Survivor: Cook Islands
Arranging a Hit
By Jim Van Nest
December 8, 2006
BoxOfficeProphets.com
We begin after the vote with Jonathan talking about how ugly Tribal Council got. If he has to be the bad guy, fine. But he's not going to let Parvati and Adam ruin everything he's been working towards.
The next morning we start the day with Ozzy bringing in a ton of fish. The ladies are chopping coconuts and amazingly enough, Parvati is actually helping. And wouldn't you know it - she finally does something and slices her thumb. Really badly. Badly enough that the medical team has to come in and put a stitch to hold her thumb together. And Adam, gentleman that he is, expresses concern over having his only alliance mate cut herself. What a doofus.
Probst sighting! The reward challenge has Survivors taking a small bucket and filling it with water in the ocean. They will then fill up a larger bucket. The bucket will lower and a flag will be raised. First person to raise their flag will be taken to another island where locals will take them to a sacred cave and they will feast. The winner will also send someone to Exile Island.
Everyone get your hankies. Jeff's brings out the family members, including Jonathan's wife, Parvati's dad, Adam's dad, Becky's sister, Yul's brother, Ozzy's mom and Sundra's mom. Of course, the winner will share the reward with the loved one. And there's another twist. The loved ones will be helping in the challenge. To update the rules, the Survivors will be blindfolded as they try to get the water from the ocean. The loved ones will direct them. When they get to a bar, they'll toss the water into a bucket held by the loved ones and they'll put it the larger bucket. Survivors ready? Go. It's actually quite difficult to tell who's doing well. Jonathan, Parvati and Ozzy seem to having a good run. Adam, Becky and Yul aren't doing so hot. Jonathan's wife is using the method of wringing her hair and shirt into the bucket. It turns into a two person race - Jonathan and Parvati. Parvati wins the reward. First order of business is to pick someone to go to Exile Island. Naturally, she sends Jonathan. Now, she gets to take two other people with her. But in a shakeup, her dad gets to choose with no help from Parvati. He chooses Sundra and Adam.
Parvati is feeling quite proud of herself and believing she has a shot at winning this thing. Adam and Sundra agree that there's probably no way they could have explained their experiences to people, so having family members there to see it is really special. Ozzy is quite annoyed with the extra people there. He's feeling a little bummed because he's spent so much time helping to provide for them so that they could win that challenge. Once the winners leave, Yul, Ozzy and Becky revel in having the beach to themselves. Yul talks about how nice it would be to have that final three for the last couple days.
On to the native feast. This is another one of those once in a lifetime things. And to share it with someone from home must have been amazing. The cave they're taken to is absolutely subllime. A fresh water lake lives in there and it's truly a beautiful sight. The Survivors are allowed to participate in a religious blessing of the cave and the pool. And then everyone gets to dive in. I mean, how cool is that? And then it's fried chicken, meat loaf, biscuits and everything else needed for a great picnic. Sundra tells us that Adam and Parvati are much more easy going when Jonathan's not around. They got a chance to do a lot of talking.
We come back to camp and Ozzy asks what they think they should do about the food. He's sick of feeding Adam and Parvati and having them win. Yul suggests hiding the food for a couple days. Everyone's in. And I'm just not sure how this will turn out. Ozzy tells us that for Adam, Parvati and Jonathan, there will be no more coconuts. He doesn't want to feed people who beat him. This brings to mind how this show is almost as much about the edit as it is about the people. I say this because for weeks now, we've been shown Jonathan bringing in the fish and providing for everyone. Yet now, we have Yul and Becky saying that Ozzy provides most of the food for the tribe. Who knew? And on the whole hiding food thing, I think that's an incredibly risky play. Not calling them for dinner is one thing. To actually deprive them of food is totally another. And I know people will say that they should get up off their lazy asses and get it themselves. But this far into the game, do they even know how? I'm not really liking this play very much. I think a good deal of it has to do with the fact that I really like Yul and Ozzy and this is something I would think they would be above. It will definitely prove interesting over the next little bit.
Ozzy tells us that Adam is the biggest and eats the most. He says that if you can't get your own food at this point, you shouldn't be in the game. And then the irony arrives as Adam, Parvati and Sundra come back with a ton of food from the challenge. Um, how's that whole hiding food thing feeling to you now? Becky tells us that the plan kinda went out the window when their tribemates pulled out all the food. Whew! I'm so glad to hear that. I didn't like where that was going.
Probst sighting! Today's challenge is an obstacle course race. They'll go through the obstacles and into the water, where Survivors will thenl swim out and get a bag of sticks. They'll bring it back and then go out and do it again. Once they have both bags of sticks, individuals will put the sticks together to form a pole. They'll use the pole to retrieve two rings. First person to get both rings wins immunity. Is it me, or is this tailor made for Ozzy? Survivors ready?
And what a surprise, Ozzy is blowing away the field with Jonathan and Yul his closest rivals. With only Yul back with a bundle, Ozzy heads to his second bundle. I mean, where's the challenge? He is so head and shoulders above the field it's not even funny. We interrupt the Ozzy Show to talk about Sundra. She takes of the hardest falls I've ever seen on Survivor. If her entire backside isn't a big purple bruise tomorrow, it'll be amazing. Back to the action, if you can really call a one man challenge action, Ozzy grabs his second ring and it's all over. Before they head back, Jeff asks who is feeling vulnerable. Adam and Parvati raise their hands. Interestingly enough, I can't help but think that means Jonathan is in trouble. But I guess we'll see.
Because we like to play the game every week, I'm gonna go ahead and say it's time to play, "It's Anyone but Adam." I will mention that I think Jonathan could be in trouble here, too. We come back to Ozzy talking about how the challenge was right up his alley. As the tribe eats, a weird silence takes over. Jonathan thinks people don't know what to say to him. He's concerned that something has shifted and that he has a couple hours left in this game. He hooks up with Becky and Sundra to make sure things are still good and to confirm that Adam is the vote tonight.
Meanwhile, Adam and Yul are talking about Jonathan. And Adam admits that flipping Jonathan was great strategy. Adam's really trying to get Yul to dump Jonathan. This is what causes Yul to make the Godfather comment. He feels like Adam is asking him to arrange a hit on someone. Yul talks to Jonathan and tells him he'll do his best to keep Jon in the game. Jon seems to feel that things have shifted and he can understand it. He reminds Yul of what he's done in the game. He claims he's the perfect person to keep around. "And I saved your hide. And I was happy to do it because it felt like I had made amends for my stepping away." He's basically playing the "I kept you in the game" card. Yul and Ozzy are talking about how they don't want Jonathan or Adam in the final four. They're pretty much planning on a Yul, Ozzy, Sundra and Becky final four. So we go to Tribal with a bit of mystery as to who the vote will be. If I were to lay down some cash, I'm thinking I have to lay it down on Jonathan at this point.
Tribal begins with Parvati raving about the reward. Adam says that going to Exile Island hurts you more than the huge meal helps you in the next challenge. When asked about sending Jonathan to Exile, Parvati explains that it was a strategic move to try to keep herself and Adam in the game. Next question is to Ozzy about if it was nice not having Jonathan around camp. He says sure, because Jonathan has a very strong personality and it's kinda hard to be around him. Jonathan is very concerned to hear that Adam and Parvati are having so much influence considering the flop he made for the alliance.
And now let's start the weekly ripping of Jonathan. Jonathan tries once again to prove that he belongs there. Despite Adam's argument to the contrary, he says that there is a bit of a debt owed him because if not for him, some of the people sitting there right now would have been gone. Jeff then asks Yul about whether Jonathan saved him or he saved Jonathan. Yul says that they saved each other. And then he makes the comment that the Aitutaki Four are pretty much in charge of the game and since he has the hidden idol, he has a lot of influence within that. Um Yul, everyone knows you're in charge of the game. And we all know you love to tell the truth. But sometimes, bud, it's best to just shut up. You don't hear LaDainian Tomlinson on TV talking about being the best in the game, he just is. It's one of those "act like you've been there before and that you'll be going back" things, Yul. Study it. 'Cause you could use some modesty about now. That being said, let's get to the vote. We see Jonathan vote for Adam and Adam vote for Jonathan. Let's tally the votes. And just like that, the Aitu alliance is down to four. Jonathan takes the walk. The interesting thing is that I still think Jonathan is a vote for Yul because he knows Yul's played the best game.
Next time on Survivor: Adam and Parvati make a play for Ozzy. And Becky and Yul discuss whether or not to turn on Ozzy. Honestly, I can't see that happening. It's time to finish what you started and wipe out Adam and Parvati. Then worry about Ozzy. No matter what, though, we'll know everything by the end of next week as next Thursday bring us the final two episodes of Survivor on CBS - the normal show on Thursday and the three-hour finale and reunion on Sunday. Until then, take care.