An “Insider” Look at Survivor: Cook Islands, Episode 11 – True Colors

Candice’s Final Words

Wow! What can she say? Candice had a fabulous time on the island. She wishes she could have lasted longer, but she played hard and she thinks she played smart. She was tough and always tried to play positive. She made some great friends, loved the people, and she thinks she played the best game she could have played. She had a fabulous time. She loved it! She hugged everyone, shook Jonathan’s hand, and “had a little kiss with Adam” before she left. It was a nice way to leave. If that was a little kiss, I wonder what Candice thinks is a big kiss? Yikes!

Candice thinks playing Survivor is a big learning experience. She notes that every time she came off Exile Island, she’d say it “builds character.” It’s the positive way to see it because you do learn that you can do things yourself. No one helps you out there or says they can do it for you. Candice notes that a lot of times people help girls, and out there that doesn’t happen. It’s empowering. It’s also interesting to be out there with people of all ages, types, and backgrounds.

Candice wants to say best of luck to the folks – particularly Adam. Candice hopes he has a big immunity run and makes it all the way. They always talked about everything and she’ll vote for him. Candice says she respects all the old Aitu people. She’s sure Jonathan is really a nice guy, but he rubs some people the wrong way and she had trouble holding back with him that day.

Candice says she wouldn’t change anything she did in the game. She felt right about stepping off of the mat. She did it for a reason – she felt more comfortable and thought it was a move she needed to make. She made bold moves when she thought she needed to and she wouldn’t change it – even knowing they’d lose all those challenges and that Jonathan would flip. Candice does wish Sundra had stepped off the mat with her instead of Jonathan. She thinks she played the best game she could have played. She wasn’t completely truthful, but she never planned to do that. She played with integrity and can look herself in the mirror and be comfortable.

I never like it when someone says that even knowing what they now know – that they would lose – that they wouldn’t make any changes in their game play. It just doesn’t make sense. Grumble.

Candice, The Day After

As we see Candice the day after, she is sitting on a tree limb in a red bikini with white flowers. It’s a strange interview outfit. I wonder if she picked it or the producers did? Candice starts by saying that she knew she was going to be voted out last night. She could reminisce with her friends before Tribal Council and had come to terms with her eviction. She, Parvati, and Adam got the chance to tell the jury what was up. She knew she was going, so she didn’t have anything at risk with the jury. Finally going was a relief because she’d been waiting all day for it to happen. She didn’t want it to end and she wanted to be there at the end, but she did make her peace with it.

Candice now turns to Adam. She says she could tell he was a “pretty simple guy.” What you see is what you get. She tries to dig herself out of this hole by saying that she doesn’t mean he’s stupid – just straightforward. Right, Candice. Changing the subject, Candice says that the number one thing that went wrong in “our” game plan was not her going over to Raro. Candice didn’t like her position in the Aitu tribe, but she knew Adam and Nate were controlling the Raro tribe and Candice thought that she could really slip into that alliance. Unfortunately, Raro kept Jonathan one vote too long and that was their mistake. Jenny never would have flipped. And that was the difference.

When Candice was on Exile Island, the only thing that kept her going was building a fire. It just kept her warm enough to keep going. Once she mutinied, the Aitu were out to get her and see her fail. Candice wanted to prove to the Aitu that they couldn’t keep her down. So she always came back from Exile smiling. She knows Aitu was trying to keep her physically weak and unintegrated into the Raro. But she stayed strong and had a strong alliance on Raro – even with all the time she spent on Exile Island. Candice wouldn’t let the Aitu break her.

She played the game her way. She played hard and gave it her all in challenges. She could barely breathe when those challenges were over! Strategically, she played the same way. She had her fingers in every pie and she made moves in the game. She didn’t just hang back and wait for things to happen. She played as hard and smart as she could. She might not have made the best decision in the long run, but she thinks she played it well with the information she had. And she had a great time.

Reward Challenge: Survivor Auction

This is a re-showing of the auction we all saw in the episode. Jonathan cleans up and Becky (with Yul’s aid) gets the power item. Adam and Candice sit and watch... at least until Candice is sent off to Exile Island once again.

Jonathan’s Survival

This short and not-so-sweet clip starts with a shot of Parvati, Adam, and Candice conspiring to get Jonathan out before them. They grumble about Jonathan being a rat and how they want to beat him – literally and figuratively. In a separate interview, Jonathan opines that switching his allegiance back to the Aitu was “100 percent” the right thing to do. Now he has four strong allies instead of three weak ones. It makes sense to him.

Food Conflict

This clip shows the strife when the old Aitu decide not to share the meal they worked to produce with Adam, Parvati, and Candice. Jonathan says he didn’t think they were interested in the meal. Adam says, “We all gotta eat.” Jonathan points out that they called him a disgusting rat and didn’t help prepare the food at all. Parvati later comments that it seems like Jonathan was leading the ambush on this one. That’s somewhat true, although Ozzy also seemed all for it when Jonathan suggested it. During the actual conflict in the clip, though, everyone on the old Aitu side except for Jonathan wisely keep their heads down and continue to eat.