easiest one. Denise was the one that was, like, checked out last Tribal Council, but that's the thing. It's never an easy vote, especially Winners at War. So, right away, I'm like, "Nah, this doesn't sound right to me." Denise is definitely a smoke screen. I don't know who they're putting their votes on, if whether it's me or Michele, but I don't trust Ben at all.	”

	Michele	“	Ben is saying, "Keep an eye out for Jeremy. He's gonna ask you for your advantage." And then Ben is going to Jeremy and saying, "Ask Michele for her advantage and see if she'll give it to you." So he's playing both sides. Ben going-- that's great for me, and Jeremy going-- that's worse for me, because me and Nick are gonna be picked off next. So I have a best-case scenario, or worst-case scenario, and I'm just hoping it leans more towards this side than towards Jeremy.	”

	Tony	“	So, Jeremy, he wants to vote out Ben. Jeremy and Ben been clashing for a while now. So, he wants Ben out of the game for his best interest. That's not my best interest. Not for the cop. I really don't want to get rid of Jeremy, but, at this point, Sarah and I think that our best thing to do would be to stay strong with Ben.	”

	Tony	“	So, we're gonna split the votes between Michele and Jeremy. So, the guys-- me, Nick and Ben-- we're voting Jeremy. Denise and Sarah, they're voting Michele. And then Michele can play her advantage that she has, a 50/50. And whether it's "Safe" or "Not Safe," our real votes tonight are going to Jeremy.	”

	Sarah	“	Right now, the plan is to vote out Jeremy. But I also don't fully trust Nick. He's a hard one to read. I think Nick definitely wants to build a résumé for himself. And I guess tonight's gonna tell whether he's with us or if he's against us.	”

	Nick	“	There's two plans going on, one to get Jeremy out and one to get Ben out. And I'm in a bit of a power position. I have Ben's fate in my hands, and I have Jeremy's fate in my hands. But I'm not making my decision based on what I want to happen tomorrow or the next day. I'm making my decision based on Day 39. How do I get there? Who can I beat? How do I win this two million dollars? I am just trying to win this game, period.	”

	Ben	“	Tribal was intense. It came down to Jeremy or I, and we both took our shots. It's been like an old Western, right? Where we've each had our-our revolvers in our holsters, standing on the street, and haven't pulled them yet, right? And tonight, the draw went and it feels fantastic that I finally got him out.	”

	Tony	“	Tribal worked out exactly as planned. This whole entire game, I've been on the right side of the votes. This whole entire game. And then you have Michele that's always been outside every vote. She has no idea what's going on in the game. In other seasons, you would call that a goat and you would want to go to the end with them. Not on the Super Bowl season of Survivor. You don't, you don't want that around.	”

	Tony	“	She's a hyena in the game. And you know what? Time for you to go home.	”

	Nick	“	I think I made the right decision, because the vote for me is about building allies moving forward. Michele-- she wanted to work with Jeremy. I have no interest in working with Jeremy at all. And she keeps wanting to go a different direction than I want to go. Now that Jeremy's gone, ideally, I would love to get Ben out of here. Ben is hotheaded, emotional. He's, like, an impulsive player. So... I definitely feel like playing with Ben is like playing with fireworks or a stick of dynamite. And I just don't want it to blow up in my own hands.	”

	Michele	“	Me and Nick are on the bottom, and Nick is too naive to see it. But I have to try to find an avenue for myself, because nobody out here-- nobody wants to take me any further than where I am right now. But I know that I do some of my best work when my back is against a wall. And my back is against a wall, and they haven't seen the sassy Michele from Jersey. So it's time for me to kick it into high gear. They better buckle in, because I'm about to go out fighting.	”

Day 32

	Michele	“	I have been mad more times in this game than I've been mad in a year of my life. But last night might have been the peak of anger for me. I don't trust anybody. (tearfully) Nobody trusts me. And I'm very frustrated, because right now, everybody's playing scared. And I'm the only one out here who's willing to throw things at the wall, because I have nothing to lose.	”

	Michele	“	So, I just might throw a Hail Mary in that direction and see if anybody bites on it. And you have Tony over here who's controlled most of the votes. He is a huge threat.	”

	Michele	“	I think when you look at who you should target, me or Tony, I would think go with the bigger threat.	”

	Sarah	“	Michele's the easy vote-out. Michele's on the outs. And Michele has no allegiance to anybody.	”

	Sarah	“	Michele can't keep her mouth shut. She's completely unpredictable. So that's why Michele needs to go.	”

	Jeremy	“	The Edge of Extinction-- I hate this place. This place sucks. It drains you. Morale is down. It's tough. And just being out of the game, your mind just wanders. The whole night, I was running through my mind like, "What did I do wrong? What could I have done to change my situation?" But, I mean, you know what? What am I gonna do? Like, this is the situation I'm dealt. I just got to think about one day at a time, just getting back into this game.	”

	Danni	“	Every time we get a clue, it's like a bomb goes off, and everybody just-just darts, just takes off.	”

	Tyson	“	It's like when a bunch of teenagers are hanging out in front of, like, a convenience store and a cop pulls up, they-- you just start running, because why wouldn't you?	”

	Wendell	“	I have been to the top of the mountain, and I know that there are two places that have, like, stone that you can overlook everything. And I was just thinking, "All right, that might be the stone throne." I know I'm the fastest sprinter on the island. And, uh, and Natalie-- she's a tremendous runner and challenge threat. So I'm like, "Man, I need to get to this throne first."	”

	Natalie	“	Having spent so much time on Extinction, I knew exactly where I was going. I was just worried that Wendell did, too. Wendell was so ahead of me that I didn't see where he went. But once I got to the clearing, I noticed the beach was completely empty. I knew Wendell had taken a s-strong left up the hill, and I knew it was all mine.	”

	Natalie	“	I was dying, but I was so excited that I got the advantage. It felt really good. The shortest challenge we've had so far.	”

	Tyson	“	Natalie knew exactly where the throne was. She's the queen of Extinction. I'm constantly just watching her just, like, shift and move. She's become part of the island.	”

	Natalie	“	Finding the advantage didn't come from me just being able to run fast. It came from being out here as long as I have, keeping my head in the game and never giving up the reins on this island. Initially, my gut reaction was, like, walk it back to camp, take myself away from the group. But I said, you know what? It's fine. I'll go with the flow. Everybody's kind of, like, miserable here together. And we can have it be, like, a group activity for Extinction.	”

	Natalie	“	Going into this next battle-back challenge, obviously, I want to do well. At this point, the only goal that I have is get as many Fire Tokens as possible. And that's all I care about.	”

	Nick	“	I'm a little discouraged because I have six Fire Tokens. I've been saving these puppies the whole game. I have all the demand and none of the supply. But today is the day. I look in my bag, and I actually see something in there.	”

	Nick	“	So, my immediate reaction to this is I need someone's help. I only have six Fire Tokens. So, I thought I was rich, but I guess-- you know, I've landed on Boardwalk here. (laughs) I can't even afford this. So I got to pull in somebody that has enough tokens to help me out. Tony's been my main man, but he don't have any tokens. And Michele is the other person I've been working with. She does have enough Fire Tokens to help me out here, and I think if I reach out to Michele with this, it will keep me in her good graces, even though I voted out Jeremy. I'm her last hope. I'm-I'm her only prayer of staying in this game, and I think she's a partner I can really work with. I have in the past, and I think I can with this.	”

	Michele	“	Nick betrayed me on the Jeremy vote. So I wouldn't be here on the bottom, struggling to keep my fire alit if Nick didn't turn on me. But I have absolutely nowhere to go. At this point, if I'm voted out tomorrow, then the Fire Tokens are souvenirs in my pocket. All I can do is try to work with what I have, and this is what I have right now.	”

	Nick	“	I definitely have a lot to consider, because this isn't just about one disadvantage at an Immunity Challenge. It could definitely go deeper than that. This decision for me is about the endgame and about winning this game. We just have to try to use it in a way that causes the most chaos possible. More money, more problems. You know what I mean?	”

Day 34

	Nick	“	I decided to give the disadvantage to Ben because if he loses this challenge, that might be the final straw. And I hope to start some chaos, maybe get people wanting Ben out of here so that Michele can stay, and then Ben could definitely go.	”

	Michele	“	I was on a funeral march to my own funeral these past few days. So today, I was ready to fight blood, sweat, tears, to the death for that win, and that's what I did. So, (singsongy) nah-nah-nah-nah-nah. You can't get me. (laughs) I won immunity.	”

	Denise	“	So, going into the Immunity Challenge today, we had this hope that Michele was gonna be a locked-in vote. Unfortunately, Michele pulled it out when she needed to, and Michele won immunity. So now it's on to Plan B.	”

	Denise	“	So, my game plan coming back into camp was kind of to take on the role of dejected Survivor player... (chuckles) a little bit. The one that kind of sets up the proposal of, "Hey, I know there's a good chance I'm on the block, but if I'm going to the Edge, I'd love to go to the Edge with a full belly, and in order to do that, I'll give up my tokens to make sure that you guys also stay strong." And so we got an extra bag of rice. But I'm trying to roll with the idea, especially for Michele and for Nick, that I'm the Plan B without overplaying my hand with the hopes that Ben and Sarah and Tony and I are all still in lockstep, and we'll vote out Nick, barring any other surprises.	”

	Ben	“	Prior to Michele winning, she was a target. But my game plan now is to get the vote swung on Nick. Nick's just gotta go. He's good at puzzling, and he's creating more chaos around camp.	”

	Ben	“	We're telling Nick and Michele that it's Denise. Denise played a heck of a "poor me, why me?" and bought rice. And I think that, hopefully, they buy it. I don't think I'll play the idol tonight, you know? I-I think we're pretty locked solid with Tony and Sarah, so I feel pretty safe in our alliance tonight.	”

	Nick	“	My plan worked today. I feel like I'm a genius. Ben lost. Michele won. Like, unbelievable. Everything worked out perfectly. Michele is in the game because of me buying that advantage. I feel like I'm in maybe the best position I've been in this entire game. So, now I would love to see Ben go home tonight. But can I get Tony on board?	”

	Tony	“	There's definitely a big consideration to get rid of Ben. Ben won his season with a fire-making challenge. I don't want to go up against Ben. I played a very hard game. I don't want to lose it to fire. I know Ben has an idol now. So if I'm gonna make a move, now's the time to make the move and get rid of Ben. But, in the meantime, I wanna open up the spy nest again. I wanna open it up for business. My spy nest is... I- built it so nice. It's up there collecting dust. So I say, you know what? I gotta put it back to use, because intel in this game has been the key. 'Cause this is war. And in war, the more intel you have, the more you can prepare yourself for a counterattack.	”

	Tony	“	So, I was open for business, and the spy nest? (exhales) It came through for me big time, because I got to hear a lot of stuff.	”

	Tony	“	Denise was like, "Hey, guys, what are you thinking about the final four? Because I don't think we can beat Tony." So, once I heard that, I knew Denise has to go, because she doesn't want me in the finals. If you don't want me in the finals, that means I don't want you in the finals. So you gotta go. Let's see who gets the first punch first.	”

	Tony	“	I was tossing the idea of blindsiding Ben, but now no more. So, right now the pecking order has changed, and it went straight to Denise.	”

	Michele	“	Tony and Nick both seemed pretty receptive to get out Ben. But Denise is here offering herself up on a silver platter, saying, "All right. Take me."	”

	Michele	“	I don't necessarily want Denise to be the next vote. I would love if we could shake things up. But getting people on board with a logical plan in this season is not as simple as it sounds. So, again, we're at square one, and it's back on Denise.	”

	Sarah	“	So, at this point, Denise is an option and Nick is an option. Denise is a good option to vote out because she slayed the queen, she found an idol. Denise has won two immunities at this point. She's gotten tons of Fire Tokens from the Edge. She hasn't made anybody mad. And so she could be tough to beat in the end. And then you've got Nick, who... he's won immunity. He has come from the bottom all season and had to play at the bottom. I mean, everybody loves the underdog story, right? And that is Nick. And so you can't not like the guy, because he's playing his butt off, and he's fighting every day he's out here. Tony and I are totally the swing vote on this. And I'm hoping that we pick the right road to go down, but everything about this season's been difficult. You're playing "the" season of Survivor. The greatest players who've ever played. Mistakes are not allowed in this. So this vote tonight is the biggest one yet.	”

	Nick	“	It's the first time I've ever been voted out. It feels different than I expected. I was starting to see my path towards the end, but it was all just a bunch of lies and deceit. (sighs) I made it 34 days in the game. To make it to the final 6, I mean, I-I'm really proud of myself. I got a shot tomorrow, so we'll see what I can do. I'll fight to the end.	”

Day 35

	Amber	“	It's insane that I've been here a month. And it seems like ages ago that I got here. However... crazy as it sounds, it's kind of gone by quickly, too. I mean... as much as I hate this place, I'm sort of gonna miss it. (tearfully) It's not really the people. It's just, um... I'm gonna miss this amazing view. You know, it's beautiful out here. It's peaceful. Even though my husband is here-- thank God he's here-- it's forced me to slow down, take a break. I don't do that at home. I never sit around. I'm just go, go, go. So, it's... it's a weird way to force yourself to sit down and just think about life and... what matters most and what you miss. Because what I miss about home are my kids. But I think what I'm gonna miss about here is the simplicity of it all. You know, we don't have any distractions or-- there's nothing here. It's simple. But that's the blessing. You don't get to do that at home.	”

	Rob	“	Last day on the Edge. This is it, do or die. I'm ready. I have a Hidden Immunity Idol that I purchased before the last bring-back challenge. Luckily, it's still good.	”

	Kim	“	Seeing the people that have been out here from the beginning is a good reminder for me, like, that I'm gonna have to bring it at this battle-back challenge. It's not gonna be a cakewalk.	”

	Wendell	“	I got my two tokens. I worked hard at that. This can buy me one advantage in the challenge, and that will give me some sort of edge up. I know that I gotta put my war paint on and go to battle. And that's what I'm best at.	”

	Yul	“	Now that I've had a chance to see the Fire Tokens actually used and in play, I think it adds a really interesting dynamic. It adds a layer of nuance and complexity and flexibility that didn't exist before. So I'm inclined to use my tokens for an advantage in the challenge.	”

	Parvati	“	I'm on the Edge, but there's still a game bubbling underneath the surface. So I think that's what's given me a lot of spark to continue. The Edge is really the hard fight. I'm using my two Fire Tokens on an advantage in the challenge. For me, I've got my eye on the prize, and the prize is getting into this battle-back and winning it.	”

	Ethan	“	I'm gonna approach the challenge like I approach any challenge: give it 100%, hope for the win, and just do my best. But it's a little unnerving knowing that there's a few people that have one advantage. Natalie's gonna have three advantages and an idol, plus a surplus of tokens. I got nothing.	”

	Natalie	“	It took me a long time to get over being voted off first and feeling that worthlessness. I feel like I've been grinding slowly and quietly for so long, but all this hard work is worth it. It's not one day's work. This is 32 days of being on Extinction, keeping my head in the game, never giving up here, and fighting for everything I have. I feel like I've proved myself out here. And I fully feel like I deserve one of the spots to be fighting for that winner's title and a shot at being the best of the best. My token count before making my purchases for this final battle-back was 14 tokens. I bought peanut butter. I bought three advantages. So I'm going in stacked in advantages-- three total, that's the max I can get. I basically have six tokens left, plus I bought this idol way back when. Um, it's still good, and it's still ready to be put to use. But I can only walk into the game with one. So that's why I decided to buy a second idol-- not for me, it is for Tyson-- and spread the protection between Tyson and I, hoping that one of us get back in and wreck shop back there.	”

	Tyson	“	I played the game four times, and it's very rare. I don't think I've ever experienced that type of generosity from another player. And, yeah, it-it does mean something, because even though everybody's trying to fight for the same prize, you know, when you feel that somebody is also rooting for you, it gives you a little more motivation to push, to focus, to just stretch to your limit. The real final hurdle to the endgame is today. If I get back in the game, I'm winning this thing.	”

During the credits, the final five received Tree Mail announcing that one castaway from the Edge of Extinction would join them.

	Sarah	“	Season 40, Winners at War, you need to prove that you're the best. So let's see the best of the best go at it.	”

Challenges

• Immunity (Day 31)
• Immunity (Day 34)

Challenge: Running Down a Dream
Castaways must toss two balls into an overhead track and navigate through tripwires to catch it before it hits the ground. After successfully catching both balls, they must dig under a beam. Once across the beam with both balls, they must solve a slide puzzle of the season's logo. The first person to finish their puzzle wins.
Additional Stipulation: The winner receives two Fire Tokens.
Winner: Nick Wilson

Challenge: High Step Back
Castaways must stack wooden blocks along a platform while avoiding tripping hazards. Once all of their blocks are stacked, they must knock them over like dominoes. The first contestant to topple all of their blocks, such that the final block hits a gong at the end, wins immunity.
Additional Stipulation: The winner receives two Fire Tokens. In addition, Nick Wilson anonymously used a Challenge Disadvantage against Ben Driebergen, who would have 30% more beam and blocks.
Winner: Michele Fitzgerald

Edge of Extinction

Days 30-31

Edge of Extinction Inhabitants
Adam, Amber, Danni, Ethan, Kim, Natalie, Parvati, Rob, Sophie, Tyson, Wendell, Yul
Quit: None

Days 32-34

Edge of Extinction Inhabitants
Adam, Amber, Danni, Ethan, Jeremy, Kim, Natalie, Parvati, Rob, Sophie, Tyson, Wendell, Yul
Quit: None

Tribal Council

Day 31

Tribal Council 15: Koru
Voted Against	Voter
Jeremy (3 votes)	Ben, Nick, Tony
Ben (2 votes)	Jeremy, Michele
Michele (flipped "Safe" on 50/50 Coin)	Denise, Sarah (votes not counted)
VOTED OUT: Jeremy Collins (sent to Edge of Extinction)

Voting Confessionals

	Denise	“	(voting against Michele) Mama D needs a win tonight.	”

	Jeremy	“	(voting against Ben) I had enough of you. Please, let everybody stick to him.	”

	Tony	“	(voting against Jeremy) Sorry, bro. It's nothing personal. I have to put my emotions to the side and play the game.	”

Day 34

Tribal Council 16: Koru
Voted Against	Voter
Nick (4 votes)	Ben, Denise, Sarah, Tony
Denise (2 votes)	Michele, Nick
VOTED OUT: Nick Wilson (sent to Edge of Extinction)

Voting Confessionals

	Nick	“	(voting against Denise) You're still the Queenslayer. I guess I get to slay the Queenslayer even though I didn't slay the queen.	”

Still in the Running

Natalie On Edge	Amber On Edge	Danni On Edge	Ethan On Edge	Rob On Edge	Sandra Quit	Parvati On Edge	Yul On Edge	Wendell On Edge	Adam On Edge
Tyson On Edge	Sophie On Edge	Kim On Edge	Jeremy On Edge	Nick On Edge	Ben Koru	Denise Koru	Michele Koru	Sarah Koru	Tony Koru

Trivia

Other

• The episode's title was said by Jeremy Collins.
• No footage from Day 33 was shown in the episode.
• With Ben Driebergen receiving votes this episode, Tony Vlachos is the only remaining contestant to have not received votes against them.