And then there were seventeen…

 

This season of survivor has an extra-added element to it: playing against a loved one in Survivor Blood vs. Water. This added challenge to an already intense game is really raising the stakes for all contestants. Also, since the contestants are playing against their loved ones it makes for an interesting group dynamic. After losing the first challenge to her husband, Val was sent to exile island and her husband, Jeremy, had to choose who from his own team would be the best choice to send with his wife. He chose Keith, which ended up being a great advantage to both people. Keith formed an alliance with Jeremy and made a bond with Val that could help him later on in the game.

The biggest disadvantage to being sent to exile island was that while Keith and Val were away the rest of their team members had a chance to bond and form alliances. This made the period of primary tension longer for both team members who weren’t with the groups to initially set up camp and help build shelters. Dale also felt some primary tension, so much so that he was up for being eliminated at the tribal council meeting. His age had really created a gap between him and the rest of his team members, and to try and solve this tension Dale sacrificed his glasses to help make fire to benefit his whole team.

Another very obvious stage of group formation that was shown in this episode was the performing stage. John, the former professional baseball player was determined to not let his past ‘infamous’ commentary to affect his experience on the show and took charge in the final challenge of the episode helping all of his team members climb up the multiple walls on the structure. Likewise, Drew took charge in building an elevated shelter for his tribe and wanted people to see that he was carrying his weight in the game.

So far so good, there have been only positive commentary from players and everyone seems to get along, for now.