'Survivor: Blood vs. Water' (CBS)
Quick Note: We’re going to be bringing you all kinds of “Survivor” fun this season including episode recaps, exit interviews, and Power Rankings with Malcolm Freberg. Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for up-to-the-minute news and info.
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Last Week: Aras experienced a rubdown, Galang got their first immunity beat down, and Laura M. was the victim of a Tribal Council smack down.
39 Days (well…technically 39.5), 20 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog
Let’s take a look at the tribes as they currently stand…
The Galang Tribe (wearing yellow)
Aras – Musician, 31
Gervase – Cigar Lounge Owner, 43
Kat – Full-Time Student/Sales, 23
Laura B. – Merchandiser, 44
Monica – Homemaker, 42
Tina – Motivational Speaker, 52
Tyson – Store Manager, 34
The Tadhana Tribe (wearing red)
Caleb – Post Office Manager/Farmer, 26
Ciera – Cosmetology Student, 24
Hayden – Real Estate, 26
Katie – Hedge Fund Support, 25
Vytas – Yoga Instructor, 33
The evening’s shindig gets underway back at Galang after Tribal Council and Laura B. is sad that someone was voted out. Your husband has been on this show a billion times, didn’t you know that’s how it works?
Aras is a little upset because he wanted Laura M. to take a more noble approach to being sent to Redemption. Yeah, it’s weird when people are annoyed that you stabbed them in the back.
The next morning, the Coconut Compadres are trying to figure out what to do about the Baskauskas brothers. They agree that taking Aras out before the merge is probably their best bet.
And…we’re off to Redemption (not an) Island arena. Ciera is not shocked to see her mother there because she has a sixth sense about when her loved ones have been eliminated from reality shows.
Probst gives Ciera a chance to swap, but Laura M. won’t hear of it because she rocks at challenges and Ciera…well…
Redemption Island Duel (ahem…Truel) Time: Players will race across a balance beam while collecting numbered tiles. The first two people to put the tiles in order get to stay. The last person is a goner. The first person to complete the puzzle will get to give an immunity idol clue to the person of their choice.
Laura gets off to a lead with John right behind her. John eventually has some trouble with the balance beam and Brad manages to pass him.
Long story short; Laura simply destroys this challenge with Brad and John battling for second. It’s close, but John pulls off the win.
Brad does a John Bender fist pump as he leaves. Monica, don’t you forget about him.
Laura decides to give the clue to Vytas instead of Ciera because she doesn’t want to put a clue on her back. Vytas promptly burns the clue.
Quick Aside: Wouldn’t it have made sense to give the clue to the most vulnerable person on Galang? There’s no way Laura B. would burn the clue, and she could use it to put some heat on the Galang Five.
Another Quick Aside: Why did Vytas burn the clue? He’s relatively safe on Tadhana. He could use the idol to bring his alliance back together.
Before leaving the arena, Probst tells everyone to drop their buffs. He hands out new ones and we officially have a tribe swap.
Alright, let’s take a look at our new tribes…
The Galang Tribe (wearing yellow)
Kat – Full-Time Student/Sales, 23
Katie – Hedge Fund Support, 25
Laura B. – Merchandiser, 44
Monica – Homemaker, 42
Tina – Motivational Speaker, 52
Vytas – Yoga Instructor, 33
The Tadhana Tribe (wearing red)
Aras – Musician, 31
Caleb – Post Office Manager/Farmer, 26
Ciera – Cosmetology Student, 24
Gervase – Cigar Lounge Owner, 43
Hayden – Real Estate, 26
Tyson – Store Manager, 34
Wow…$20 on Tadhana to win the next immunity challenge. Any takers?
Over at Tadhana beach, the classic Tadhanians immediately spill the beans about what was going on over there including John’s immunity idol clues. C’mon guys, withholding info is Survivor 101.
Later, Tyson keeps to his Coconut Bandit core and starts eating a lot of Tadhana’s food. Hayden isn’t loving that at all.
At Galang, Vytas isn’t happy with his new situation. Well, maybe he’d feel better if he had an immunity idol.
Meanwhile, Monica is trying to start up an all-female alliance. Purple Kat is on board, but she thinks Monica is strategizing too much.
Vytas, realizing he’s in some serious trouble opens up about his drug use in the hopes of getting the women to sympathize with him. Smart.
Immunity Challenge Time: Two members from each tribe will swim out to a cage at the bottom of the ocean. They’ll dive down, untie some knots, open a gate, and retrieve a fish trap. Once they have all three traps they’ll use the puzzle pieces inside to complete a puzzle. First tribe to finish wins immunity and a picnic.
The challenge gets underway and Gervase is doing a respectable job in the water. Philly represent.
Apparently Tina and Laura B. didn’t understand the rules because they forgot to retrieve their fish trap.
Wow, that’s just…wow.
Tadhana has a major lead, but Galang comes storming back during the puzzle portion. Galang even thinks they have the puzzle completed at two different points, but they just can’t get it right. Tadhana wins immunity.
After the challenge, Vytas is beyond annoyed that Laura B. and Tina dropped the ball.
Politicking seems to be between Vytas and Monica. Why Vytas? Because he’s a dude. Why Monica? Because she strategizes too much.
Tina lets Monica know that Kat is targeting her. Monica isn’t psyched about that at all. She confronts Kat with this info and Kat plays it off.
That night at Tribal Council, Kat admits that her and Monica aren’t getting along.
Monica wants Kat to trust her.
Kat looks like she’s on the verge of tears. Uh-oh…
Kat says she hopes she isn’t going home and says she’ll do anything to stay. Uh-oh again…
“One World” fight!
Vytas says he hasn’t breached anyone’s trust and Kat has proven that she can’t be trusted.
Voting Time: Kat votes for “Vetus”, Vytas votes for Kat, and the rest aren’t shown.
JPro does some solid tallying then makes a grand re-entrance. We’ve got one vote for Vytas, one vote for Kat, two votes for Kat, and the eighth person to be sent to Redemption Island is…Kat.
Mee-yow.
Verdict: I don’t know how necessary that tribe swap was. I feel like this season had more than enough going for it already.
That being said, this season is still shockingly solid.
Who’s Going to Win? That new Galang tribe is dead in the water. That should keep my boy Vytas safe for a while. Oddly enough, his best bet is if Aras gets blindsided before the merge. But, that’d involve Tadhana losing immunity which probably isn’t going to happen.
Power Rankings Results: Malcolm had Kat in spot seven, I had her in spot eleven. He had John and Brad winning at Redemption. I correctly picked John and Laura M. So, the score for this round is Team Malcolm 8, Team Gordon 13. The current total score is Team Malcolm 72, Team Gordon 77.
Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
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