Survivor: Blood vs. Water

Casting

Many former Survivor castaways were in contact to return for this season. Amber Brkich Mariano from The Australian Outback and All-Stars and her husband, Rob Mariano from Marquesas, All-Stars, Heroes vs. Villains and Redemption Island, declined the offer to return as they felt like their Survivor experience was complete. Other castaways who declined include Denise Stapley, winner of Philippines, Greg Buis from Borneo, Parvati Shallow from Cook Islands, Micronesia and Heroes vs. Villains, Tom Westman from Palau and Heroes vs. Villains, Yau-Man Chan from Fiji and Micronesia, and Malcolm Freberg from Philippines and Caramoan. Freberg would eventually return for Survivor: Game Changers. Additionally, Lex van den Berghe and Tom Buchanan, both from Africa and All-Stars declined due to the production of the reality show Family Beef.

Ashley Underwood from Redemption Island, Cirie Fields from Panama, Micronesia and Heroes vs. Villains, and Jerri Manthey from The Australian Outback, All-Stars and Heroes vs. Villains were cut when their partners and backups couldn't compete; Fields would eventually return for Survivor: Game Changers. Kelly Goldsmith from Africa was cut after she was unable to find a partner with whom to compete. While Jonathan Penner from Cook Islands, Micronesia and Philippines was asked to compete with his son, and Terry Deitz from Panama was set to play with his daughter Kayla, both pairs were cut as the children were under the minimum age requirement. Shane Powers from Panama has stated that production offered him and his son Boston spots on the show, but they did not fill out the paperwork in time. Deitz and Powers were both later included in the poll to return for Survivor: Cambodia, however, only Deitz was chosen.

Other couples who were ultimately not chosen include Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains winner Sandra Diaz-Twine and her daughter, Chelsea Meissner from One World and her father, Cindy Hall from Guatemala and her twin sister (and Rock Of Love and I Love Money contestant) Mindy Hall, Edna Ma from South Pacific and her sister, Eliza Orlins from Vanuatu and Micronesia and her mother, Holly Hoffman from Nicaragua and her daughter, Jane Bright from Nicaragua and her daughter, Marty Piombo from Nicaragua and either his son or wife, and Ken Hoang from Gabon; Diaz-Twine would eventually return for Survivor: Game Changers.

Survivor: Philippines castaway R.C. Saint-Amour and her father, Craig, were originally cast and traveled to the Philippines with the other castaways, but were pulled from the game the day before filming began due to Craig having high blood pressure. They were replaced by Candice Woodcock Cody of Cook Islands and Heroes vs. Villains and her husband, John.

Contestants

The cast consists of 10 pairs of loved ones, each composed of one new player and one returning player with varying relationships, including mother-daughter, spouses, fiancees, dating, brothers, and uncle-niece. The cast includes former NFL player Brad Culpepper, competing alongside his wife, Survivor: One World castaway Monica, and Big Brother 12 winner Hayden Moss, playing alongside his girlfriend Kat Edorsson, also from One World. Moss is the first former Big Brother contestant to appear on Survivor.

Future appearances

Tyson Apostol and Rachel Foulger appeared on the fourth season of Marriage Boot Camp; Apostol proposed to Foulger on the season finale, and she accepted. Ciera Eastin, Vytas Baskauskas, and Brad Culpepper were included on the public poll to choose the cast of Survivor: Cambodia. Eastin and Baskauskas were chosen to compete, placing 10th and 20th, respectively; while Culpepper was not chosen. Culpepper returned, along with Eastin, for Survivor: Game Changers. Eastin was the first person voted out, placing 20th.

Season summary

The players were divided into two tribes of ten: Galang, composed of returning players, and Tadhana, the returning players’ loved ones. Tadhana lost the first four consecutive challenges, and was initially dominated by a men’s alliance led by Brad. Brad’s decision to blindside his ally John resulted in Brad’s subsequent elimination and the end of the men’s alliance. When Galang first went to Tribal Council, Aras spearheaded the elimination of Laura M. in hopes that she could eliminate Brad in a Redemption Island challenge to ensure the loyalty of Brad’s wife, Monica. The plan was successful, and Laura M. returned to the game at the merge.

The tribes merged with 11 players remaining, including three pairs of loved ones: Aras and Vytas, Tina and Katie, and Laura M. and Ciera. The five players without loved ones remaining in the game formed an alliance led by Tyson, and were able to recruit Laura M. and Ciera to send Aras, Vytas, and Tina to Redemption Island before betraying Laura M. for being the stronger member of the final intact pair. With no pairs remaining, the new players outnumbered the returnees four to three, but the new players’ attempt to seize control was foiled by Ciera, who sided with the returnees. However, with six players left, she changed allegiances, forcing a tie which was resolved through random draw, resulting in Katie’s elimination. This allowed the returning players alliance of Tyson, Monica, and Gervase to take control, voting out the others and making it to the end of the game.

At the Final Tribal Council, Gervase was berated by the jury for his perceived rudeness and hiding behind more dominant players, while Monica was castigated for threatening to flip to the other alliance but ultimately never following through. This led the jury to award Tyson the title of Sole Survivor, receiving seven of the eight votes to win, and Monica receiving one.

In the case of the immunity and reward winner being able to share their reward with others, the invitees are in brackets.

Voting history

Reception

The season received critical acclaim, primarily for the theme of returning players competing against their loved ones (which allowed for some less memorable returning players to introduce more memorable loved ones to the game), the gameplay of winner Tyson Apostol, and the alterations to the Redemption Island twist that made it somewhat more enjoyable than in previous seasons. Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly ranked it #9, saying that “the returning contestants playing with/against their loved ones twist added new dimensions and forced players – and us – to think about the strategic elements of the game in an entirely new way.” Despite him not being a fan of Redemption Island, he added that “it is undeniable that the RI element is what led to many of the intriguing strategic decisions of whom to vote out and why,” and concluded that the season was “a super solid season from top to bottom and a nice change of pace.” Tom Santilli of Examiner.com, ranking it as the 8th-greatest season, particularly praised the “fine cast of 10 returning players,” some of the new players whom he felt were “potential future all-stars” (including Brad Culpepper, Eastin, and Moss), and “the dominance of winner Tyson that made the season end on a strong note,” while also claiming that “the Tribal Councils throughout the season were arguably the show’s strongest ever, and featured an unpredictability we hadn’t experienced since earlier seasons.” In 2015, former Survivor contestant and reality TV podcaster Rob Cesternino ranked the season #10 out of the first 30 seasons, while a poll on his website saw it rank #9. In 2014, the annual poll of fansite “Survivor Oz” saw Blood vs. Water rank as the 3rd-greatest season of the series out of the first 28, only behind Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, and Blood vs. Water’s successor, Survivor: Cagayan.