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Survivor
Blood Vs. Water
CBS 8p ET Wednesday

Recaps by Chico Alexander & Chris Wolvie, GSNN

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CLICK HERE TO SEE THE GOINGS ON AT THE GALANG TRIBE

NIGHT 18/DAY 19 - REDEMPTION ISLAND: A LONG TIME COMING

Two-and-a-half weeks ago, that big softie Rupert kept her AWAY from Redemption Island. Now, Laura B. is where she belonged to begin with: Redemption Island. She still can't believe she got picked over Vytas. John and Laura M. thought it would be the lone guy on Galang as well. And what happens if the Merge occurs tomorrow and Vytas joins Aras? They'll be unstoppable!

So, after a WTF-night's sleep, The Lauras and John get this message:

Wait, WHAT? "Winner"? As in SINGULAR? And "Losers"...as in PLURAL?! Only ONE will get Redemption?! John has been training for this for the last 12 days on RI...and Laura M. made a promise to her daughter she'd return! But only one WILL return from...

DAY 17 - REDEMPTION DUEL: GET A GRIP

One more time, we're live at RI Arena. Tadhana sees that Galang (surprisingly) kept Vytas and ditch Laura B...who now comes in with fellow duelists Laura M. and John. Uncle Jeff welcomes them to their final Duel...which surprises the Tribes as they obviously didn't know what the Duelists knew. The inner of this Duel...FINALLY gets REDEMPTION and returns to the game! Ciera is...ambivalent; she's afraid her mom returning will screw things up strategically...and, yet,...it's her MOM, for crying out loud.

The final Duel...is kinda like a final Immunity Challenge, fittingly: climb a square wooden pole...and hang on. Last Duelist on the pole goes back to the game and continues the prusuit for the million buck. The other two...become victims #8 and #9 of S:BvW. And the winner, again, gets to choose who gets the precious 3I clue...which will more than likely be burned up as the last couple have..

They climb the posts (with grooves for footholds), they lock their arms...and the Redemption Duel is ON!

Laura B. struggles immediately to get in a good position. She goes to a lower foothold and stretches out whereas John and Laura M. are in tuck positions. John's familiar with this Duel; wife Candice went through it in Heroes vs. Villans. Laura M. uses good strategy; her Buff(TM) is entwined with her wrists to stay locked.

20 minutes...the heat pours down...John slips a bit...but kicks off his shoes and uses his toes to hang on. But the socks ain't helping either. Laura M. hasn't moved an inch...and Laura B. is hugging the post like it was a thin Rupert. John struggles some more...and his shoeless strategy fails him; he slides to the bottom and he's out of the game. He gets polite applause for holding out this long.

So,...which Laura will be Redeemed? Well, Laura M. is still rooted on the top...but Laura B. starts to slip again, down to the final foothold. She hugs the post TIGHT. "I'm not letting go," says Ciera's mum. Uncle Jeff gives POSITIVE advice (for a change) and tells Laura B. to think herself as GLUED to, not SLIDING off, that post.

Laura M moves to stretch her sore arms...and then starts to slide a bit. Laura B.'s tuckus is inching close and closer to the sand. Laura M. regains a foothold...and Laura B. plants her feet! She's out! LAURA M. WINS REDEMPTION!!!!

So...what will Mrs. Rupert take away from this 19-day excursion into Survivor? She came in as relatively anti-social...but will leave, in her words, "the strongest woman I've ever been in my life". But that time is over now; she gets her stuff and burns her Buff before heading back to Indy and to her hero (her hubby).

As for John, he feels it's tough to end HIS trek this way, failing after four straight successful Duels. He compares the show to his first year at West Point; he was always on edge. But at least he stayed with his wife, if only for two days. With a wave to Tadhana, he also burns his Buff and heads back to D.C.

Laura M. (and I can drop the "M" now) is psyched to be back...but Uncle Jeff has ONE more thing to say to the Tribes:

"Drop your Buffs!"

THE TRIBES ARE MERGED!!

aOff go the red and yellow multi-purpose cloths, on goes the blue ones. A little primary...but it works. Laura hugs Ciera, saying she kept her promise. Next bit of business: who gets the 3I clue? The clue can now go to ANYONE...including Laura herself should she decide. Without a word, Laura grabs the clue out of Uncle Jeff's hand...and tosses it with the other burnt Buffs and clues.

I guess they already know where to go because Uncle Jeff doesn't say which beach to head to. Aras and Vytas hug, happy to be playing together at last. Aras strategy now is "Galang Strong": all the Vets plus Vytas and Katie. The seven-on-four will be more than enough!

AFTERNOON 19: "TRIBUTES ARE INVITED TO A FEAST..."

At the as-yet-unnamed camp, the Feast Chest is there! The blue Tribal Flag and paint to create it...and, of course, FOOD! Fruits, veggies, bread, wine, cheese, salami, cold cuts...yummy! Hayden has more on his mind than stuffing his face, though; he wonders how he can stay around. Will Ciera make it three strong pairs with him on the outs...or can he draw her and Laura in? Well, Laura is DEFINITELY thinking the "couples" (she/Ciera, Vytas/Aras, Katie/Tina) should stick together...but it's a lot of work to do.

And the new name for the Tribe is...KASAMA. *shrugs* OK.

As Laura and Ciera stroll to the beach, Hayden talks to Gervase about the No-Loved-One Alliance hinging on Ciera's decision. Ciera knows that being the Loved One of a Redeemed player equals a massive target on her. She admits this to her mom as well as the NLOA, asking her not to talk strategy with them. Laura is PSYCHED that she and her daughter will be the "Gamemakers" now, deciding who goes and who stays!

Tyson has other ideas. As Kasama relaxes from the Feast, he goes scrambling for the 3I, since he and Hayden are the only ones who knew about the general location of it. He thinks it's at a large vine-entwined tree (the "Seprent Tree" from the clue) midway between the camp and the waterfall (which tells me we're at the old Tadhana camp). He pokes around the roots of the tree...and, lo and behold, he finds his savior: the Hidden Indivdual Immunity Idol! The jade coin on a necklace will spare him (or anyone he wishes to give it to) up to Day 36! He's loving it!

As for Vytas and Aras, the Super Baskauskas Bros. are happy to finally be playing together. The two seem to agree on the "Galang Strong" Alliance...but agrue about Tyson's involvement, worrying he might "go on a run" of Immunity wins. Still, he DOES have a busted arm so...maybe it's all right. They think that Laura is the most dangerous...and that, in the end, Blood vs. Water will soon be Vytas vs. Aras (vs. someone else in the Final Three)!

NIGHT 19: ARE YOU SURE? ARE YOU REALLY SURE?! ARE YOU REALLY, REALLY, REALLY SURE?!?

While everyone in Kasama settles for the evening, Monica is nervous and tells Tyson as much. Tyson assures Monica that it's just Tina rabble-rousing and that the NLOA is still solid. Monica still thinks Gervase may flip, but Tyson thinks that, once Aras is history, the GSA won't have a leg to stand on. Monica just keeps going on and on about "what if this " or "what if that"...and it's starting to bug Tyson. I mean, REALLY bug Tyson! Like "jam rusty spoon in eye socket and scoop out brain" bugging! But Monica knows...this is Survivor...so relaxing is NOT an option!

DAY 21 - IMMUNITY CHALLENGE: FLASH BACK

Say good-bye to Mr. Immuni-Ugly on Challenge Beach...the Tribal Immunity Idol is no longer in play. In its place, the Individual Immunity Necklace! A shiny silver feathery thingy that protects one person - und prezizely VON perzon - at Tribal Council!

This Challenge is another "Survivor Memory Quiz Show"! Uncle Jeff will show a sequence of images and then, one-by-one, the Survivors need to show the SAME images on their Quiz Blocks. Get it wrong, you're out. Last Survivor Standing has a 10% chance of getting the million...which is twice the odds they had when they first arrived. Oh, and, by the way, Redemption Island is STILL open for business; the one voted out tonight gets sent there to wallow in self pity and hope to get back in the game.

Our first sequence: barrel, crate, cannon, ship, compass, lantern. Everyone gets barrel, but Monica thinks "cannon" one too soon; she's out. Caleb and Katie say "compass" instead of "cannon"; they're out. Tyson and Tina choose "compass" over "ship"...and we're down to six. Hayden gets KOed thinking "lantern" over "compass"...and they all get lantern right. One round down, five Survivors left.

Second sequence: barrel, lantern, cannon, lantern, compass, barrell, cannon. Barrel is right for all. Laura flubs with "cannon"; we're down to four. Ciera says "compass" next"...and it's all males left with the Super Baskauskas Bros and Gervase. The three get lantern right. Gervase second-guesses himself with "crate"...and he's wrong. The bros both get barrel. Vytas shows "cannon", Aras shows "lantern"...

It's cannon!! VYTAS WINS REWARD!!!

The "Mario" of the brothers is safe from the wrath of...well, EVERYONE. And everyone ELSE has an important decision to make.

AFTERNOON 21: WHO'S YOUR ALLY?

Vytas says he doesn't NEED Immunity...but he needed to beat his bro...so he did. He and Aras tell the GSA that Laura needs to go BACK to RI...and they seem to all readily agree. But, to be safe, they will have the girls vote for Ciera (in case Laura has the 3I). Katie says it best, "It's a game, b**ch."

Laura, however, is telling Ciera she's worried about Aras having the 3I. She decides she wants to join the NLOA in a 4-3 split of Tina and Aras. Ciera WANTS to listen to her mother...but how CAN she?

Geravse, however, seems to be playing BOTH alliances. He THINKS he has an idea of what will happen...but he ALSO knows that ANYthing can happen at...

TRIBAL COUNCIL: ARAS' ELEVEN?

Uncle Jeff welcomes us all back to the Beachfront Circle of Doom. After giving Tyson the geneal idea of the alliances (GSA, NLOA and the blood-ties), Tyson agrees. Vytas agrees...but, no matter what, six people HAVE to band together tonight...which means he and his bro need four more. When asked about blood-lines counting towards the redeemed Laura since, traditionally, the redeemed Survivor is sent RIGHT back, Hayden agrees this is a problem and makes the mother/daughter team swing votes. Katie's not sure about that duo making it a 7-4 swing. Tyson knows the blood-lines are threatening...but one couls ALSO make a case for GENDER lines (6-5 males). He says it all comes down to who you trust the most...and he hopes he gets the largest share of the "trust pie".

Laura's best play...is filtering animosity through her daughter...and it's cool that the student of the game has overtaken the master in this twosome. Ciera agrees that this role reversal is fine. Gervase thinks things will change a lot...but only for those not schooled. One needs to stay calm and roll with the punches.

It is time to vote! The eleven Kasamas march to the alcove and scratch down names. We see Katie writing down "Ciera" (blaming it on the alliance), Gervase making a "power move" by writing down "Aras" and Aras writing "Laura". Laura and Ciera are the last to vote. Uncle Jeff tallies, asks for 3Is, gets no reply from Tyson and reads the votes:

Laura...

Laura M...

Ciera...

"Sierra"...

Aras...

Aras...

Aras...

"Aras <3"...

ARAS!

The NLOA strikes in a 7-2-2 vote...and Aras gets to say hello to Redemption Island for the first time! With a "well played" to the other players and a "have fun" to his bro, the "Luigi" of the two gets sent down the warp pipe to the lonliness of RI. Uncle Jeff says that there's SOME clarity now...and hopes Kasama can help clear even more before the next time.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE GOINGS ON AT THE GALANG TRIBE

To see this episode in its entirety or to find out how to become a contestant, go to cbs.com/survivor