‘Survivor: Blood vs. Water’ analysis: Hayden Moss brings over ‘Big Brother’ game on weak tribe

Another week into “Survivor: Blood vs. Water,” and we are left with the same feeling that we had after watching the premiere episode: The returning players are in control of the game, and the family members are the ones in trouble. While they seemingly have a tribe now that is capable of winning challenges, the problem lies in that they also have no clue how to really play the game.

We’re not going to bury the lead we’ve established here, since the biggest failure of the week comes from John Cody. If everyone knows that you have a clue to a hidden immunity idol, and you don’t choose to share it with anyone? What you have to do at that point is share it with your alliance: It may be annoying to do so, but having someone else find your idol is better than having them gun for you. John lucked out this week with Rachel Foulger going home; if another week passes with similar behavior, he could be next. Heck, he could end up being in trouble right now anyway.

The one good move

We will give the newbies a little credit for the move to get rid of Rachel. It’s smart for where they are in the game. They know that she is not in the alliance, and has a boyfriend in Tyson Apostol that is a huge challenge threat. If you can bait him to go to Redemption Island in her place, it’s worth it since that would make his own tribe weaker, and there’s always a chance he could lose at one of the puzzle-like games that are played there. He may be the biggest challenge threat in the game, but he excels more at things that allow him to run and swim.

We do not see Rachel lasting at Redemption Island long given that Marissa and Candice both already have experience, and we imagine that on this tribe, both John and maybe Culpepper will join them soon. The latter is acting like he’s never seen the show before. If you are an obnoxious / bossy alpha male who gets cocky, you get taken out. It happens all the time. If he makes it to the merge, he won’t be lasting longer than a couple of weeks.

Once again, credit must be given to both Vytas Baskauskas and Hayden Moss, the latter of who being someone who has done a pretty phenomenal job at getting the target off of himself despite being a “Big Brother” winner. He’s applying some of the tools he used there to his game here, including hiding behind other targets and joining a large, male dominated alliance.

Colton crumbles

It’s still hard to get a read on the returning players, save for that beastly five-person alliance with Gervase Peterson, Tina Wesson, Aras Baskauskas, Tyson, and Monica Culpepper. This is a group that could stick around for a while, mostly because all of them are smart. Tyson is really the only one out of the bunch who could be sneaky and make a big move at a time when it benefits him to do so.

The real question here is just how long Colton Cumbie lasts. He’s already threatening to quit the show in the previews for next week, and if that’s the case, better to get him out sooner. As despicable as he was during “One World,” his game was going well before he got evacuated. We’re not going to see the same thing here, we figure. Once he leaves or gets voted off, the real fun can begin and we can see who is actually there to play. Based on the alliance structure right now, we also have Laura Morett and Kat Edorsson on the outs.

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Photo: CBS