UPDATE

Hello all!

I am pretty sure everyone reading my blog is aware of this change, but I was thinking about it today and decided I should do an update to be safe.

My blog is currently appearing on the fabulous Liberty Street Geek Website. Same format, same ideas, just a different venue. The site also covers some non-reality TV shows (Walking Dead, Dracula, Almost Human) and movies in podcast form.

So if you've been reading my here and wonder where I've been-- I've still be blogging away! So please, check it out and catch up before tonight's episode.

And as always... thank you for reading (and hopefully enjoying).

Post-Swap Power Rankings

After six episodes of Survivor: Blood vs. Water, it may be time to finally update my Power Rankings, which I did pre-game. If you want to check out the original Rankings, you can find them HERE. If you don’t want to go through the trouble, I will let you know where everyone left in the game ranked pre-game once I give you their new position.

So without any further rambling here it is: Power Rankings, Post-Swap!

1. Monica Culpepper (originally 13/20): Monica made a huge jump in my Power Rankings, and on my opinion of her as a player in general. Nothing about her from One World stuck out to me, and I figured we were just seeing her again so we could see Brad Culpepper give Survivor a shot. But now I realize that is not the case at all. After being a Loser three weeks in a row, Monica has somehow become the number one winner. I had three people I considered for number one, and I did have a hard time choosing. But after careful consideration, it has to be Monica. Monica’s main problem in the game was one thing: Brad. Other than the drama he was causing, Monica was set up in the perfect spot to go far in the game. Only every week the reaction to him at Redemption Island and the fear that Monica would turn her back on any ally for him made her a shaky ally at best. But with Brad gone, all that has changed. She is suddenly very valuable to the Galang Five. In fact, she is starting to look a little bit like a leader now that the boys have been switched to Tadhana. Monica has made such good relationships that the second someone brings her name up, she is immediately informed. And not only that—Monica then decides to go completely against her alliance’s plans and vote out one of their own to save her own skin, and every single person on the tribe goes along with it. It was impressive when Aras convinced everyone to vote out Laura M. against their wishes, but even more impressive that Monica was able to get everyone to write Kat’s name down. Now the only person who was gunning for her is out of the game. She has a loyal ally in Tina, and by default a loyal ally in Katie (and probably Vytas, at least for awhile). This is all without mentioning the original members of her alliance on the other side, plus Laura Boneham who now thinks she is part of this “Women Strong!” group. Who is against Monica with Kat and Brad gone? At this point, if Monica made the final three, I would not be surprised. In fact, I think she would deserve it taking her gameplay thus far into account. I am officially on the Monica Culpepper bandwagon! 

2. Tina Wesson (originally 10/20): I once wrote that Tina would not win Survivor again, but now I think I may be wrong. She has set herself up in a great position to go through the rest of the game. Tina is one of only two players who still has her loved one in the game. Not only that—but she is now on the same tribe as her daughter and we didn’t even see anyone questioning whether or not they should take out Katie to keep Tina loyal. Tina has the Galang Five alliance, her new all women’s alliance on the new Galang, and I am guessing a blooming alliance between herself, Katie, Vytas and Monica. I was originally worried if Aras somehow didn’t make the merge that would hurt Tina, but I don’t think that is the case anymore. She has relationships with everyone, and just really secured her bond with Monica by ratting out poor Kat. Tina is not really an immunity threat, is well-liked by everyone, and most people would probably love to take her to the final four and get rid of her right before FTC. But you never know. If Tina is sitting in front of the jury, I would not be surprised.

3. Tyson Apostol (originally 9/20): Tyson could easily be number one on this list, and the only reason he isn’t is the fact that being a male that is great at challenges puts a huge target on your back when it’s time to merge. But Tyson could also theoretically pull a Terry Dietz and almost win his way to the end and I don’t think that would surprise anyone. Tyson is also part of a powerful alliance, and post-swap he is part of a powerful tribe that should be able to win any immunity challenge thrown at them (although they did almost lose on a puzzle with a gigantic lead, but let’s call that a fluke). Making it to the merge should be no problem. Although the tribe he is on seems to be split 3-3, his willingness to take out Aras will keep everyone from drawing a purple rock and keep him safe if Tadhana does go to Tribal before the merge. And the fact that Caleb and Hayden gave him a vague idea to the Hidden Immunity Idol clues doesn’t hurt either.

4. Gervase Peterson (originally 5/10): I was high on Gervase pre-game, and I still am six episodes in. Same as my first three picks, Gervase is a member of the Galang Five, which could be a very powerful alliance. And even if it all crumbles after this swap, Gervase is one half of a pair. This seems to be a pair no one is worried about, although they should be. It has been a long time since Gervase played the game, but he has done everything right so far. Got into the majority alliance, made an alliance to the end of the game with a strong player, learned how to swim. Gervase may be in it for the long haul.

5. Katie Collins (originally 12/20): Katie meant absolutely nothing in this game—until she ended up on Tina’s tribe. Suddenly, she is aligned with one of the most powerful players in the game. People should be talking about voting her out to keep Tina loyal, but instead they have accepted Katie into the fold. She could have been the next boot on Tadhana, and now she has allies on both tribes. Katie will have no problem making the merge, and once she does she will have no problem floating right to the end of the game.

6. Hayden Moss (originally 2/20): I still have faith that Hayden can take this game. But with everything going on, it will be a lot harder. If Tadhana loses and Tyson sticks with his plan to vote out Aras, Hayden is sitting pretty. If not, he could really be a target. He’s strong physically and strong socially. He’s playing a quiet game so no one seems to have noticed this, but they will eventually. And if they figure out what a threat he could be down the line, there is no reason to keep him in the game. But Hayden does have some things going for him—he was loyal to Brad Culpeper, which will win him brownie points with Monica, who I feel holds a lot of power in the game. Also, he doesn’t have Kat to drag him down with her subpar gameplay (sorry, Kat). If Kat loses at Redemption Island, Hayden should secretly rejoice. And he should not think about switching with her, even for a second. I think he knows better than that, but I guess crazier things have happened.

7. Vytas Baskauskas (originally 1/20): How far the mighty have fallen. Vytas was my pre-game pick to take it all, and he’s still my favorite person left on the show. But his chances to make it to the Final Tribal are looking pretty slim. If Galang loses immunity again (which seems likely), Vytas will have the same problem he had in episode six—why should the women turn on each other to keep him? I highly doubt someone will do something as ridiculous as Kat and help him to advance in the game. Vytas’ only hope is that Galang wins immunity and then the tribes merge, Laura Boneham starts to really aggravate the other women, or he can convince Tina that an alliance with Aras, Katie, and himself is her best bet. I think Tina is pretty tight with Aras, so this is possible. But it could also just be wishful thinking.

8. Aras Baskauskas (originally 3/20): Aras could be in a lot of trouble. He is on a tribe with two “close allies” who are plotting to vote him out pre-merge. His number one gal is over at Galang forming a women’s only alliance. Laura Morrett is plotting his demise at Redemption Island. The three original Tadhana on his tribe think he is kind of a douche. If Tadhana loses immunity, I think that may be game over for this Baskauskas brother. If he can make the merge (especially with Vytas) he can buy himself a few days, but it may not be much more than that. Everyone is looking at Aras as the main threat in the game. Unless he plans on winning all the individual immunities, he probably doesn’t have many days left on the island.

9. Caleb Bankston (originally 6/20): This tribe swap really screwed up Caleb’s game. His mutiny against Brad gave him some power in the game—when he was the swing vote between the men and women on the original Tadhana tribe. Caleb is no longer a swing vote. He also cannot be trusted. He might slide by for a few extra episodes because there are bigger targets, but at this point I think that’s all it will be. Turning on his ally got him power for one episode (where Tadhana ultimately won immunity and it didn’t matter), and it also lost the trust of everyone he had aligned with. Caleb’s shot to make it to the end is slim to none.

10. Laura Boneham (originally 19/20): I was right that Laura would be immediately voted out of the loved one’s tribe, but with all these crazy twists and a dominate tribe, she keeps living to fight another day. Her name didn’t even come up after the tribe swap, although everyone wanted to vote her out prior to it, which could be a good sign. But I think that would be really optimistic. When Galang became five women and Vytas, all everyone talked about was Girl Power! The only reason another name was even mentioned was because Kat tries to throw Monica under the bus. If Galang loses again, they may just vote out Vytas and Laura B. will go another episode without worrying. But after that, the odds are pretty high that she’ll be heading to Redemption Island. She is an easy vote—no one seems to really like her and she isn’t crucial to any tribe or alliance.

11. Ciera Eastin (originally 16/20): Ciera is not good at the game of Survivor. I don’t know what else to say about her. Watching her do puzzles week after week was painful. Seeing her barely able to run up the beach after swimming was embarrassing. Her mom is on Redemption Island, and her only other ally is chumming it up with the Galang tribe and her mom. If Tadhana loses and doesn’t go against Aras, how can they not finally vote out Ciera for her poor challenge performances? I understand weak competitors that make the merge can fly under the radar until the end, but if she and Aras both make the merge, you better believe he will be gunning for her since he knows Laura M. is gunning for him. And what loyal ally does she have to really take her side and try to keep her in the game? Probst said they brought Laura back because they wanted Ciera. Six episodes into the seasons and I have still have no clue why.

And now our Redemption Island folk…

12. Laura Morrett (originally 7/20): Of the three competitors currently at Redemption Island, Laura M. is my pick to come back. Not only will she cause the most drama and make the show the most entertaining, but every duel they have had so far seems tailored to Laura’s strengths. I don’t want to be too certain, because I was convinced Candice Cody could not lose and she clearly did, but my money for a Redemption Island returnee would be on Laura M.

13. John Cody (originally 8/20): Oh, Dr. John. I am a fan, but I don’t think anyone else left in the game is. John does not have a friend in the world now that Candice and Brad are gone. It’s very sad to watch him place in everyone duel, and watch absolutely no one give him props. Even if John did manage to win out at Redemption Island, he would definitely go the way of Matt Elrod and be immediately voted back there.

14. Kat Edorsson (originally 14/20): I wasn’t high on Kat pregame, I wasn’t high on her while she was in the game, and I have even less confidence in her now that she is on Redemption Island. She has not moved up or moved down in my rankings at all. I am sorry, Kat—I am sure you are an awesome person, and not a negative two on the coolness scale. But I would bet anything that Kat will be the loser in her very first Redemption Island duel.

And that’s it for my updated, post-swap Power Rankings. If the merge is coming as soon as I predict it will, I probably won’t do updated rankings right then, but I will try to go less than six episodes before my next update.

Do you agree? Disagree? Whose position in the game did I get completely wrong?

Feel free to comment away!

"I fancy myself a lady's man, Jeff."

So, this week’s blog will be a tiny bit different. Rather than do my normal recap, followed by the winners and losers post-swap, this will just be a recap blog. I will then publish my updated power rankings. Now seems like as good a time as any to take another stab at those. So look out for that later today (or tomorrow). But in the meantime…

This was yet another good episode of Survivor. I don’t care how unfair Silas Gaither thinks they are, because I love tribal swaps. I like the slight shift in tribe dynamics, and I especially like it this season because I think alliances are bound to change. This won’t be like Caramoan where all the returnees stuck together and met up after the merge to take out the rest of the newbies. New bonds and alliances will form, and those in power may not be as well off as they were last episode.

But first thing’s first. Before we even get to Redemption Island, we hear a song we’ve been hearing for episodes, which is starting to become background noise. Tyson wants to get rid of Aras. To which I have said, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Which is true. Although, it has been a few episodes in a row. So perhaps the editors really are trying to tell us something.

Aras is concerned after voting out Laura. “She looked me dead in the eyes like, ‘you’re a jerk.’” He then tell us, “Unfortunately, it looks like I’m the ring leader… You never want to be at the top.”

Tyson, meanwhile, is concerned that Aras will make the merge and decide he is his biggest threat in the game. Which isn’t bad thinking on Tyson’s part. His fellow coconut bandit has said he is with Tyson 100%, but has yet to fully commit to taking down their leader. But Gervase is seriously wavering now. He is afraid of leaving Survivor and having done nothing to change the way he is perceived from Borneo to now. And there is something Gervase is sure of—his bond with Tyson. In fact, he is bold enough to say “I think the power couple out here is me and Tyson.” I think he could be right. And I am starting to wonder if anyone else in the game has realized this.

The Redemption Island Duel was probably one of the stupidest challenges we’ve seen in quite some time. Cross a balance beam, put numbers in order. This was made for Laura M., who is an agile woman. She comes to the duel angry, confident, and ready to go. She won’t even let Jeff finish asking Ciera about a switch, cutting him off to say, “There is no way she’s swapping with me… I got this.” Her confidence reminded me of my favorite fallen Redemption Island assassin, Candice Cody. I don’t doubt Laura—if she says she has it, she has it.

And she does. As Aras predicted, Laura was able to win the duel and knock Brad Culpepper out of the game for good. And at this point, I am pretty disappointed. Brad was a great villain. I wanted him to win Redemption Island, come back into the game, and start stirring the pot. Where is all the excitement going to come from now?

But Brad has been ousted and there is nothing I can do about it. He is super sweet to Monica, as always, and speaks some poetry to her before leaving the arena: “You’re free. Wind’s blowing. Sail. Sail hard.”

Monica, now alone in the game just like her allies wanted, is probably gonna do just that. Suddenly, Monica Culpepper is not a Survivor loser. All it took was her husband burning that buff.

Meanwhile, Laura M. has the matter of the immunity idol clue to deal with. She is pretty pissed at her ex-massage-buddy Aras, and decides to use the Cody’s idol technique and offer the clue to Aras’ partner. Vytas doesn’t even think about it, and is right behind Jeff to toss that clue in the fire. Jeff is shocked: “Nobody wants the idol!” I am thrilled. As I’ve said before, I will never lie about my love for Survivor of old. And it’s nice to prove once and for all that we can have a really good, exciting season of Survivor in 2013 without idols dominating everything.

Onto the tribe swap. Jeff brings out new buffs and Tyson asks, “Can I take mine last, Jeff? I’ll let fate decide.” And fate decides that Tyson will end up on the strong jock tribe with Aras, Gervase, Hayden, Caleb… oh, and Ciera. And he will now be competing against a tribe of a bunch of moms and Vytas… oh, and Tina’s daughter is still apparently in the game as well.

While Tadhana is clearly the stronger tribe now, that doesn’t make their situation any less awkward. There is seemingly a clear 3-3 split with former Galang staying strong against the clearly bonded original Tadhana’s. Caleb, Hayden, and Ciera try to bond with their new tribe mates. They tell them a little about camp life, and the votes, and the clues they have to the hidden immunity idol…

Tyson’s reaction to this? “Stupid will be stupid.” And I am sure he is cataloging those clues. If we see an idol anytime soon this season, this may be it. Tyson and his fellow coconut bandit may be able to use Dr. John’s clues to find Tadhana’s idol before the merge. And if that happens, Tyson is sure to outdo his two previous Survivor outings.

While former Tadhana is trying to make the Galang’s feel at home, they are attempting to eat Tadhana out of house and home. And this is not going unnoticed. It is clear and Ciera and Caleb are annoyed by their behavior, and Hayden even gets a confessional about it: “That’s my stuff, dude!... I wanna smack their hands and say ‘find your own food!’”

Tyson knows he is committing a serious Survivor faux paus, but is confident enough (as Tyson typically is) to think he can get away with it. “It’s definitely a goal to steal as much food from this tribe as I can.” 

In addition to breaking some serious Survivor etiquette (yes, James Clement, Tyson was stealing bananas), Tyson was also busy throwing his old pal Aras under the bus to their new tribe. Now this idea that Tyson and Gervase may turn on Aras is starting to take on a little bit more believability. He lets Aras take the lead, and in his typical funny way, he makes sure everyone realizes that Aras is being kind of annoying. And making sure to tell everyone as well that, “I am not with him.” Tyson laughingly tells his friend is front of everyone, “You’re just digging yourself in deeper… if someone came into my house and knocked down a wall, I’d be pretty pissed!”

Everyone laughs, but former Tadhana members are taking notice. If they are going to vote against a former Galang member, Tyson is doing a good job to make sure it’s Aras taking that bullet.

Over at the new Galang, everyone is welcomed in with open arms. Since the tribe is four former Galang’s, Tina’s daughter, and Vytas, I guess that isn’t too hard. Tina is thrilled to be able to play with her daughter. And how does Katie feel? Well, we don’t really know, since she doesn’t get a confessional this entire episode. All we currently know about Katie is that she is Tina’s daughter, Vytas was her ally at Tadhana, her toenails are falling off, and at some point post-swap she picked up a random pair of hipster glasses.

Poor Vytas is clearly at the bottom of the Galang totem pole. He knows it, and knows there is very little he can do about it. And if you were wondering how I feel about Vytas’ position in the game—I feel pretty awful. Vytas has definitely become one of my favorite characters this season, and to be honest—I think I kind of have a crush on him. But the writing is really on the wall. There is no reason to vote out an original Galang when they have a 4-2 majority. And no one is going to vote out Katie yet because, you know, her mom is one of the alliance’s major players. 

But Vytas isn’t just going to lay down and die. He is well spoken, and clearly very good at manipulating people’s emotions. We see him be kind to Kat when she can’t figure out how to say “less fortunate” (she thinks “un as fortunate” sounds a little better), and then gather the women to tell the story of his time in jail. He used this story to build bonds at Tadhana, and decided to give it a try with his new Galang tribe as well. And this actually works. The women are all clearly into Vytas. In fact, Laura B. even says Vytas’ honesty and willingness to be vulnerable “reminds me of Rupert.”

 Really, Laura? Vytas reminds you of Rupert?

Anyway. Vytas is the master of the social game, and although the plan is still to vote him out, at least everyone likes him.

This episode’s challenge really should have been a blow out. Five strong guys and Ciera vs the new women-filled Galang. And Tina and Laura B. did a great job of really putting Galang in an almost impossible deficit early on, when they swam out, didn’t get what they were supposed to, and had to swim all the way back out a second time, giving Tadhana a ridiculous lead.

It also didn’t hurt that Aras really did teach Gervase to swim during their off days.

But, of course, the puzzle is always the great equalizer. And Galang was able to make quite the comeback. This isn’t editing—it was clear that Galang was extremely far behind during the swimming portion of the challenge, and also clear that Galang thought they had the puzzle correct (more than once!) while Tadhana was still working on it. Maybe it was just impossible to make up all that time, or maybe it was because Tadhana was smart enough to finally keep Ciera off the puzzle team, but Galang just couldn’t pull it off. Tadhana wins, and my heart breaks a little. Goodbye Vytas, my former pick to win it all. It was nice getting to know you.

But the Survivor editors have to give us a red herring, right? We can’t just spend the last fifteen minutes of the show going over Vytas’ demise.

Enter Kat Edorsson.

Kat was never really part of the Galang five. She was probably a solid sixth, but that was about it—although she was pretty certain she was in the five. And now Kat is starting to get a little cocky. For some reason, she is very concerned about Monica. Kat tells us Monica is constantly strategizing when she doesn’t need to be, and this worries Kat. The audience then gets a few cut shots of Monica’s strategizing—as she talks about going to Tribal and what it’s like, or taking a water run, or missing her husband, or her recipe for cashew butterscotch bars. Monica is basically talking to everyone about everything but strategy. Only Kat isn’t having it. “I am about to kick you out of this game!”

… Really, Kat? Did you get a ton of power and we all missed it? Because I am pretty sure everyone but Kat knows that she doesn’t have the ability to sway the vote. But that doesn’t stop her from going to Tina with her plan. And it certainly doesn’t stop Tina from going straight to Monica with that information.

Monica is shocked: “We’re gonna vote out Vytas,” she says, followed by an Arrested Development like camera pan where we realize Vytas is standing right there. “Sorry about that,” she adds.

Monica confronts Kat who lies, lies, lies. She just continues to dig herself deeper and deeper until Monica realizes the golden rule of Survivor. It’s not to do unto other as you would want done unto you. In fact “it’s do unto others before they do unto you.” And she starts to gather votes against her old friend Kat.

I am starting to like Monica in this game. She is clearly a leader of the alliance, and in a powerful position now that Brad is gone. The only person gunning for her is Kat, and she was made aware of that fact almost as soon as the words were out of Kat’s mouth. Loyal allies is what gets you far in this game, and tonight proves Monica has those. And it will be proven further when we get to the vote itself.

Monica suddenly has control of the game.

Kat is at a disadvantage because she has a hard time making her points, and a hard time knowing when to stop talking, where Vytas is a brilliant speaker. Sure, he lays it on a little thick. But he is going to go out swinging.

Kat begs the women to keep her in the game: “From day one I’ve had your back.”

Vytas shakes his head. Because it’s more like, “I got caught throwing people’s names out. I won’t do it again!” And then there is the icing on the cake. As Kat begs her friends, her allies, the people she has been with since day one to stay strong and keep her in the game, Vytas has a better idea. Vote Kat out, “and we will stay together. And we will stay strong.”

It’s an exciting tribal council. I texted my sister throughout the entire scene, but we both tried not to get our hopes up, although it was hard. But there is always the red herring. And to go against someone you’ve been aligned with since day one in order to keep the smooth talking brother of Aras in the game? That just wasn’t going to happen.

And then the second vote for Kat was read and I realized it actually was going to happen. As a viewer, I was pleasantly surprised that Vytas would live to fight another day. And I was pleasantly surprised with how exciting the episode was—a swap, a close challenge that came down to the final seconds of a puzzle, and a tribal council with a vote changing last minute and an alliance voting out one of their own. By the time Kat’s torch was being snuffed, I had already forgotten than Brad Culpepper was out of the game and I had been worried that that was going to make the season less exciting.

Sad to see you go, Brad, but apparently the season can go on without you.

Kat may be a negative two on the coolness scale, but will Hayden stay with her even though she went out pre-merge? And does she even have the smallest hope to win at Redemption Island? Can Vytas actually survive another vote with the post-swap Galang tribe, or was this exciting tribal council only good for one week? Will Tyson and Gervase finally put their plan into action and get rid of Aras?

Only time will tell.

"Easy votes are often the dumbest votes in this game."

While episode five of Blood vs Water didn’t pack the same punch as its predecessors, it was still a solid forty-five minutes of television, and I still feel really optimistic about the way this season is going. I have never lied about my bias toward the first ten seasons of Survivor (to me, they are far and away the best), but Blood vs Water could have the potential to be one of the better seasons in the post Hidden Immunity Idol era. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but… I am excited by the way this is all playing out.

We begin episode five with the fallout of Brad’s vote out. Vytas immediately ‘fesses up that he was the one that turned the second vote. He is not a stupid game player and realizes right away that he and Hayden could quickly become the minority, and he doesn’t want to be the first to go. Caleb explains that the plan came about last minute: “It just festered… until I couldn’t keep it down.” This is big news for Ciera, who immediately sees the impact this can have on her game. If Caleb went rogue against the Brolliance, there is potential for him to flip against them completely. So while Vytas and Hayden are left to do damage control, Katie and Ciera suddenly have the potential for new life in this game.

While Tadhana is rehashing their big move, Brad went into Redemption Island with his hands up: “Before you guys hit me, I’m waving the white flag,” he tells the Cody’s. John is shocked to see his former alliance member on Redemption Island, muttering, “Way to go, five guys.”

Candice, on the other hand, is thrilled. “I hear the sweetest voice I ever wanted to hear on Redemption Island,” she says, smiling, “Brad Culpepper.” She cannot wait to actually take Brad out of the game for good, after days of listening to his tribe talk bad about him as they were voted out.

But before we can get to the duel, there is one more matter to attend to: Laura M.’s sexy massage. I read Laura’s statement before the episode aired, so like everyone else who did I was waiting to see what she was making such a big deal about. There had been plenty of massages going on over at Galang, so this didn’t seem out of the ordinary. If Laura hadn’t talked about it on Facebook, I get the feeling no one would have read too much into it. But saying it was a massage she’d give to her sons probably wasn’t the best idea. And trusting Aras, leader of the majority alliance on Galang, probably wasn’t a very good idea either.

Onto the duel.

Monica is immediately reduced to tears when she sees Brad has been voted out. I am pretty sure Monica should have seen this coming a mile away based on the past duels, but I am also sure it sucks to see your loved one was voted out. She offers to switch with him, but Brad tells her no. In fact, Brad was very sweet to Monica. He clearly loves her. I was starting to think that between his kindness to his wife and his classy exit from the game, perhaps Brad is not a villain after all. Then he starts announcing, “I am not here because I am a jerk.” Funny… I thought that’s exactly why Brad was ousted. He was too cocky, had too much power, and could not be trusted. Maybe “jerk” isn’t the best word (although Skinny Ryan is probably smiling somewhere knowing that he is now one of two people to use that word on Survivor). But still. 

Jeff Probst then decides he needs to stick up for his man crush and call out my favorite assassin, Candice Woodcock Cody. I blame her performance in the duel on Jeff rattling her. He says that Candice has had a lot to say about the game, “yet you haven’t spent a single second at either camp.” Monica jumps on the anti-Candice bandwagon. She hopes Candice learned her lesson about speaking her mind. “You really hurt my feelings,” she cries.

Candice shrugs. She knows what she is talking about. She has gotten her information from every bitter player that has been voted out of their tribe. “Well Monica,” Candice replies, ever the bitter player herself, “You really hurt my feelings when you wrote my name down.”

We then have a silly challenge where the participants must take apart a crate, use the pieces to build a bridge, then take the bridge apart and build a puzzle. Not the most interesting duel. But what did interest me was the hypocrisy of the Galang tribe, as they all cheered for Brad and yelled advice to him. Really, guys? The guy you will be trying to get out of the game thirty minutes more into the episode? Poor John and Candice. John’s old Brolliance didn’t even send a cheer his way when he came in first in the duel. Perhaps they were too busy wondering why Ciera did every puzzle when John is so good at them.

Now, I said last week that I wanted Brad to win the duel. And I meant that. But I wanted John to lose. Not Candice! I wanted to see Brad and Candice stuck alone together. I wanted to see Candice continue to call everyone out during every duel. But I guess it was not meant to be. Candice’s parting words to Dr. John were, “No more tears, OK?” when she really should have been giving him some advice on how to handle the Hidden Immunity Idol clue. 

When left on his own, John just did the same thing Candice told him to do last time, which was giving the clue to Monica. Monica looked like she really wanted to keep it, but listened to Brad again and threw it in the fire. Here is what John probably should have done: Given the clue to either Caleb, Hayden, or Vytas. John now has no one left in the game, and he needs to start building bridges somewhere. Why not give a clue to one of his old alliance members, hoping that then he can hook up with them if he reenters the game? If he gave Hayden or Vytas the clue, I bet they would share it with the whole tribe. Suddenly Tadhana is united, and maybe John can join them if he happens to be the survivor of Redemption Island.

Monica does not help her chances in the game after returning from the duel. Talking about how much she wants Brad back only hurts her position in the Galang tribe. Tina is onto her, explaining, “Brad and Monica are a very tight couple, and that’s threatening.” Yes, everyone is tight with their loved ones. But Brad and Monica’s emotional reactions to each other make their tight bond more obvious than most.

Over at Tadhana, they are falling apart physically. Ciera has a monologue about injuries, and Katie shows everyone how all her toe nails are falling off. “It sickens me a little bit,” Vytas adds. Me too, Vytas. I have no interest in watching Katie Collins pull off her toe nails. But while she is doing that, Vytas is trying to help his position in the tribe by flirting with Caleb out on the boat. “I can’t get a read on Caleb,” he tells the viewers. There is no way Hayden or Vytas will ever trust Caleb again, but that doesn’t make Caleb any less of an important swing vote. Getting into his good graces is not a bad idea.

And after this, the editors tell us that Tadhana will finally win immunity. First we get a scene of Vytas doing yoga. “Since we voted out Brad, it’s been so peaceful… I’ve never been anywhere more beautiful.” We then get some epic music, and see the final five members of Tadhana sitting up high and overlooking the water. “We have to want it more than they want it.” Tadhana is suddenly a unified group, and the editors want to make sure we know this. At this point, I am convinced that Tadhana cannot lose this challenge.

When I then see the challenge is slip and slide + ring toss, I feel even more confident. No real talent needed to win this one. And sure enough Caleb (twice), Katie, Vytas (vs his brother), and Hayden all win their match ups, giving Tadhana the five points they need to finally be victorious. (Although please take note that yet again Ciera does not do anything to help the tribe.) I was cheering for Tadhana the whole way. Finally, we get to see some different faces at Tribal Council.

Aras takes the loss in stride, telling his tribe, “We didn’t really stand a chance in that one.” Apparently he already knew his brother was awesome at slides and ring toss.

And then we get some of our red herring, Laura B., being very bad at Survivor. Earlier in the episode she got a confessional about how she just didn’t fit in. She says she is going to lay back, but instead she starts scrambling, which is somewhat embarrassing to watch. She tells Kat that Laura M. and Monica were complaining about her doing the challenge in front of Tina and Tyson. Everyone knows Laura B. is the easy vote tonight, which is why we know Laura M. is going to be the one to go when she confesses, “Aras is the one I completely, explicitly trust.” Unfortunately for Laura M., that feeling is not even close to being mutual.

When Aras brings up voting out Laura M. first, Monica really wavers. “There’s lots of different things to think about.” Like Dr. John realized earlier in the game, Monica now realizes that who they vote out will affect her husband’s position for as long as he is on Redemption Island. She knows he can beat Laura B. Laura M. might be a different story.

At Tribal, Jeff is really not very nice to Laura B. I mean, he is really not very nice. “Do you belong out here?” he asks her. “Even though you want to play, you’re not Rupert.” Way to kick a woman while she’s down, Jeff. As if Laura B. didn’t feel bad enough already being voted out by people who didn’t even know her day 1, having to switch to a tribe of people who all knew each other and all wanted Rupert, having her husband ousted at the first duel, and knowing she is clearly on the outs in her tribe.

But even with Jeff’s Laura B.-bashing, she will live to fight another day. “I’ll be glad to be the only Laura on this tribe,” she says when she casts her vote for Laura M. Laura M. agreed that “there’s only room for one Laura on this island.” Unfortunately for her, she was the wrong one. Laura M. is completely blindsided by the tribe’s vote, and is not very happy having Jeff snuff her torch for the second time in her Survivor playing career.

Onto the winner and losers!

Week 5 Winners

Laura B. and Hayden both made it into the winner’s bracket for similar reasons—had one thing gone a little differently, they could be on Redemption Island.

As I said earlier—Laura B. is not doing a good job at playing Survivor. And it would have been very easy to vote her out this week. She’d probably lose at the next duel, and no one would be upset with anyone. But that isn’t what Galang did. They decided to keep her around for another vote. With the potential for a swap or early merge next week, this really helps Laura’s place in the game. She could become an important part of a voting bloc. Also, this gives everyone an extra few days to realize that Laura B. is the perfect goat. Forget Sherry and Philip and Matt—they are the goats of the past. No one will ever vote to give Laura B. a million dollars. Who wouldn’t want to sit next to her at the end? Shame on the returnees for not realizing this yet. If someone can pick up on this very strategic move, Laura B. may have a lot of time left in the game. If not, she at least made it three more days than she really should have.

I could call all of Tadhana winners this week—seeing as they finally won. But I will go with Hayden for a few different reasons. Hayden scored the final point for Tadhana, for one, sealing their victory. But it’s much more than that. Hayden is the only member of Tadhana who did not vote Brad out last week. If Caleb decided to switch his allegiance from the last remaining members of the Brolliance to the girls, Hayden would be the easiest first vote. But Tadhana won immunity, giving Hayden at least a few more days to secure his position in the game. If Hayden can make it to the merge, his quiet strategic game and ability to win individual immunities could really make him a force to be reckoned with in this game. Kat is on the outs on her tribe, but I don’t think this will affect Hayden’s position in the game in any way. In fact, I think he’ll be better off when she is gone. He’ll be able to make a solid alliance with Caleb, since they both don’t have partners, and Vytas will become the bigger target. I may be biased to Hayden as a Big Brother fan, but I think it is more objective than that. While he may not be able to make it to Final Tribal Council, he can probably get pretty close.

And Aras finally gets the honor his brother has gotten a few times already this season—he is finally one of the big winners. Regardless of how many times the editors hint that Gervase and Tyson want to vote out Aras, I will believe it when I see it. They had an opportunity this week and neither even mentioned his name (at least that we saw). Aras also got his entire tribe to go against what they all wanted to do (vote out Laura B.) and do what he wanted them to do (vote out Laura M.). Aras is clearly calling the shots over at Galang, at least for the time being. Unless Tyson and Gervase decide to actually make a move, Aras could be sitting pretty for quite awhile.

Week 5 Losers

Candice Cody may be a loser in the game of Survivor, but she is a winner where it counts—in our hearts. Before this season started, I was as anti-Candice as you could get. The last time I was so disappointed about a returning player was… well, when Candice returned in Heroes vs Villains. I had never once rooting for her in this game—until this season. I like Redemption Island Candice way better than Survivor Candice. She is a lot of fun to watch when she is angry and bitter. I was hoping we still had at least a few more weeks of her telling people off at the Redemption Island Arena. Candice is out of the game, but at least she managed to gain one more fan before her time was up. Just a word of advice, though, Candice—you really shouldn’t have been asked to return in the first place. Go out on a high note and do not come back! We all want to remember you chopping coconuts pretending they were Monica, and then giving her husband the bird and calling him out duel after duel. Let’s end your Survivor legacy here.

Monica is a loser yet again by no real fault of her own. She loves her husband and everyone knows this, and feels threatened by it. Brad getting voted out of the game didn’t help Monica at all—it almost seemed to remind the members of Galang how strong Monica and Brad could be as a duo. Until Brad loses at Redemption Island, Monica will be seen as a threat. If he doesn’t lose—Monica might be joining him before she knows it.

I don’t want to talk too much about Laura M. and her life outside the game of Survivor, but since she made an open statement about the editing of the show in regards to her actions, I will make some brief comments. Laura opened herself up to some serious criticism outside of the game. Yes, being on a reality show means people are going to feel like they can comment on your life. But I think Laura made things even worst on herself. Now that she herself described what we saw as “intimate” people feel like it’s open season to go off on their opinions of Laura and her life outside of the game. Some people have said some pretty awful things, and some people have made serious accusations about the fact that much more went on than what CBS showed. My opinion on Laura outside of the game of Survivor is irrelevant. But it seems opinions aren’t very good. Laura may not just be having problems in the game, but in her real life also. And to be honest—if she had not been so preemptive in talking about the edit before the episode aired, people might not have been watching, ready to judge her.

But regardless of Laura’s real life, she is definitely a loser when it comes to the game. Sure, she may be great at puzzles. Maybe she’ll beat Brad. Maybe she’ll beat John. Maybe she’ll beat everyone who gets voted out until she can reenter the game. But most likely, she won’t. And even if she did—who does she have to turn to? She was blindsided by her tribe, and they will clearly have no desire to work with her. Her daughter may still be in the game, but Ciera isn’t in a great position either. Laura M. may kick ass at puzzles, but that may be the only positive thing about her we take from this season of Survivor.

Will Tadhana’s big win give them the momentum they need to make it to the merge? Does it not even matter because we are about to have either a swap or early merge the next episode? How will mixing up the game change the current alliances? Can Laura M. annihilate John Cody at puzzles as well as she annihilated her daughter?

Stay tuned!

"You cut my baby, I'll cut you."

Well, let’s not bury the lead here.

Candice Woodcock-Cody did not place first in a Redemption Island duel. I know, I know… I cannot believe it either. Having Dr. John join her in the arena really seemed to soften my favorite stone cold Redemption Island assassin. Maybe she can knock him out next week and get back to being the Candice of old.

… And yes, I am just kidding about that being the lead. So let’s talk about Mr. Culpepper’s downfall episode. And let’s all pretend we didn’t see the preview where Jeff said “That was the biggest power shift ever!!!!” making the downfall more exciting as a surprise.

Brad begins by continuing to spout flawed logic about who to vote out when. “When there is a merge,” he explains to his whole tribe (including partner-less Caleb) “the couples can become a unified power.” This, coming from the same guy who voted out his closest ally because he was afraid of John’s reunion with Candice (who just so happens to be without an alliance of her own).

Now Caleb, who should really be an ideal ally as a swing vote, has to worry about his lack of a loved one since Brad can’t figure out who he really wants in the game with him.

People’s views of Brad don’t really get any better when he gets to the Redemption Island Arena—aka Everyone Talk Smack About Brad Culpepper. Candice walks in and gives him the bird. She and Marissa have gotten close, and she wanted to see someone come to Redemption Island that she and Marissa could fight to beat together. Not someone like her husband—someone “like Brad Culpepper.”

And now that his full name has been mentioned, it’s open season on Brad. Candice complains that Brad shushes women (to which he asked John, a man, if he has done that in front of him). John admits Brad never shushed him at least, but also adds “whoever has been voted out, every single time, it’s been Brad’s idea. He lied to me all the time.”

And how does Brad respond? In front of his whole tribe, the Galang tribe, and three people who have a chance to reenter the game? Does he tell John he got paranoid about the idol? Does he blame it on a group consensus? Does he explain that he wasn’t really lying at the time when he made promises to John? On no. He tells his old ally Dr. John that “you made the wrong decision trusting me.”

Not your best move to date, Brad.

The duel itself was less exciting than the Brad bashing. Candice finally missed finishing first when John proved maybe he should have been doing the puzzles over at Tadhana instead of Ciera, and Marissa was booted from the game.

John and Candice strategize together (although Jeff seems to think it’s Candice wearing the pants in the relationship and telling her hubby what to do) and decide to give the immunity idol clue to Monica Culpepper. “Spread the love a little bit,” John explains. “It seemed to be a big target on my back…”

This pisses Brad off, who tells his wife (three times, actually) to “walk it down and put it in the fire.” Which Monica does. Jeff seems really impressed by this unprecedented move, apparently forgetting when Marcus convinced everyone to throw the immunity idol itself into the ocean during Survivor Gabon. So we still have no immunity idol clues over at Galang, which I have to say—I love. Contrary to the editors beliefs, we can have an entertaining season of Survivor without idols floating around all over the place. This episode will definitely prove that during Tribal Council.

After tossing her clue into the fire, Monica comes back to camp pretty emotional. And rightfully so—every couple of days she has to attend the Brad Bashing Arena. She makes a logical argument—that they are a tribe over there. So clearly, “someone is buying what he is selling.” But Gervase counteracts with an equally valid point: “You know Brad from Tampa… you don’t know Brad from Survivor… You don’t wanna believe your loved one is the ‘bad guy.’” And in this case, that’s exactly who Monica’s husband has become: the “bad guy.”

And Brad, ever the brilliant Survivor player, is over at Tadhana singing his own praises. “I have become the leader of this group,” he says matter-of-factly, along with calling himself “the grand poobah.” He has a confessional about voting out Caleb to keep the Galang tribe from getting so mad at him again, which shows the viewers that to at least some extent, Brad really is thinking of bringing the Brolliance down to three. They’d still have a majority, and he’d have a duel where no one’s loved one could call him out.

In the meantime, Hayden is quietly showing that he knows how to play Survivor strategically. He knows Brad is not well loved over at Galang or Redemption Island. So he also knows they absolutely have to keep Brad until the merge. It will take the heat of the rest of the Brolliance because everyone will be intent on gunning Brad down. Hayden is thinking long term, and he is doing it without taking on a leadership role. Hayden would be my ultimate winner of the week (and I still think he may be, as I am not sold on Caleb, but will give him a week to prove me wrong) if it wasn’t for how Tribal Council played out.

Over at Galang, we have what I’ve heard some people call a “throwaway” scene of Gervase and Tyson stealing coconuts together. I have to disagree, as I think this scene shows us a lot of the dynamics over at Galang. We know Tyson and Gervase are in the majority alliance. We now know that the two of them are very loyal to one another, and willing to work together until the end of the game. We also know that they are suspicious of Aras, and think he may be too much of a threat if reunited with Vytas at the merge. I am not going to lie—during this scene, a small part of me thought Galang might actually lose the immunity challenge and vote Aras out. Now that would have been shocking. Aras will live to play another day—hopefully many more—but now we know his head is on the chopping block. He may not have as much power as we were initially led to believe.

The immunity challenge played out the way that they all do. Tadhana took a huge lead during the physical part, and even after losing some of their blocks in the water and having to retrieve them, they still finished their stairs first and took a lead going into the final puzzle. We also saw, yet again, that Laura Boneham is a pretty good challenge competitor. Perhaps Rupert wasn’t kidding when he said Laura was a better swimmer than him. We also got to hear Jeff say “Culpepper!” about 15 times, aggravating me more and more each time the word came out of his mouth.

And, as with every challenge prior, Tadhana loses. They actually lose on a puzzle, and Ciera actually loses to Laura M. Again. Clearly she does not take after her mom when it comes to this stuff. Her old tribe member John is on Redemption Island apparently able to do puzzles in his sleep, and she can’t even beat her mom with a lead. It is getting sickening watching Tadhana lose, and I am not sure how long we can go without a Tribe swap at this rate. I already watched Survivor: Palau, and as entertaining as it was to watch Ulong lose every single immunity challenge, once is enough. I’d like Tadhana to win. I’d like to see some returning player have to visit Jeff at Tribal Council. Without a swap, I don’t see how that can happen pre-merge.

Hayden has some words of wisdom after losing to three moms and a dude with one arm: “I mean… we suck.”

Yes. You really do. It’s embarrassing to watch.

The strategizing at Tadhana begins with Brad telling the girls Caleb, and telling the Brolliance Ciera. Paranoia is beginning to set in for Caleb after Dr. John’s blindside. “I mean, I love a blind side,” he tells Jeff when they get to Tribal, “But do I want to be the butt of it? No, I don’t.”

Brad’s tactical error during Tribal is admitting that it would be easy to vote out someone without a loved one—ie, Caleb. It’s all downhill from there. Caleb announces that he is going to vote for Brad. By his math, if a gay guy and two girls vote for Brad, this has the potential to really shake things up.

We then move onto the vote itself. And when it comes back a tie, I start to freak out a little on the inside. My thoughts go something like: oh my god a tie there is no way Katie or Caleb switch their vote now and no way Vytas and Hayden go against Brad after all their talk about trust it’s taken 23 seasons, but we are about to see the purple rock!

So, I was getting a little ahead of myself, but boy—was it an exciting prospect. Am I the only person who gets excited for the purple rock? I hope not. It would make great TV.

But, clearly Vytas has watched Survivor: Marquesas. Hayden stuck with Brad until the bitter end, voting out Ciera after hemming and hawing for who knows how long, but Vytas decided to vote out Brad. And with that, we get a very classy exit from Mr. Culpepper, insisting that he is not mad. Which I believed. I liked Brad more in the 30 seconds he was heading to have his torch snuffed than I did the whole rest of the season thus far. Brad got his epic Survivor fall in episode four. He didn’t make it quite as far as John Carroll or Silas Gaither, but that didn’t make it any less entertaining.

I had a tough time with my winners and losers this week. I am not so sure some of my winners are actually winners and vice versa, but after a really exciting episode, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Week 4 Winners

Tyson and Gervase have got a nice little set up going on over at Galang. They have the power of being part of the majority voting bloc. Everyone seems to like them. They are stealing coconuts and getting away with it. They are already figuring out what members of their own alliance they need to get rid of down the line. And what makes Tyson and Gervase’s position in the game so powerful is their lack of loved ones. Rachel and Marissa are gone. They don’t have anyone else they can turn to come merge time, or anyone else to worry about. This will make their bond with each other even stronger. I can see Tyson and Gervase going very far in the game together. By the time someone realizes that they are working together as a pair, it may be too late.

Caleb is the winner I went back and forth on. Like Malcom in Survivor: Caramoan, Caleb made a big move during Tribal Council that was a lot of fun to watch. He managed to get the leader of the Tribe voted out of the game. But also like Malcolm, I don’t think this move will really help him in the long run. The members of the Brolliance have talked a lot about trust, and how hard it is to earn it back once it has been lost. Hayden and Vytas will have a tough time trusting Caleb going forward. Yes, he can go with the girls and vote the remaining guys out, but then he is ensuring Tadhana never wins a challenge unless there is a swap.

So I will call Caleb a winner this week because without having any type of immunity, he went out on a limb and decided to vote out the “grand poobah” of his tribe. This caused last minute scrambling, tie votes, and in the end, Caleb got what he wanted. Brad will go to Redemption Island.

Caleb may not make it a day further than he would have if he had voted out Ciera, but he made a ballsy move. And people will talk about it for a long time. So kudos to Caleb. No one is talking about Colton’s quit anymore.

Week 4 Losers

Yes, Marissa is a loser because she actually lost the game during this episode. But I am really putting her in here because I was to acknowledge what I think we are losing out on as viewers. I wasn’t high on Marissa in my pre-season rankings, but I really grew to like her during her time on Redemption Island. She was smart, a good athlete, and feisty—three things I love in a Survivor character. I think, had she stayed in the game, she would have been a lot of fun to watch. I think we are missing out on a really good character, and that she was gone from the game far too soon!

Monica is a loser this week for most of the same reasons she was last week—by no fault of her own. Everyone hates Brad, and feels he is responsible for voting out their loved ones. Therefore, they feel uncomfortable with Monica. I highly doubt Brad lets her switch places with him at Redemption Island (although she clearly wants to) but that isn’t going to help her game either. With or without Brad on the Tadhana tribe, the damage has already been done. People have a bad taste in their mouths when it comes to Monica, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon.

And the biggest loser of them all—Brad Culpepper himself. Brad was too cocky, and if you are cocky in Survivor that is a one way ticket to getting your torch snuffed. I talked a lot about Brad in this blog, because it really was his downfall episode, so there isn’t much I can say that I haven’t already.

Except this: I hope Brad wins at Redemption Island. In fact, I wish we could’ve held out on the Brad downfall for at least another few episodes. Because like him or not, this drama with Brad was great TV. You know you had fun every week waiting to see who would yell what at him during Redemption Island, or what foolish thing he would say during a confessional. Plus, imagine Candice and Brad alone at Redemption Island if Dr. John is the one to lose. You can’t tell me you don’t want to watch that. I know I do! Brad Culpepper for the Redemption Island win.

And that is all for this week. Is anyone else impressed by Brad’s classy exit, and hoping he has a long stay on Redemption Island? Does anyone think Caleb’s move was good for the long term, or was he just good TV for this week? Can this game continue on without a merge and still be entertaining, or we in for another Ulong?

Until next time.

"That was a strong attack on the Culpepper name."

When I heard what the concept of Survivor 27 was, I am not going to lie—I was very wary. I thought bringing family members with their loved ones was another show (Amazing Race, anyone?). I thought we had already seen Redemption Island for two seasons too many. And I was not thrilled with the cast. Three people from One World? Candice Woodcock? The Boneham clan?

No, I did not have high hopes for Blood vs Water.

So imagine my surprise when I watched the first episode and really enjoyed it. And then the second. And then the third. Somehow, in between all the crazy twists and strategy that Survivor can’t seem to get away from, they have found a way to bring back the things I loved most about the show that I haven’t really seen in a long time.

The loved ones twist has brought back my favorite part of the show—emotions and characters. Suddenly the players care about one another again. The vote outs and challenges are emotional. The viewer is watching relationships be built, and it is only a matter of time until we get to watch these relationships break down. This isn’t forty-five minutes of searching for the idol. We are character building again.

And the place where we get the most emotion? The most character building? Well, Redemption Island, of course! Rather than being a waste of fifteen minutes where a few tribe members watched two people compete to reenter the game, only to be unceremoniously booted as soon as they weren’t immune, we are watching two entire tribes gather to vent their anger, sadness, and frustration at the position of their loved ones in this game.

Rupert Boneham is already gone, and Laura is playing a quiet (and smart) game. The One Worlder’s may not be long for Survivor 27. And I am not gonna lie—I like Candice at Redemption Island a hell of a lot better than I ever liked her when she was actually playing the game in Cook Islands or Heroes vs Villains.

This season is shaping up pretty nicely so far. No, it is not the Survivor of old. But this weird mash-up of twists has something going for it—a little bit of heart. A little bit more than just a game.

Now, I am going to recap a tiny bit out of order, because I want to talk about Colton first, and then be done with him. But first, a brief interlude into the history of quitters in Survivor.

I don’t think anyone even thought about quitting Survivor before Shawna in Amazon, but she stuck it out, making Osten the first quitter one season later. Osten sold all his clothes early on, and between that and the elements he was really struggling health-wise. On multiple occasions, Osten asked his tribe to vote him out, but they didn’t. And when the Morgan tribe had to go to tribal right before the merge, Osten offered himself up. He was sick, his heart wasn’t in the game, so shouldn’t he go over everyone else who really wanted to be there? But it wouldn’t be that easy for Osten. Survivor wouldn’t let the tribe just vote him out (something we saw in later seasons, such as Johnny Fairplay in Micronesia), instead choosing to wait until he said those two magic words: “I quit.” Because then the producers could make an example out of Osten. Survivor did not like quitters. Osten probably would have had it worst if it hadn’t been for All Stars Jenna Morasca and Sue Hawk quitting one season later for what were considered “valid reasons” (Jenna’s sick mother, Sue’s altercation with Richard Hatch). So Osten sort of lucked out. History does not look kindly upon him, but had Jenna and Sue not quit just a season later, it would probably be a lot worst.

Our next quitter came in season 10, Janu in Palau. Janu was also struggling for a long time before being sent to Exile Island. Upon returning, she decided she had accomplished everything she wanted to in the game and laid her torch down so Stephanie Lagrossa would have a chance to continue on. Similar to Osten, it was a long time coming, and both probably could’ve been quietly voted out by their tribe without so much hoopla.

Six seasons later, Kathy Sleckman quit the game without even waiting to get to Tribal Council. We all know that she couldn’t feel her family, and later found out she went off her anti-depressants cold turkey. Of all the Survivor quitters, she has stayed most active in the community, always willing to talk about her quit open and honestly.

We then move onto season 21, where Na’Onka and Purple Kelly called in quits in the same episode. Na’Onka had threatened to quit much earlier, and Purple Kelly barely even got a confession until episode seven, so it’s tough to know where her head was at. Jeff told them to think about it, and let him know at the next Tribal Council, which they did. Na’Onka was the first quitter since Osten to really be vilified for her actions. She was in a good position in the game, had already made the jury, and could’ve gone to the final three. She had even just won a big reward challenge right before quitting. Purple Kelly didn’t become a Survivor villain, but instead a nobody—she was basically edited out of the show so we never got a chance to know anything about her. Two quitters: one a villain, the other an invisible edit.

The Nicaragua quitters were followed by Dana in the Philippines. A season built around the return of medical evacuees, Dana got sick enough to have the medical team called in, but not quite enough to be pulled from the game—so she pulled herself.

We had people ask to be voted out over the seasons, but these people were our real quitters. And for the most part, there was a common theme. These people were sick (physically or mentally) and struggled for a long time before giving up—some of them even making it to the jury. A quitter is still a quitter, but at the end of the day, don’t we feel a little bit better about it if we can rationalize it? If we can say Osten quit because he was sick, and Jenna wanted to be with her mother, and Kathy needed to be on her meds, we can at least justify it to ourselves.

Enter our latest quitter, Colton Cumbie.

The Colton quit really doesn’t sit well with me. Colton’s tribe hadn’t even gone to Tribal Council yet. The game hadn’t even begun. But when Aras told him outright that he was in trouble, Colton decided he wasn’t going to give Galang the satisfaction. Why let yourself be voted out when you can just quit, right? Tina pegged Colton perfectly: “He knows he can’t win the game.” And to Colton, that was reason enough to take the power away from his tribe and walk away on his own.

Jeff Probst was not very nice to Colton during this whole exchange at Redemption Island. In fact, he made some serious claims that I am not sure he has been able to back up—namely that Colton was already a quitter before Blood vs Water began. Jeff stated that Colton (who was in a position of power at the time) “feigned” appendicitis to quit in One World. Now, I am not a Colton fan, but this seems a little hard to believe. Colton was running the show on his tribe. And the medical team that left poor Dana in so much pain in Philippines because her condition was not life-threatening had actually pulled Colton for faking? They are actual doctors. That seems a little far-fetched.

We do know that Colton did not, in fact, have appendicitis. But I have to believe that he was sick, and he was pulled because medical was truly concerned for his safety. I’d prefer to have faith in the Survivor medical team, than to call Colton a two-time quitter. But Probst has a lot more riding on how Colton is perceived. Because he can say he didn’t want to bring Colton back all he wants—but he did. So he either brought back a quitter (something Survivor insists they will never do), or he brought back someone who, to use his own words, should have never left the couch.

Survivor producers dropped the ball on this one, and all the back-pedaling and Colton-bashing won’t change that. Colton should’ve never been asked back to play a second time, no matter how much he loves the game. I can think of name after name after name of players who would be better returnees. But we got Colton, and we got another Survivor quit. He is the ultimate loser his week, and I feel I have already wasted enough time on him. This ends Colton’s time on Survivor, and the time I will spend talking about him.

So onto our second Redemption Island duel!

When Tyson realizes Rachel was voted out of the Tadhana tribe, he is not happy. But he is also not stupid. He immediately calls out Tadhana on their plan to vote out Rachel so Tyson would take her place, giving Tadhana a chance to win immunity. Rachel then won the hearts of America by telling Tyson not to switch with her. Just like Tyson, she knows what Tadhana’s brilliant strategy is, and she wants to make sure it does not come to fruition. She takes a bullet for her man, and makes it clear that she will be competing in the duel.

Now, we start to call out Brad Culpepper. “Mr. Football over there, smiling at me like he does,” Tyson says. “You can be big, but that’s the worst thing in this game.”

Marissa chimes in by adding that Brad is basically an idiot, keeping weaker people on his tribe for no real reason, ensuring that Tadhana will continue to lose immunities. She also adds seemingly everyone’s favorite line from the episode: “Fuck you, Brad Culpepper.” Monica cannot be thrilled about this. But we as the viewers are. I know I am not the only one who is loving the build up for an epic Brad Culpepper downfall.

The duel itself isn’t interesting (dominoes, basically) but it still somehow managed to be a nail biter. Candice beats everyone by completing her dominoes in about five minutes as any Redemption Island assassin would do. We’re left to watch Rachel and Marissa struggle in the 114 degree heat, neck and neck, for forty-five minutes. And yes, along with all of Galang (minus Gervase) I was rooting for Rachel. I like Marissa, but after sacrificing herself for her man, I wanted to see more Rachel Foulger. But, alas, it was not to be, as Marissa just barely beat Rachel out to take second in the duel.

Candice gives the second immunity idol clue to John (bad play, Dr. Candice), and Tyson hugs Rachel, asking, “Did you have fun while you were here?” Rachel says she did.

Back at Galang after the duel, we see a whole new side of Tyson. He’s not just a funny dude who kicks ass at challenges. He’s a sensitive guy who loves his girlfriend, and knows there is more to life than this game. “Too many people take it too serious and it shouldn’t be.” Tyson knows what he’s talking about.

Aras tells Tyson he made the right decision although it was hard, and Monica complains about all the shit being talked to her husband. Tyson admits, “being here with Monica is a little weird.” This doesn’t bode well for the fifth member of the Galang power alliance. Tyson is clearly pretty high up in this alliance, although I think Aras and Tina are running the show (it’s hard to tell in a tribe that never loses who is in charge). It’s impossible to know that one Culpepper voted out your girlfriend in an attempt to remove you from the game, and then align with a second Culpepper 100%. We may be seeing the beginning of Monica’s downfall as well, completely by no fault of her own.

Over at Tadhana, Dr. John Cody is thinking about those two votes cast against him last Tribal. He is thinking that maybe he wasn’t as smart as he should have been with the immunity idol clue last time around. So this time, he goes to Brolliance leader Brad Culpepper, and paraphrases the clue. But he doesn’t want Brad to search for the idol with him or anything. Because then the rest of the Brolliance may get suspicious (as if they aren’t already). John isn’t being as smart as he should be in regards to this idol, but Brad is overthinking John’s actions. When two guys who don’t seem to know much about how to play a good game of Survivor are “running” the game, it does not really bode well for your tribe.

Episode three’s immunity challenge was very intense. Galang sat out Monica, obviously because they knew Brad couldn’t handle watching someone from his tribe try to knock her into the water and feared for Katie and Ciera’s safety. We then got to watch Brad annihilate Gervase without even giving him a chance, Laura Boneham took out Katie, Dr. John beat Aras, and Kat ended Ciera’s chances on one push. Hayden also beat Tyson with one push, but this may have been partially due to a shoulder injury Tyson sustained almost immediately. Medical came in and noted that he popped his shoulder out and possibly tore a tendon. How this will affect Tyson’s game going forward remains to be seen, but today it keeps him from being able to compete in anymore battles. Now Tadhana has some momentum, and Katie Collins is about to face off against her mother. Katie should probably care a little about this—she knows her position in the game is not great. She knows a win here could really help her in the coming days. So what does she do? She giggles, and bad ass Tina Wesson takes her out. My god, how can you not love Tina?

Survivor had been hyping an emotional battle, and when Aras told us earlier, “When I was a kid, my brother never looked out for me,” it was clear that they were going to be it. And while it may not have been as intense as all the hype, it showed us so much about these two people with just a few minutes of screen time. It was the longest battle we got to watch, with athletic Aras getting the upper hand early. He decides to give his brother a chance to get his footing and start from square one midway through their battle. As soon as he turns his back, Vytas takes a cheap shot at his brother, “one of the biggest un-sportsman-like moves,” trying to knock him out while his back is turned. This backfires, and Aras beats Vytas. Aras tears up, and we get some real, raw emotion from the former winner. “Do I feel like I’m seven? A little bit, yeah,” he tells Jeff. Then, “He’s my brother. I don’t wanna fight against him. We’ve done it enough.”

Vytas’ response? “He’s the college athlete… I’m the junkie… He beat me. I’m proud of him.”

Vytas and Aras’ relationship has had it’s ups and downs, and there is also still clearly a lot of tension between them. We’ll probably never know the whole story, but this interaction showed us so much about both of them. The Baskauskas brothers are compelling to watch. I can’t wait to see more. 

After Vytas and Aras, Laura Morrett gets the chance to compete against her daughter. Unlike bad ass Tina, Laura is a little weepy, saying, “That’s my baby.” But, the two compete. And Ciera loses the pivotal battle, despite the fact that Laura really seemed to be taking it a little easy on her daughter.

Katie and Ciera could not be feeling good about their challenge performances. They each had two chances, and couldn’t pull out one win between them. And with Tadhana about to attend Tribal Council yet again, how could their heads not be on the chopping block?

Well, because the tribe is being run by the brilliant Brad Culpepper, of course. And what does Brad think? “John—he’s a strong player. He needs to go.”

Great plan, Brad!

The problem with all of this is that Brad’s logic is flawed. He complains that Candice will win Redemption Island, and John will reconnect with her. “Brad doesn’t control John anymore. Candice controls John.” The only problem with this is the fact that everyone (minus Caleb) has a loved one they can reconnect with. And of all the loved ones, isn’t Candice actually the best for the Brolliance? She doesn’t have her own alliance over at Galang. In fact, she has been planning their downfall for days now. Wouldn’t sticking with John just give Brad another vote at the time Candice was to reenter the game? Wouldn’t Candice just become an honorary female member of the Brolliance?

But more on Brad’s poor gameplay later on.

We get the red herring of Brad perhaps being voted out by his allies after some serious strategizing from Hayden, who is concerned that the Brolliance is already going to cannibalize itself—which “could be like opening Pandora’s Box.”

But Tribal Council went pretty much as predicted—John was blindsided after Vytas explained that “trust is the currency of this game.” John knew there was a target on his back, but he trusted that his allies would see the value he brought to the tribe. Not exactly smart, considering the fact that Tadhana consistently keeps weak players in the game in favor of voting out stronger competitors for strategies that may or may not work down the road.

And then Jeff Probst tells Tadhana something that sums up exactly how I feel about this tribe: “It appears you’re voting people out based on the future. It also appears that with each vote, your tribe is getting weaker.” Know what this means, Tadhana? You are not playing a smart game! Wise up, please! I am so sick of seeing you at Tribal Council.

So who is in a better position than they were last week?

Week 3 Winners

So, Vytas can’t be a winner every week, I guess. Not that he was a loser—but I think his stock has stayed pretty level.

My pick of Caleb as a winner is simple. Just like Laura Boneham’s place in the game rose dramatically upon Rupert’s exit, Caleb’s is going to do the same with the loss of Colton. No one can get paranoid and vote him out because they are afraid he will reconnect with his loved one like the tribe did with John. And no one can blame him for things Colton is doing, like Galang may or may not do with Monica. Caleb is a free agent, and when the tribes merge and start voting out people who are in pairs, Caleb is going to be able to fly under the radar for quite awhile.

His first few days on the island, Hayden seemed overwhelmed. Survivor and Big Brother may have some similarities, but I don’t think Hayden realized how hard things would be. But now that he has gotten his footing under him, my BB12 friend is starting to strategize. He realized that once his alliance is willing to vote out one of their own unnecessarily, it’s only a matter of time before the whole thing crumbles. He was the one who suggested voting out Brad because “John is a threat, but I am starting to think Brad is equally dangerous.” And Hayden is right—but he also probably realized as far as challenges go, voting out Brad is the last thing they should do. I liked seeing a little life from Hayden this episode, and based on what I already know about him, I think this bodes well for his time in the game. Hayden could sneak up on everyone and suddenly be in the final three.

But I couldn’t choose the biggest winner this week. By losing Rachel, Tyson is in the same boat as Laura B. and Caleb without a partner. Aras and Tina really seem to have a good handle on things. Gervase is part of the majority alliance, and his niece keeps winning duels. Plus, as a whole, Galang just cannot lose. So I can’t just pick one. The Galang tribe as a whole are the ultimate winners this week. They haven’t lost yet, and at the rate Tadhana is voting out strong competitors, they may be pulling a Koror before we know it. 

Week 3 Losers

As I said earlier—I am done talking about Colton, which is why he is not on my Losers List. At the end of the day, he is really the biggest loser of them all. But I’d rather focus on people who are actually playing the game of Survivor.

Which is something John Cody may not be doing for much longer. He tried to smarten up and share his clue with Brad, but it was too little, too late. He felt too comfortable with his tribe, and if Survivor seasons past have taught us anything it’s that when you feel too comfortable—it’s because you are about to get blind-sided. Now Dr. John may get to hang out with his wife (and Marissa) for a few days on Redemption Island, but then I think he is going to lose the duel and be tossing his buff in the fire. I am pretty convinced that John’s game ends here. We all know Candice cannot be beat, and Marissa is starting to go on a nice little second place run. John’s hemming and hawing and inability to play Survivor with some intelligence (if everyone knows you have the clue, share the clue!) has brought his game to an early end. Another person somewhat high in my pre-game power rankings bites the dust.

Monica Culpepper is a loser by no fault of her own. She is actually playing the game smart. But she married a guy with zero clue on how to play Survivor, and then she brought him along with her to play the game. As the face of the Brolliance, Brad is taking all the heat at Redemption Island, which is not reflecting well on Monica. Tyson already made mention to how uncomfortable it all was, and I don’t think that’s the last time we are going to hear something like that. Laura B. or M. may be replacing her in that majority alliance, and she may be joining fellow One Worlder Kat at the bottom of the Galang totem pole.

So, clearly, the biggest loser of week 3 is the man behind the Brolliance himself, Mr. Brad Culpepper. We already talked about Brad’s flawed logic for voting out John, a much, much, much stronger competitor than Katie and Ciera (who also both have loved ones in the game). But to make this even better, Brad then tells the tribe that he thinks he’s going to vote for Ciera while everyone else votes for John. You know—in case John actually does win Redemption Island. Then he won’t be mad at Brad. Brad is doing jury management before there is even a jury, and on top of that he is telling everyone that that is what he is doing. Even former loyal allies are concerned at “that level of shiestiness.”

So now Brad has turned against his main ally, while telling everyone else he doesn’t want blood on his hands and might cast a throwaway vote, alienating John and the rest of Tadhana. He is being blamed by everyone at Redemption Island for their position in the game—publicly, in front of the other tribe that his wife is on. He consistently decides that keeping the two weakest players on his tribe is a good idea, because he is paranoid about the future of the game. Brad’s tribe has not won an immunity challenge yet, and he has no one to blame but the Brolliance that he professes he is in charge of. The buildup to his downfall is almost complete—now it’s just a question of whether Galang loses and votes out his wife, or his own tribe turns on him first. But the Culpepper’s are going to be out of this game or at least competing against each other at Redemption Island before we know it.

And that ends my ramblings about the third episode of a season that is shaping up to be so much better than I had expected

Will we ever find out where Galang stands by watching them at Tribal Council? Is a tribe swap inevitable—or is it even fair when some people could end up with their loved ones on their side? Will Candice be so in the zone at Redemption Island that she’ll pull a Sophie Clark and yell at John to quit the challenge and help her win? And how many more Tribal Councils before the looming Culpepper blindside?

I, for one, cannot wait.