Is Survivor's Edge of Extinction Great TV or a Waste of Time?

SPOILERS for the outcome of Wednesday night's episode of Survivor ahead.

When the announcement for Survivor: Winners at War came down and it was revealed that the Edge of Extinction would be back after a season off, it seemed like both the worst idea in the world and also, given the circumstances, completely understandable. Longtime fans of the show hate the EOE twist because it not only messes with the central tension of the game (you get voted out, you're gone) but it also takes up valuable screen time that could be spent on the players competing in an already complicated game of strategy.

But for an all-stars season, especially one that gathers 20 former winners to compete, the Edge of Extinction does make a decent bit of sense. Edge of Extinction is essentially a slight evolution from the earlier (failed) Redemption Island twist, where players were voted out and sent to an isolated beach, where they competed against each other to get back in the game. The added twist to EOE is that you only get fully eliminated if you surrender. Which means — as was the case in Season 38 — almost the entire cast makes it to the end and serves on the jury. From a producer's perspective, EOE is perfect for an all-star season, because it means even if our favorite player gets voted out early, we can still watch them every week.

Is it kind of lame? Yes. Is it the participation-trophy of Survivor? Kinda, yeah. Were we happy about it this week because Ethan Zohn's journey of triumph after beating cancer felt unfinished? Oh yes.

This week's EOE segment was a barn-burner (or as much as four people slowly trudging up a mountain over and over again can be described as a "barn-burner"). Each of the four Extinct-ees — Natalie, Amber, Danni, and Ethan — were tasked with retrieving 20 logs, one by one, from the top of a significantly high mountain. The prize: one fire token apiece. The segment was compelling on multiple levels. Watching Natalie Anderson beast the challenge was inspiring and really put her in the driver's seat for the eventual challenge to return to the game. But the biggest story was Ethan, who struggled the most on the challenge, nearly passing out at one point and needing medical attention, before gathering himself and finishing the last four climbs. For his final climb, the other three women all accompanied Ethan in a moving show of solidarity. It was one of the best segments of the season, but it also took a TON of time — nearly ten minutes on a show that, sans commercials, runs barely over 40 minutes.

And so here is the push and pull of Edge of Extinction: Ethan's triumph was great TV, but as one former Survivor pointed out to me via text last night: was it Survivor? He had a point. With 25% of the episode being ceded to players who have already been voted off, it leaves less and less time to follow the strategy of the players who remain.

This exhibited itself on Dakal tribe, who lost immunity an for the first time in a few weeks had to scramble for votes. Initially, Tyson rallied everybody around a plan to oust Nick, the puzzle-solving goat of the challenge. Then Yul and his alliance went and rallied everybody to agree to vote out Tyson. In both cases, it was remarked that it all seemed too easy. Exactly! There wasn't time to dig into the complicated pacts and alliances and strategies at play. Nick's last-minute vote for Kim because he was afraid of an idol play? Never backed up. Yul's (or Sophie's or Wendell's) social game at work in convincing Sarah — who had spent an entire segment trumpeting her friendship with Tyson — to vote out her pal was nowhere to be seen.

As the vote-outs continue and the population on EOE gets fatter with more fan-favorites, don't expect this screentime insurgence to get any better, either. At this point, two of the four or five best winner narratives (from a story-editing standpoint) are on EOE. That's likely to go up even further if Rob or Parvati (or even Adam) get eliminated next. Here's hoping it'll be great TV, but will it be Survivor?

As for the rest of this week's happenings…

Winner of the Week: Yul. I feel bad denying more of the credit to Yul's alliance-mate Sophie, but going by what we saw on-screen, Yul was the prime mover in shifting the vote from a Nick landslide to a Tyson landslide. His whispering in Sandra's ear about Tyson's disloyalties last week really paid off, and now his core alliance of four is even numbers with the other half of the tribe, with good relationships with Sandra and Kim in their pockets. (Of course, all of this is moot with the tribe swap coming up, but good for Yul for maximizing his numbers and keeping an ally like Nick in the game.

Sub-Winner of the Week: Ethan Zohn. See above.

War of the Week: Rob vs. Adam is still raging on Sele tribe, even if we do detect the faintest glimpse of wary respect from Rob for his twerpy little rival. Adam took his medicine after last week's Tribal Council rug-pulling, being a good boy around camp and declining to talk strategy with Rob and Parvati. Not to be outdone, Rob decided to just go to Jeremy and Michelle (the true power couple in this game? Keep an eye on 'em!) and simply lie that Adam did try to talk strategy. So Adam was in the dog house again, and honestly, only his triumphant moment of leaping for a buoy in the challenge (a moment that was edited so cruelly until he finally pulled it off) kept him from getting voted out this week. A tribe swap could definitely be a godsend for him, especially if he ends up in a situation where his old Sele tribemates need numbers.

Alliance Report: Cops R Us (Tony and Sarah) remains the season's best-featured alliance, while my soft spot for Yul and Sophie's Nerd Shield alliance is probably leading me to overrate it. The Heroes vs. Villains alliance of Rob and Parvati is holding on for dear life. But I'm serious when I say watch out for Jeremy and Michelle. They already seem to have some kind of shadow bond with Rob, and they definitely seem to be calling the shots.

Dispatches from the Edge of Extinction: See above. We've already given them too much time.

Advantage Report: Okay, let's see …

• Last week I said Sandra's immunity idol that she bought from Natalie was good for three tribal councils and was thus expired, but her screen chyron still says she has an immunity idol, so I guess it was good for her first three tribal councils. (Have we all noticed all these new stats and graphics in the chyrons, telling us who has what advantage and how many tokens? Handy, if a bit busy.)
• Jeremy holds an advantage that will allow him to leave tribal council and return to camp before a vote is held (essentially immunity but you don't get to vote).
• Denise found an immunity idol that exists in two halves, which she initially shared with Adam, but he since returned his half to her, so she is in sole possession of it.
• Kim found the same kind of idol on her beach, sharing it with Sophie, and there is no indication that Sophie gave her half back to Kim.
• Sarah now holds a Steal-a-Vote advantage.

War of the Weeks Ahead: Tribe swap! Tribe swap! With 15 players left, it seems like they'll break up into three tribes of five. Five-person tribes are exciting! And treacherous. Hide your kids, hide your spouse, hide your faves. Also Michelle teased that she ends up on a tribe with her ex-boyfriend, which some rudimentary Googling will tell you is Wendell.

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Joe Reid is the senior writer at Primetimer and co-host of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. His work has appeared in Decider, NPR, HuffPost, The Atlantic, Slate, Polygon, Vanity Fair, Vulture, The A.V. Club and more.