The third episode of Survivor: Blood vs Water was chock full of surprising twists and turns. One Survivor quits the game, another leaves Redemption Island for good, and just when you think it’s over, a shocking blindside hits us at tribal council.
First order of business in this episode: Redemption Island competition. Both tribes gather to watch Rachel, Marissa, and Candice duke it out for the chance to stay on Redemption Island and eventually re-enter the game.
Jeff begins by asking the Survivors how they are doing. Before long, a fight breaks out between the tribes: Tyson becomes angered when he finds out that his wife, Rachel, was evicted at the last tribal council. After a brief exchange between the couple, it is agreed that Rachel will battle it out and Tyson will not take her place on Redemption Island. Tyson warns the Tadhana tribe that “none of them have a chance” now that Tyson is out for revenge. Also, Brad Culpepper’s name gets thrown out, and it’s clear that most of the voted out tribe members blame Brad for their demise. Culpepper appears to be the scapegoat on the Tadhana tribe, and the other four guys in his alliance seem to enjoy hiding behind the target that’s growing on Culpepper’s back.
Out of nowhere it seems, Survivor contestant Colton begins to cry. Jeff immediately turns to him, “Why are you crying?” Colton, who quit the game the last time he played Survivor, tells us that he “doesn’t want to be here anymore at all.” Jeff asks him to clarify if he is quitting the game. He affirms that indeed he is, for a second time.
Jeff Probst doesn’t let Colton off the hook so easily. He points out that this is an extremely selfish move. He also reminds Colton that he quit the last time he played Survivor by faking appendicitis (to which Colton claims it was some kind of ‘bacterial infection’), and that maybe he shouldn’t have got off the couch at all this time to play the game. In Jeff’s mind: once a quitter, always a quitter. It’s clear that Probst, like the rest of us, is mad that a player like Colton gets to play the game of Survivor twice, and quits both times as soon as the going gets tough.
Eventually, after Colton leaves the game, it’s time for the competition to begin. It’s Candice vs. Marissa vs. Rachel, and the girls must stack a set of dominos perfectly in order. If these dominos are stacked perfectly, they will hit a ball at the end of the stack, and the ball will shatter a piece of glass. It’s 114 degrees outside, and the three girls are already sweating.
It’s clear from the beginning that Candice is, once again, dominating this challenge. She stacks her dominos in record time, and they fall one by one, until the ball rolls out, cracks the glass, and she is declared the winner. She will stay on Redemption Island.
Now it’s between Rachel and Marissa. Both are continually having to stack and restack, and it’s clear the heat is wearing on both of them. Gervais is cheering on his niece, while Tyson is trying to encourage his wife. Both are close, but Rachel can’t quite get it done. Marissa finally ends up winning the challenge, and will get to stay on Redemption Island with Candice. Rachel will now have to leave the game for good. She exits after sharing a heartfelt goodbye with Tyson.
Onto the next battle: the immunity challenge. Galang has won the first two immunity challenges, but it’s been close each time, and Tadhana is due for a win. However, as Marissa reminds the Tadhana tribe members (specifically the boys) at the Redemption Island arena, Tadhana’s not doing their best voting off weak players. They still have Cierra and Katie, two of the seemingly (physically) weakest girls in the game. And this challenge is physical.
Two players will have to square off at a time and, using huge pads, will have to wrestle/push the opposing player off the platform and into the water. After a series of duels (most notably, Aras beating his older brother and “bully” Vaytas, Culpepper beating his nemesis Gervais, and Tina beating her daughter, Katie), it’s tied 3-3. It’s down to Cierra vs her mom, Laura. As many expected, Laura defeats her waiflike daughter easily in the challenge. Galang wins their third immunity challenge in a row. As John tells us, “It’s frustrating, they’re like a tribe of moms and grandmas and we can’t beat them.”
Now it’s time for the Tadhana tribe to go back to camp and decide who to vote out at tribal. Up until this point, the five guys have stuck together in the game. It appears like it will be an easy vote tonight: get out one of the weaker girls so they can start winning some challenges and stop going to tribal council.
However, yet again, Culpepper is thinking of the other tribe and not his own. He tells the other guys that “John has to go” and uses the excuse that him and Candice together could be dangerous. (Or she could be an extra person on your side after the merge? Seems like a colossally stupid move to me.) And he also insists that John is too dangerous now that he has received two clues for the idol.
The other boys seem to go along with the plan, but they secretly wonder if it would be better to vote out Culpepper, who seems to be running the show at this point. Either way, it’s clear that one of the boys is going to be voted out tonight, and the 5-guy alliance is quickly coming to an end.
At tribal council, John still seems on board with voting out Cierra. Culpepper seems on board with voting out John. No matter what, it’s clear that the vote will be a blindside for someone on the Tadhana tribe tonight.
It’s time to reveal the votes. Turns out that the guys decided to go along with Culpepper for now: John is the next person voted out of the Tadhana tribe, and it’s clear that he’s shocked.
Next week on Survivor, we will see Candice, John, and Marissa battle it out to stay on Redemption Island. The fourth immunity challenge will be held, and another person will be leaving the game for good. Are Culpepper’s days numbered now that the guys alliance is done? And can Tadhana finally pull out a win? We’ll see next week on the fourth episode of Survivor: Blood vs Water!