'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: Laura M. won redemption and returned to the show, Tyson found an idol and didn’t let anyone know, and the Kasama tribe found itself with one less Baskauskas bro…
39 Days (well…technically 39.5), 20 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog
Let’s take a look at the tribe as it currently stands…
The Kasama Tribe (wearing purple)
Caleb – Post Office Manager/Farmer, 26
Ciera – Cosmetology Student, 24
Gervase – Cigar Lounge Owner, 43
Hayden – Real Estate, 26
Katie – Hedge Fund Support, 25
Laura M. – Co-Owner of Morett Construction, 43
Monica – Homemaker, 42
Tina – Motivational Speaker, 52
Tyson – Store Manager, 34
Vytas – Yoga Instructor, 33
The shows kicks off immediately after Aras’s Tribal Council blindside and Vytas is playing it smart by congratulating Tyson on his big move.
Tina, on the other hand, can’t keep her anger locked up. She immediately goes after Tyson and Monica, saying they’ll never get jury votes because they stabbed Aras in the back. In a hilarious moment, everyone admits that they were in an alliance with Aras at one point. It was kind of like that episode of “Friends” where everyone admits to sleeping with Drake Ramoray’s evil twin Hans.
The next morning, Tina apologizes to Katie for setting her up with a doomed alliance. She tells Katie to do whatever she can to distance herself from her. Aww…good mom.
Katie says she doesn’t know how to approach the dominant alliance and say, “Keep me instead of her.” Even though…you know…she literally just did.
Immunity Challenge Time: IT’S A GROSS EATING CHALLENGE!
I have no proof of this, but I like to think we’re getting a gross eating challenge because Producer John Kirhoffer cares about my happiness.
Round One: Tyson, Vytas, Monica, Katie, and Laura will have to eat 40 mealworms, the first three will advance. Tyson and Monica finish theirs first. Vytas spits up half of his, picks them up, then swallows them to advance. Does the five-second rule apply to mealworms?
Tyson: “They’re just like gummi worms only grosser.” Can we all work together to make sure Tyson wins fan favorite?
Round Two: Same deal. Ciera immediately spits hers out and quits. Hayden, Gervase, and Caleb advance.
Round Three: The remaining six will have to eat pig intestines. The first two to finish will advance. Tyson spews. Monica has trouble, but gets it all down. She’s eventually joined by Gervase.
Final Round: Oh man! It’s grubs! Just like Borneo! These might be actual relatives of the grubs Gervase ate in season one! Needless to say, Gervase is not a happy camper. He gives it his best shot, but Monica wins immunity.
Politicking around camp has the dominant alliance splitting their votes between Vytas and Katie in case one of them has the idol. Tyson debates telling them he has the idol so they won’t have to bother, but he decides against it.
Vytas works on his former alliance buddy Hayden and tries to get them to target Katie instead. He even smartly decides to vote for Katie if it’ll keep him around.
Monica is worried about all of the scrambling going on. She thinks it’s because she was originally slated to go home before her immunity win.
That night at Tribal Council, Tina regrets calling out Tyson and Monica.
Vytas wanted to say that he wanted to get revenge for his brother, but he didn’t. But…then…he just did…like right now. Vytas is deep.
Vytas then accuses Monica of being paranoid. She accuses him of turning on her husband. Snap!
Katie is looking for cracks in the alliance.
Vytas thinks the women will turn on the guys if he goes to Redemption.
Voting Time: Monica votes for Vytas and throws a shout out to Brad, Ciera votes for Katie, and the other votes are secret.
JPro tallies, returns, and thankfully keeps his clothes on. (NOTE: Watch tomorrow’s “Two and a Half Men” if you don’t get that joke.) We’ve got one vote for Vytas, one for Katie, one for Tyson, three for Vytas, and the eleventh person to be sent to Redemption Island is…Vytas.
After the vote, Monica lets us know that she was supposed to vote for Katie but decided to vote for Vytas instead. Huh…there was a strategy to that vote, Monica. You know, in case he had an idol. Oh well, at least nobody knows who she voted for.
Oh wait, she tells everyone that she changed her vote to Vytas.
We’re then treated to a Baskauskas reunion at Redemption Island where Vytas blames Aras for their elimination. Aras isn’t worried because he’ll either come back and win the game or he won’t. That is an accurate statement.
Immunity Challenge Part Deux: Players will balance a sword on a shield. They’ll then balance coins on top of the sword. Last person with their stack of coins standing wins immunity. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think they did this challenge in Nicaragua.
Not a ton to describe here except for some very exciting balancing.
Monica is the first one out, she’s followed by Ciera, Tina, and Gervase. Next we lose Laura and Caleb.
We’re down to Katie, Tyson, and Hayden. Hayden and Tyson both falter, giving Katie immunity. Tina is super psyched for her daughter, which is nice considering that win probably means Tina is a goner.
Afterwards, Tina dedicates her time to finding the idol. The other players give her a patented Boehlke Block and start following her around.
Monica thinks they should split the votes, but she doesn’t know who’s on the bottom of her alliance. Well, Monica, if you don’t know who’s on the bottom, it’s probably you.
That night at Tribal Council, Tina flat out says that Monica is on the bottom of her alliance.
Monica thinks it’s OK if Tina thinks that, because she has relationships with everyone.
Tina points out that Monica is the last person to know who they’re voting for because she talks too much.
Monica brings up the vote-splitting fiasco and thinks it’s silly that they don’t have plan. They do. It’s you.
Tina thinks losing Monica isn’t crucial to the alliance’s gameplan.
Voting Time Part Deux: Katie votes for Monica, Monica votes for Tina, and the rest are secret.
JPro does his thing. We’ve got one vote for Monica, one vote for Tina, one vote for Tyson, three votes for Tina, and the twelfth person to be sent to Redemption Island is…Tina.
Verdict: Were these eliminations surprising? Nope. But they were a necessary evil. Now that those votes are out of the way, let’s get to the meltdown of the dominant alliance!
Who’s Going to Win? Well, my boy Vytas is on Redemtpion Island. So, it’s not looking good for him. Tyson, on the other hand, is looking like a champ if he can avoid any “Heroes vs. Villains”-esque missteps.
Power Rankings Results: Malcolm and I both had Vytas in spot ten. He had Tina in spot nine while I had her in spot eight. So, the score for this round is Team Glamour and Glitter, Fashion and Fame 19, Team Real American Heroes 18. The current total score is Team Glamour and Glitter, Fashion and Fame 108, Team Real American Heroes 116.
Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
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