Survivor Blood vs. Water Episode 5 Discussion and Recap *Updated*

Tonight is another episode in what is turning into one of better seasons of Survivor. The Blood vs. Water twist has definitely paid off and I think it is mostly due to the great casting by the show. There is a little of everything for everyone and it is working.

I will be back later with my recap and as always please feel free to discuss the show below.

———————————————-

We start off this week back at Tadhana were everyone is shocked at what happened at Tribal Council. Ciera thinks that Caleb may be with her and Katie while Hayden is worried that he is on the bottom now. For his part Caleb says that the feelings festered over the day and he went with it at Tribal.

At Redemption Island Culpepper doesn’t receive the warmest welcome from Candice and John. He tries to make peace saying he was just playing the game and no hard feelings but Candice definitely has hard feelings since Monica voted her out and he voted out John. He is on their island now and is happy to have the chance to take him out for good.

At Galang Ares is getting a rub down by Laura M. She is hoping that by staying close to Ares and wants to be liked. Ares is way too smart to her plans and he knows Laura M is on the outskirts trying to make her way into the majority and flirting won’t help her in the game. For her part the other Laura still feels like an outsider since she is a new player surrounded by returning players who have an unspoken bond since they have played before. The producers are really trying everything to find some sort of drama at Tadhana but without losing a challenge there won’t really be any.

And speaking of challenges it is time for the Redemption Island Duel. Monica is crying the moment she realizes that her husband is out. She asks to take his spot and he shuts it down and says he will fight to get back into the game. They start talking about Candice being the most negative attitude towards Culpepper and the most to say despite spending the least amount of time in the game. She says she is speaking on behalf of what she has heard from the others who have been eliminated. They argue on whose words to believe and it comes down to he said she said really.

As for the challenge they must take apart a crate, use the pieces to build a bridge and then take apart the bridge to use eight pieces to put together a puzzle. Candice takes the early lead while John and Culpepper take the time to take apart all the pieces of the crate. Once they start working on the bridge both catch up quick and Candice falls behind. John finishes the bridge first followed by Culpepper.

As they work on the puzzle John finishes it quickly to finish first and in a tighter racer Culpepper finishes to stay alive sending Candice packing. She says that it is hard since she is leaving John to fend for himself while John is miserable having to watch Candice be eliminated especially since he won the challenge that eliminated her. They have a quick goodbye with John and burns her buff.

As the winner John gets to give a clue away and again he gives it to Monica. She doesn’t want it so burns it in the fire again.

Back at Galang Monica is upset that she saw Brad eliminated but she thinks that Brad will get back into the game and they can get together. Tina is worried since she loses that Monica and Brad are close and she is unsure to trust Monica or not. Monica says that she is dedicated to the five and to Tina’s plan but Tina says she will watch her to see if she is an asset or trouble.

Over at Tadhana Ciera says that there are issues with little injures and bug bites and it is wearing down the tribe. Katie has a form of Athlete’s foot and she is losing toe nails. Vytas feels bad for her but doesn’t want to see her feet. Vytas says that they mood is down from losing and personally he’s not sure where he lies with for the tribe.

Vytas is worried about Caleb because of how easily he flipped on Brad. They are talking about how people who would not usually get together become friends like Ciera and Katie. Caleb now has power because he can side with the girls or the guys so he is happy to be the swing vote. I think he is slightly over thinking his spot in the game since people will have obvious reasons to not trust him.

Vytas says that it is more peaceful with Culpepper gone since he had a negative energy. He is able to enjoy the scenario and do some yoga. Hayden says he wants to see how the tribe does without Culpepper while Ciera knows she has to step up and help win this challenge.

And that brings us right into the Immunity and Reward challenge for the week. Castaways will slide down a water slide and grab a ring. They will then toss the ring to land it on a post. First to land it gets a point for their tribe and first tribe to five wins immunity as well as steaks, vegetables, seasoning, and a wok to cook it in or if they choose they can trade it for fishing gear. Personally there would be no way I would give up the steak.

Galang has to sit three and sit out the two Laura’s and Monica.

Round one is Gervase vs. Caleb and Gervase misses his first toss allowing Caleb to get the point. In round two both Hayden and Tyson miss a few throws but Tyson nails it to tie it at 1.

Round Three is Kat vs. Katie. Kat gets the ring first but her misses it too many times allowing Katie to get the point. They are followed by Ares and Vytas and Vytas nails it quickly for a 3-1 Tadhana lead.

In Round four Tina beats Ciera and it is now Caleb vs. Tyson. Caleb scores again to out Tadhana on the verge of winning their first challenge. It is down to Hayden vs. Gervase. After some misses Tadhana finally pulls off a win sending Galang to Tribal Council for the first time.

As for reward they jump on the steaks. It’s a tricky situation but you can fish without the gear if you really wanted to so it makes sense to me. As for Galang we will finally see some real drama as people start pushing she there place in the game.

Laura B. is the obvious choice to send home. She has no loved one on the other side and no major alliance set up. She seems to know she is in trouble as she says she will keep an eye on everyone.

She instantly shows her inexperience by trying to build up drama by saying the other Laura and Monica were unhappy with Kat for taking part in the challenge when they wanted to. It’s a desperate attempt to cause drama and it is obviously nothing so it goes nowhere.

Tyson points out that there is a five person alliance of himself, Ares, Gervase, Tina, and Monica and while Kat thinks she is in this alliance and isn’t that Laura M as no clue.

Ares tells Laura M that the plan would be to send Laura B home since it is the easiest vote but in his confessional he says that just because Laura B is the easy vote doesn’t mean that is what should happen. He then talks with Tyson and they are talking about sending Laura M out to try to knock out Brad so that they can cement Monica in their alliance.

They ask Monica about voting out Laura M but she is aware that Laura M would be harder to beat and Laura B would most likely be the easier win for her husband. She tells Ares that she wants to send Laura B because it is an easy decision. She’s playing like John did trying to save Candice but she is a little smarter about it. Ares says it is a tribe decision and he knows if he pushes too hard it could hurt his game.

At Tribal Council. He starts with Gervase since he hasn’t been back to Tribal in 13 years and he can’t play the same game that he played back then because people are more ruthless playing now. Tina agrees with him saying that she has played more in the first few days of Blood vs. Water then she played for the entire Australian Season. I believe that since she hid behind Colby making the decisions for their alliance and got the win because he was loyal and people didn’t want to give him the win. She also says that it is harder since you also have to play thinking of a loved one.

Monica is asked about the twist and she says it is hard now because she has to worry about Brad at Redemption Island while also working with her tribe. Ares says that he sees that but for him Vytas is on his own. Laura M seems to agree with Ares and Jeff points out that she has beaten Ciera at multiple challenges but Gervase is quick to mention that while he sees her winning he also knows she is close with Ciera. He plays it wise by saying that it would be hard for anyone since loved one bonds are tight.

Laura B is asked if she belongs out here and she says that she does belong her as she works hard and does well. Monica agrees that Laura has been with them since day 1 and has been part of the tribe. Laura B knows that she would be the easy vote especially since they have played before and they wanted to play with Rupert. Laura M points out that the other Laura has never felt the sting of being voted out and everyone else is aware of the feeling.

It is liking like we will be losing a Laura (Which would do well for my confusion while recapping) as they each vote for the other Laura and Tina votes for Laura but we are not shown the last initial.

After the votes are read Laura M is voted out with 5-1 votes (all that was needed but I am sure it was 8-1). She seems shocked on the eviction but it makes sense for the major alliance (except for Monica) because he Laura can take out Brad then Monica would not have any options but to side with them but it may also hurt them if the next few challenges require puzzles. Personally I thought it was the right move for the tribe over all.

Next Week Gervase and Tyson discuss voting out Ares and when it should happen but the producers prove that you should never feel comfortable as the game will be switching up. It’s too early for a merge (At least I think it’s too early) so I am seeing a tribe swap. Should be interesting to see what happens.

The best part was the ending when Laura arrives at Redemption Island and Culpepper greets her by asking “How the hell did you guys lose?”

See you folks next Wednesday!