Survivor: Cook Islands

This Tribe Will Self-Destruct In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (Part 1)

By Jim Van Nest

December 19, 2006

Adam, where do you rank out of the five remaining contestants?

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Hello, good people, and welcome to the BOP Survivor Finale recap party. Previously on Survivor, 20 Americans set sail on the adventure of a lifeti....wait a minute. Hold it. Just because CBS wastes ten minutes of the finale recapping everything that's happened over 13 weeks doesn't mean I have to. So, previously on Survivor, it came down to Adam or Parvati. Parvati was flirting pretty hard with Ozzy, which was enough to worry Yul. And when Yul gets worried, people get gone. Since Ozzy's part of the Aitu Four, that meant it was time for Parvati to take the walk to Loser's Lodge. As I mentioned after Thursday's show, tonight we're promised five Survivors, three Tribal Councils and one Sole Survivor. Can't wait to see how these numbers play out. So without further ado, let's get to the last show of the season.

We begin with even more incredible underwater footage. Schools of fish and several rays swim carelessly in front of the camera. Ya know, I'm gonna miss the Cook Islands when this is done. We start with Adam complaining about being all alone. It feels like Exile Island, he says. Sundra tells us that she's not sure what to do now that the Aitu Final Four dream seems imminent. Becky says that Ozzy really needs to go because he's a major threat. Ozzy knows this and realizes that immunity is his key to the finals. Tree Mail is in the form of a spider web and suggests many different tasks. I'm thinking this could be the challenge where they piece together little bits of all the rest of the challenges. The Aitu Four have but one goal - don't let Adam win. Obviously, Adam is going all out on this one...he has no choice.

Probst Sighting! And apparently I'm wrong. In one of the more elaborate challenge setups in a while, the Survivors will navigate through a ropes course. There are eight different stations set up with a bag of puzzle pieces. Each station has a different obstacle leading up to it. Once all eight stations have been reached, the bags of pieces can be opened. With regards to the puzzle they have to solve, Probst says, "In 13 seasons of Survivor, this is The. Most. Difficult. Puzzle we've ever had." Survivors ready?

Everyone tears off onto the course. Ozzy goes to the hardest station first, the planks. This is one of those use two planks to cross a large bridge. You have to step on one and move the other plank as the next step. Anyway, it is by far the hardest of the stations. Others include a crawl space and a rope swing. As Ozzy makes his way back with his first bag, Yul brings back his third, followed quickly by Sundra's second and Adam's third. Taking a cue from Ozzy, Adam heads out to the planks as soon as Ozzy's done. I'm real interested to see how this strategy works out for them. Yul is running away with this thing, but has the hardest station left to go. As I type this, Ozzy is now back with his fourth bag as is Adam. They're gaining. While Yul falls off a rope bridge, Ozzy ties it up with his sixth bag. And remember, Yul still has the planks. Ozzy and Yul both come back with number seven. Ozzy makes it back with number eight first. By the time Yul is back with number eight, Adam has seven and Becky and Sundra have six. Adam and Becky come back with number eight. Sundra is right behind. But really, this boils down to a three person race. Ozzy, Yul and Adam get out to pretty good leads. Adam is right on the edge with Ozzy right behind. And just like that, Ozzy figures it out, completes the puzzle and guarantees himself a spot in the final four.




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It's time to play, "It's Anyone But Adam!" And honestly, it's not much of a game. Adam is resigned to the fact that he's going home. Ozzy is concerned about continuing the streak to make the final two. Yul is concerned about the cleanness of the game once it's only Aitus left in the game. Adam hatches a plan for before he goes home. He approaches Ozzy first. His plan is to get Ozzy and Sundra to vote for Yul to make him play the hidden idol. He figures if he's going home, he'd sure like to take the idol with him. He goes to Sundra next. Sundra and Ozzy are both very interested, but they seem a little nervous about actually pulling it off. And I'm left wondering how far Adam could have gone if he'd have started thinking sometime BEFORE day 37.

We get to Tribal and Jeff asks Ozzy if anything happened to change Adam's fate. He says no. He won the necklace and that was his only chance. Adam chimes in that the Aitu Four are dead set on making the final four. Becky discusses that they've been kind of letting Ozzy win to get them where they are. Ozzy doesn't care. He just wants to win. Adam chimes in again that it's true. Ozzy wins the challenges, Yul runs the show and he's not sure what the other two do. He then mentions that he tried to get them to vote for Yul to get rid of the idol. Becky says that it's not the right time in the game for that. Adam jumps in again saying that of course it's not the right time for Becky. If Yul manages to win the next immunity challenge and essentially has immunity to give away, who do you think he'll protect? That's right, Becky. Again, where was this thought process two weeks ago when he could have made moves to save his alliance? Yul mentions that perhaps their tribe has just been extremely tight and they've stayed together because of that bond. And now, it's time to vote.

They show no votes as it goes along but really, do they have to? The whole "get Yul to use the idol" thing was nothing more than a faux storyline to make the first hour of the show even remotely interesting. As expected, it's 4-1 against Adam. One last time, had Adam thought as much in the previous weeks as he did on this last day, the entire shape of this game could be different. Instead the Aitu Four overcame an 8-4 numbers deficit to become the most unlikely Final Four in Survivor history.

Come back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of Survivor: Cook Islands. Will it be the ultimate physical player in Ozzy? The ultimate strategic player in Yul? Or will one of the ladies jump up from out of nowhere and claim the title of Sole Survivor?


     


 
 

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