“Survivor” fans, mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 15, 2019 as that’s when host Jeff Probst will officially announce the winner of “Survivor: Edge of Extinction.” After a hard-fought Season 38 that featured the reality TV show’s first-ever Extinction Island twist, in which every voted-out castaway was given the chance to return, one person will soon join the “Survivor” winners list. The two-hour finale will begin at 8:00 p.m. on May 15, followed immediately by the live reunion show which concludes promptly at 11:00 p.m. So who will win this on-your-seat season of “Survivor”? As of this writing there are still seven players at the Vata camp: Victoria Baamonde, Ron Clark, Rick Devens, Aurora McCreary, Lauren O’Connell, Julie Rosenberg and Gavin Whitson. Make your predictions now to let us know who you think has the best shot at prevailing. However, keep in mind that at least one of the show’s voted-out castaways will return to the game from Extinction Island: Reem Daly, Chris Underwood, Aubry Bracco, Joe Anglim, Eric Hafemann, Julia Carter, David Wright, Kelley Wentworth and Dan “Wardog” DaSilva. The only players with no shot at victory are the two who voluntarily left rather than putting up with the elements at the Edge of Extinction. Keith Sowell and Wendy Diaz rose the white mast together after Rick won the chance to return at the merge, which signaled a boat to come pick them up and take them home. “Survivor” Season 38 began on a familiar note as four players from the past returned for another shot at the million dollar prize. Unfortunately, Aubry, Joe, David and Kelley were all soon voted out by the 14 brand new castaways who felt that they’d already had their shot. Might one of these returnees have the last laugh and win the upcoming Extinction Island challenge, which will put them back in the game? Or will a newbie end up prevailing? SEE exclusive predictions: Who will win ‘Survivor’? 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 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.<doc-sep>Don't forget that Lauren O'Connell still has an idol to play. Is she even on the radar as someone to vote out? The jury doesn't seem to like Aurora McCreary, but to me she has made strong arguments to win. Her name comes up as a threat every single episode, and yet she survives -- either by winning immunity, or by helping vote out someone else. She looked through Rick's bag and was brazen about it, which I love, and gave the extra vote that Ron gave her to Gavin Whitson, and Gavin used it to vote out Ron. Maybe Gavin would get the credit for that move, which could be seen as backstabbing and "vicious" since Ron had just taken Gavin and his wife on the loved ones picnic.<doc-sep>With only six castaways left at the start of Wednesday’s “Survivor: Edge of Extinction,” this episode promised to set the stage for next week’s season finale. With Rick Devens once again on the chopping block as “target number one,” was he able to find an immunity idol or an advantage, or did Julie Rosenberg, Aurora McCreary, Victoria Baamonde, Gavin Whitson and Lauren O’Connell finally get their way by sending the Georgia newscaster back to Extinction Island? Below, check out our minute-by-minute “Survivor” recap of Season 38, Episode 13, titled “Idol or Bust,” to find out what happened Wednesday, May 8 at 8/7c. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite castaways on CBS’s reality TV show and who you think will ultimately join the “Survivor” winners list. Keep refreshing/reloading this live blog for the most recent updates. 8:00 p.m. – “Previously on ‘Survivor’!” In last week’s 12th episode, Ron Clark (with a little help from Julie) tried to manipulate Rick by giving him the expired advantage menu. As it turned out, Rick did play the menu but he had a back-up ace in the hole in the form of a real hidden immunity idol. All votes cast against Rick didn’t count, so Ron was sent home as the person with the next-highest number of votes. With only six players remaining in the proper game, who will be voted out tonight? 8:01 p.m. – Following his blindside of Ron, Gavin sees a clear focus toward the end of the game, but knows that he’ll need to get through Rick first. And Rick continued to play all the cards available to him in order to avoid elimination–this time he told the group he got the idol from Extinction Island, not from their current beach, in order to throw them off. 8:02 p.m. – Once again Rick woke up early in the morning in order to go on another idol hunt. Luckily Lauren was on to his game and even called him out for lying about where he found the previous idol, but Rick denied denied denied. When Lauren finally left him to his search he came across another idol. Just. Like. That. 8:06 p.m. – For the reward challenge the players competed as individuals in an obstacle course and ball toss that they must land on a narrow perch. As the prize the winner earned a helicopter ride and dinner at a luxury resort across the island. Aurora took an early lead, catching her two balls in the first stage quicker than anyone else, but was quickly followed by Rick, Victoria and Gavin. Eventually all four of them reached the final stage at the perch simultaneously. There Gavin was the first to land a ball on the perch and then went on to land his second quicker than Victoria and Aurora, winning reward for himself. He got to bring along two other people: his first choice was Victoria because she’s been on the least rewards and his second choice was Lauren, shocking everyone else since Aurora also hasn’t been on a reward in a while. 8:15 p.m. – After not choosing Aurora, Gavin was confident that she would be “smart enough” to not jump ship and work with Rick because of it. At the reward, Gavin, Victoria and Lauren solidified their partnership and agreement to go after Rick next, but Lauren was concerned with the idea that Julie would be the target after Rick. Lauren has been working with Julie since the merge and so it was in her head that she should protect her and possibly go to the end with her instead. Following the reward, Victoria touched base with Aurora about their plan to go to final four, but Aurora was still hurt by not being chosen even if she believed the foursome was her best move going forward. 8:18 p.m. – Later at Extinction Island the castaways there got a package filled with letters they had written to themselves before starting the game. For Julia Carter and Chris Underwood the letters were a reminder about both their purpose and their goals for the game. Reem Daly reminded herself that even though she was voted out first she was still a survivor and that the true lesson of the game is to never give up. 8:25 p.m. – In order to continue to mess with the group, Rick pretended he was going on an idol search again (he already has it!) so that they’d also go out looking for something they wouldn’t find and think that he still doesn’t have one. He cockily sped around the island trying to wear them out, laughing knowing that he already has what they thought he was looking for. 8:27 p.m. – For the immunity challenge each player raced to slide letter tiles through a slide board and then had to carry them across the field between two paddles toward a word puzzle. First person to finish the puzzle would secure themselves a spot in the final five. For the most part everyone kept pace with each other throughout the obstacle portion of the challenge–Gavin carried his tiles in small batches while Lauren, Rick and Aurora both carried more at a time and were the first to begin the puzzle. After Jeff himself used the word “tonight” in what he was saying, the players picked up on the clue and started looking for phrases that said “tonight” and sure enough Rick was able to put his pieces in place quick enough to spell out “Not Living on the Edge Tonight” to earn himself immunity! 8:38 p.m. – With Rick winning immunity, the foursome turned the target on Julie, who stepped away from them in order to discuss things with Rick. Julie decided that she’d work with Rick for this vote because it’s her only chance and thought she might be able to do something with Lauren in order to flip the vote on to Aurora. With that in mind Julie pitched to Lauren that she’d be voting for Aurora and that she thinks she’s a better person to go to the end with than Aurora. 8:41 p.m. – Lauren went to Gavin to discuss the option of voting Aurora out, but he wanted to speak with Victoria first so that she wasn’t left out. What Gavin told her is that Lauren was willing to vote out Aurora with or without Victoria, suggesting that Lauren’s bond with Victoria wasn’t as strong as she thought. And so it was left with both Victoria and Gavin deciding to vote together, but we didn’t get many clues as to which way they’d flip. Rick however vowed to create sparks at tribal council in the interest of getting the foursome to turn on each other in front of the jury. 8:48 p.m. – Tribal council began with Jeff asking Julie about whether or not she felt included, to which she replied that it’s clear there’s a four person alliance that she’s not a part of along with Rick. Despite her attacking him repeatedly as her prime target, Rick tried to convince Aurora that she’s on the outs and then literally showed off his new idol and vowed to use it for Julie so that they could together vote out one of the four. So basically he showboated in front of the jury yet again (cue eyeroll). Aurora was not convinced that the idol was even real, pointing out that it was in the same color paper as his last one. Gavin also anticipated that he wouldn’t risk playing it on Julie anyway, preferring instead that he keep it for himself at the next tribal. 8:54 p.m. – After votes were cast, Jeff asked if anyone wanted to play an idol and (of course!) Rick did not play his idol for Julie. The votes: Aurora, Julie, Aurora, Aurora, Aurora. And so it would seem that everyone banded together to vote for Aurora in the end, and perhaps to their benefit Rick’s antics made it look like they were just falling for his tricks rather than having planned it in advance on their own.<doc-sep>
Only two episodes remain of “Survivor: Edge of Extinction,” and there are still 16 people who could win the game. That is thanks to the Extinction Island twist, with 10 players voted out hoping to win a spot back in. Setting that group aside, the six remaining active players in the game have all had fascinating journeys up to this point. While some are shown in the edit much more than others, there is still potential for each of them to win that $1 million check and the title of Sole Survivor. Below is a ranking of the six players left in the active game in order of who has the most viable winner’s edit, taking into account screen time, confessionals, whether they are the hero or the villain, and other X-factors. 1. Rick Devens No. 1 with a bullet has to be Rick Devens, who has gotten to this point in the game through twists and advantages. He was voted out on Day 12 but battled his way back into the game and is always talked about as the biggest threat, considering his penchant for finding idols and advantages. He has had a consistently strong presence throughout the season and all he needs to do is win a few more challenges to get to the Final 3. Based on the reactions from the jury last week, many jurors are on his side and would likely vote for him in the end so as long as he’s not taken out in these next few votes, he is the most likely winner. 2. Lauren O’Connell Looking beyond Rick, there are a few possible alternatives including Lauren, who has at least gotten to share her personal story, unlike some others below. Lauren’s story was defined by her relationship to Kelley Wentworth but now that she is on her own, she is proving to be a savvy strategist, helping to orchestrate Ron Clark‘s ouster. Like Rick, Lauren has a sympathetic story of being on a losing tribe for much of the pre-merge but sticking it out all the way to the end. Depending on who she is sitting next to and how she got there, Lauren could easily make a case for herself to the jury. 3. Victoria Baamonde Victoria all but disappeared through most of the post-merge after being shown pretty regularly in the pre-merge. She has had no issue blindsiding the Kama people she started the game with, including Ron just last week. Unlike Rick and Lauren, Victoria may run into trouble with the jury because her moves were more subtle, and this is an era that frequently rewards flashy players who make big moves. That subtlety has clearly made it difficult for the editors to truly showcase her. Still, she has shown great acumen for the game and could easily make her way to final Tribal Council. 4. Julie Rosenberg Julie has been someone to keep an eye on from the beginning, but her chances of winning fall with each passing episode. While we have gotten her perspective on the game in most episodes, the combination of being openly emotional and called a villain, as she was in the last episode by Rick, is typically a death knell, especially for older women. From the beginning, we have not seen Julie bonding much with her tribemates outside of Ron, who was just voted out. People don’t seem to regard her as a threat and she may be taken to the Final 3 for that reason. We simply haven’t seen evidence that she can win over a jury, but at least she has a good chance of making it there and pleading her case. 5. Gavin Whitson Despite being second to last here, there is still a scenario where Gavin can win this. It would be highly unusual considering how small his edit has been all season, particularly for a likable young superfan, but he’s not out of the running yet. Unfortunately, he seems fated to go out soon as too big of a jury threat, like other young guys in past seasons. Last week was a great episode for Gavin, with highly sympathetic content involving his wife. There is still a glimmer of hope, but his edit overall is so spotty and it doesn’t feel like this is a winner’s story. 6. Aurora McCreary At last, we come to Aurora, who has been in this bottom position since the merge.