Survivor: Winners at War Premiere "Greatest of the Greats" Analysis

"Are we being punked?"

-Parvati Shallow

Oh, man, Survivor: Winners at War got off to a great start.  That was one of the most anxiety-inducing episode of the show I have ever seen.  With a cast full of winners, the gameplay is ramped up, that's for sure, but somebody had to play the best and somebody had to be the worst.  Let's figure out who!

Like the episode, this breakdown will be a two-parter. 

Who Played Well:

Let's start over on the red Dakal tribe.  There are a lot of parents on this season and that will definitely help the players with kids to bond.  We saw this with Amber, Sarah, and Tyson.  I think that helped them connect with one another and will make it easier for them to work together.

I loved that Sandra and Tony patched things up and hopefully they can work together for the long haul.  Tony also showed he learned something from Game Changers and put himself under house arrest.  Keep calm and carry on, Tony!

Finally, Sophie and Yul made an alliance and have a pretty good layout of the tribe dynamics, which is exciting because I love both of them.

Moving over to the Sele tribe, we'll start with Ben.  He had a rough beginning when he got totally bamboozled by Rob, but he did manage to get himself into the numbers and saved his friend Adam.

Speaking of Adam, he and Denise should never have gone off on their own like that, but they did a good job of digging themselves out of that hole and targeting Natalie.

Danni got thrown under the bus by Ben, but did a great job with Rob by coming clean and making an alliance with him, Ethan, and Parvati.

Finally, I really liked how Parvati and Rob managed to patch things up between them and how they bonded over their kids with Jeremy.  Plus Rob was amazing in dealing with Ben and Danni.

Who Sucked:

I only have two people to talk about and they are Jeremy and Michele.  They were both left out of the vote to eliminate Natalie.  Jeremy did bond with Parvati and Rob, so maybe he'll be able to work with them in the future, but that's all I've got.

Kim, Nick, and Wendell really didn't do anything worth mentioning in the first episode.

As for Natalie, she had a tough break.  If she hadn't been on a tribe with Jeremy, I don't think she would have been voted out.  She probably should have pushed harder for Rob or Parvati to go home, but ultimately it was mostly just bad luck for her.

Verdict:

The Best Player of the Episode goes to Rob Mariano for repairing his relationship with Parvati, getting information out of Ben and Dannie, and eliminating Natalie.

The Worst Player of the Episode goes to Michele Fitzgerald for being on the wrong side of the vote.

Let's move on to part 2!

Who Played Well

Starting on Dakal, Yul basically assembled the Avengers by pulling in a core four of himself, Nick, Sophie, and Wendell.  The group also brought in Sandra, Sarah, and Tony to eliminate Amber.  All of them did a great job of finding their way into the majority.

Sandra was especially great because she got her hands on an Idol, thanks to Natalie, and didn't need to play it.

Tyson found himself on the outs and a possible target, but showed no hesitation in flipping on Amber and Kim, which gives him a little breathing room.

On Sele, Adam, Ben, Jeremy, and Michele seem to be putting a plan together to take out Parvati and Rob.  We'll see if they can pull it off.

Jeremy and Rob did amazing work in the Immunity Challenge and they needed that win.

Who Sucked:

The only person I have here is (shockingly) Kim.  This is the first time she's been out of power and she did not handle it well.  She needed to fight more and try and get people to talk to her.  Falling over and crying isn't going to help.

Danni, Denise, Ethan, and Parvati were invisible in this second hour.

As for Amber, she was another one in a tough spot, but we really didn't see her scramble much.  Maybe it's her old school mentality, but she needed to try a little harder.

Verdict:

The Best Player of the Episode goes to Sandra Diaz-Twine for getting in the majority, eliminating Amber, getting a Hidden Immunity Idol, and not playing it.

The Worst Player of the Episode goes to Kim Spradlin-Wolfe for breaking down when she fell out of power.

What an exciting premiere!  I can't wait to see where this season goes.  It's going to be painful losing some of these winners, but I think it'll be fun.