Survivor: Cook Islands – Advice for the Remaining 12

Trust is a big issue in Survivor, as people trusted by nobody are usually eliminated sooner rather than later. When building alliances, Survivors must trust the others in the alliance to vote the same way. Some players lose the game because they trust the wrong people, or their alliances lose trust in them. There are plenty of exhibits in the Reality TV Hall of Shame where Survivors lost the game because everybody lost trust in them.

Ironically, the best Survivors know when to trust, when not to trust, and when to break trust. There was a great deal of talk about Jonathan and how people didn’t trust him. Long term, nobody should, but his actions should indicate to the other people in his alliance that he is trustworthy at this point. Indeed, if he knows the game and people believe he’s playing it too hard, they should realize he isn’t going to abandon his alliance at this stage of the game. There were not enough votes for him to control a counter-alliance, and the possible members of such are unreliable players at best. Jessica had no idea how to play the game, and Ozzy had already thrown a challenge once.

Speaking of Jessica, she should have inferred the rest of the tribe didn’t trust her to keep her mouth shut, as shown by Aitu’s last two Tribal Councils. The short version is that the tribe didn’t trust her, so they didn’t tell her Cao Boi was going home last time, and that she was going home at the latest Tribal Council. Survivor is dominated by players who know what they are doing. I have to think that Jessica was so far from a clue about the game that the rest of the tribe didn’t even bother making up a story about voting out Jonathan or Ozzy. I don’t think she was blindsided by the vote as much as incapable of seeing what was right in front of her face.

Finally, Jeff Probst noted that Aitu didn’t trust Nate enough to compete in the challenge. Aitu let silence be the response. A good piece of general advice for Survivors is to never answer loaded questions. However, I suspect Aitu didn’t send Nate to Exile Island because the only really nice piece of information he had was that Jessica wasn’t clued in as to the last vote. It’s pretty much a moot point as Aitu sent Jessica home. On the other hand, sending Nate to Exile Island would have kept him from sharing information about the enemy camp for a bit. Raro didn’t win bread and peanut butter, but they did go back to camp with Nate and the information he had to share.

As far as the challenges went, I liked them, but for the most part the reward and immunity challenge were similar in design. However, they had a key difference as to which element of the challenge was more critical. The reward challenge required six trips, with each swimmer forced to make at least one trip to get the keys. Strong swimmers were essential as this was the longer phase. In the immunity challenge, each swimmer only had to make a single trip. It was still better to use the strongest swimmers, but the puzzle team was more important in the immunity challenge as it was less likely the swimmers could build up a huge lead. Still, two “swim out and get stuff, then have the rest of the tribe solve a puzzle” challenges in a single episode was bad planning in my opinion.

The previews show that Survivors have a chance to alter their fate in the game. If the chance means swapping tribes voluntary or moving to a new, third tribe, anybody who feels they are “next” should grab it. Ozzy and Brad (if the previews are any indication) should jump; most of the rest should stay where they are. There are a few exceptions, but that is all covered in my advice for the remaining 12.

Raro: I think one reason for your problems is that you don’t consider things from a strategic viewpoint. Sundra was a weaker swimmer who had so many problems it let Aitu build a huge lead in the reward challenge. In addition, I don’t think bread was the right choice for the reward. It goes bad faster, and with the rain, there was a good chance you’d get soggy bread that spoiled even faster.

Nate: You did a good job during your time at Aitu, handing out useless information and keeping your eyes open. I’m not sure you got information that was useful, but keeping your mouth shut was a wise idea. You have a good sense of strategy and knew Raro was making a mistake at the reward challenge. Perhaps you were the kidnap victim because you were the brains of Raro. I suggest you get rid of Brad as the tribe has lost faith in him. Otherwise, work to eliminate one of the women.

Brad: You’ve got two problems, and they aren’t good. First, the tribe has lost faith in you, and probably blames you for the loss of the reward challenge. Second, you probably pushed the choice of potatoes over bread too hard. I agree that potatoes were the better choice, but if the tribe had wanted skateboards as the reward, you have to go along with it. You’re not in a good position, and if given the chance, change your fate, even if it is a blind chance.

Adam: I suspect you took a beating at Exile Island, as you didn’t choose to swim in the immunity challenge. It was the right move if you were exhausted. If you have a chance to switch tribes, don’t do it. At this rate, you are looking good for making the merge, but if you jump to be with Candice, I believe it will backfire on both of you. Jumping would just telegraph your position in the game.