Surviving the Cook Islands, Episode 12: The Godfather

And they’re off! As you might expect, the initial throws shower water all over the place, with little making it into proper buckets. If any. But as I suspected, the loved ones are getting soaked.

Ozzy appears to be doing okay. So is Parvati. It’s kind of hard to tell without a camera shot inside the big bucket. It’s basically a lot of people throwing water all over the place. Stacey makes a smart move as she realizes that she’s soaked – with water! So she wrings out her shirt into the bucket too. After Probst announces it, Gina thinks it’s a good idea too. I’m sure Stacey is thinking, “Thanks, Jeff.”

Jonathan and Stacey appear to be in the lead. Parvati and Mike, as well as Ozzy and Gina, appear to be in it. Stacey is now using her hair too. Parvati and Mike look very close to winning – the bucket is sinking and the flag is rising. It’s not quite there yet and Jonathan’s flag is going up. Stacey is wringing out every last drop from her hair. But Mike tosses one more bit of water into the bucket and Parvati wins! It was very smart, by the way, for Mike to throw it in with some emphasis. Even if the water and gravity by itself wouldn’t have done it, he added some force to help out. Very smart.

Stacey is pissed. But not as upset as she’s going to be, I bet, because I’m sure Parvati will send Jonathan to Exile Island. Sure enough, that’s just what she does. He walks over and gets a kiss and hug from Stacey before leaving.

Now Probst reveals the last part – she gets to pick two other contestants with whom she can share it. Oh, wait, Mike gets to decide with no help from her or any of the others. Uh oh.

Mike picks Sundra and Jeanette, and George and Adam. The funny thing is that those are probably who Parvati would have picked if given the choice. Before they head off to the reward, though, the three loved ones and all the Survivors (except Jonathan, of course) head back to camp.

The arrive there as Parvati tells us she needed the win and it shows her that she still is in the game. Um, no, you’re not. Adam tells us it was great to see George there, and he does call his dad “George” because he’s Adam’s best friend. George tells Adam he’s proud of him. Awww.

Sundra takes Jeanette out to gather firewood and shows her the water barrel. Becky and Ozzy just kind of stand around, staring at the loved ones. Ozzy even calls it “annoying” having the camp “overrun” by the family members. He notes that Parvati and Adam depend on the food he and his allies provide to them, so he almost feels responsible for them winning.

A boat shows up and takes away the three winners and loved ones. As they leave, Yul and Ozzy do an inventory of food. Bananas? Check. Fishing? Check. And Yul says he’s glad the three of them have the day together – it’s what it will be like in the final couple days!

The winners are taken to Mitiaro Island, where they are greeted by a mob of locals, including many children. They’re all singing and eating and drinking as they are led to the cave. In the cave is fresh water, extremely clear. And in some sort of religious ceremony, they bless the cave water and dance. And then they all jump in! Parvati is first – so much for only getting the thumb “a little” wet. The others soon follow. So much for the crystal clear water.

After the cave, they are led to their picnic: fried chicken, meatloaf, biscuits, etc. Parvati says something about Jonathan not being able to eat, but I’m not sure exactly what. But Sundra says Adam and Parvati without Jonathan around are “a lot more chilled out.” She got a chance to talk to them and find out more about them.

Back at camp, Ozzy suggests they should do something about the food, and Yul wonders if he means hiding it. Ozzy says they can’t keep feeding Adam and Parvati and having them win. Becky says it’s not fair to feed their enemies, and Yul goes back to hiding the food for a couple days. I have to say, I really like this idea. It’s sneaky and devious, and I completely agree. Why feed your enemy? Candice told me in her interview that she was weak and wanted to conserve energy. Well, why should the others expend energy to get food just to feed people who aren’t helping? Screw ‘em!

They take a bunch of coconuts and throw them into the jungle. It’s not a great hiding spot, but it would require somebody to actually go look for them in order to figure out where they are, and that would require expending energy. So I don’t expect Adam and Parvati to find ‘em.

Later, the winners return from their trip. Sundra immediately greets Yul and Becky with hugs. Smart – it shows she’s still with them and nothing has changed. Ozzy continues with the previous discussion by telling us that Adam eats the most and then wins challenges, but without food he’ll be drained. He adds that if you can’t get your own food by this point, maybe you shouldn’t be in the game.

The returning contestants ask how the food situation is at camp, and Yul says something about the currents being really bad. Ironically, Adam opens up a bag and says they had extra food they brought back to share! Becky now tells us that the original plan was to hide the food (yes, we know – we’ve heard it four times now), but after they saw how much food Adam and Parvati brought back, they felt bad and the hiding plan may now be out the door.

She also says everybody seems more chilled out without Jonathan around. It’s sort of nice, she says. OK, more red herrings? I think so. I don’t believe they are going to change their strategy just because people are more chilled out without Jonathan. I also think it’s still not a good idea to feed your enemies, but we’ll see how the next challenge and vote go.