This episode of Survivor: Blood vs Water begins with John surprising his wife, Candice, on Redemption Island. John was the last survivor to be voted out of his tribe, Tadhana, and was blindsided when his all-male alliance turned on him. Candice tells John she wanted to play the game with him, but not quite like this—they have both been voted out of their tribes early on in the game. It appears bittersweet for the both of them—they want to be together on the island, but they do not want to be together on Redemption Island—they wanted each other to go as far as possible in the game.
Before long, it’s time for the Redemption Island challenge. It will be the couple, John and Candice, playing for their individual survival against former Tadhana tribe member Marissa, niece of Gervais. The Redemption Island challenges are quickly turning into the ‘Brad Culpepper bashing fests.’ In this case, Candice flips off Brad Culpepper soon after entering the arena. She accuses him of hushing all the girls on their tribe and claims that he orders women around. She reminds the tribe members on both Galang and Tadhana that Culpepper holds a lot of power, and they should start to think about that.
Culpepper denies treating the women poorly, and appears taken aback by Candice’s harsh words. Marissa joins in on the Culpepper-bashing, and the contempt she feels towards her former tribe, Tadhana, is more than obvious.
Before we are able to dwell on the tension between the survivors, it’s time for the challenge to begin. In this challenge, they will have to untangle ropes and build a complicated puzzle. John gets off to an early lead, and Marissa is right behind him. Candice starts to fall behind, and it seems like this is the first Redemption Island challenge she will not completely dominate.
In lightning speed, John successfully untangles the ropes and puts together his puzzle. He makes it look easy. Marissa is the first to untangle her ropes, but she starts to panic when completing the puzzle. Candice slowly but surely gains on her, and begins to construct her puzzle slowly but methodically. Candice is starting to take the lead, and Marissa is pleading with Gervais to help her. He tries his best, but he cannot save his niece in this challenge—Candice assembles her puzzle faster than Marissa, and Marissa will be the next person to leave the game of Survivor.
In her final goodbyes, Gervais tells us he is impressed and proud of Marissa for how she played the game.
Before the challenge is over, John will now be able to give a clue to the hidden immunity idol to someone from either tribe. Candice tells John he should give it to Monica, Brad Culpepper’s wife, and he listens. Candice’s hope is that Monica will become a bigger threat and Brad, being her loved one, will also become a bigger target as a result. Realizing this, Brad tells Monica to throw the clue in the fire. She listens to her husband (which Candice sarcastically points out) and throws the clue away. It appears that Monica does not want the power OR the danger that comes along with the hidden immunity idol.
Now, Candice and John will return to Redemption Island together, and both are still able to reenter the game. In later scenes, the couple looks like they are thoroughly enjoying their time on Redemption Island together. They catch fish together, go swimming together, and relax on the island together. They both admit it’s nice, even if the circumstances aren’t too great.
Next, it’s time for the immunity challenge. Galang has won every single challenge thus far in the game, even though it’s been a close race each time. Survivors will have to paddle out in boats and retrieve/untie different boxes from underneath the water. Hayden is first to dive out and successfully retrieves the first box. Monica and Laura help Galang by securing boxes for their tribe. Tadhana ends up pulling ahead, and Culpepper is dominating and untying box and after. Just when Tadhana gets all their boxes, however, the boat tips over and several of the boxes fall out. Tadhana always has an early lead, and Galang always begins to gain on them—this is the process that’s been occurring for a while now in these challenges.
Tadhana is still the first to get to the puzzle, and Cierra and Caleb try to fit the pieces together. Cierra is once again facing off against her mother, Laura, on the opposing tribe. Both teams are extremely close the whole way through, but it’s clear that Cierra, once again, is failing in a challenge—her hands being to shake and she is panicking. Her mother, Laura, on the other hand, is expertly assembling the puzzle. To no one’s surprise, it is Galang that assembles the puzzle the fastest and wins the immunity challenge—their fourth win this season.
Once again, Tadhana must now decide who they will vote out at tribal council. Brad mentions that they should vote out Caleb, since he is the only member of their tribe without a loved one, and no one on Galang would be angry if he was voted out. However, Caleb is still close to the other two men in his alliance, Vytas and Hayden. Brad makes it a point to tell the Tadhana girls, Cierra and Katie, that Caleb will be the one voted out tonight.
However, when the guys convene to discuss their votes, Brad switches sides and tells them he will vote out Cierra. They all agree that Cierra is the weakest link on their team, and she needs to go.
Going into tribal council, it seems like a sure thing that Cierra will be voted out. However, in normal Probst style, Jeff asks an important question—in so many words, he asks, “Is it smart to vote out someone that will not piss the other tribe off?” (In this case, it’s clear he’s mentioning Caleb, the only Tadhana member without his loved one.) Brad answers honestly and says “yes.” This angers Caleb, who tells us that he’s okay with being the person they “pretend” they will vote out to the girls, but when he feels like he is in serious dangerous of going home, he does not like it. It makes him lose trust in Culpepper. As a result, he tells Jeff he will be voting out Brad Culpepper tonight. He also implies that the women should do the same.
This sends the Tadhana tribe into a tailspin. Brad immediately begins to backpedal, and tells Caleb he was not planning on writing his name down. Vytas and Hayden look shocked that Caleb has decided to do this. But Caleb is persistent in his conviction, and asserts that he will still be voting to evict Brad.
It’s clear that Vytas and Hayden are now torn. Do they evict Brad, who’s still on their side and an asset in challenges, or do they evict Cierra, who is not as controversial but has not proven herself physically? It comes down to a tie: Brad vs Cierra. The tribe will now have to revote and will only be able to vote for Brad or Cierra.
We see Hayden crossing out names on his vote, and it is clear he’s unsure. Vytas, too, appears uncertain. The votes are soon revealed: it’s a 3-1 vote, and in a surprising turn of events, Brad will be the next member voted off the Tadhana tribe. It is clear that one of the boys flipped (it is unknown whether it was Vytas or Hayden), and Brad will be leaving as a consequence.
Brad’s eviction serves as a reminder that anything can happen in the game of Survivor. How will it be for Brad on Redemption Island with Candice and John, two of his biggest foes in the game? And who will be the next member voted off Tadhana or Galang? We will find out next Wednesday at 8/7c!