Surviving the Cook Islands, Episode 9: Living a Mutineer’s Life

Rebecca is on the beach and most of the rest of the tribe, led by Adam, is discussing how they’re leaning towards getting rid of her because of her poor challenge performance and productivity around camp. Jenny tells us they’re going to have to break up their five-person alliance and send Rebecca packing. Hmmm. What was she saying earlier? Oh yes – if they stick to their five, they’ll go far in the game. So much for that!

Adam and Candice talk as they walk along the beach. They’re good with Rebecca going now, and Adam thinks Jenny will want Candice or Jonathan next. He doesn’t seem concerned but tells us Jenny is worried that he won’t vote Candice out… “which is true.” Therefore, Jenny might be the next to go after Rebecca.

Parvati and Nate talk about Jonathan. Nate says he’s a cool guy, but he wouldn’t turn on an original member for him. Whoops, sounds like Nate’s not in the loop! Actually, I guess he is in the loop since he then tells us the tribal consensus is to vote out Rebecca as the weakest link. But he doesn’t agree – Jonathan is not part of the family.

Jonathan thinks Rebecca is going and credits his hard work for earning him at least one more night.

We’ll soon see, as Raro arrives at Tribal Council and Brad, the juror, is brought in. Probst begins by pointing out that as a tribe, they’ve won only three challenges. What can they do to change it? Jenny says she wishes she knew the answer but can’t pinpoint it. She thinks it goes to analyzing strengths and weaknesses.

Rebecca is asked about what goes on at camp – fishing, what? She says they have to move forward and stay positive. So everybody goes clamming, crabbing, octopussing, etc. Jonathan jumps in to say he’s caught a bunch of fish. When Probst prods him on a number, he says 20 or 22 in the last two days. Probst seems stunned while Jonathan has a big smile.

Does Parvati think Jonathan’s growing on her with his food providing? Definitely, he’s a big part of the tribe who has been nourishing them.

Probst says it’s important that they keep people around who keep them strong and also people that they trust. This presents a dilemma since they had two people come from the other tribe and there could be questions of trust. Yet it’s fair to say Candice and Jonathan are strong members of the tribe who are also helping to keep them strong. Adam says it’s all about productivity for him. He doesn’t like losing. Probst smiles and says you can’t get much clearer than that!

With that, it’s time to vote. Jenny votes for Rebecca, saying she did great today, but it’s based on overall productivity. Rebecca votes for Jonathan, saying he’s a great guy but he came too late.

Probst tallies and reads the votes: Jonathan, Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca. Her torch is snuffed and she walks off without a word.

But wait, there’s more! It’s time for the bottle. Before they open it, Probst asks if there is a consensus on what it might say. Parvati says they think it talks about the merge, but they don’t know.

Parvati opens it and reads the note aloud: “You just voted out one member of your tribe. You will now vote out another.” She adds her own postscript: “That’s not fun.”

So they’re not merging and they’re voting out another person. Nate says it’s wack. And if they had won today, Aitu would be down to two! Probst says there is no sign of a merge – it could be tomorrow, it could never come. So what’s the criteria for the next vote? Adam says Rebecca stood out as being unproductive, but there’s nobody else who does. That doesn’t sound good for Jonathan!

With that, it’s time to vote again. We get no glimpses of the votes this time, so we have to wait. Probst tallies and reads the votes: Jonathan, Jonathan, Jenny, Jenny (wow), Jenny (holy cow!), and… Jenny! OK, I did not see that coming! From the look on her face, neither did she. Yikes. I guess Jonathan’s hard work (combined with Jenny’s behavior) really did help him out.

Probst hopes that this is the wakeup call Raro needs to get it together. With those words ringing in their ears, he sends them back to camp.

In Jenny’s last words (Rebecca gets the shaft!), she says she is “completely pissed off.” Jonathan did a great job of pulling his own weight and she respects that, but in the end, she feels burned and blindsided. Had she known two would be voted out, she would have done everything possible to ensure she was still in the game. For the record, Nate was the other vote against Jonathan.

Next week, on Thanksgiving Survivor: Jonathan hits a breaking point and tells off his tribemates about their work habits (or lack thereof). Yul shares his secret about the hidden immunity idol with Ozzy. And things heat up for Adam and Candice, who share a lot more than just a little peck. Jenn Brasler will be subbing for me on the Thanksgiving holiday, so be sure to read her recap, especially if you end up eating too much turkey and missing the episode!

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

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