'Survivor: Blood vs. Water' ousts returnee Rupert Boneham from the game, votes off loved one Rachel Foulger

Survivor: Blood vs. Water eliminated returning castaway Rupert Boneham from the game after he lost the season's first Redemption Island duel to Marissa Peterson and Candice Cody during Wednesday night's second episode of the CBS reality series' 27th edition.


"I can't believe it. First one out! I never went to Tribal, I never got a vote... I have no regrets. This is a great game and I love Survivor, but I love my wife more," said Rupert, a 49-year-old mentor for troubled teens from Indianapolis, IN who previously competed on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: Pearl Islands and Survivor: All-Stars. Rupert had opted to switch places with his wife Laura Boneham on Redemption Island at the very beginning of the game.

Later in the episode, the Tadhana newbies tribe voted Rachel Foulger -- a 33-year-old cocktail waitress and graphic designer from Provo, UT who is the girlfriend of returning player Tyson Apostol -- out of their tribe on Night 6 at the season's second Tribal Council session. 

As the game's newest Tribal Council victim, Rachel will now take Rupert's place on Redemption Island, where she will battle Marissa, a 21-year-old student from Chapel Hill, NC who is the niece of returning player Gervase Peterson, and Candice, a 30-year-old physician and anesthesiology 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.

"At Tribal tonight, I got voted out! It wasn't a huge surprise to me as a girl in a guy-dominated tribe. They had split the votes tonight between me and John. I looked over and his face was kind of surprised. It is a really close tribe, like they're all friends, but I think it's going to change now," Rachel said after the vote.


Survivor: Blood vs. Water's second episode began on Night 3 with Marissa arriving on Redemption Island after she was voted off at Tribal Council.  Once there, she told Candice and Rupert she had been blindsided and was pissed to be on Redemption Island. She also explained how Gervase bragged about his returning tribe's victory, which she believed led the loved ones tribe to seek personal revenge on him.

The Galang tribe of returning Survivor castaways was comprised of Tyson, 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 Culpepper, a 42-year-old former NFL wife and homemaker from Tampa, FL; Colton Cumbie, a 22-year-old student teacher from Collinsville, AL; 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's wife Laura B., a 44-year-old merchandiser from Indianapolis, IN.

The Tadhana tribe of loved ones and newbie players was comprised of Rachel; Monica's husband Brad Culpepper, a 44-year-old attorney and retired NFL player from Tampa, FL; 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; Candice's husband John Cody, a 30-year-old physician and army orthopedic surgery resident from Washington, D.C.; and Tina's daughter Katie Collins, a 25-year-old who works in hedge fund support from New York, NY.

On Day 4, Colton over at the Galang tribe wasn't a fan of his tribe members and he just wanted to play with Caleb. He called his tribe "stupid" and thought it was dumb they were so united and friendly with one another.

Over at Tadhana's camp, Rachel's strategy was to get it in good with the guys and work with them since they were the majority. The girls were noticing Rachel's attempt and thought it was "fishy."


Meanwhile, John was wrestling with feelings of guilt and sadness since he opted out of swapping with Candice on Redemption Island. He hoped Candice would just tell him that she loves him and maybe blow him a kiss to ease the weight on his shoulders.

All the castaways from both tribes then gathered to witness the season's first duel. Marissa, Candice and Rupert entered the challenge together. Marissa announced she was mad at her tribe because the first vote-off should've been based on how everyone had performed in the Immunity Challenge and she had certainly delivered physically. Candice winked and smiled at John, making him cry, and Rupert told his wife that he loved her.

When Gervase realized his niece had been voted out of the game, he announced he had every intention to continue rubbing salt in the wounds of the opposing loved ones tribe. Survivor host Jeff Probst then gave Gervase an opportunity to switch places with Marissa in the duel, but he declined.

For the duel, each of the three competing castaways were required to use a long pole to maneuver a wooden spool through a channel of pipes. Once at the top of the structure, they had to place one spool and head back for next one. To increase difficult, the entire structure sat on a spring, so if it was touched, it'd wobble and the spools might fall off -- forcing a castaway to start all over again.

The first two people to get all 10 of their spools stacked on top of the others would stay alive in the game, while the last-place finisher would be eliminated for good. In addition, for motivation purposes, the winner would receive a clue to the location of a hidden Immunity Idol to give to any person on either tribe for whatever reason.


In the end, Candice came in first place, Marissa finished second, and Rupert came in third and was therefore sent home. Candice announced she wanted to give her idol clue to John, saying it was the obvious choice. John was so proud of his wife for "dominating" the duel.

After the duel, the guys on Tadhana -- Brad, Caleb, Vytas, Hayden, and John -- considered voting out Rachel with the prospect Tyson might want to swap places with her on Redemption Island at the next duel, which would ultimately make Galang's tribe weaker. John acknowledged it made sense, but deep down, he didn't want Candice to go up against a challenging opponent like Tyson in an upcoming duel.

Afterward, John privately searched for his tribe's hidden Immunity Idol. He hoped the other guys in his alliance wouldn't catch on to the fact he was trying to be secretive about the clue.

Over at Galang, Colton was stirring up some drama.

"I feel like I'm in middle school again. I mean, I don't mind campfire-side chats or whatever, but it's like, that's all they want to do. Do you think this is like a YMCA camping trip, where we talk about how we want to improve ourselves? Well you know what? I want to improve myself by winning a million dollars," Colton told the cameras.


Colton told Gervase that Laura M. was a big threat and then told Monica that Tyson wanted her gone. Afterward, Colton expressed to Tina how Gervase wanted to vote out Aras. Kat disliked Colton's strategy and manipulative personality, saying he thrived on betrayals. Tina personally told Kat that Colton was overstrategizing with her and it freaked her out. Once Kat let Colton know what Tina had said, Colton was flipping out and wanted to confront Tina.

While Colton swore he was a changed man at the beginning of the game, his tribe was already beginning to realize he wasn't at all.

On Day 5, Monica planned to be anything but mediocre in the game. Aras called Colton "the gay Russell Hantz," a bully. His tribemates agreed, and at that moment, a new alliance was formed: Aras, Tyson, Gervase, Tina, and Monica.

On Day 6, both tribes met Jeff again for Survivor: Blood vs. Water's second Immunity Challenge.

The challenge required three members of each tribe, while tied together, to push another tribemate -- who was inside a barrel -- to a series of flagpoles. At each flagpole, the person in the barrel had to grab a bag of balls. Once a tribe collected all four bags, its remaining members must race to roll those balls in attempt to land them in a series of target holes.


The first tribe to land all six balls inside the targets would win immunity and be safe from the vote. In addition, the winning tribe would receive Reward in the form of fishing gear. The losing tribe would attend the next Tribal Council and vote off a player, sending him or her to Redemption Island.

Galang sat out Kat for the challenge to even up the numbers. Although it was a tight race, Galang won their second Immunity Challenge in a row. It came down to Hayden and Gervase, and Gervase came through for his tribe. He yelled out, "Marissa, that's for you baby," upon his victory.

After the challenge, Tadhana's male alliance still considered getting rid of Rachel. John's hesitation to follow through with the plan was apparent, and Vytas, for example, began wondering whom John had more loyalty to -- his tribe or his wife.

The guys shared the plan with the girls, telling Rachel to vote for Ciera. When Ciera got wind she was getting a vote, she feared for her safety in the game. If it came down to a split vote and John was to use his hidden Immunity Idol -- although they weren't sure if he had one yet -- on Rachel, Ciera would go home. Therefore, Ciera and Katie decided they were going to vote for John just in case to potentially blindside him, flush out his idol and then send him packing.

In addition to the five-guy alliance worrying about whether John would betray them for his wife, they also caught him looking for the hidden Immunity Idol without sharing any knowledge with anyone. The guys figured if he found an idol, it could make him a big threat in the game.

Vytas then suggested blindsiding John instead of Rachel. He wasn't thrilled, however, about the thought of breaking up his strong alliance.


At the second Tribal Council of the season, Tadhana's second session, Jeff revealed the votes.

Two castaways voted for John, one person voted for Ciera, and four tribemates voted to send Rachel to Redemption Island. One vote was not shown, but it was presumably for Rachel.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski