This season of Survivor: Blood vs Water is already full of shocking twists, surprises, and heartache. Survivor is doing something this season they have never done before: they are pinning love ones against each other. This season, loved ones are forced to compete for the grand prize against their sons, daughters, wives, nieces, et cetera. The contestants will be faced with a constant catch twenty-two: they are on Survivor, so they have an innate desire to win, but they also do not want their loved ones’ lives in the game to be put in jeopardy.
To begin, the Survivor contestants are initially shocked to find they will not be playing with their loved ones, they will be playing on the opposing tribe. Galang will be the tribe full of returning players, featuring fourth-time player Rupert, controversial figure Colton, first season contestant Gervais, and many more memorable players. The opposing tribe, Tadhana, is made up of the returning players’ loved ones, featuring former Big Brother winner Hayden Moss and former professional football player Brad Culpepper.
The survivors do not even have enough time to process that they will be competing against the people they love the most—in normal Jeff Probst style, he hits them with another twist before the first twist even has time to sink in. Within minutes, one person from each tribe will be voted out. As Hayden puts it, “First impressions are going to play a big part here.” Each member of the tribe is looking around, unsure who to vote out. There’s a sense of tension in the air as each contestant wonders if they will be the first to go.
The newbies are the first to reveal their votes. With an almost unanimous decision, Laura, Rupert’s wife, is the first to be voted out. The Tadhana tribe members may be new, but they recognize that Rupert is a huge Survivor threat so, naturally, they want to take out the threat’s closest ally.
Galang, the tribe full of returning players, is more split with their decision—it comes down to Candice and the other Laura. Candice ends up receiving the most votes and, with that, she is the first member of Galang to be voted out.
But, wait a minute, before the first evictions have time to sink in, Probst announces another twist! This year, Redemption Island is back, and just because a survivor is voted out, does not mean they are leaving for good. That means Candice and Laura will have a chance to reenter the game.
And now, it is time to see the contestants’ devotion to their loved ones: Probst announces that Candice and Laura’s loved ones and spouses, Rupert and John, are able to take their spot in Redemption Island. Unthinkingly, Rupert shows his allegiance to his wife and takes her spot. Candice’s husband, on the other hand, is unsure. He thinks that Candice may be able to take care of herself on Redemption Island. He ultimately decides to stay with his tribe and let his wife compete against Rupert for a chance to reenter the game.
However, there are consequences for Rupert’s decision: his wife, Laura, will now have to join the tribe of returning players. Laura may be in danger since she is now the contestant with the least experience on Galang.
Back at camp, the members of Galang seem to welcome Laura with open arms, but it’s no surprise they wish that Rupert were there instead of her. The survivors also show their experience when Tyson quickly gets a fire started without flint.
Unfortunately, things aren’t going so well on the other camp—they cannot seem to get a fire started, and their inexperience is noticeable.
However, alliances are being formed on the Tadhana camp. There are five guys and four girls, and the guys are bonding and beginning to realize they have the numbers. They come to the conclusion that they will join together and pick off the girls if they lose a competition.
Eventually, it’s time for the first immunity challenge. Immunity is up for grabs, and it’s loved ones against loved ones! Six members of each tribe will need to go through an obstacle course in the water, then the remaining three tribe members will have to assemble a puzzle. Tadhana is off to a quick start, and the newbie guys show their physical strength as well as their teamwork on the obstacle course. Gervais from Galang, on the other hand, is slowing his team down with his poor swimming abilities. Tadhana ends up finishing the obstacle way before Galang, and now it’s time for the puzzle to be assembled.
Tadhana gives their puzzle assemblers a huge lead, but they still seem to be panicked and nervous. They cannot seem to fit the parts together correctly. Eventually, the older Galang players begin to gain on them. The more the new players panic, the faster the returning players put their puzzle together. Before long, Galang is the first to assemble their puzzle, and their experience in this game clearly paid off—they win the first immunity!
Now Tadhana will have to decide who to vote off at tribal council. Gervais, Marissa’s uncle on the Galang tribe, annoyed the members of Tadhana when he gloated his team’s win in their faces. They think it may be justified to vote off Marissa just to put it back in Gervais’s face. They also consider voting out Katie, one of the puzzle assemblers and Tina’s daughter, who seriously slacked in the competition.
At tribal council, it becomes obvious that it’s between Marissa and Katie. In the end, when the votes are revealed, it’s Marissa who is voted out of Tadhana. She does not look pleased to say the least, and it’s clear this is a blindside. Now she must join Rupert and Candice on Redemption Island, and will get the chance to re-enter the game. Before Jeff ends the tribal council, he surprises the survivors by giving them flint to make fire. Now they can at least be on somewhat of a level-playing field with the experienced Galang tribe members.
Overall, this season of Survivor is already shaping up to be a memorable one. This twist will reveal the survivors’ true character as well as their determination to win and succeed. Will they deceive their loved ones in order to make it further in the game? Or will they sacrifice their chances at the grand prize in order to appease the people they love the most? Only time will tell on this epic season of Survivor: Blood vs Water!