Survivor: Cook Islands
I Have The Advantage
By Jim Van Nest
December 15, 2006
BoxOfficeProphets.com
We begin the day after Jonathan's ouster. Parvati and Adam are very happy that Jonathan is gone, but they know that they are the underdogs and have to start winning challenges. Parvati has decided she's going to try to get someone to turn to her side. We come back from the opening to Yul reading Tree Mail. The winner will get a nice one day vacation from camp life, but they'll have to get dirty to do it. Yul wonders if it's some kind of mud wrestling challenge.
Probst sighting!! The challenge is a simple one. The Survivors will dive into a mud pit and cover their body with mud. They'll race back and scrape it off into a bucket. They are not allowed to carry mud in their arms or hands. The person to have the most mud in their bucket after 10 minutes will win a spa day. They'll get a shower. They'll get to wash their clothes and there will be a ton of food. Winner gets to send someone to Exile Island and the people that finish 2md and 3rd also get to go on the reward. This is a tough challenge to recap as there's no real way to tell who's winning. As time goes on, though, it begins to be apparent that Ozzy is in the process of dominating once again. To back this up, when the challenge ends, Jeff weighs Ozzy's bucket. 45 pounds. Second place is Parvati at 24 pounds with Yul in 3rd at 22.5 pounds. As usual, Ozzy just can't be beat. First matter of business, Ozzy sends Adam to Exile Island. I'll stop here to say that this could not have worked out any better for Aitu. Sundra and Becky will be alone at camp, while Adam is stuck on Exile. Yul and Ozzy will go on the reward with Parvati. And while very cute and manipulative, she's unfortunately hanging out with a couple guys who know where their bread is buttered. Swaying either one of them seems like it would be a lost cause.
At camp, Becky and Sundra talk about Ozzy's win. Becky has decided that Ozzy really has to go. She sees how competitive he is and how dominant he's been. Sundra agrees and they decide to talk to Yul about changing the order of the vote.
We join the reward-ers on a helicopter to the spa. Parvati has decided that Ozzy is her only hope for switching up the game. But she's not feeling too confident. The first thing they all do is shower. Then it's time for the massage.
We break into the feel good portion of our show to join Adam at Exile Island. He whines a little, it rains a lot and there goes a few minutes of my life I'll never get back.
We'll now rejoin the reward dinner already in progress. Parvati is trying to bond with Ozzy. He tells her that she's in the position he was in, the "have to win" position. Parvati has decided to try to get as close to Ozzy as she can. After a power outage, some tribal musicians and dancers come in to perform. With the show over, it's time for champagne and nekkid hot tubbing. Parvati is flirting so hard that even Yul is commenting on it. Ozzy tells us he's playing for himself like he has been from day 1. He may play the game with Parvati if it's to his advantage.
We come back to camp as the reward 3 return. While they were gone, Becky has become determined that Ozzy has to go. She's bummed that Yul has been gone and she couldn't talk to him about it. Yul can feel the tension and takes Becky aside right away. She spills it about Ozzy. She tells Yul that Ozzy isn't just beating them, he's beating them badly. Yul tells us that he does not want to go to the final 2 with Ozzy. He is a guy that needs to go because, "he's playing a straight up game and doing a helluva job of it."
Yul and Sundra are then talking and Yul wonders where Parvati is. Sundra tells him she's sleeping after her hard day at the spa. She asks how Parvati was on the reward. Yul admits that he has totally underestimated her and that he sees her as a bigger threat. He's worried that she'll get to Ozzy. Sundra seems to agree with him.
Probst sighting!! The immunity challenge is a fun one. Survivors will carry some game board pieces across a very narrow balance beam. Once they have all 4 of their bundles across the beams, they will create a table maze (think of the old game Labyrinth). Once the board is complete, they'll have to maneuver 2 balls into the far corner pockets of the board, avoiding all of the decoy holes along the way. Survivors ready?
While Sundra, Parvati, Adam and Yul all struggle with the balance beams, Becky gets one bundle across and Ozzy gets 2. Yet another challenge perfectly made for Ozzy. Ozzy gets his 4 bundles before anyone even gets 3. Yul has figured out the secret. He puts the puzzle pieces on his head and then balances across the beam. Yul finally gets his 4th bundle across and it's a 2 man race. Ozzy and Yul finish their puzzles at the same time, but Yul's is put together wrong. And that's plenty of time to allow Ozzy to get both of his balls through the maze. Ozzy...wins immunity. Not that it really matters, but Adam and Sundra never did make it across the beam.
And now it's time to play "It's Anyone But Parvati." Right off the bat, Adam comes to Yul to see if he's going home tonight. Yul admits that he thinks Parvati is the one to go. He tells Adam that if he wants to stay, he'll stay. He's pretty sure he can make it happen. Adam would like for both he and Parvati to remain in the game, but since that's not possible, he'd rather stay than go. Parvati then goes to Yul and he tells her that she's starting to become more of a threat than Adam. But in HIS opinion he sees Adam as a bigger threat. I was real keen to listen to this, and to be sure, Yul told Adam he'd try to keep him there. He never makes that promise to Parvati. So while he told each person what they wanted to hear, he made sure to only commit to one of them.
With the knowledge that she is probably leaving, it's time to make a move. She goes after Ozzy. Adam starts talking about who to vote for. He's voting Sundra. Ozzy says he hasn't decided yet. Ozzy says it'll be hard to vote for one of his alliance mates as he'd be the next to go if that happens. As they talk in the shelter, Sundra notices them. Yul decides someone needs to go break it up before they can work over Ozzy. Yul takes Adam into the shelter and actually says, "I know you guys are playing the game, but don't to get Ozzy against us." I hate to have to say this because you all know that Yul is my favorite.
But in the interest of being fair I have to say: Yul! Buddy! Get over yourself already. Did you honestly just go in and tell Adam to stop trying to save himself? I mean, I know you think you deserve to win and for the most part, I agree. But are you really suggesting that Adam just accept his fate because YOU think you deserve to win? I've heard some conceited things over the 13 season history of this show and other than Hatch's "They should just put my name on the check now" comment in Season 1, Episode 1, this may be the most conceited thing I've heard anyone say. That all being said...I hope it works, because I want to see the Aitu 4 continue on. And the only fair Final 2 for this season would be Yul and Ozzy. 2 of the best ever duking it out for a million bucks. That would be fun to watch.
Adam realizes that Yul is saving him right now, but he still feels uneasy about the vote tonight. Before Tribal, Yul decided he would take Jonathan his hat. After the vote last week, Jon asked for his hat back. So Yul decides to take it to Tribal.
As they arrive at the Tribal Council area, Yul sets the hat down on one of the benches and takes his seat. Personally, I think that's a good move. That way, the jury doesn't see who brought it in and it can't be viewed as a lame attempt to kiss the ass of a jury member. Well done, Yul. So naturally, ad the jury sits down, Jeff points out that Yul brought the hat in what he called, "Quite possibly the boldest move I've seen yet from someone trying to win a vote..." He asks Yul about it and Yul says that the hat has sentimental value and that Jonathan wanted it.
Jeff points out that a couple days after blindsiding him he's now bringing his hat back to him. There's much discussion on whether or not Yul might be trying to land a jury vote by doing this. It goes on long enough that Yul finally raises his hand to speak. He finally admits that bringing the hat back serves 2 purposes. Getting the man his hat back and possibly gaining his favor back on the jury. I'm just so curious why he doesn't point out the fact that he set it on the bench anonymously and that only because Jeff brought it up does Jonathan even know who set it there. Next topic was whether or not Parvati bonded on the reward. And she goes right into flirt mode. And it's this mode that makes me not like her even one little bit. Jeff asks Adam why he's still in the game, since he seems to be the biggest threat "on paper." Adam is quick to point out that he's sucked in the challenges.
The next question is a big one. Jeff asks Yul if he's starting to be concerned about Ozzy winning all of the challenges. This is the closest thing I've heard to a "jury style" question in a long time. I hope Yul is treating this like the practice that it is. And Yul hits it out of the park. He essentially says that Ozzy's wins have been a large factor in the tribe getting as far as they have. He also says that they're very tight internally and that they'll get farther playing together than they would playing individually. I don't know that he could have said that any better. He acknowledged Ozzy's domination while making it seem like deep down he's still rooting for the guy. Excellent answer to a pretty tough "put a guy on the spot" question. As he finishes his sentence, Parvati exchanges a glance with the jury that basically says, "See? This guy is frickin good!" And now it's time to vote. Ozzy, you keeping the necklace? "Oh hell yeah."
The only vote we see is Parvati voting for Sundra. We hear the audio of Yul's vote saying that he had underestimated this person. One can pretty much assume he means Parvati. So, it looks like it's down to Sundra vs. Parvati. Let's tally the votes. And the 15th person voted out of Survivor: Cook Islands is Parvati, by a score of 4-2.
Programming note: This Sunday, December 17 is the 3-hour Survivor finale. Well, 2-hour finale and then the reunion special. Please don't let the fact that there are 5 people left fool you, the finale is this Sunday.
Next time on Survivor: We're down to the Final 5 and the final show. They don't give us much in the way of highlights, but there is one interesting thing. The voiceover says, "5 castaways remain, 3 Tribal Councils, only 1 Survivor. And the biggest surprise yet." Now, I'm pretty good with math and something just isn't adding up. If there are 5 people left, shouldn't there be 4 Tribal Councils left? The first vote would know them down to 4. The second would knock them to 3. The next one will get you your final two. And the 4th and final Tribal would be the one in front of the jury. So, is it safe for me to deduce that if there's only 3 Tribals and "the biggest surprise yet"...are they saying that there's a Final 3 and not a Final 2? Who knows? I'm just glad that I only have to wait a couple days instead of a week!! And with that, I'll bid you a fond farewell. Until Sunday, take care..