Survivor Blood vs Water Episode 7: Swoop in for the Kill

A very interesting episode of Survivor went down this week.. Congrats again to the producers for continuing to excite us, week after week!

Last week, Kat was voted off her tribe when she made an errant decision to open her mouth and target Monica. The move ended up biting her in the butt with Vytas masterfully using this flawed move to magnify Kat's lack of trustworthiness. Thus, Kat mopes in Redemption Island while contemplating on not only her future in the game, but also the future of her relationship with Hayden. Gotta love those one-liners, girl!

Image: CBS

But the big question leading up to this week is this: will Hayden swap places with Kat? But in my mind, the real question should be this: how dumb will Hayden have to be in order to swap with Kat? Thankfully, Hayden opted to stay in the game even despite of Jeff Probst's tease to prove to Kat just how important their relationship is to him. Oh Probst! I am not a fan of your snide remarks, but this time out I loved how you swooped in to "test" this relationship. What a relief that Hayden did not take the bait even though Kat openly expressed that he hoped for him to swap because she sucked in the puzzle. For all the things I don't like about Kat's gameplay, you cannot not love her for her honesty!

The duel was a cake walk for John who smoked the puzzle (again!). Even Laura who seems pretty good at puzzles herself was having a hard time. And with that, Kat leaves the game but not without another funny comment to Hayden that brought a smile to John's face. What is she, 15?!

Image: CBS

At the Tadhana camp, Aras is quickly becoming the odd one out. It does not help his cause either that he's constantly bringing up Vytas' name into the mix. It further heightens the suspicion on Tyson & .co's part about where Aras' loyalty lies. It's also coincidental that all of the other players at Tadhana no longer has a loved one in the game (except for Ciera whose mom is still fighting for her life at Redemption Island). Aras setting out to meditate backfires on him as it gives the others the opportunity to conspire against him and seal their alliance of five. Tyson has been blatantly expressing his willingness to turn on Aras when he gets the chance. For now, that door of opportunity closes on his face yet again as they survive another immunity challenge.

In hindsight, keeping Vytas was not a good move for Galang (and especially for the girls). They've voted out two people already who are going to be numbers for them post-merge. See, Vytas might profess loyalty to the women of Galang now, but that is all he has to offer. But we know there's still Aras on the other side whom he can reconnect with and team up with... that's when Vytas is dangerous. He is dangerous by himself and even more potent with Aras by his side!

Image: CBS

On the flip side, Laura B has nowhere else to go. Her loyalty is to Galang only. She was already voted out by the people from the original Tadhana and when she was switched with Rupert to join Galang, she's been part of that team. She is a sure number that is going to vote with them! If Vytas has had them convinced to get rid of two women off of their alliance already, imagine what he can do with Aras in the merge! Even Tina points it out herself that Vytas is a likeable guy and you would be persuaded by his smooth-talking ways if you had to depend on instinct. Does that mean that their vote in tonight's episode hinges on instinct? How much more damage would Laura B opening up her mouth do if they ended up voting for Vytas, anyway? Will that really change anything?

Next week: it's merge time! The plan to break up the Vytas-Aras duo was not hatched but we'll see for how long these two will survive! Who do you think will come back into the game from Redemption Island? Don't forget to vote on the poll.