My roommate and her boyfriend might have judged me for putting on “Survivor” again, but when they had to leave midway through the episode, they couldn’t help but linger. They watched the drama unfold as Ciera resolved to vote out her mom, Laura.

Last week’s end-of-episode teaser hinted at a split between the mother-daughter pair. Though, as usual, the teaser was far more dramatic than the actual episode. The teaser gave me the impression that Ciera would be gung-ho about voting out her mom, but instead she resisted the idea, even going so far as trying to push votes on to Katie after discovering she didn’t have the hidden immunity idol.

Of course, as Laura pointed out at Tribal Council, Katie is the eighth member of a tribe that has a seven-strong alliance. Voting out the last player outside of the alliance keeps the alliance strong for one more week and allows the “leader” of the alliance (who would be Tyson) to break up the alliance according to the “plan.”

But then Laura also tried to point out the “pros” of letting a couple stay in the game: Two votes are better than one! We’re still forced to compete against each other! Maybe if the other is in the final three we’ll convince everyone else to vote for the other? Yeah, Laura tried, and with her head on the chopping block, you can’t really blame her.

Next week, with Laura out of the game (but not out of the Redemption Island fight), all players will be reduced to individuals. The core alliance of seven has been broken, but then, Laura was already on the bottom of that alliance. With Caleb and Hayden becoming suspicious of Tyson’s leadership and overconfidence, I could see Tyson getting voted out next week. Of course, Katie’s still on the outs, so she could easily be voted off. But easy votes don’t win games for the players who are at the bottom of their alliance. If a big move is going to be made against Tyson, next tribal is the time to do it (while Tyson still feels confident in his position in the game).

I’ve been rooting for Tyson for the past two weeks, but his overconfidence could easily stab him in the back. Ciera, who I never thought had a chance of winning, was willing to let her own mom go to get a little further in the game. While both of these were relatively small moves, they could be the small steps Ciera needs to make it to the final three. I could easily see her, Hayden and Caleb teaming up to take out Tyson and making it to the end. But that’s assuming they manage to vote out Tyson sooner, rather than later and that he doesn’t use his hidden immunity idol.

Until next time on “Survivor!”

— Claire Cinquegrani