Survivor: Cook Islands- Survivor Live, Episode 2

Describing it as “one of the most uncomfortable Tribal Councils I’ve ever seen,” Dalton runs the clip of Candice saying “WE love you,” followed by the Tribal Council itself. All over again we see Billy’s love proclamation and Jeff’s astonished reaction. Ouch! The last time I saw anything that cringe-worthy on TV was Phil Mickelson plowing along the last hole of the 2006 PGA.

Dalton asks, “How hard is it to watch?” Billy admits, “It’s pretty hard to watch. At that point, I was spilling my guts because I had noting to lose. I didn’t think I was going to survive so I was just laying it all out there.”

Jenna commiserates, “At Tribal Council, it’s so emotional. You just say things and sometimes you regret it. We all have those moments, and it’s all amplified.” Billy says he was starved for affection and it was like crumbs to a starving man. He adds, “When I see her at the finale, I’m going to apologize, I didn’t intend to embarrass anybody. And then, you know… I still have feelings, I’m going to ask her out!” I hope someone who watched the segment or is reading this article gives Candice a heads-up.

Dalton thinks Billy made a mistake – he should have made his play for Pavarti!

Dana from Pittsburgh is our second caller. She wonders if Billy would have survived longer without Ozzy influencing the others to throw the challenge. “No question,” he says, adding, “Him and J.P. are like a tag-team, the two of them have control.”

Jenna is surprised the strong women of the Hispanic tribe haven’t taken over. Billy thinks Cecilia could have taken control, and to save himself he would have worked with them. Billy admits they did a good job of keeping him away from Cecilia and she didn’t much try to talk to him, except for basic day-to-day work talk.

I actually don’t see this. I like Billy, but at this stage of the game Ozzy’s wilderness skills and J.P.’s strength are too important. Billy just hasn’t shown his value to Cecilia to the degree that she would decide to turn away from the more obvious strengths of the others. J.P. and Ozzy may cause more trouble in the endgame, but first you have to get there.

Right before Tribal Council, Billy got the word from Cristina that she couldn’t save him and he told her not to stick her neck out. I don’t know, I think it’s already way out there, and stomping off after the Ozzy caught chickens didn’t help her cause any.

We next find out than Jenna only initially liked Ozzy because he looks a bit like Ethan. Hmm, maybe Ethan will turn up on the Playboy channel?

Steven from Long Island is next, and he’s a Jenna fan. He wonders if, had the tribes been reorganized in the second episode like last season, would Billy have changed alliances from his current tribe (like Judd did). Billy re-mentions “the alternatives” as one option and adds that he’d also have been glad to work more with Cristina. He says he wouldn’t have gone along with Ozzy and J.P. because of the way they treated him as a person, right from the start of the game.

Jenna starts bad-mouthing the “unpleasant” ways of the boys again, but Dalton jumps in to jokingly call Jenna, “The “Queen of Pleasant” on her season of Amazon.” Jenna insists she was only mean “out of necessity.” Dalton reminds her, “We’re the hot chicks!” Jenna is adamant she made many attempts to talk to Christie. Sorry, I think I’m with Dalton on this one.

Dalton was there in Cook Islands, from pre-show until the day after Sekou’s elimination. He relates that there was a brief moment he saw involving Billy and Candice, and he reported it as part of a six-page article in Entertainment Weekly magazine… but won’t repeat here. Boo! You stinker! I have since learned what it was… when Candice was looking for a place to sit at dinner, Billy made room for her. Aha, the seeds of love were planted early! My thanks to fellow RNO staffer Jenn Brasler for the details on that article.

Brett from California likes the new set and Billy’s website. He wonders if Billy regrets his too-laid-back approach. Billy says that he was on Plan “J” or “K” by that point. He notes Adam is doing the same thing on his team, not wanting to waste energy enhancing their shelter. Jenna notes that the same actions are received in different ways on different tribes. Billy says it’s a common strategy and he didn’t invent it, he just used it, and Jenna reminds us that you can win with that strategy.

The next phone call is from Jonathan from Illinois. He calls in to ask whom Billy did and didn’t like, any why. Cristina was “my only real ally.” The other two are hard to choose between, but at least Ozzy had some skills to back up his arrogance. J.P. was just in Ozzy’s back pocket. Jenna calls J.P. “Ozzy’s lapdog.”

It’s becoming apparent that J.P. will be Jenna’s person-she-loves-to-hate/lackey this season, the hated alpha male character that can do no right. Well, maybe Adam is catching some of that flak as well. Last season it was Terry and before that, Tom Westman were her targets. We’ll see whom the fans respond to. Right now, Yul and Cao-Boi are the clear favorites at CBS.com’s “Popularity Poll.”

Finally, the clip of the challenge is run. Again, the disrespectful attitude of Aitu as they so obviously throw the challenge doesn’t earn any esteem from the hosts. Ozzy is the ringleader, but all of them were laughing and grinning.

Dalton notes the white tribe laughed at the black tribe for celebrating so heartily after barely beating a tribe that wasn’t even trying. Jenna says, “Whoa, we’re crushing those stereotypes there!” I dunno, I admit laughed as well because they were trying so hard and working so furiously, they never even realized the Hispanics weren’t actually trying. Watching at home, I bet they were a little sheepish seeing that boisterous celebration.

Jenna says, “Making a mockery of the tribe and the game is disgusting,” and the others agree. The hosts know that throwing a challenge never works out. Billy remembers last season, where “the most dysfunctional alliance ever” stuck together and won out in the end. Jenna says, “You just learn to ignore people who annoy you,” and Dalton says, “I’m going to ignore you.”