'Survivor: Blood vs. Water' eliminates "loved one" Vytas Baskauskas, votes out "loved one" Caleb Bankston

Survivor: Blood vs. Water eliminated "loved one" Vytas Baskauskas from the game after he lost the season's ninth Redemption Island duel during Wednesday night's eleventh episode of the CBS reality series' 27th edition.


Veteran player Aras Baskauskas' brother Vytas, a 33-year-old yoga instructor and math professor from Santa Monica, CA, lost the duel to returning castaways Tina Wesson, a 52-year-old motivational speaker from Robbinsville, NC, and Laura Morett, a 43-year-old construction company co-owner from Salem, OR.

Later in the episode, the merged Kasama tribe voted newbie player and Colton Cumbie's fiance Caleb Bankston, a 26-year-old post office manager and farmer from Collinsville, AL, out of their tribe on Night 29 at the season's twelfth Tribal Council session.

"Tribal Council tonight was not what I was expecting. I was shocked that my name was on there. I figured that [Laura M.'s daughter Ciera Eastin] was going to go home, but it was definitely a successful blindside on the other half's part. Ciera flipped on us," Caleb said after he was voted out of his tribe.

As the game's newest Tribal Council victim, Caleb will now join Laura M. and Tina on Redemption Island, where they will battle each other in the game's next duel in attempt to earn a chance to rejoin the game and resume competing for Survivor: Blood vs. Water's million dollar prize.


The broadcast began on Night 26 with Laura M. telling Vytas and Tina on Redemption Island she was shocked to have been eliminated considering Monica Culpepper, a 42-year-old former NFL wife and homemaker from Tampa, FL, had been winning all the Individual Immunity Challenges and leader Tyson Apostol, a 34-year-old former pro cyclist and shop manager from Provo, UT, had been in control and "flying under the radar."

On Day 27, Survivor host Jeff Probst welcomed Vytas, Tina and Laura M. to the arena for the season's  ninth Redemption Island duel.

Jeff explained each castaway must race to remove four colored cubes from a long-neck tunnel. Once all four cubes were collected, they had to stack them so there would be no repeating colors on any side. The first two castaways to finish would live to see Day 28, while the loser would be out of the game for good and join Aras as a member of the jury.

Laura M. finished the duel in first place. While Vytas had a huge lead on Tina, Laura M. decided to help Tina out and show her exactly how to stack her cubes. Tina therefore finished before Vytas, who was frustrated with Laura M. and eliminated from the game.

"Vytas, you came into this game seeking some connection with your brother and some recognition of being your own person, and yet you leave her because two moms conspired against you to make sure you didn't move on, and it worked," Jeff said.


"They don't want me to move forward because I'm threatening to them. That's why Aras and I got voted out, because we were two huge threats in this game," Vytas noted.

"What do you think is going to happen when you go back home in your relationship with your brother? He's been very clear that he wanted to heal with you. He wanted to move forward," Jeff asked.

"I remember when Aras came back the first time, nobody could relate to his experience... But going back together, we have this shared experience and it's really going to bring us a lot closer. So, I'm sure of that," Vytas explained.

For winning the duel, Laura M. got to choose one tribe member to give the hidden Immunity Idol clue to. She gave it to Ciera, a 24-year-old cosmetology student from Salem, OR, but Ciera chose to burn it.

After the duel, Tyson's original plan was to keep everybody against Tina's daughter Katie Collins, a 25-year-old who works in hedge fund support from New York, NY, so their focus would be off him.


However, Kat Edorsson's boyfriend and former Big Brother winner Hayden Moss, a 26-year-old in real estate from Springtown, TX, suggested to Caleb they should maybe get Tyson out first since he had been a leader throughout the whole game and had "quite a resume" to preach to the jury. Hayden and Caleb got Katie onboard with the vote and believed they also had Ciera on their side. Ciera discussed "outsmarting the veterans" with them.

However, Ciera was truly loyal to Tyson and returning player Gervase Peterson, a 43-year-old cigar lounge owner from Philadelphia, PA; so she shared the information with Tyson that Hayden and Caleb wanted to betray him. Tyson then insisted that with Gervase and Monica, they must flip on either Hayden or Caleb. Tyson felt Ciera was a "wild card" and became paranoid, however, she wasn't his biggest worry at the time.

Tyson and Gervase then decided they wanted Caleb out because he was "so likable." Tyson and Gervase were ultimately shocked the guys had turned on them because they really trusted Hayden and Caleb. Tyson even admitted he planned to take the two newbie players to the Final 4 with him.

Because Ciera was acting suspicious around camp, Hayden and Caleb picked up on the fact she may have sided with Tyson over them. They also became paranoid a blindside might be coming their way.

On Day 29, the Kasama tribe arrived for their fifth Individual Immunity Challenge of the season.


For the challenge, the tribe members were required to hold onto a rope handle that was attached to a bucket. Inside the bucket was 25% of that player's own body weight. As the challenge went on, and they'd no longer be able to bare that weight, the rope would unspool, the bucket would drop, and they'd be out of the challenge.

The castaways, however, were given the opportunity to sit out the challenge and eat a barbeque if they desired. Tyson, Gervase and Ciera all opted to eat, while everyone else participated in the challenge. In the end, Hayden was close to winning but Monica pulled out yet another victory -- her third Individual Immunity win.

After the challenge, Hayden realized Tyson, Gervase and Ciera felt comfortable enough to eat during the challenge, so he assumed they were working together. Hayden and Gervase then scrambled and devised a plan to confront Tyson about their initial plan to vote him off, saying they only intended to get rid of him because Ciera had warned them Tyson was actually coming after them.

Tyson told Hayden and Caleb that Ciera had told him the same thing, that the two guys were after him. Hayden told Tyson he didn't want him gone and Ciera was clearly playing both sides.

Tyson figured Ciera would be capable of pulling that off because she was a smart player and "a hell-raiser," so he considered voting her out. But at the same time, Tyson thought of the possibility Hayden and Caleb might be trying to just throw votes on Ciera in order to save themselves.


Tyson told Hayden and Caleb he'd vote for Ciera with them. Tyson had also told Ciera, Gervase and Monica he'd vote for Caleb with them.

Kasama then arrived for the season's twelfth Tribal Council on Night 29. The season's first two jury members, Aras and Vytas, listened in on the session.

Ciera feared for her position in the game because it was revealed that Gervase and Hayden were close, and Hayden said he trusted Gervase completely. Ciera admitted she'd be completely shocked if she was the one to go because she had been "100% honest, probably overly honest in sharing information" with her alliance. She also noted she trusted her alliance whole-heartedly.

Before Jeff revealed the votes, Tyson played his hidden Immunity Idol.

In the end, four castaways voted for Caleb, and one person voted to oust Ciera from the game. As a result, Caleb was sent to Redemption Island to join Tina and Laura M. and await the game's next duel.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski