User blog comment:SimBrotherCo/Survivor: Costa Rica - Blood vs. Water Results/@comment-25429296-20150324023912/@comment-128.119.183.167-20150325002647

GREAT question! :)

The big highlights of the season were.

1. Clare's swapping out for Stephanie. This was such a dramatic/intense scene that really changed the game. Stephanie started out the game feeling really non-chalant about being there, but after being blindsided and having such a strong connection with Gilbert, she really didn't want to just give up and so she gave Clare an ultimatium. She essentially threatened her and said, "if you really care about starting a relationship with me as your daughter, and aren't just here to be on tv/win survivor, than you'll prove your love for me right now by switching with me." Stephanie really had no intention of building a relationship with Clare, but she knew she could manipulate Clare into letting her back in the game. Clare got very choked up and was very conflicted, but ultimately decided her relationship with her daughter was more important, and ultimately decided to swap places with her. Clare then went on to lose her first duel to Ashleigh & Jeannine (her rival, who she had played a large hand in getting voted out at the previous tribal council). This really was the beginning of Stephanie's comeback, which was going to be a huge part of the story!

2. Redemption Island - much like the canon Blood vs. Water, lots of fireworks went on at Redemtpion Island. Almost every single duel involved mutliple people getting involved in a screaming match of sorts. The first Redemption Island duel was the Cain siblings vs. the Sanders' family! Every subsequent duel continued this trend, the arguments got more and more heated, to the point where Feraina and Ashleigh were mocking eachother outright at every single duel. Then when Ashleigh (and Shasta) beat Weston (another great moment!) the arguments continued. Ashleigh & Shasta became "The Soul Sisters" and went to every single duel trying to make Feraina and Chris look as bad as possible in the hopes that the remaining castaways would vote him out. The last Redemption Island duel, Shasta & Ashleigh got their wish and they both managed to defeat Chris, but ultimately Shasta won in an upset against Redemption Island underdog champ Ashleigh, and re-entered the game. Ashleigh's goodbye was very emotional, she began sobbing as she threw her buff in the urn and walked away, as she did so she was given a standing ovation by all the remaining castaways (even Feraina) for her hard fought battle. Which leads to...

3. Shasta vs. Feraina - Perhaps the biggest rivalry of the entire season. Shasta began on the outs of Rivas in that her one and only ally, Barney was the first one voted out, which Shasta greatly resented Feraina for. The two were both vying for control of Rivas, Feraina had it and wasn't letting go of the reigns and Shasta was on the outside desperately trying to fight her way in. Shasta tried everything to overthrow Feraina, but she ultimately got the shaft and was sent to Redemption Island...then she returned to the game and got to choose which of the two tribes she would like to be apart of, she ended up joining NuAbrevar for two reasons: to rejoin her sister, and to get revenge on Feraina. However, Gilbert & Derek managed to convince Miranda (the swing vote at the time) to team up against the sisters, and take out Shasta's sister, because she had more connections on the other side. But this is only the first part of Shasta and Sienna's rivalry...

4. The Rise and Fall of Gilbert Smith - Gilbert started out as a nerdy kid on the outside, who ended up leverging his power and becoming a crucial swing vote between the original Rivas alliance (Derek & Jeremy vs. Feraina & Catalina), he then leverged his position at the swap to befriend everyone on his new tribe. He then tried to leverage that even more, but he was caught by Miranda, and she worked with Derek & Feraina to take him out right before the merge, where he could be reuinted with Stephanie!

5. The Misfit Singles Alliance - Derek & Miranda's friendship at the swap turned into a couples alliance between the four of them, and they had Joska, Feraina & Bobby on one side willing to work with them and Shasta & Stephanie on the other, but Shasta soon realized they would have to work together in order to have any chance of winning. After Feraina won immunity Shasta begged Feraina to join her and the other singles to take out Jeremy, but she was very hesitant to do so. However, the two were able to put their differences aside to blindside Jeremy and continue their chance at the game.

6. Feraina's Last Stand - Shasta & Feraina had set their differences aside for quite some time and had been working together. However, Feraina had still made herself a gigantic target, which was good for most everyone...except Shasta and Stephanie. Stephanie & Shasta were great allies, because they knew everyone would want to take them to the end, because they had already been voted out, but Stephanie became nervous that Feraina's attitude could make her a better endgame goat than she and Shasta as a pair, so they teamed up with Derek & Oscer in order to take out Feraina. Shasta ultimately got her cumuppance on Feraina, by blindsiding her.

7. Two Losers in the Final Two - Stephanie (and Shasta as her closest ally) played up the fact that they couldn't win the game because they had been voted out, which made them desierable allies to everyone after the merge, because nobody saw them as a physical or strategic threat because of them both being voted out before, the two subtly jumped from alliance to alliance to get far into the game, then managed to sway Joska using their same strategy to blindside Derek...Then, Shasta won the final immuntiny, and took Stephanie with her, meaning that in a controversial finish, someone who had been voted out before would win the game. Stephanie sums it up perfectly where she essentially said, "Everyone wanted to take us far, because everyone wanted to sit next to the girls who had been voted out before...but they never expected us to be sitting here together!" The two were a fierce duo, and in the end Stephanie's strategic prowace and subtle moves triumphed over Shasta's one "big move" at the merge. Stephanie was declared the winner in a 6-1 Jury Vote! (Shasta's only vote coming from her rival, Feraina)