"I so wish your husband was here."

The first episode of Blood vs. Water has aired, and after a few days of reflection, it’s time to talk about how Season 27’s new theme played out. Surprisingly (to me, and many other Survivor purists I have come across via social media), it was a good one.

The game began with “Day 0,” which allowed the pairs to have one last night together, not knowing that it would be their last night together. This was a great way to give the whole cast airtime (something editors don’t seem to care about as much in these later seasons), so I liked it for this reason, although we didn’t get too much important interaction. We did see Laura Boneham complain that it was all about “Rupert, Rupert, Rupert” and that she wanted her time in the spotlight, along with watching Candice “Formerly Woodcock” Cody tell her husband cockily, “Welcome to your first night of Survivor.” Little did Candice know, it was about to be her last (at least for now).

After Day 0, Survivor tried a twist they had shied away from after using it in Palau (where members were actually voted out and sent packing) and Tocantins (where members actually got the advantage of taking a helicopter to camp instead of having to participate in a group hike). I am normally not a fan of that immediate boot, but with Redemption Island in play I can see why it works here.

The Tadhana tribe proceeded to vote Laura Boneham in a landslide without much fanfare. There was a bit more of a back and forth between Laura Morrett and Candice on the Galang tribe (along with a random vote from Aras for Gervase, that actually looks like it could’ve originally been for Colton or Candice, but was then crossed out). Candice was ultimately the one with the most votes—which may or may not have had something to do with the fact that she and John were a last minute replacement for RC and her dad so no one really got a chance to form any pregame alliances with her. Or the fact that she is a known traitor. Either way, she has her kill list just like Arya Stark, and Colton, Tina, Monica, Kat, and Laura better watch out if she ever manages to make her way back into the game. Candice has already slaughtered a few coconut voodoo dolls to prepare herself for battle.

In addition to those that voted against her, Candice might be chanting John’s name over and over every night before she falls asleep on Redemption Island as well. Because after Jeff basically baited Rupert into switching places with Laura—calling Rupert heroic, saying didn’t he love his wife, wouldn’t he do anything for her?—John Cody decided against doing the same thing for his wife. Apparently he is not as heroic as Rupert, and certainly doesn’t love his wife as much. Could there be a post-Survivor divorce in the works? I wonder what Adam Gentry thinks about all this?  

Still not John Cody.

Anyway, I will have more to say on Rupert and Laura’s decision in a little bit.

We didn’t see as much of the Galang tribe as we did of the Tadhana tribe, but we did get some good character building (and a mention of Boston Rob at minute 24 when Tyson explained how he could definitely make fire). Laura B. tried to act like she fit in, and Aras told her “I so wish your husband was here,” which was possibly my favorite line of the episode. We had a nice fireside scene where Colton opened up about his past that seemed very genuine (at least mostly). Now that he made it past the first vote, I am excited to see Colton 2.0. Even if he acts like a total jerk, it makes good TV. And if he can somehow curb his craziness, we could see a nice redemption story. Although, I don’t think anyone should really be trusting Colton Cumbie. I am sorry to tell Monica, but a backstabber never changes his stripes. They just get better at it. 

Fool me once...

We also got a great montage of the tribe working together to upbeat music—always a good sign of things to come. The tribe that gets the working together montage tends to do well when challenge time comes.

Now, there was a lot more going on over at Tadhana.

We have Brad Culpepper apologizing for saying he might consider losing a challenge so Monica could benefit (bringing attention to saying it in the first place, which wasn’t necessary). He then decided to form Survivor’s version of the Brigade (I am sure Hayden was thrilled), because five with nine apparently equals in. Also, Culpepper (as he has been dubbed by fanboy Jeff Probst) was certain to correct himself—it’s not really five guys in his alliance. It’s four guys and a gay guy. Get it right, people.

Brad also tried to sell his Brolliance by reminding everyone of who wins Survivor nowadays. And who is that you ask? Well, “weak women (and) John Cochran.”

One of these things is not like the other.

Not sure how Denise, the oldest woman to ever win Survivor and winner of one individual immunity, Sophie, the winner of three individuals immunities, and Kim, who won four, feel about this. I am guessing they are not the biggest Brad Culpepper fans right about now.

Of course, we didn’t just get to know Brad (although he really dominated the Tadhana airtime, and I already know more about him from one episode than I got to know about his wife on her whole season). Ciera and Vytas sharing their life stories was a really powerful scene. It was nice to see the tribe bonding and being able to share such personal stories with each other so early on in the game. It was also nice as a viewer to get to know these people a little better (especially Ciera, who I was down on in my pregame rankings).

More on Vytas later.

We also had Katie and Ciera really excited to beat their moms at puzzles. 

The first Survivor: Blood vs. Water immunity challenge was a good one. It involved a lot of swimming, getting over obstacles, rowing, and the game changer at the end—a puzzle.

Tadhana got out to a huge lead because lets face it—physically, their team can probably beat Galang everyday. They are just a younger tribe with more fit guys. What didn’t help Galang was the fact that Gervase didn’t think a swimming lesson was a good idea in all that time off he had between Borneo and now. And also, Galang was stupid enough to let him be part of the swim team. Let’s be smart here—if a guy cannot swim, put him on the puzzle team. If he sucks at puzzles he can just stand there and watch, like the third person on the puzzle team normally does anyway. It’s a better bet than sending him out in the water, where he practically drowned and almost lost his team immunity.

Bonus points to Aras for saving Gervase’s life.

But as usual, this challenge came down to the puzzle. Tina vs. Katie. Laura vs. Ciera. Caleb and Monica along for the ride. And experience won out, with Galang taking immunity despite Tadhana’s huge lead, thanks to the Puzzle Moms.

Gervase, having recovered from almost drowning, had some choice words for the Tadhana tribe (“That’s how you do it!”). This pissed off basically everyone on the tribe, including niece Marissa, who had held her own in the competition. When her tribe brings up Galang’s gloating, Marissa explains that “the lion doesn’t roar after it kills it’s prey.”

Unfortunately, Gervase didn’t follow that rule. And even more unfortunately for Marissa, who was definitely not Tadhana’s weakest member, she was sent packing for Gervase’s mistakes.

So much for working together!

I have to say I am excited for Redemption Island for the first time ever. I think it is going to be really emotional for the loved one watching, making the duels actually meaningful. Don’t expect Gervase to switch places with Marissa or anything, but he will probably feel guilty she got voted out. And I definitely expect a lot of tears from John “Woodcock” Cody and Laura Boneham.

Also, I know there are a lot of Marissa fan outs there, so don’t hate me for devoting so little time to her. I just really feel that experience is going to win out at Redemption Island, and although she is a good competitor (better than I originally thought she would be), I have a feeling episode 2 will be the last we see of Marissa until the finale.

And now, I would like to present you with my Best and Worst of episode one!

I don’t want to do complete Power Rankings with so many people (especially after a pretty lengthy recap), but I’d like to make note of which players had the Best episode, and which had the Worst.

Week 1 Winners

Brad Culpepper may have sounded a little bit like a chucklehead, and he may be stepping into the leadership role a little early, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he has set himself up pretty well—at least for now. If his math about four guys and a gay guy is correct, he does have the majority vote for as long as he can keep his alliance together. And once there is some type of tribe swap or a merge, we can probably expect an epic Silas Gaither or John Carroll type fall from power.

We didn’t see much from Tyson this episode, but what we did see was overwhelmingly positive. Tyson seems to be liked by his tribe so far, and why wouldn’t he be? He started fire within the first few minutes they were at camp (and mentioned Boston Rob), and he is a beast when it comes to challenges. Tyson could be the most annoying person in the world to the people on his tribe and it would still be almost impossible to vote him out because he is just so good.

The person I thought had the best episode was my pregame pick to win it all—Vytas. Vytas also laid low with Brad dominating the airtime, but what we saw of him really points to a long game. We got to hear about Vytas’ time as a teenage drug addict, his year in jail at the age of nineteen, and his fourteen years sober. If that doesn’t make you root for the guy, what will? It is definitely something that will help his tribe to trust him. He also made sure he kept up lines of communication with everyone. Yes, he is in Brad’s Brolliance. But he is not stupid—Vytas realizes this probably will not last forever. So he made sure to establish relationships with all the women on the tribe as well, even going so far as to fill them in on the vote—something that leader Brad didn’t think to do.

So keep up the good work, Vytas!

Week 1 Losers

And now onto the worst of the worst.

We realize that Rupert loves his wife. And would do anything for her. And he is very heroic. But he should not have switched places with her! Just ask Tina Wesson, who told him point blank not to do it. Rupert now left a tribe of people he knows with his wife, who doesn’t have three seasons of experience like he does. And he sounded extra heroic telling Jeff he will win Redemption Island—“time after time after time and I will!”—but let’s face it. Rupert is a decent competitor, but he is no Ozzy. Eventually there will be a challenge where he will come up short. And then that will be the end of Rupert’s fourth stint on Survivor.

It’s not really Laura Boneham’s fault that she is in the position she is in. The woman has lived in her husband’s shadow since Pearl Islands and she wanted her turn to compete. When Rupert was being all heroic, she sure as hell wasn’t going to turn him down. But now she is on a tribe of people that don’t want to play with her, and that probably told their loved ones to vote her out in the first place. There is a good chance that she could get voted out the first time Galang goes to Tribal Council, and then she will be facing her hubby in a duel.

Overall, it is not looking good for the Boneham’s.

But, lucky for them, they are not the absolute worst this week. That honor goes to Gervase Peterson. It saddens me to write this, as I was so excited for Gervase’s return to the game. But this is not what I expected. In his first episode back, Gervase managed to almost die during the first immunity challenge, gloat after winning in a manner that embarrassed me as a viewer, and also got his niece voted out of her tribe. How does it get much worse than that? Maybe seeing Marissa compete at Redemption Island will teach Gervase to be a little more humble. Maybe Aras can give him some swimming lessons on their off days. But I get a feeling season 27 may not go as well for Gervase as we all hoped.

So that’s it—episode one of Blood vs. Water.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns? Does anyone think we will see a member of the Boneham family around come merge time? Is a Colton meltdown just around the corner? How long can Kat stay this quiet for? Is it possible to mention Boston Rob once an episode?

I’ll see you next week!