Surviving the Cook Islands, Episode 3: Serious Plotting

Becky talks to Jonathan, who in turn says he has Flica (Jessica). They’re good to go! And, apparently, Ozzy, Cao Boi, Cecilia, and Sundra could be in trouble. Jonathan talks to Jessica about aligning with “a couple of the Asians,” and tells Jessica if anybody else approaches her to just say “whatever” or that she’s not thinking about it. She says she’s not thinking about it, but he says he’ll think about it for her.

But Jessica is thinking about some things – including that she didn’t feel very comfortable on her tribe to begin with, so why would she feel comfortable in an alliance with her former tribemates?! She says she’s trying to play her cards by going as long as she can without being fake.

Becky brings Yul up to date, and also mentions they want to bring in either Ozzy or Cecilia. Uh, that would make it six, not five. Anyway, Yul wants to show Becky that he totally trusts her, so he spills that he found the hidden immunity idol. She obviously thinks that’s very cool. He says something about how he could use it to save her, too. She also says she doesn’t think he should tell anybody else. No kidding!

At the Raro tribe, Nate is spear fishing and spies an octopus. He shoots, he scores! It tries to ink its way out of it, but no go, he’s holding on and yelling to shore that he has an octopus. Brad and J.P. go in to help him bring it out, and the octopus decides it likes Brad, wrapping itself around him. But the feeling is not mutual, and the three guys bring the octopus to shore, figuring it’s time for a big meal! They bring it to camp and Parvati shamelessly flirts with Nate. Like she said, it’s what she’s good at.

But enough of that, it’s time for the next challenge! The two tribes arrive and are told it’s for immunity. They will be clipped together by a rope and carrying a 15-pound sandFbag on their back. They start on opposite sides of an oval course. On go, they race through knee-deep water, attempting to catch the other side. If they get tired, they can opt out of the challenge, but they have to give their weight to another tribe member. The first tribe to catch the other tribe and tackle an opposing tribe member to the ground wins immunity. There is one more element to the challenge that is in a secret note, which will be revealed after it’s over.

And they’re off! Probst points out that it’s an endurance challenge and will wear them out. It’s kind of a hint: don’t try to rush through it.

Ah, but Aitu has a plan. Cecilia, Sundra, Candice, and Becky – four of five women – drop out. The men are each carrying double, but they apparently hope they can make up some ground this way.

Stephannie drops out for Raro, but Nate encourages his tribemates by insisting the Aitu men will get weak from carrying the double weight. Cristina drops out, as does Jenny. I guess the others aren’t really listening to Nate.

Jessica drops out in Aitu and hands her weight to Jonathan, who now has 45 pounds. Parvati drops out for Raro, leaving Rebecca as the only woman left in the challenge. Jonathan hands off 15 pounds to Ozzy as Raro starts to close in.

And things are not looking up for Aitu. Jonathan can barely walk and Yul has to help Cao Boi along. At Raro, Rebecca drops out, so it’s all up to the men. But the Raro men continue to press their advantage. Yul suggests to the other Aitu men that they stop and fight because they can’t outrun ‘em. Um. I don’t think that’s right. According to what I heard Probst say, they have to catch the other team and tackle one. Turning around and fighting, to my mind, is not “catching.”

Anyway, the point is soon moot, because Raro is just yards away from Aitu. They pick up the pace more and are soon on top of them. Yul turns to try to fight them off, but J.P. slips by and pulls Cao Boi down. Raro wins!

What’s the remaining element of the challenge in the note? The winning tribe chooses one member of the losing tribe to go to Exile Island. That person will miss Tribal Council and be safe. They pick Candice. Aww, they love her!

Aitu arrives back at camp and Jonathan wonders why on earth Raro picked Candice to go to Exile Island. Yul thinks they were trying to protect her. But what’s more important is that Yul points out to us that she was in his alliance and had numbers. Now, not so much.

Ozzy tells Cao Boi he won’t write his name down. Cao Boi says they need each other and they all need to win. Ozzy’s kind of like, well, yeah, but we still have to pick somebody. Cao Boi thinks they need to let Becky go as the weak link, and Ozzy should go talk to the other women about it.

So he does, as he walks along the beach with Sundra, Jessica, and Cecilia. “Becky is seriously plotting,” he says, and the women seem to agree. With the three of them, Ozzy, and Cao Boi, they have the numbers.

Later, Jonathan checks in with Jessica. She plays it straight with him: “Just so you know, Becky’s going.” Oh, Jessica. Way too much honesty. Jonathan wants to know if she would vote with him if he says to go a different direction. Jessica says she doesn’t have a “good vibe” about Becky. Jonathan tells us he thought he had Flica handled, but she’s doing her own thing. Imagine that, she has a brain of her own. He’s stunned.

Jonathan tells Yul they are only three solid and don’t know where Sundra or Cao Boi are at. They plan to see if they can get anybody to switch. If not, all bets are off and they might decide not to stick their necks out.