Survivor: Cook Islands – Why Did the Blond Become a Mutineer?

Here’s a question regarding the new, and smaller, Aitu tribe: does this tribe remind anyone of the Little Engine That Could? Here they are, literally half the size of Raro, yet they’ve won the last two challenges. One reason is that despite their smaller size, they still only had to go up against four Raros at a time. Another reason is that two of the strongest male players in the game, Ozzy and Yul, are still part of the tribe, which gives them an advantage no matter whom they go up against.

In the immunity challenge, Aitu fell behind 2-0 to the Raros but kept at it and eventually won the game, while the Raro tribe never hit another target. It reminded me of my hometown Dallas Mavericks leading the Miami Heat two games to none and seemingly having the NBA title in the bag, only to lose the four remaining games. At this point, Aitu’s confidence has got to be sky high while Raro’s must be rather shaky.

One amusing moment in the challenge was when Jonathan apparently got his feathers ruffled by Jeff Probst’s play-by-play. That got me to thinking: what if athletes could hear the likes of Al Michaels and John Madden while the game was going on? Would we be treated to the spectacle of Terrell Owens jawing at Troy Aikman after being called out for dropping a pass, as he did against the Redskins? Maybe we’d see a player lose his cool and become the first player in NFL history penalized for “roughing the broadcaster.”

To the best of my recollection, that’s the first time a player has openly objected to Jeff Probst’s calling of the challenge. But Jonathan had no one to blame but himself. After all, he was the one releasing the cannonballs.

What can we make of Candice trashing Jonathan to Adam, claiming it was Jonathan’s idea to send Adam to Exile Island? I’d say it’s pretty good strategy on Candice’s part. Regardless of whether or not it’s true, Candice knows that because of their previous bond, Adam is likely to believe anything she tells him. At the same time, for Adam to believe her outright probably isn’t the smartest strategy on his part. Apparently it doesn’t occur to him that Candice may just be playing him, so he takes what she says at face value. At the very least, he should question it and give it some thought before believing whatever she tells him.

So now Candice is playing Jonathan AND Adam. She’s allowing Jonathan to think they’re allies, while trashing Jonathan to Adam. It’s probably a smart move for her to make, but what isn’t smart is the way she seems to cozy up to Adam in next week’s previews. Does she not realize how that looks to the others in her tribe, especially since she has already jumped ship?

Finally, what exactly did Candice mean when she said her new tribe “wins when it counts”? Considering Raro has yet to win a challenge with her in the tribe, we can only speculate, at least until her RNO interview, whenever that may be:

A. She thinks this is preseason, and the last two challenges didn’t count.

B. She thinks she’ll wake up and find out the entire episode was a dream, i.e. Bobby Ewing getting killed on Dallas.

C. She thinks the whole series is actually a dream, and she’ll wake up and find out she’s actually playing Big Brother. Good thing Ozzy can’t nominate her for eviction.

D. She thinks she’s this season’s leading lady and the rest of the players are her supporting cast, so a challenge only counts if she says it does.

Maybe we’ll see less puzzling behavior and hear fewer nonsensical statements in the next episode. But then what would there be to write about?

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Survivor: Cook Islands articles here on RealityNewsOnline:

Ken can be reached with any comments, criticisms, or money orders at YourNextOfKen@aol.com.

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