Survivor: Blood vs. Water eliminated "loved one" Marissa Peterson from the game after she lost the season's third Redemption Island duel during Wednesday night's third episode of the CBS reality series' 27th edition.
ADVERTISEMENT
Marissa, a 21-year-old student from Chapel Hill, NC who is the niece of returning player Gervase Peterson, lost the duel to newbie player John Cody and his wife Candice Cody, a returning player.
Later in the episode, the Tadhana newbies tribe voted Brad Culpepper -- a 44-year-old attorney and retired NFL player from Tampa, FL, who is the husband of returning player Monica Culpepper -- out of their tribe on Night 10 at the season's fourth Tribal Council session.
"I was dead asleep and I heard the sweetest voice I ever wanted to hear on Redemption Island, Brad Culpepper. Now I have my chance to put him out of the game for good!" Candice said when Brad arrived.
As the game's newest Tribal Council victim, Brad will now take Marissa's place on Redemption Island, where he will battle Candice, a 30-year-old physician and anesthesiology resident from Washington, D.C., and John, a 30-year-old physician and army orthopedic surgery resident from Washington, D.C., 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.
ADVERTISEMENT
Survivor: Blood vs. Water's fourth episode began on Night 8 on Redemption Island.
John was shocked he got voted out of his tribe because he assumed Brad would have his back no matter what. Candice, however, wasn't that surprised, as she said John was too trusting -- a quality she loved about him that she knew wouldn't fare well in the game of Survivor.
At this point in the game, the Galang tribe of returning Survivor castaways was comprised of 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; Kat Edorsson, a 23-year-old full-time student and saleswoman from Orlando, FL; Laura Morett, a 43-year-old construction company co-owner from Salem, OR; Gervase, 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 Tadhana tribe of loved ones and newbie players was comprised of Brad; Colton's fiance Caleb Bankston, a 26-year-old post office manager and farmer from Collinsville, AL; Kat's boyfriend -- and former Big Brother winner -- Hayden Moss, 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.
Over at Tadhana's camp on Night 8, Brad admitted he spear-headed the plan to get John out. He was thinking about connections in the game so the couples could become a unified power come the merge. John didn't have anyone on the other side, as Candice was on Redemption Island and most likely on her way out soon, to bring into that situation. Therefore, they got him out and Caleb started to worry about his position in the game because he also didn't have a loved one on the other side since Colton quit.
ADVERTISEMENT
On Day 9, all the castaways from both tribes gathered to witness the season's third duel. Survivor host Jeff Probst then welcomed Marissa, Candice and John together as they entered the arena.
Candice announced she wished she could compete against someone she hated, "like Brad Culpepper," she told him. "Just look away. You're a child."
Monica then stood up for her husband, saying there wasn't just one person voting on the loved ones tribe so it wasn't fair to attribute losses simply to Brad. Candice called Brad out for "hushing the women" on his tribe, which Brad firmly denied. John then declared people needed to think about knocking the "king off his thrown," especially since he was a liar.
For the duel, the three competing castaways had to race across a ladder bridge while maneuvering a key. Once they reached the end of the bridge, they had to use a certain key to unlock a bag and then use the pieces inside the bag to solve a complicated puzzle.
John ended up winning his first duel and Candice survived her third duel in a row. As a result, Marissa was sent home.
ADVERTISEMENT
Gervase told his niece he was really impressed with and proud of her. He said Marissa gave her that "extra oomph" he needed to go further in the game. For winning the duel, John was given a hidden Immunity Idol clue he could give out to any person on either tribe. He decided to give it to Monica with everyone knowing it would put a huge target on her back. Having a hidden Immunity Idol clue is exactly why John's tribe voted him out.
Monica, following the advice of Brad, actually burned the clue so she nor anyone else could use it.
After the challenge, Monica was letting off some steam after witnessing how aggressive some castaways were being with her husband.
"Is there ever going to be a duel that my husband is not verbally accosted by a bunch of people that don't even know him? You know, leaders have followers and if that's the case, then somebody's buying what he's selling. But Brad is the strongest one out here. If he makes it to the merge, I won't believe it," Monica told the cameras.
Gervase explained no one wanted to assume their loved one was "the bad guy" and running the show on the other tribe but somebody had to be doing it and it wasn't Marissa.
ADVERTISEMENT
Over at Tadhana's camp, Brad told his fellow castaways he didn't expect Candice to be so personal. He then told cameras he was the leader of the group and if his tribe was to lose the next Immunity Challenge again, he'd want to send Caleb home because no one on the other side would care and it would therefore take the heat off him at the next Redemption Island duel.
Meanwhile, Caleb, Vytas and Hayden -- who were in an all-male alliance with Brad -- agreed they needed to keep Brad around, so once the merge came, the heat would be on him and off of them. The threesome was united and strong. They wanted Brad on their side, but at the same time, they didn't want to get "Johnned." They figured a girl on their tribe needed to be the next to go, but Brad was the lowest guy on their own totem pole.
On Day 10, at Galang's camp, Tyson told the cameras he was acting as if his shoulder was hurting a lot more than it actually was. He hoped to gain his tribe's sympathy as a result and avoid doing much work around camp.
"I'm definitely with Gervase right now. If that lasts through until the finals, so be it. It would definitely be in Gervase's best interest to stick with me as well because we both lost our loved one in the game, Aras still has his, and if Aras makes it to the merge, he will work with Vytas. They're obviously the strongest cumulatively, so to have them both, I think, is a huge danger," Tyson explained.
Later that day, both tribes met Jeff again for Survivor: Blood vs. Water's fourth Immunity Challenge.
For the challenge, the tribes had to each paddle out to a series of crates, dive down and release a crate, and then put it on their boat. Once a tribe had all five crates, they must use them to build a staircase. Two tribe members must then solve a puzzle revealing a combination that would release a key. The first tribe to find the right key and use it to raise their flag would win the Immunity Challenge and be safe from the vote at the next Tribal Council.
In addition, the winning tribe would receive Reward in the form of tea, coffee, croissants, etc. -- or trade it all in for fishing gear, which Galang already had in their possession.
Galang sat out Tina and Kat, which meant Tyson -- whose shoulder was still hurt but was supposedly getting better every day -- would be competing with only one good arm. He claimed he could do it, however, and that he did. Galang won another Immunity Challenge and remained undefeated.
Laura M. cried a little bit after the challenge because she said she wanted to see Ciera win and achiever her goals, but her tribe was depending on her and she knew her daughter couldn't beat her at the puzzles. Laura M. was therefore using that personal information to her tribe's advantage.
Over at Tadhana's camp, Hayden expressed how he couldn't believe his tribe lost to "a guy with one arm and three moms." Brad told the girls to vote for Caleb, but Ciera wasn't sure whether she could believe him or not.
The guys alliance, minus Brad, agreed Ciera should go home because she had performed the worst in the challenges thus far. Brad was off talking to the women while the guys were making decisions and didn't join them immediately to chat, so that made them skeptical of his loyalty. Brad, however, eventually entered the conversation.
ADVERTISEMENT
Caleb believed Hayden and Vytas would have his back no matter what, and Brad was actually onboard with them as well. He knew his tribe needed to be at its strongest, so he thought it was a definite Ciera would be going home.
At the fourth Tribal Council of the season, Tadhana's fourth session, Brad announced they lost two challenges because of puzzles and Ciera had volunteered to do both of them. Brad explained his tribe went into both of those challenges with a lead as well. However, Ciera said she wasn't going without a fight.
In response to a question Jeff asked, Brad admitted to the group he was thinking about getting rid of someone without a loved one so no one on the other side would be mad at him. Caleb, Hayden and Vytas immediately exchanged worried looks because Caleb was without a loved one. Caleb then called out Brad for campaigning against him and admitted he wasn't sure if he could trust Brad.
At that moment, Caleb just yelled out he was writing Brad's name down. The revelation shocked the tribe, and Caleb went as far to even say he knew Hayden and Vytas would vote with him. Vytas denied the claim to Brad's face. In turn, Brad promised Caleb he wasn't writing his name down, but Caleb didn't care and, once again, confirmed he was voting for Brad.
Jeff Probst then revealed the votes. Brad voted for Ciera, Ciera voted for Brad and Caleb voted for Brad. There were also two more votes for Ciera and one more for Brad, which resulted in a tie.
The tribe then voted again, but this time, Brad and Ciera couldn't vote and the other four castaways could only vote for one of the two targets.
The vote then came down to one vote for Ciera and three votes for Brad. Although it wasn't clear who cast each vote, either Hayden or Vytas turned on Brad and voted him off alongside Caleb and Katie. One of the two guys stuck with Brad and the male alliance.
On his way out of the game, Brad said he wasn't mad at anyone and he had made a bad move. He announced he'd do his best to get back in the game.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski