You love Tony Vlachos, and CBS knows it. This winner of “Survivor: Cagayan” is the only castaway who gets a special shout-out in the preview trailer for Wednesday’s two-hour penultimate episode, and for good reason: Tony is simply killing it on “Survivor: Winners at War.” His endless idol-hunting, social-scheming, challenge-winning and tree-hiding have made him the reason to keep watching Season 40 as we near the end (the finale is scheduled for May 13). Watch the video clip above for the episode airing May 6.
SEE ‘Survivor’ celebrities: 31 famous faces and well-known figures who played the game
“Tired of the same routing?” asks the preview trailer. “Need an escape? CBS Wednesday, ‘Survivor’ delivers double the episodes, double the drama, double the Tony.” The package ends with Tony proclaiming, “This is the Super Bowl season of ‘Survivor.'” He’s not wrong. After two decades on the air, “Winners at War” pits the best champions against each other for an epic prize: $2 million and eternal bragging rights.
In the Season 40 premiere, this New Jersey police officer joked, “I’m on probation.” The last time he appeared in “Survivor: Game Changers,” Tony was voted out early because he kept disappearing from camp to search for a hidden immunity idol. He desperately wanted to find one this time, but he knew if he disappeared he’d be on the chopping block. Thirty days later, Tony is the biggest threat in the game (with an idol in his pocket), but he still has yet to receive a single vote at tribal council thanks to a strong social game and three consecutive immunity challenge wins.
Elsewhere in the preview trailer, Jeremy Collins refers to life at camp as “groundhog day.” He was almost voted out last week, but thanks to — who else? — Tony, Jeremy’s game was spared. Tony convinced Jeremy that his two closest allies, Kim Spradlin-Wolfe and Denise Stapley, were voting him out since Tony won immunity, and so Jeremy had to trust Tony and cast a vote for Kim in order to survive. It worked. Now Jeremy is one of seven people still in the game alongside Tony, Denise, Ben Driebergen, Michele Fitzgerald, Sarah Lacina and Nick Wilson.
Over at the Edge of Extinction, the voted-out players shout for joy when Yul Kwon brings them a note. Could this be the news they’ve been waiting for all these weeks — the second return challenge to get back in the game? “I’m ready,” Rob Mariano smiles ear to ear.
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Be sure to make your predictions to influence our reality TV racetrack odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before the next episode airs on CBS. You’ll compete to win a spot on our Season 40 leaderboard and eternal bragging rights. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
