Rating: 4.5/10
Blood vs. Water was the rare Survivor season where the cast failed to live up to the promise of the theme. Blood vs. Water cleverly pitted a tribe of ten returning players against a tribe of ten new players - each a family member of one of the returning players. Circumstances developed just as producers hoped, with alliances forming along and against bloodlines, culminating in the coveted moment of one family member voting another out. But the largely insipid cast didn't provide the strategy or articulation necessary to reinforce the drama.
Blood vs. Water rehashed the double elimination of Redemption Island, a secondary gimmick that raised the excitement of initial challenges but drained screentime allotted to plotting. The season began annoyingly, with a player from each tribe instantly voted off. Blood ousted Rupert's wife Laura while the returnees dumped undeserving three-timer Candice. Loved ones had the option to step in for their partners on Redemption Island, an opportunity Rupert gallantly and foolishly took. He lost the first Redemption Challenge and packed his bags, with wallflower Laura drawing dead at the title.
Blood quickly dispatched Tyson's partner Rachel in an effort to target the third-timer. The couple elected to keep her on Redemption instead of subbing Tyson for the reason the Bonehams should have - the partner's chances of winning the game were higher. Returning players won the first four immunities. Their first casualty was Colton the quitter, who received an uncharacteristic lambasting from Jeff Probst on his way out. Villainous Brad Culpepper emerged as Blood's de facto leader before Colton's boyfriend Caleb slit his throat in the best moment of the early game. Blood's only watchable players were Vytas (brother of former champ Aras), Big Brother champion Hayden (boyfriend of Kat) and Ciera, who'd ultimately vote out her challenge beast mother Laura.
able to charm his way out of the jam. Three pairs made the merge - Vytas and Aras, Australia champion Tina and her daughter Katie, and Laura and Ciera. An alliance of singles formed, ousting the brothers before Ciera's matricide. Every eliminated player told the goats Tyson would win, but they kept hauling his bags. He found an idol and managed to keep it under wraps before wasting it - then found the replacement and kept it secret too. Hayden was supposed to go to Redemption with six left, but desperately convinced Ciera to break from the bottom of her alliance. She took a huge swing and deadlocked the vote, subjecting herself to a rock draw with Katie and Tyson. Katie lost the draw and lost a Redemption challenge to her mother soon after. Tina upset Laura in the final Redemption Challenge to return to the game, but was immediately eliminated by the core alliance of Gervase, Monica and Tyson.
Every jury member (and their mothers) told Gervase and Monica they were goats, but they stuck with him due to erroneous self-perception and Tyson's willingness to let them choose vote-outs when he didn't have a strong preference. We never found out if Gervase or Monica had the stones to topple Tyson before Final Tribal, as the Utahn won the last two immunities. Monica got one vote, Gervase zero. For a third straight season, an acerbic white male returnee won in dominant fashion.
