‘Survivor: Winners at War’ Live Recap & Elimination Spoilers for Episode 12

The 40th season of Survivor is getting down to the final couple of weeks and it really looks like Tony Vlachos is coming on strong with back-to-back individual immunity wins. But that also may have put a huge target on his back.

The description for this week’s episode, titled “Friendly Fire,” teases, “Alliances may crumble after a tribal blindside, and an undercover operation escalates to new heights. Also, there’s another brutal challenge on Edge of Extinction.”

Based on the previews, the alliance that may be in trouble is the one between Tony and Sarah Lacina. Last week, Tony was part of the movement to blindside Sarah’s ally Sophie Clarke and she is none too happy about it.

Follow along here with our live recap but be warned of spoilers. Don’t keep reading if you don’t want to be spoiled. All times Eastern.

8:05 — After Tribal, Sophie’s alliance-mates are mad, but none more so than Sarah. She calls it a “grimy-*ss move” and she lays into Tony about it. He swears that he didn’t want to blindside her, but she says if this sinks her game, she’s done with him. The next morning, Kim Spradlin-Wolfe has decided that Tony needs to go, so that’s the plan she’s going to work on right now. Denise Stapley, Nick Wilson, Ben Driebergen, and Michele Fitzgerald are all on board.

8:15 — Out on Edge of Extinction, it’s another grueling challenge to earn fire tokens. On the backside of the island is a giant pile of coconut. They must retrieve 20 coconuts and stack them next to your shelter one at a time. The first six to do it win two fire tokens each. It must be done by sunset. There are 11 of them, so only half the group gets fire tokens. Wow.

Hilariously, the women are kicking the guys’ butts as a group, especially Natalie Anderson and Sophie. Tyson Apostol is like, “I can’t keep up with the ladies!” And then, Boston Rob Mariano slips on the rocks and gashes his elbow, so he’s out of the competition.

The winners end up being Natalie, Sophie, Tyson, Parvati Shallow, Yul Kwon, and Wendell Holland. Danni Boatwright is almost in it at the end, but she just can’t catch Wendell. And Boston Rob keeps going until he finishes even though he won’t get the fire tokens. Awww.

8:20 — Back at the camp, everyone is busting their butts to find the idol that has been put back in the game after Sophie left with one in her pocket. While they look around, Ben warns Tony that people are after him and then Ben finds the idol and Tony sees it even though Ben is trying to hide it.

8:30 — Immunity challenge time. It’s the oldie-but-goodie one where they stand with their hand in the air and if they move it too much, they’ll pull a bucket of water over on themselves and the whole time, they’re standing on a very narrow beam. For this competition, the last woman and last man standing will win immunity and two fire tokens. As they start, Jeff gives us the staggering statistic of how when they first did this challenge in season three, it lasted six hours. Wow. So, they’ve made it harder to ensure it doesn’t go on that long. Ben immediately starts asking for food.

8:35 — In quick succession, Jeremy Collins, Ben, and Sarah drop, so only Tony and Nick are left for the men. Fifteen minutes in, Probst tempts them with peanut butter, chocolate, cookies, and milk if they quit the challenge. Kim and Michele immediately quit, handing immunity to Denise, and then Nick quits after he gets Tony to promise him a fire token, and Tony wins. Wow. Man, Tony is not only killing it at challenges lately (though this one was kind of handed to him), but he’s getting a good edit. Do you guys think Tony wins the whole thing?

8:40 — Kim is annoyed that Tony has won so many immunities and has so many fire tokens, plus he’s safe this week. So now, Kim, Nick, Ben, Michele, and Denise agree to vote Jeremy off and split up Sarah and Tony next time. But Ben talks to Tony about how until he won immunity, Tony’s name was out there. Why would you tell him that?! How can Ben not keep his mouth shut? Why would you keep Ben around?! He’s such a loose cannon.

8:45 — So then Tony talks to Ben about ousting Kim before the women are aligned against them. He thinks he, Sarah, Tony, and Nick should get rid of Kim, but Ben thinks Jeremy is too big of a threat to keep him around. Meanwhile, Michele doesn’t think she can save Jeremy, but she does offer him her 50/50 advantage to try to help him. So Jeremy has a chance to save himself, while Kim may be going home regardless.

8:52 — At Tribal Council, everyone agrees that things change in the blink of an eye in this game. But the whispers start up between Tony and Jeremy, and Tony tells Ben to write Kim’s name down. Ben refuses, so Kim gets up and starts talking to Jeremy about how Tony, Sarah, and Ben are trying to take over the game. And then it just starts getting crazy with everyone whispering to everyone else.

8:55 — Finally, Denise says she’s done and she’s ready to vote, so it’s time to vote. After the votes, before they’re read, Tony says he’s going to play his idol for Sarah, but she tells him not to. Then Jeremy thinks about using the 50/50 advantage, but he decides not to. The votes go Jeremy, Kim, Jeremy, Jeremy, Kim, Kim, Kim, and Kim and that’s it. On the way out, Kim gives her fire tokens to Michele and Denise.

Survivor: Winners at War airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

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