Survivor: Cook Islands – Survivor Live, Episode 10

Virginia’s Taylor asks Nate why Raro had Hiki’s boat. He says when they merged, they both got two boats each and that’s just how the boats were split up. Jenna admits she doesn’t pay that close attention and can’t remember the original tribe names. I can’t think of a better way to end the first segment.

The second segment begins with a graphic telling us Nate’s first CD is about to come out. His hip-hop group is named “E2 THE I.” It also tells us he plays with other bands as well.

Dalton asks Nate about the mutiny, and how since then Raro is portrayed as the villains. Nate agrees it was weird and adds, “That mutiny was the death of us.”

When Aitu kidnapped Nate a few episodes back, he learned that Candice wanted to get back with Adam and Parvati and that Sundra was interested in reuniting with the original Hiki members. So when Candice jumped, he knew she would be okay with them. However, he knew it was “bad karma” when she didn’t wait for the merge to rejoin them.

Jenna mentions that Candice seems to have received a free pass when she mutinied. Nate reiterates that Candice was more welcome and comfortable with them.

The next caller is Sharese from New York. She asks his reactions to J.P. and Jenny being voted out. Nate heard the question as “J.P. and Stephannie,” and we don’t get his thoughts on Jenny’s ouster. Safe to say, he was upset it wasn’t Jonathan who was sent home instead.

What Nate did say is, he knew the women were trying to control the numbers. Nate insists he wasn’t out of the loop, he knew what was going on, but just didn’t agree with it. Additionally, when they voted out Stephannie, he wasn’t being a “race traitor,” it was because she was less an asset than J.P.

He says that when you merge, you don’t see color. They knew J.P. was bossy, but Nate could live with that and they needed him in the challenges.

Jenna asks if they were shocked when they found out (12th-place) Brad was going to be on the jury. Nate says, “Quite shocking.” He explains that the shots of he and Jenny smiling at that point was not because they were happy to be done with Brad, but because they had just figured out that they had made it to the jury as well.

He reiterates the boot reasons for Brad that we already knew – not swimming, not voting against Cristina, and comments that brought his loyalty into doubt. After seeing post-game how readily Brad would have flipped back to be with Yul, he feels all the more vindicated.

Dalton wonders if the “Brad not swimming” discussion was over-played. Nate reminds us he was kidnapped at the time and not part of the pre-challenge planning. In an earlier challenge Brad had volunteered himself as a strong swimmer, so in a challenge where Nate couldn’t participate, the timing of Brad deciding not to swim caused Nate concern. He thinks Brad was trying to get under the radar and be perceived as less of a threat.

The next clip is the rather disturbing (if you are male) shot of Nate on the zipline. Jenna says that even if you have a belt, you run out of notches. Nate confirms that he lost so much weight his pants didn’t stay up.

Dalton’s next clip is of Nate’s parting words, where he crapped on Jonathan. Jenna says his and Survivor: Amazon Christy’s parting words may have been the best angry parting words ever. Nate nods and says, after starving and sweating only to be shot in the back, it stung.

Both hosts note that almost every booted player has had bad things to say about Jonathan. Jenna reminds us she’s called him “abrasive.” (I think that’s about the nicest thing she’s said, actually.) Dalton is fine with the fact that lying is a part of the game and feels you can be a traitor when it’s called for, but you have to make people like or respect you somewhere along the way if you want to win.

Dalton hustles us back to the phones. Ray from Pennsylvania guesses about the way the even number of jurors will be resolved. He thinks the last person voted out will get two votes. Dalton guesses one juror will be nullified. Jenna takes it a little further and says she thinks the final immunity challenge winner gets to nullify a vote, though they still get to ask a question. We’ll see.

Alas, there are no free buffs for clever theories this week, so Ray asks his question. In retrospect, does Nate see Jonathan had no choice but to flip sides, as he was fifth of five on Raro? Nate sees that point.

Jenna points out Jonathan’s possible use as a desirable final-two opponent and asks Nate if he’d have let Jonathan get that far. He replies, “No satisfaction for him, he’s done (at five),” and adds, “Jenny should’ve still been in the game.” Yes, Jenny wasn’t going to flip, she told us that last week. Not booting the untrustworthy Jonathan cost the Raros the big money.

Jenna also points out that Yul may have lied to Jonathan and that he’s still in fifth place. That’s true. She adds that with this flip, Jonathan has screwed himself with both tribes and shown himself to be a traitor. Dalton says it’s one way to get to the final two. Jenna says he can’t win though, and Dalton agrees. Last week, I pointed out that $100K makes the sting go away quickly, and I’ll stand by that.

Nate has obviously been thinking about this situation a lot. He suggests that what Jonathan should have done was say to Yul he was with them and he’ll help them vote out Nate, but to vote against Yul instead. Like earlier caller Linda said, Nate knows that would still force him out of the game, but it would also force out the hidden idol and put everyone back on even footing.