This next merge episode had a blindside that was poorly edited. I'm surprised nobody guessed this one as I thought I made the clue obvious. Anyway, the episode is:
BLOOD VS. WATER!
The set-up for this was interesting. Tyson was scared of Aras and also on a tribe with him. In the tribe swap, he took time to set up a plan with Gervase who was his right hand man and the 3 loved ones on that tribe (Ciera, Hayden and Caleb) to blindside Aras the next vote they could. Meanwhile, Vytas was the only male on the other tribe and was almost certain to go home. He survives 2 votes by playing utr and making it to the merge. This allows the B Bros to get reunited for the merge.
We start out this episode with what probably was the most anti-climatic battle to get back into the game. The battle of the Laura's for the 11th spot in the merge ended with an easy Laura Morett win. Then when they officially merge, Laura M teams up with Tyson's 5 pretty early on for a majority 6. This made it pretty clear Aras or Vytas was going. The only real drama we got from this episode was that Tina accidently told Monica she was on the bottom of their final 5 alliance. This basically got Monica upset and caused her to turn with the rest. Since Aras didn't win immunity, he was voted out 7-4.
The impact from this episode brought it up a few spots. Aras was a pretty powerful player in this season. With Tina and Katie loyal to him, he was probably in a good spot to win the game again had Tyson and Gervase not flipped. This changed the game because it basically ruined the game of the B bros, Tina and Katie. This also interestingly enough put a lot of other people in position to win the game since it did set up a battle between Tyson/Gervase and Hayden/Caleb.
Now on paper, this should be a lot higher. You have an impactful blindside that changes the course of the game. So why is this only #23? Well because I thought this was a terribly edited set-up for this blindside. Tyson talked about it 3 episodes prior, mentioned it again at the swap and then basically confirmed it early in the merge episode. Even the most casual of survivor fans could've predicted this was coming. This episode had potential to be in the top half on this list but it just wasn't very well executed.
I think this wraps up the bottom tier of this list of episodes I just plain didn't like. The rest all had some sort of enjoyment to take out of it whether it was a well edited blindside that set the tone of the rest of the game, a highlight of that season or just had a lot of humor that saved what could've been a boring episode.
Stay tuned for #22! Hint- this merge episode involved a food scandal
29. Thailand
28. Guatemala
27. China
26. Exile Island
25. Palau
24. One World
23. Blood vs. Water
Borneo
Australian Outback
Africa
Marquesas
Amazon
Pearl Islands
All Stars
Vanuatu
Cook Islands
Fiji
Micronesia
Gabon
Tocantins
Samoa
Heroes vs. Villains
Nicaragua
Redemption Island
South Pacific
Philippines
Caramoan
Cagayan
San Juan Del Sur
