Survivor: Blood vs. Water - Episode 11 - Recap and Results - Gloves Come Off
Recap and results of Survivor: Blood vs. Water – Episode 11 – Gloves Come Off:
Welcome to the recap and results for Episode 11 of Survivor: Blood vs. Water, “Gloves Come Off”!
Credit: CBS
Tyson is in control of the game, but will it remain that way? Also, who will win the Redemption Island duel between Vytas, Tina, and Laura? Keep refreshing, as I’ll be recapping all the highs and lows and adding my analysis on the game!
After Tribal
-Tyson recognizes the difficulty of Ciera voting out her own mother, and respects her for that decision, saying that she shows considerable loyalty, and adds that a lot of people are underestimating her in the game.
-Over at Redemption Island, Tina is both nervous and excited about the possibility of Katie joining her on the island, as she and Vytas await the next arrival. In an awesome moment, Laura shouts "Mom?" to trick Tina, and she completely buys that it's Katie until Laura steps into the light. Tina's joyous, relieved reaction is worth the price of admission alone. Also worth noting, Laura is conflicted about Ciera having to write her name down, and wonders -- along with Vytas and Tina -- why no one is thinking to vote out Tyson.
Credit: CBS
Redemption Island Duel
-It's time for the duel! Probst asks Laura how she feels about Ciera voting her out, really digging it in that Ciera voted for her. Laura breaks down and says she's proud of Ciera, and hopes they could have made it a bit farther in the game together, but notes that it's okay because she'll make it back into the game again.
-The duel involves guiding four blocks through a rope cage one by one, and then stacking them up in a certain order on a grid at the end. It's a puzzle in which the colored blocks must be lined up so that there are no repeating colors. So it's basically the Ozzy vs. Edna Redemption Island duel from Survivor: South Pacific.
-Laura makes short work of the challenge, just smoking through the rope cage and solving the grid in short order. She then helps Tina, who has fallen behind, by telling her where to put the blocks. This is smart strategy, since Laura has a better shot of advancing if she doesn't have to worry about Vytas. It's a neck-and-neck race as both castaways get to their final block, and Tina finishes the puzzle mere microseconds before Vytas. So Tina survives, but only with the help of Laura. She tries to apologize to Vytas, but he's having none of it.
LAURA wins the Redemption Island duel! TINA comes in second!
VYTAS is eliminated from Survivor: Blood vs. Water!
Credit: CBS
-Vytas says people have ganged up on him and Aras because they were huge threats in the game, and then says that he's thankful for the shared experience with his brother, since he couldn't relate with Aras' experience after he came back from his first playthrough. He burns his buff in relatively good spirits, and smilingly says "Namaste, bitches!"
-Laura decides to five the hidden immunity idol clue to Ciera, saying she can do whatever she wants with it, whether that means reading it or burning it. Ciera decides to burn it, and Katie seems annoyed. Little does she know, there's no idol to find. I do like that they didn't hide another idol, since it raises the importance of the one idol in the game.
Credit: CBS
Kasama
-Tyson is worried about his position in the game and wants to shore up his alliance, saying that he needs to get past this vote to retain power in the game. He suggests lopping off Ciera, but the suggestions gets the wheels turning in Hayden's mind, as he approaches Caleb about possibly taking out Tyson, since he'll have a great case if he makes it to the final tribal council. Caleb relays the plan to Katie, who finally feels like she's found a "shell" to protect her in this game, saying that her options are actually looking better despite days of being continually on the chopping block. Katie feels her best shot is with her former Tadhana tribe members.
-Caleb and Hayden then approach Ciera about voting out Tyson, and she's 100% on board. But in a confessional, she reveals that she doesn't actually want to work with "people like that," i.e., newcomers to the game who are too willing to flip-flop on each other. Ciera immediately narcs to Tyson, and pledges her vote to him for the rest of the competition. Tyson tells her this is the right decision, since she has a better chance at the end with him than with any of the other former Tadhana members. Of course, Tyson rewards Ciera by confessing to the camera that she's too big of a wildcard to trust. Granted, it isn't bad strategy to consider whether or not Ciera is trustworthy, since it's better to pull the trigger before the trigger gets pulled on you.
-Tyson talks to Gervase about the plot against him, and Gervase is ready to make a move to squash it before it gets anywhere, mentioning that when people are backed into a corner, "the gloves come off." He smilingly tells Tyson, "Tomorrow is going to be huge!" Gervase seems to be loving all this drama, and hell, so am I.
The Next Day
-Ciera makes a depressingly unsubtle move by asking Tyson, in front of the tribe, to come get Tree Mail with her. Hayden immediately notices that Ciera wouldn't look him in the eye, raising his suspicions about the firmness of their Tyson plan. Ciera confesses to the camera how happy she is not to have sided with Hayden and Caleb, since she feels this is the right move for her, going forward. Famous last words?
-Hayden is perplexed by Ciera and Tyson's chumminess, prompting Hayden's paranoia. Katie is just as worried, saying that they now need to come up with a Plan B in the event that Ciera has told Tyson their plan. The new plan could very well involve giving Ciera the heave-ho, and Katie says that this is a crucial immunity challenge. And she's not wrong. This next tribal council will determine which of the two competing alliances will have the numbers.
Credit: CBS
Immunity Challenge
-It's another endurance challenge, as each castaway must maintain control of a winch that keeps a bucket suspended over a tile. If your bucket falls and busts your tile, you're out of the challenge. Last person standing wins immunity.
Credit: CBS
-But Probst introduces a twist: if you feel secure in your place in the game, you can opt to forego the challenge in favor of feasting on barbecue while the others compete. Tyson, Gervase, and Ciera decide to eat instead of participating in the challenge, and if there was any doubt about Ciera's allegiances before, she pretty much blasted it all to Hell with this decision.
Credit: CBS
-There are several amusing bits here, such as Tyson rubbing it in that they're eating, while Probst does an impression that compares Tyson and co. to aristocrats wanting the castaways to perform for them. "More meat!" he shouts in an accent, and it's the best thing Probst has done in I don't know how many seasons.
-Hayden holds on until the end, but he isn't able to outlast Monica, who's become a total challenge beast. This is her third straight individual immunity win, and it's hard not to be impressed.
MONICA CULPEPPER wins immunity!
Credit: CBS
-I'm still not exactly Monica's biggest fan, but I respect the hell out of her challenge prowess. I even respect her loyalty, as she's made a point of not really backstabbing anyone who didn't try to get her first. I still don't think she can win, but she's really shown a lot more in these last few weeks than I ever expected her to, given her edit in the first half of the season.
Back at Camp
-Tyson continues to do no favors in earning jury votes by bragging about the food upon getting back to camp, irritating everyone who didn't eat. Hayden realizes the jig is up and Ciera can't be trusted. Worse, they don't have the numbers to get rid of her. Hayden realizes he has to backpedal, since he's "on a sinking ship".
-Hayden asks Caleb what to do, and he suggests approaching Tyson to blindside Ciera, saying that she's been playing them all against each other and can't be trusted. So they enact their plan, and Hayden assures Tyson that the only reason they targeted him was because Ciera made them believe he was trying to take them out. And Tyson quickly believes the story, since Ciera's wishy-washy nature makes it easy for him to buy it. The very flip-flopping nature that Ciera condemned earlier could be what dooms her now. Except that Tyson isn't entirely sold on the plan, despite giving Hayden and Caleb his full backing to vote out Ciera, as he says he doesn't exactly trust the duo.
-Hayden seems confident, but Caleb is worried, fearing that Tyson might just be stringing them along. However, he remains hopeful that Ciera will get voted out. "She should have picked a side and stuck with it," he says, in a confessional. Naturally, this ignores that just about everyone has been alliance-jumping this season, mostly by necessity. The only people who don't are the ones who can afford not to, given the safety of their positions.
-For his part, Tyson remains worried, and tells Gervase both sides of the story: someone is lying to them, but they don't know whether it's Ciera or Hayden and Caleb. Things are tense as hell as we head into tribal council, and I love it.
Tribal Council
-Hayden worries about how safe Tyson and his alliance must feel if they felt they could afford to skip the immunity challenge. However, Caleb isn't surprised by any of the people who decided to eat, saying that Ciera probably feels safe. Ciera rationalizes her decision to eat by saying she didn't feel she could win the challenge anyway, although Probst notes there's nowhere to hide in a game with just seven people remaining. Tyson, meanwhile, notes he was surprised at how few people decided to eat, since he's felt pretty safe in the alliances he's made. Gervase notes his concern about his alliance and looks directly at Hayden, which Probst immediately notes. Hayden admits he's been paranoid in the past, but it was out of necessity. Tyson states he comes to tribal council expecting the best but prepared for the worst. Ciera notes her own fear of having possibly made the wrong choices, as it could spell the end for her game.
And like that, we're off to the vote. We see Ciera's vote for Caleb, and Caleb's vote for Ciera ("You just ran your mouth too much the last two days"). Probst asks if anyone would like to play the hidden immunity idol...and Tyson calls out to him. In an absolutely fantastic moment, Tyson can't find the hidden immunity idol and has to empty his entire bag! It's one of the funniest, most ruthlessly absurd moments of the season, if not in the entire history of the game, as I seriously thought for a moment that he might have lost or forgotten the idol back at camp, which would have the dual negative effects of exposing the idol's existence without actually getting to use it. But he does finally find it, and turns it in to Jeff, guaranteeing his safety. And we now read the votes
Ciera
Ciera
Ciera
Caleb
Caleb
Caleb
Caleb
CALEB BANKSTON is voted out of Survivor: Blood vs. Water!
Credit: CBS
-At Redemption Island, Caleb is shocked that it was him, and tells Laura and Tina that Ciera flipped on him. You think?!
Thoughts
-Splitting up Caleb and Hayden made sense, even if I have no idea why they chose Caleb instead of the more physical Hayden, but I guess it was a formality to Tyson to trust Ciera. Although she doesn't exactly come across as the most trustworthy person in the world, Ciera has pledged far more to Tyson than either Hayden or Caleb, and arguably has a lot more to offer as a "goat" at the end, as I can't imagine Ciera getting any votes from the jury. She'll be seen as having ridden coattails to get there, and whether or not that's true, she'll be treated like it is. Ultimately, I think Ciera torpedoed her best shot at putting herself in a winning position by choosing to side with Tyson instead of going with Hayden and Caleb. They could have blindsided Tyson if they would have lulled him into a false sense of security. It would have had the added benefit of eliminating a huge challenge threat, and flushing out the idol at the same time (granted, they don't know about the idol, but Ciera shouldn't have needed to know about the idol to recognize how big of a threat Tyson is). It's looking like a pretty easy journey to the end for Tyson, although he's no longer protected by the idol, so all it takes is one of either Gervase or Monica flipping to do him in. The question is whether that's something either would be willing to do.
So what did you think of the episode? Did Ciera choose the right alliance? Was it smarter to get rid of Caleb rather than Hayden? Sound off in the comments!