'Survivor: Blood vs. Water' eliminates "loved one" Brad Culpepper and votes off Kat Edorsson

Survivor: Blood vs. Water eliminated "loved one" and newbie castaway Brad Culpepper from the game after he lost the season's fifth Redemption Island duel during Wednesday night's sixth episode of the CBS reality series' 27th edition.


Brad -- a 44-year-old attorney and retired NFL player from Tampa, FL, who is the husband of returning player Monica Culpepper -- lost the duel to returning player Laura Morett, a 43-year-old construction company co-owner from Salem, OR, and "loved one" John Cody, a 30-year-old physician and army orthopedic surgery resident from Washington, D.C., who's the husband of Candice Cody.

Later in the episode, after the tribes were switched up at random, the new Galang tribe voted Kat Edorsson, a 23-year-old full-time student and saleswoman from Orlando, FL, out of their tribe on Night 16 at the season's sixth Tribal Council session.

"At Tribal today, I got eliminated, but I'm worried about [boyfriend Hayden Moss]. I'm worried that he's going to be disappointed in me. And God forbid this does anything to our relationship, because on a scale from 1-10 on coolness, I just got a negative two. Our relationship is just starting and now I'm like, 'What if I embarrassed all his friends?' Who wants to date someone that doesn't make the merge?" Kat said upon arriving at Redemption Island.

As the game's newest Tribal Council victim, Kat will now take Brad's place on Redemption Island, where she will battle Laura M. and John in the game's next duel and attempt to eventually earn a chance to rejoin the game's other remaining castaways and resume competing for Survivor: Blood vs. Water's million dollar prize.


At this point in the game, the Galang tribe of returning Survivor castaways was comprised of Kat; Tyson Apostol, a 34-year-old former pro cyclist and shop manager from Provo, UT; Aras Baskauskas, a 31-year-old musician from Santa Monica, CA; Monica, a 42-year-old former NFL wife and homemaker from Tampa, FL; Gervase Peterson, a 43-year-old cigar lounge owner from Philadelphia, PA; Tina Wesson, a 52-year-old motivational speaker from Robbinsville, NC; and Rupert Boneham's wife Laura Boneham, a 44-year-old newbie player and merchandiser from Indianapolis, IN -- whom Rupert had switched places with on Redemption Island at the beginning of the game.

The newbie players' Tadhana tribe was comprised of Colton Cumbie's fiance Caleb Bankston, a 26-year-old post office manager and farmer from Collinsville, AL; Former Big Brother winner Hayden, a 26-year-old in real estate from Springtown, TX; Aras' brother Vytas Baskauskas, a 33-year-old yoga instructor and math professor from Santa Monica, CA; Laura M.'s daughter Ciera Eastin, a 24-year-old cosmetology student from Salem, OR; and Tina's daughter Katie Collins, a 25-year-old who works in hedge fund support from New York, NY.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water's fifth episode began on Night 13 after Laura M. was unanimously voted out of the Galang tribe. Laura B. thought Rupert would be very proud of her for surviving the vote and blending in with her tribe. Meanwhile, Aras was treading carefully as his tribe's leader because he didn't want to paint a target on himself.

On Day 14, Tyson warned Gervase about what might happen if they kept Aras around and then he joins forces with Vytas after the merge. Tyson said the pair might eventually target them, so he wondered when they should "dethrone King Aras." They figured they probably had one challenge left before the merge, and Tyson put the ball in Gervase's court. Tyson told Gervase it was up to him what he wanted to do and he'd vote with him regardless.

Later that day, all the castaways from both tribes gathered to witness the season's fifth duel. Survivor host Jeff Probst then welcomed Brad, John and Laura M. and they entered the arena altogether.


Laura M.'s daughter Ciera told Jeff she saw it coming because she had a bad feeling all day that something was wrong. Laura M. could absolutely believe Ciera had a hunch considering their tight bond. Laura M. then announced there was "no way in hell" she'd ever let her daughter switch places with her on Redemption Island.

For the duel, each castaway was required to race across a balance beam while collecting bags of numbered tiles along the way. They then had to place the tiles in order from 1-100. The last person to finish the challenge would be out of the game for good, while the first-place finisher would receive a clue to a hidden Immunity Idol clue to hand out to any person on either tribe.

Laura M. ended up winning the duel and John finished in second place. Therefore, Brad was eliminated.

"Well, I'd like to think I had more of an advantage in football," Brad told Jeff. "Monica, I came on here as a shield. Through my fault or no fault of my own, I probably became an anchor. You're free. The wind's blowing. Sail. Sail hard. It's all good."

The couple both said to one another, "I love you," on Brad's way out of the game. 


"I am going to have to do this all by myself," Monica said. "Now that I don't have Brad anymore to soften whatever blows or to help me out or to have my back, I have to think about me. That's it."

Laura M. decided to give her clue to Vytas because she knew it'd make him a big target. It seemed like Laura M. was getting back at Aras for betraying her by throwing his loved one into rough waters. However, Vytas immediately tossed it in the fire just like Monica -- whom John had given his clue to -- had several times before him.

After 14 days of the returning players competing against their loved ones, Jeff announced they were going to switch it up. He had everyone drop their buffs and draw buffs at random to determine their new tribes. Tyson wanted to pick last to let fate decide his future in the game.

Aras, Gervase and Tyson moved to Tadhana, which then featured only one woman -- Ciera.

Vytas and Katie moved over to Galang, which then featured only one guy.


Aras felt the switch ruined all of his strategic plans and put himself in jeopardy.

Hayden and Caleb proved to be new to the game by sharing a lot of information with Tyson at camp. The guys even told him one of the clues to the hidden Immunity Idol. Tyson called it a stupid move and basically planned to eat all the food on his tribe and steal as much food as he could.

To not be viewed as the lazy guy around camp, Tyson would retrieve coconuts, drink half the milk, and then give the other half to his tribe members to pass around and drink. His act was self-described as "generous."

Over at Galang, Tina was thrilled to play with her daughter Katie. Vytas felt like the odd man out, like he had no power in the game since he was on a tribe of all women.

Meanwhile, Kat was in an all-female alliance with Monica, Tina, Laura B., and Katie, but she said Monica was driving her crazy by overstrategizing. Kat told cameras she needed to "shut it" or else.


Tyson had a strategy of his own. He made it look like Aras was bossing everyone around, and he kept apologized for Aras constantly to ultimately make himself look better. Tyson wanted everyone to think Aras was the one in charge, and so he hoped there'd be a small target on himself and a large one on Aras.

At Tadhana's camp, Vytas was at the mercy of all women and he tried to open up and be vulnerable with them about his past, time spent in jail and troubled relationship with his brother to gain their trust and empathy. Laura B. loved Vytas and felt he had qualities similar to those of Rupert, however, she feared the threat of Aras and Vytas potentially playing the game together down the road.

On Day 16, both tribes met Jeff again for Survivor: Blood vs. Water's sixth Immunity Challenge.

For the challenge, one pair from each tribe had to race out to a cage at the bottom of the ocean, dive down, release a gate, retrieve a fish trap, swim it back to shore, and then the next pair could go and repeat the same actions. Once a tribe collected all three of their fish traps, they'd then use the pieces inside the traps to solve a vertical puzzle.

Galang thought they were victorious two times but had mistakes in their puzzle on both accounts. Tadhana then gained momentum and got it right, winning immunity and Reward in the form of a picnic complete with turkey, roast beef, ham, cheese, bread, toppings, and brownies.

After the challenge, Tyson was upset with Tina and Laura B. for losing them the challenge but he didn't say anything. Tina apologized to her tribe, saying she'd understand if they voted her out but she'd really appreciate their mercy and grace. She also noted if someone else got voted out, she'd feel a powerful wave of guilt.


Discussions then went down about whom to target at the next Tribal Council session. Kat was assured they'd all vote out Vytas, but then she wanted to get Monica out because she was talking too much. Therefore, Kat talked to Tina about getting rid of Monica, and Tina saw it as a betrayal to their female alliance. Tina questioned Kat's loyalty and went straight to Monica and told her Kat's intentions. 

Monica was surprised and confronted Kat about the news, asking her what was said to Tina. Kat lied and explained they had discussed simply whether or not to tell Vytas about his vote-off. She kept denying bringing up Monica's name although Monica kept giving her chances to come clean. Monica then determined it didn't make sense to keep Kat in the game. Kat felt her back was against the wall.

Before Tribal, Monica tried to persuade everyone to get rid of Kat. Tina told the cameras the vote would ultimately come down to either Vytas or Kat, as it was a 50/50 shot for both of them to stick around.

At the sixth Tribal Council of the season, Monica announced she just wanted Kat's trust, and Kat said it shouldn't be about the two of them at that point in the game. Kat then grew worried and weeping, telling the girls in her tribe she loved them and would stick with them until the end if they kept her in the game.

Kat pleaded with them, saying she'd always have their backs, but Vytas kept insisting Kat had already lost their trust and made too many mistakes to recover -- while he argued he had yet to make a single mistake that would make the women question his motives or loyalty.

Kat argued the women didn't know anything about Vytas even though he came into the tribe open and genuine. Vytas then commented that his tribe "will stay together," with him in it, and they'd "stay strong" with him in it. Vytas was speaking as if Kat was already out of the picture.


Before casting her vote, Tina told the cameras her decision was based on what would get her further in the game.

In a unanimous vote, Kat was voted out of her tribe. Kat had obviously voted for Vytas.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski