'Survivor: Blood vs. Water' Kasama tribe votes off Vytas Baskauskas and Tina Wesson

Survivor: Blood vs. Water's merged Kasama tribe voted off "loved one" castaway Vytas Baskauskas and returning player Tina Wesson in two separate Tribal Council sessions during Wednesday night's ninth episode of the CBS reality series' 27th edition.


Newbie player Vytas, a 33-year-old yoga instructor and math professor from Santa Monica, CA, was voted out of Kasama on Night 22 at the season's ninth Tribal Council session. Vytas is the older brother of returning castaway Aras Baskauskas, who got voted out of his tribe at the previous Tribal Council.

"I think Aras is responsible for getting me here, because he said he was good! I mean, I'm not going to bring anybody into an alliance with my brother and say, 'We're 100%,' if we're not 100%. So he made that mistake. But not I'm here just guilty by association," Vytas said while on Redemption Island.

Later in the episode, Kasama voted Tina, a 52-year-old motivational speaker from Robbinsville, NC, out of their tribe on Night 24 at the season's tenth Tribal Council session. Tina previously won Survivor: Australia -- which aired in early 2001 -- and was the first person voted out of Survivor: All-Stars.

As the game's newest Tribal Council victims, Vytas and Tina will now join Aras 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.


"It's nice having Redemption Island because you get a second shot," Tina said after she was voted out of her tribe. "I'm going up against two really tough competitors, but everybody has a chance."

On Night 21, Vytas, Tina and Tina's daughter Katie Collins, a 25-year-old who works in hedge fund support from New York, NY, were blindsided by Aras' vote-off.

Vytas told the cameras he would seek vengeance when the time was right. Tina then announced there were five jury votes returning player Monica Culpepper, a 42-year-old former NFL wife and homemaker from Tampa, FL, and veteran player Tyson Apostol, a 34-year-old former pro cyclist and shop manager from Provo, UT, would never get for flipping on them.

Tina was referring to herself, Katie, Vytas, Aras, and returning castaway Gervase Peterson, a 43-year-old cigar lounge owner from Philadelphia, PA. Gervase had flipped on Tina's alliance as well but she seemingly wasn't aware of that.

Tyson told Tina that herself, Katie and Vytas had pushed them out and it was actually Aras' plan to flip on them. Everybody then admitted they all thought they had an alliance with Aras, and Tyson said Aras made everyone believe they were in his Top 3.


Tyson said the person who was guilty of flipping on everybody was already out of the game and Tina needed to understand that. Tyson said he felt he was being blamed for something he didn't do.

Tyson then told the cameras he had fallen back in love with Survivor. He knew Aras wouldn't take him to the end and Tina had made Katie her priority, hence his strategic decision to try to get rid of them.

"For Tina to come out and say, 'You should be ashamed of yourself because that's not the way I play the game,' Tina, if everyone played the game like you do, I would win 100% of the time," Tyson told the cameras.

The next morning, on Day 22, Tina apologized to Katie for being on the outs of the tribe. Tina, knowing she was a big target already, told her daughter to try to separate herself from their pairing and work to better her own chances of winning the game. Katie knew she needed a gameplan or else she'd be "a sitting duck" at Tribal. Katie knew she needed to sell herself and get in other alliances, however, she didn't like the idea of throwing her "loved one" under the bus.

"I don't know how to say, 'Keep me instead of her,'" Katie said in a confessional.


On Day 22, the merged Kasama tribe met Jeff Probst for the second Individual Immunity Challenge of the season.

The challenge dated back to Survivor's first season, and Gervase really struggled with it. It was a food challenge. The castaways had to race to get down "local delicacies." They competed in a series of elimination rounds and the last person left standing would win Individual Immunity and be safe from the next vote at Tribal Council.

The first round was 40 worms. Tyson, Monica and Vytas moved on. Katie and returning player Laura Morett, a 43-year-old construction company co-owner from Salem, OR, were therefore out of the challenge.

Kat Edorsson's boyfriend and former Big Brother winner Hayden Moss, a 26-year-old in real estate from Springtown, TX, also moved on to the next round with Gervase and Colton Cumbie's fiance Caleb Bankston, a 26-year-old post office manager and farmer from Collinsville, AL.

Since Hayden, Gervase and Caleb moved on, Tina and Laura M.'s daughter Ciera Eastin, a 24-year-old cosmetology student from Salem, OR, were out of the challenge.


The next round featured three ounces of pig intestines on a plate. Monica and Gervase moved on to the last and final round. As a result, Vytas, Tyson, Hayden, and Caleb were out.

Lastly, Monica and Gervase had to take down two grubs, which Gervase failed at doing his first time around on the show. In the end, Monica won immunity.

After the challenge, Laura M. explained the guys were voting for Vytas and the girls for Katie. Four votes were going to be cast for Vytas and three would be going Katie's way. They wondered whether Vytas, Katie or Tina had a hidden Immunity Idol. Tyson knew they didn't because he had the idol. He wondered whether he should tell the group about it so they wouldn't have to worry about splitting the votes, but he also didn't want to become a big target.

Vytas realized he needed to win immunity to ensure his stay at camp, so since he didn't, he had a lot of work to do. Hayden ended up telling Vytas the truth, that he was going next. Vytas hoped four people would vote for Katie instead, and he begged and "scratched and clawed" to stay. He said he'd even write down Katie's name if he had to.

Meanwhile, Katie didn't really know what alliances even existed. Monica was nervous about the pack wanting to split their votes between Vytas and Katie. She didn't know who was driving the vote, but she was uncomfortable with the scrambling going on. Laura M. noted that Monica was a very paranoid person.


Vytas then begged Tyson to only put three votes on him. Vytas explained that going to Redemption Island right after Aras would rub salt in the wounds, and if they kept him, there'd be one less pair in the game -- as two "loved ones" were obviously considered dangerous. Vytas then added he'd be more likely to give Tyson his jury vote in the end because that's all he had left.

"Vytas made some valid points, but the main concern for me right now is if the girls wise up, they could perhaps form an all-girl alliance. Sending a girl home would keep Vytas here and still keep the guys in the strong majority. So my list optimally right now, would be to have Katie go next," Tyson told the cameras.

Tyson then suggesting to his alliance they should get rid of Katie next instead, and Ciera noted that if their group was solid, it didn't matter what order they knocked people out in. Tyson didn't want to come across as the decision maker, so he made everyone think their opinions mattered. He treaded waters very carefully.

On Night 22, the merged tribe arrived for Survivor: Blood vs. Water's ninth Tribal Council session. It was the second time they arrived at Tribal altogether.

Vytas admitted to everyone what he was thinking when they first voted Aras out of the game.

"You voted out my brother. I'm going to f-ck you up man. How dare you vote out my little brother, like, I'm my brother's keeper and if you do that in this game, I'm going to do the best I can to get you back," Vytas announced as everyone's eyes opened wide in surprise.


Vytas said that was a naturally feeling to have but he understands the move that was made. He explained it was a great move and Survivor was a game about betrayal. Vytas also said that while people were saying Aras had a bunch of alliances, he only had a couple. He insisted people were just intimidated by Vytas' relationship with Aras in the game.

Vytas then suggested Monica was paranoid and fell for anything, like someone telling her she's a doormat, which led her to immediately flip.

"Wow, I've given my word. That's all I have, is my integrity out here. I think you flopped on my husband [Brad Culpepper], and my husband's gone. But I stuck my neck out for your brother and for Tina and for the other people in my alliance to get you there to live vicariously through you all," Monica said.

Vytas said the move was also to better herself in the game. Monica broke the bond and trust they had with Tina and Katie.

Katie assumed she might go home next, but if not, she was going to look in the cracks for an opening. Vytas then brought up the idea that the girls could join forces and rally to get the guys out. He also announced Tyson and Gervase had the most power in their alliance and those should be the guys the girls target next. Tyson and Gervase looked shocked about the revelation and worried.

When voting commenced, Monica was shown writing Vytas' name down and calling him "a brat."


Jeff then tallied the votes. Five castaways voted for Vytas, one vote was cast for Katie, and one person voted for Tyson. Vytas then headed to Redemption Island.

Once Kasama returned to camp, Monica made it clear she wrote down Vytas' name although she was supposed to cast her vote for Katie. Gervase said he "would've lost it" if Monica's switched vote cost himself or Tyson the game. Gervase explained Monica "rocked the boat" and it made him want to get rid of her.

On Day 23, Aras over at Redemption Island still thought he was in the game and was optimistic despite Vytas' negative attitude.

On Day 24, Kasama met Jeff again for the third Individual Immunity Challenge of the season.

For the challenge, each castaway had to balance a sword on a shield, and with the other hand, stack coins on its handle. When the stack became too high, it would become hard to balance and the coins would fall. If a player's coins fell, he or she would be out of the challenge. The last person standing would win immunity and be safe from the upcoming vote.

Katie, who was clearly the tribe's next target, ended up winning Individual Immunity. She said it felt like "winning the lottery."


Once the tribe returned to camp, Tina began furiously looking for the hidden Immunity Idol which Tyson already had in his possession unbeknownst to everyone. She said she had five hours to find the idol and she was going to spend the rest of the day looking for it regardless of whether people were aware of it.

However, Hayden, Caleb and Tyson stood in her way and followed her around. Tyson still didn't want to tell his alliance he had an idol so he wouldn't be a threat. Tina didn't want to search for the idol with people watching her because then they'd know she didn't have it.

Meanwhile, Tyson was thinking Monica was a dangerous wild card because she was unpredictable. He didn't want her to know she was at the bottom of their alliance because she was capable of making big moves. Gervase also called Monica a loose cannon and said he wouldn't mind getting Monica out and keeping Katie and Tina "another day or two." Hayden also didn't trust Monica.

Kasama then arrived for the season's tenth Tribal Council on Night 24.

Tina announced Monica was on the bottom of her new alliance, but Monica insisted she had alliances within the seven. Monica then announced all the sub-alliances, saying Hayden and Caleb were working together, Tyson and Gervase were tight, and Katie and Tina were connected at the hip.

Monica therefore worried at times she was on the outside and might be getting votes thrown her way. Tina told Jeff that Monica just talked too much and that alone made her scary in the game.


Monica then revealed getting rid of her would be a big mistake because she was extremely trustworthy and hadn't made any deals with anybody expecting promises in return.

"I don't know how you could ask for a better player," Monica said aloud.

Tina had also hinted to everyone she might have the idol, as she said she had two moments to herself when she went looking for it.

Jeff then revealed the votes. Five castaways voted for Tina, one person voted for Monica, and one player voted for Tyson. Tina then told Katie she loved her and was sent to Redemption Island. Vytas noted at the end of the broadcast Tina would definitely lose the next duel.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski