In this episode, "The Skin of My Teeth," the game of Survivor: Blood vs. Water is finally starting to heat up: it is time for the tribes to merge! Tadhana and Galang are no more, they are now one big tribe, and veterans and newbies will join forces and play together. Loved ones are also united with the merge, and the Blood vs Water twist is now fully activated. But before we can get to all that, it is time for one survivor on Redemption Island to re-enter the game in an exciting competition.
In the redemption arena, Laura B., Laura M., and John must face off in an endurance challenge. The winner will be able to get back into the game. John has now won several redemption challenges, and it has all been leading up to this moment. If he goes home, all of his challenge wins will have cultivated to nothing.
The three survivors must stand on a narrow pole for as long as they can. There are three footholes they can latch onto, but they are extremely small. Both John and Laura B. start slipping and shaking within minutes, but Laura M. seems pretty secure. Laura B. slips down the pole, but then lands on another footrest. John is shaking and, out of desperation, takes off his shoes and tries to latch on with his socks. This clearly is not a smart move, because his socks start slipping within seconds, too. Before long, John slips down the pole against his will, and his game is over, even after all his previous wins in the redemption arena. It is now between the two Lauras, and Laura B. is pretty far down the pole. It does not take long for her to eventually reach the bottom and lose the game.
Laura M. has remained strong throughout the whole challenge, and she is the winner of this competition. Laura M. will now re-enter the game! Her and her daughter, Cierra, are now reunited. Laura M. is also able to give the clue to the hidden immunity idol to anyone left in the game. She is able to take it for herself, too. However, like most of the survivors before her, she decides to immediately throw it in the fire without a second glance.
Back at camp, Tyson goes on a “walk.” In other words, he goes to look for the hidden immunity idol. Hayden and the other remaining Tadhana tribe members told them the information in the clue, and he remembered it. He goes to search in a “serpent tree” and quickly finds the idol. Tyson ultimately seems to be in a great position in the game at this point.
Eventually it is time for the individual immunity challenge. This challenge is a memory game, and the contestants must remember a series of images on a box and repeat them back to Jeff in the same order they were revealed. Many of the survivors are knocked out before the first round is over, and in the end, it comes down to Vytas, Aras, and Gervais. Gervais gets the next answer wrong, and it comes down to the two brothers once again. In the final round, Vytas beats Aras, and he wins the first individual immunity of the season!
Now the new merged tribe must figure out who will be the first to go. Aras has been on Tyson and Gervais’s hit list for a while, but Aras still thinks they are on his side. Will the couples stick together, will the men pick off the women, or will individual alliances dominate? There is so many ways this vote could shake out, and no one really knows what will happen heading into tribal council.
The vote comes down to Cierra, Laura M., and Aras. In the end, it is Aras, a one-time winner, who is voted out. It is clear that Vytas, Tina, and Katie are now on the outs of the tribe, and this seems to create some controversy in the next episode. Will the alliance of Cierra, Laura M., Hayden, Caleb, Tyson, and Gervais continue to dominate? We will find out on the next exciting episode of Survivor: Blood vs. Water!