Survivor: Blood vs. Water - Episode 10 - Recap and Results - Big Bad Wolf
Recap and results of Survivor: Blood vs. Water - Episode 10 - Big Bad Wolf:
Welcome to the recap and results for Episode 10 of Survivor: Blood vs. Water, "Big Bad Wolf"!
Credit: CBS
Who will win the duel on Redemption Island between Tina and the Baskauskas brothers, Aras and Vytas? Keep refreshing throughout the night, as I'll be recapping all the happenings and adding my analysis on the game!
After Tribal Council
-Back at Kasama, Katie recognizes that if she doesn't get something going soon, it's going to be all over for her. But Tyson's group is a tight alliance that isn't budging, so her work is more than cut out for her. The next day, Laura and Ciera talk about their game, and Ciera admits in a confessional that she's a better player than her mother since she's been to more tribal councils and survived, while Laura was voted out the first time she went to tribal. Laura is impressed with Ciera and doesn't mind taking the lead from her, yet Ciera goes on to confess that she may have to cut her mother loose when the time comes, since "I have the better chance of winning." Well, she's not exactly wrong about that, in my opinion.
Credit: CBS
Redemption Island Duel
-So it's time for the three-way duel in which each castaway uses a grappling hook to retrieve three bags, and then must solve a table maze. As is obvious from the get-go, Tina refuses to allow Katie to take her place. She won't even let Probst ask Katie. So we're on with the challenge.
-Tina takes an early lead, leaving the brothers to duke it out. Aras jokingly takes umbrage with Laura not cheering for him (why would she? You voted her out!), but she laughingly gives him a halfhearted "Come on, Aras!" Tina is the first to make it to the table maze, and she nearly solves it, but her ball falls through one of the trap holes RIGHT as she gets to the end. This leaves an opening for Vytas to come from behind and win the challenge, leaving it down to Aras and Tina, who makes up the ground she lost almost immediately. It's an incredibly tense challenge, as Tina keeps landing the ball in the socket and it keeps rolling out. Aras gains ground, but I don't think the edit ever teases that Aras is actually going to win this thing. And he doesn't, as Tina finishes the challenge.
VYTAS wins the challenge, TINA comes in second place!
ARAS is eliminated from Survivor: Blood vs. Water!
Credit: CBS
-Probst asks Aras if the rivalry with Vytas is a thing of the past now, and Vytas talks about how they've put all the old feelings behind them. Aras says that this experience has strengthened the relationship, and that's worth more to him than a million dollars. He loves his brother and hopes to grow old with him, telling their grandkids about their experience out here "when we were blindsided by Gervase." (It says a lot about Tyson's game that Aras isn't blaming him for the blindside, since dumping Aras was Tyson's initiative. Tyson's game might be more subtle and effective than I'm giving it credit for, as he's been able to deflect bitterness in skilled fashion).
-Aras burns his buff and tells everyone there are no hard feelings, since they all outplayed him. A total class act. And, by the way, the first member of the jury!
-Vytas then gives the hidden immunity idol clue to Katie, wanting to help out the one member of his merge alliance still in the game. Katie doesn't even tease burning it. She holds onto the clue and stuffs it in her rucksack. I wonder if there's another idol on the island, or if Katie's search will be a hopeless errand, since Tyson found one already? I wouldn't put it past the production to hide another idol just to shake up the game, but then, I don't really see Tyson's alliance giving her the chance to find one, so she'd better either get some people to flip, or win immunity again.
Kasama
-Katie is proud of her mother's performance at Redemption Island, and is "thrilled beyond belief" that she's still in the game, although she's still worried about being solo in the game. However, she still has the clue to the hidden immunity idol, so she reads the clue in a private place...and it's the same clue leading to the idol Tyson already found. Of course, what's funny about this is that the majority alliance spends their time at camp yakking about how they're going to prevent Katie from finding the idol by following her on her search, completely unaware that she's already started her search. Tyson, naturally, isn't worried at all about Katie finding the idol, and so he approaches the men of his alliance about voting out Laura to split her from Ciera. The idea is that Laura would go on another run on Redemption Island, further shoring up the game in their favor. Hayden wonders if now might not be the time to make a big move against Tyson, but he worries that one mistake at this stage in the game could mean a million dollars.
-I like that the newcomers are actually considering making moves against the returning castaways. This was a turnaround a long time in coming, although it's going to take some convincing to make it work, I don't think it would be all that hard. Hayden could just take Katie, Caleb, and Laura/Ciera, and just like that, a majority is formed. Of course, the one variable is the Redemption Island returnee, but for the returnee to secure the win, they'd have to continue their challenge run AND convince the jury that they deserve the win despite never having had to play the social aspect of the game, due to having spent a sizable portion of the post-merge game on Redemption Island. Even if the eventual returnee is only on Redemption Island for a day, I think having been sent there is a mark against them, even if they manage to return and make final tribal council.
Credit: CBS
-Ciera tearfully talks about her mother, as she knows that she has to have a difficult talk with her -- as difficult a talk as when she revealed her teen pregnancy. This may have been my favorite scene of the season, as Ciera straight-up tells Laura that she has no chance to win the game, and that at six, she'll need to go if Ciera still has a shot. Laura says she'll just win immunity, but Ciera says that if that happens, she'll go home and then Laura will follow on the next vote. Ciera tells Laura that unless she goes home, she won't get to the final three. Laura isn't entirely certain Ciera CAN win at the final three though, believing that people will only take her because they know she'd be easy to beat. But Ciera rationalizes that it's still a better shot than her mother has. Laura cries and reflects on how the roles in the relationship have flipped, with Ciera now taking control and no longer looking to her mother to guide her.
-No concrete decision is made on how to move forward, but they both seem to recognize that this is an issue they'll need to deal with sooner rather than later. Such a wonderful, compelling scene that shows just how massively Ciera has been underrated this season. I wish the edit had given her more screentime in the early half of the season, as this could have been even more powerful if we knew Ciera as well as we know another newcomer like Vytas. But this is some insightful strategy all the same, as Ciera makes several excellent points about her mother's shot in the game. If Laura doesn't fall on her sword for Ciera, neither of them will get to the end. Of course, what neither knows is that Tyson is already planning to possibly blindside Laura to spare Ciera having to vote out her mother.
The Next Morning
-Laura decides she has to tail Katie all morning to prevent her from hiding the hidden immunity idol, since she'll be on the chopping block if Katie is safe. Katie and Laura decide to dig together, and this is really a golden opportunity for them to form a new alliance that could flip the game on its head, although they'd need to rope in some other people, obviously.
-Tyson isn't worried about Katie (calling himself the "Big Bad Wolf" of the game), although he's concerned at how worried everyone else seems to be about this stage of the game. He realizes he needs to get Ciera on board with voting out her mother, and so he approaches her to break the bad news, framing it as Caleb and Hayden wanting to vote Laura out, which is such a ridiculous play that I'm surprised Ciera didn't call B.S. on it almost immediately. But Tyson is doing a really good job scaling back on coming across like the big leader in all this. Ciera has already pieced together that her mother is on the chopping block, and admits that she has no real problem with voting her mother out. But she confesses privately that she isn't entirely sure how she wants to move forward in the game just yet.
Credit: CBS
Immunity/Reward Challenge
-It's the rope endurance challenge, in which the castaways are suspended from the water by a knotted rope. Whomever holds on the longest wins immunity and reward.
-It's one of the shortest challenges in recent memory, as Monica holds on the longest and wins immunity, and a picnic of hot dogs, hamburgers, and cokes.
MONICA CULPEPPER wins Immunity/Reward!
Probst asks Monica who she'd like to join her for the reward, and in a move that's pretty great, but also fairly transparent, Monica tearfully says she wouldn't dream of eating any of this before the tribe could have some too. She offers to forego her reward if it means the rest of the tribe gets to eat, and Probst allows it. It's not really going to keep people from voting her out if the time comes, but it certainly can't hurt (well, unless everyone thinks, "The jury will still love Monica for giving up her food reward. We've gotta get rid of her!" But even then, I can't fathom anyone viewing Monica as a serious threat to the million. Although she's been making a hell of a showing at the challenges, of late).
After the Challenge
-Laura says that her mother is the biggest target right now, and she doesn't have the luxury of time to turn it all around. So she approaches Katie and says that Monica, Gervase, and Tyson are voting for Laura, but she isn't sure if she's going to vote with them. Katie tries to convince Ciera she has the idol, but Ciera makes a bold play by saying that's impossible because she has the idol. And Katie BELIEVES it almost immediately. It's a genius move in its simplicity and effectiveness, and it's a shame that Katie folds so quickly and doesn't stick to her smokescreen about having the idol. Ciera reveals to Laura that they still have a chance since Katie doesn't have the idol, and she approaches Tyson with this info, saying that they now don't have to vote for her mom. Tyson seems on board with it, but he reveals privately that he made a mistake in telling Ciera that they were planning on voting Laura, since she's smarter than they were giving her credit for. Tyson says that they're sticking with voting Laura since allowing a pair to advance in the game is too risky. Caleb, however, disagrees and feels they need to take out Katie while she's vulnerable.
Credit: CBS
Tribal Council
-Almost the entire tribal council centers on the possible division between Laura and Ciera, and the arguments for and against voting them out. My problem with Probst's approach these days is that it doesn't come up organically at all. Probst's steering of the conversation has an obnoxious tendency of being incredibly heavy-handed, and not at all as natural as it used to be.
Laura makes a couple really awesome points, such as an alliance gaining two votes instead of one if they align with a pair, and the even greater observation that if they don't vote her out, they won't have to worry about either her or Ciera campaigning among the jury for the loved one still in the game. The arguments against keeping them are obvious though, as any power duo has a risk of becoming a massive threat in the game.
-We get to the vote. No one plays the hidden immunity idol, so Probst reads the votes...
Laura
Katie
Laura
Laura
Laura
Laura
LAURA MORETT is voted out of Survivor: Blood vs. Water!
Credit: CBS
-Ciera and Laura share a tearful embrace, and with Laura's ouster, the final loved ones pair is sent from the game, leaving seven individuals duking it out for the million. You know, unless one of the remaining loved ones make it back into the game.
-At Redemption Island, Laura says she isn't sure how she feels about her daughter writing her name down. Well no kidding.
Thoughts
-This was a fantastic episode, as a ton of different strategies are in play, and the newbies have to weigh whether it's smarter not to rock the boat, or if now is the time to start making moves. Playing straight down the middle might get someone like Ciera or Katie to the end, but it won't secure them the win. They need to be able to make a case at final tribal council for their role in outplaying their opponents and not simply riding coattails. They could probably get away with the Tyson blindside, but it would require finesse to avoid tipping Tyson off, since he has an idol. Unfortunately, no one knows about that idol, so no one necessarily knows they have to tiptoe around suggestions to vote Tyson out. I'm not suggesting Katie, Ciera, and the other newbies make big moves, but rather a succession of smaller ones to neutralize the power base of Tyson's alliance. That means preventing him from winning immunity, and then lulling him into a false sense of security about his place in the game, perhaps stringing along Gervase as well to prevent him from tipping Tyson off. It'd be exceedingly difficult, but far from impossible. But, once again, Redemption Island makes this trickier than it might otherwise have been.
So what do you think? Sound off in the comments!