Surviving the Cook Islands, Episode 6: Deep Voodoo

In the shelter, Cao Boi tells Yul about a dream he had where people would come into a village and use a rope to take people away. Or something like that. He explains to us that it dealt with supernatural beings and a shaman lady with credit card applications. She says he needs three for Visa and three for American Express. Cao Boi uses his dream to figure out how to flush out the hidden immunity idol – have three people vote one way and three another. He calls it “Plan Voodoo.” Great idea! The problem is that he’s telling it to the guy who has the immunity idol!

Yul tells us that Cao Boi believes Jonathan is the one with the idol, and the vote split would be between Jonathan and Candice. Wow, Cao Boi really is clueless, isn’t he? He doesn’t realize that both of them are Yul’s allies? Yul tells him it’s an interesting idea (he tells us it’s “ingenious”) and sort of nods along. Cao Boi continues that no matter what, they get rid of a Caucasian, a group that’s five strong overall in the game right now and could join back together again at a merge.

Over at Raro, Nate tells us the loss hurts but he’s going to get some food even if they can’t feast. He spears a nice-sized octopus.

Meanwhile, Cristina is bummed because she figures she’ll be the next to go. Probably a good guess. But she’s going to see what she can do. She talks to Brad and Parvati, asking if he’ll give her a chance. Both say they will, with Parvati saying (lying?) that she doesn’t know who she’s voting for.

Cristina moves on to Adam to apologize if she annoyed him and try to gather support. But he knows she’s scrambling and trying to get them to turn on one another. Jenny asks for reassurance that he won’t pull anything on her, and he says he won’t. He tells us they’ve got a game plan that they’ll stick to – Cristina is going.

Nate, though, is thinking she might be valuable. Besides, if they keep her, she’ll be loyal. But Jenny might go back with the other Asians if they merge. Nate is debating between the two of them.

Back to Aitu we go, where Jessica and Cao Boi are doing stretching exercises together. Meanwhile, Jonathan talks to Yul, saying he knows he and Becky are concerned with making enemies of the others, but he’s less concerned about it. He thinks Cao Boi is too much of a wildcard and it’s time to vote him off.

Meanwhile, Cao Boi is telling people who they should vote for – three for J(onathan), three for C(andice). Sundra tells us maybe Cao Boi’s idea of voting out Jonathan or Candice makes sense, because she’s suspicious of Jonathan. Even Becky may be on-board, as she relates the same thing to Yul, saying Jonathan is constantly trying to make people feel some bond with him.

The funny thing is that right after that, Yul tells us he’s in “a tight alliance” with Jonathan, Candice, Becky, and Sundra. Those last two would be the ones talking about how they are suspicious of the first one. So now he’s not sure how good the alliance is, and their suspicions are starting to rub off on him.

As Jonathan goes fishing, Cao Boi talks to the others, including Yul. They seem to agree that Plan Voodoo is in effect. But Ozzy isn’t sure if he’s on-board. And Yul gives the standard “integrity” speech where he talks about how difficult it is, etc. What game did these folks think they signed up for?

Cao Boi tells Jessica they’re all on-board, but Jessica wonders why the others are all in the shelter talking. He assures her they’re fine. Uh oh. That’s a warning bell if ever I heard one! Here’s another: Cao Boi says, “I have the utmost faith in them.” Oh, he is so being voted out.

But wait! Jonathan tells us, “if I get voted off, I will be shocked. I don’t believe that’s going to happen.” Uh oh, now what? The foreshadowing gods have given us two different fateful statements.

Aitu arrives at Tribal Council and Probst begins the questioning with Cao Boi, who brought the immunity idol (which Probst notes is “a first”). Why’d he do that? Cao Boi says they have no more immunity, so it made sense to bring. Probst says, a bit irritated I think, that he didn’t ask for it back, so what is Cao Boi going to do with it? Cao Boi says it will be another tribe member.

Probst still seems annoyed and asks Ozzy what the deal is with the idol. He says Cao Boi feels very connected to it, some are against it, others don’t care. It’s symbolic for other issues in the tribe.

Yul is asked to describe Cao Boi. He says he’s a mixture of a shaman, cheerleader, and fire tender. He’s very loyal in his way. He can’t say he completely understands Cao Boi, though.

Probst moves back to Cao Boi, asking if he’s often misunderstood. Cao Boi says he’s typically either hated or loved, and is often misunderstood, but with time people come to understand he means well.

Back to Yul. Are their clear-cut leaders and followers? There aren’t any designated leaders, though Jonathan and Cao Boi are the most vocal in stating their opinions (and thus they have the targets on their backs tonight!). He says Jonathan is a natural leader who is good at articulating his position and speaking for the group.

Is that a fair assessment? Jonathan appreciates Yul saying that, but it’s not like what he says goes. He doesn’t patronize “these people” or talk down to them. Er, isn’t calling them “these people” kind of patronizing? I think so.

What will Ozzy base his vote on? He doesn’t know yet. How about Cao Boi? He says looking down the road to see what’s going on. It’s all a big chess game and he wants to expose the queen. Probst claims confusion – what does the queen represent? Individual immunity. He admits flat-out that the vote is to expose who has the immunity idol. The tribe will walk away tonight and have a clearer picture of what they need to do.