Survivor: Blood vs. Water

Survivor: Blood vs. Water is the twenty-seventh season of the CBS competitive reality television series . It features returning players competing against their loved ones. The season also revived the mechanic. It would ultimately feature one quit, and has to date produced four returning players (Brad Culpepper, Ciera Eastin, Tyson Apostol, and Vytas Baskauskas) for subsequent seasons.
Early strategic control of the game was widely perceived as resting in the hands of Aras Baskauskas and Brad on their respective tribes. Both, however, were overthrown in the middle stages of the game, after which point an alliance controlled by returning players Gervase Peterson, Monica Culpepper, and Tyson Apostol rose to post-merge dominance. Though Ciera Eastin and Hayden Moss mounted a determined effort to fracture this alliance, their efforts were foiled and Tyson won the title of Sole Survivor in a 7-1-0 vote over Monica and Gervase.
==Production==
Host Jeff Probst stated during the Reunion Show that he was leaving to film Survivor: Blood vs. Water on May 13, 2013. He stated that a "game changing" twist would be involved. He then confirmed the season would begin airing on September 18, 2013, with a 90-minute premiere. Casting call was the same, and shortlist contestants included: 
*Ashley Underwood from , who could not compete due to both her partner and her back-up partner being unable to play. 
* winner Tom Westman, who was asked but declined. 
*Greg Buis from , who was asked to play with his sister Julie, declined the offer to appear again. 
*Jerri Manthey, originally from , who was asked to be compete alongside with her sister Jenny; the two had to back out due to Jenny's pregnancy. 
*Lex van den Berghe and Tom Buchanan, both from and , who declined due the production of their new reality television program, . 
*Erinn Lobdell from , who was asked to play with her husband; they both declined as the filming for the season coincided with their wedding.
*Mike Chiesl from Redemption Island, who was invited to compete alongside his wife, Molly; the pair was unable to do so due to Molly's pregnancy.
*Diane Ogden from , who was invited to compete with her son Alex; Alex wanted to do the season, but Diane declined the offer.https://journalstar.com/news/local/first-nebraska-survivor-to-retire-from-post-office/article_a72750d4-07a3-5717-97e3-940a4865aa59.html
*Sandra Diaz-Twine and Terry Deitz, who were invited to compete alongside their respective daughters; they were both cut from the cast on the final day of casting.https://www.reddit.com/r/survivor/comments/sv3sgp/terry_deitz_ama/hxdskzi/
*RC Saint-Amour from , who was originally slated to compete alongside her father, Craig. Upon arriving on location (24 hours before "Day Zero"), Craig's blood pressure sharply shot up, leading to his confinement in a hospital in . They were replaced by Candice Cody and her husband, John Cody.
The motif of the season was inspired by the precolonial trade between the Philippines and China.
==Twists/Changes==
*Returning Players: In mid-May 2013, it was revealed that this season would feature returning players.
*: Players will be paired with a competing family member or loved one on the cast. Every castaway will be playing individually, so they will remain in the game even if their family member is voted out. This season, the pairs will be comprised of returning players and their loved ones, where the returnees would be put on Galang, while all of their loved ones would be put on Tadhana.
*Day Zero: A day before the actual game starts, the 10 pairs will be sent out at sunset to 10 different locations to live by themselves for the night, under the notion that the pairs will be placed in the same tribe. They will then all meet up to be officially welcomed by host Jeff Probst and start the game the next morning.
*: Anyone voted out will be sent there and will then compete in a three-person duel. The last place finisher in each contest is out of the game for good, while the top two remain. However, if someone's loved one is on Redemption Island, they can take their loved one's place before a duel.
*First Impressions: Moments after meeting each other, each team tribe will be asked to immediately vote out one member. The people voted out were sent to Redemption Island.
*Hidden Immunity Idol: The person who finishes first in each duel will also get to give a clue to the location of a Hidden Immunity Idol to any person from either tribe that they choose. If a castaway wins a game-returning duel, the castaway could also keep the clue for his or herself.
*Tribe Switch: On Day 14, the remaining castaways randomly drew for new tribes.
* Early Merge: This season merged with eleven castaways in the game.
* Expanded Jury and Final Three: Instead of the conventional Final Two facing the jury of seven, the Day 39 Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing an eight-person jury.
==Castaways==
Contestant 	Contestant 	Tribe Affiliation 	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation 	Finish 	RedemptionIsland Status 	VotesAgainst
Contestant 	Contestant 	Original Tribe 	Post-Swap Tribe 	Switched Tribe 	Merged Tribe 	Finish 	RedemptionIsland Status 	VotesAgainst
 	Rupert Boneham49, Indianapolis, IN, ,& Laura B.'s husband	 	 	 	 	SwitchedDay 1 	1st EliminatedDay 4 	0
 	Colton Cumbie22, Collinsville, ALCaleb's fiancé 	 	 	 	 	QuitDay 7 	 	0
 	Rachel Foulger33, Provo, UTTyson's girlfriend 	 	 	 	 	4th Voted OutDay 6 	2nd EliminatedDay 7 	5
 	Marissa Peterson21, Chapel Hill, NCGervase's niece 	 	 	 	 	3rd Voted OutDay 3 	3rd EliminatedDay 9 	10
 	Candice Cody30, Washington, DC &John's wife 	 	 	 	 	2nd Voted OutDay 1 	4th EliminatedDay 11 	6
 	Brad Culpepper44, Tampa, FLMonica's husband 	 	 	 	 	6th Voted OutDay 10 	5th EliminatedDay 14 	7
 	Kat Edorsson23, Orlando, FLHayden's girlfriend 	 	 	 	 	8th Voted OutDay 16 	6th EliminatedDay 17 	5
 	John Cody30, Washington, DCCandice's husband 	 	 	 	 	5th Voted OutDay 8 	7th EliminatedDay 19 	8
rowspan="2" 	Laura Boneham44, Indianapolis, INRupert's wife 	rowspan="2" 	rowspan="2" 	rowspan="2" 	 	1st Voted OutDay 1 	SwitchedDay 1 	11
9th Voted OutDay 18 	Laura Boneham44, Indianapolis, INRupert's wife 	8th EliminatedDay 19 	 	 	 	 	 	11
 	Aras Baskauskas31, Santa Monica, CAVytas' brother 	 	 	 	rowspan="13" 	10th Voted OutDay 21 	9th Eliminated1st Jury MemberDay 25	7
 	33, Santa Monica, CAAras's brother 	 	 	 	11th Voted OutDay 22	10th EliminatedDay 27 	10 	
 	Caleb Bankston26, Collinsville, ALColton's fiancé 	 	 	 	14th Voted OutDay 29	11th EliminatedDay 30 	4 	
 	Katie Collins25, New York City, NYTina's daughter 	 	 	 	EliminatedDay 32 	12th Eliminated4th Jury MemberDay 33	4 	
 	Hayden Moss26, Springtown, TXKat's boyfriend 	 	 	 	15th Voted OutDay 35	13th Eliminated5th Jury MemberDay 36	8 	
rowspan="2" 	Laura Morett43, Salem, ORCiera's mother 	rowspan="2" 	rowspan="2" 	rowspan="2" 	7th Voted OutDay 13 	1st ReturneeDay 19 	19 	
13th Voted OutDay 26	Laura Morett43, Salem, ORCiera's mother 	14th Eliminated6th Jury MemberDay 36	 	 	 	 	19 	
 	Ciera Eastin24, Salem, ORLaura M.'s daughter 	 	 	 	16th Voted OutDay 37	 	14 	
rowspan="2" 	Tina Wesson52, Robbinsville, NC& Katie's mother 	rowspan="2" 	rowspan="2" 	rowspan="2" 	 	 	10 	
17th Voted OutDay 38	Tina Wesson52, Robbinsville, NC& Katie's mother 	 	 	 	 	 	10 	
 	Gervase Peterson43, Philadelphia, PAMarissa's uncle 	 	 	 	 	SecondRunner-Up 	6 	
 	42, Tampa, FLBrad's wife 	 	 	 	 	Runner-Up 	6 	
 	Tyson Apostol33, Provo, UT &Rachel's boyfriend 	 	 	 	 	Sole Survivor 	2 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==Season Summary==
The castaways were pre-divided into two tribes of ten: Galang, comprised of returning players, and Tadhana, the returning players' loved ones. Before the tribes were sent to their camp, they were asked to eliminate one of their own immediately, where Laura B. and Candice were voted out from their respective tribes. They were then informed that was in play, with the added twist that a player could take their partner's spot on Redemption Island. Shockingly, Rupert decided to switch with Laura B., sending Rupert to Redemption Island and sending Laura B. to Galang.
Tadhana lost the first four consecutive challenges, and was initially dominated by the Five Guys Alliance led by Brad. Brad's decision to blindside his ally John resulted in Brad's subsequent elimination and the end of the men's alliance. Meanwhile, at Galang, Aras created the Galang Five, an alliance which approached a no-strategy strategy. 
When the Galang tribe eventually went to Tribal Council after finally losing at the fifth challenge, Aras spearheaded the elimination of Laura M. in hopes that she could eliminate Brad from Redemption Island to ensure Monica's loyalty to the alliance. The plan was successful, and Laura M. returned to the game at the merge.
The tribes eventually merged to the Kasama tribe with 11 castaways remaining, including three pairs of loved ones: Aras and his brother Vytas, Tina and her daughter Katie, and Laura M. and her daughter Ciera. While Aras led the charge against Laura M. again, a recently formed alliance originally from the post-switch Tadhana tribe, which pulled in Laura M. and Monica, planned to eliminate the pairs in the game as all of them were "singles". This alliance was able to blindside Aras, and managed to vote out Vytas and Tina later on, before betraying Laura M. for being the stronger member of the final intact pair.
With no pairs remaining, the new players outnumbered the returnees four to three, but the new players' attempt to seize control was foiled by Ciera, who sided with the returnees. However, with six players left, she had a change of heart, switching allegiances and forcing a tie which was resolved through the rock drawing tiebreaker, a tiebreaker only last seen during the fourth season, which resulted in Katie's elimination. This allowed the returning players alliance of Monica, Gervase, and Tyson to take control, voting out the others and making it to the end of the game.
At the Final Tribal Council, Gervase was berated by the jury for his perceived rudeness and hiding behind more dominant players, while Monica was castigated for threatening to flip to the other alliance but ultimately never following through. This led the jury to award Tyson the title of Sole Survivor, receiving seven of the eight votes to win, and Monica receiving one.
==Voting History==
==Trivia==
* With the Day Zero twist, Blood vs. Water is tied with as the second longest season in terms of number of days, lasting 39.5 days, following , which was filmed in 42 days instead of 39.
* The U.S. Survivor franchise is the second version to adapt a couples format, following the Philippine version, which had pairs of celebrities, each with a pre-existing relationship.
* Instead of revealing the location during the previous season's Reunion Show, Jeff showed a clue, which was a short clip of blood spreading in water. The second promo was the same as the first, only with the season logo shown for a split second afterwards.
* The season's final four are the only returning Players to outlast their loved ones.
* Despite the fact that the first four people voted out were all women, the first two players eliminated were men.
* Blood vs. Water is the first time Survivor has filmed three consecutive seasons in the same country, with , , and Blood vs. Water all being filmed in the Philippines.
** Blood vs. Water is the second season that is filmed in another location within a previous host country. and were both filmed in Brazil, albeit in different locations; namely, Rio Negro and Rio Novo, respectively.
* Blood vs. Water is the ninth season to feature returning players.
** Blood vs. Water is the third season in a row to feature returning players. Blood vs. Water is the longest consecutive streak of seasons with returning players.
** This is also the third season in a row to feature returning players who were eliminated before the merge/jury phase. 
** Blood vs. Water is the first time to have two back-to-back seasons with half (10 contestants out of 20 total) the castaways being returning players.
* It was revealed in Ashley Underwood's Survivor Oz interview that all participants had a partner and a back-up partner.
* The returning players from Heroes vs. Villains ranked 8th in their first Survivor appearance. As Rupert, Candice, and Tyson ranked 8th in Pearl Islands, Cook Islands, and Tocantins respectively.
* Blood vs. Water is the first season to feature returning Sole Survivors but not have four returning Sole Survivors.
** The first two seasons to feature Sole Survivors were All-Stars and Heroes vs. Villains; each had four former Sole Survivors competing.
** This is also the first time that former Sole Survivors are competing in a season with new players.
* Blood vs. Water marks the return of the twist, which had been absent since .
** Blood vs. Water has the most castaways return to the game after being voted out, with three: Laura Boneham, Laura Morett, and Tina Wesson.
** Blood vs. Water is the first season with Redemption Island where the contestants who got back in the game from the twist were not immediately voted out the first time they were not immune.
* Blood vs. Water marks the only time in their Survivor careers that Rupert and Candice did not make the merge or jury phase.
* Blood vs. Water is the second season where the first two castaways eliminated from the game were eliminated by means other than being voted out. The first was .
** Also after Palau, Blood vs. Water is the second season where the first two castaways eliminated from the game had no votes cast against them.
** However, while Palau had this as an intentional twist, this was purely coincidental.
* Blood vs. Water is the second season where the first two people eliminated from the game were male. The first was .
* Blood vs. Water is the first season to have an entire tribe of returning players and not have a representative from the season before it.
* The font used for the tribe names this season is "Totally Glyphic."
* Blood vs. Water is the first season to not have the full opening sequence shown in any of the episodes.
* Blood vs. Water is the second season to see the rock drawing tiebreaker being utilized, following .
* Blood vs. Water is the first season since to have a second runner-up, since Lisa Whelchel and Michael Skupin, and Dawn Meehan and Sherri Biethman, ended up tying for runners-up in Philippines and Caramoan respectively.
* Blood vs. Water is the first season with both new and returning players in which one of these groups makes up the entire final four.
* Blood vs. Water is the first season where two castaways (Katie and Vytas) entered the merge with only one challenge win.
* Blood vs. Water had more players survive at least one Redemption Island duel than any other season, with 7 (Candice, Marissa, John, Brad, Laura M., Vytas, and Tina).
* The highest ranking returnees (Tyson Apostol, Monica Culpepper, and Gervase Peterson) were paired with the three lowest ranking loved ones (Rachel Foulger, Brad Culpepper, and Marissa Peterson).
* Blood vs. Water is the only season to feature a castaway be voted out more than once pre-merge. All other seasons with in-game returnees did not allow such an occurrence.
* Blood vs. Water has the highest amount of combined Reward/Immunity Challenges, with ten.
* Blood vs. Water is the most recent season to distinguish two contestants with the same first name by the initial of their last name (Laura B. and Laura M.).
==References==
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Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor: Blood vs. Water
Category:Returning Player Seasons