Survivor: Cook Islands - Advice for the Remaining 17

Cristina: You are also a winner by the new tribe shuffle, as I think you were the next to go if the original Aitu faced Tribal Council. As it stands, you’ll need to find your numbers, and quickly. You and J.P. should approach the former Hiki member and bargain up front, and start getting rid of the weak links from the former Raro and Puka tribes. If you don’t, your position will not have improved as you might be tagged as a weak link.

Jenny: Unfortunately, your position has been weakened by the shuffle, and it will be up to you to decide how to convert an integrated tribe into one that is to your advantage. Like most tribe members, the former Hiki tribe is the best starting spot, as it only takes them and one other vote besides yours to control the evictions. The advantage usually goes to the person who bargains before they need the vote. Good luck!

Stephannie: Out of all the people on the new tribes, you are one of the biggest winners. You were probably the next to go if Hiki had remained intact, and your tribe was probably the weakest. You had lost the first challenge, and were third in the second one, which Aitu threw. Now you have two allies on your tribe, and only need two more votes to insure dominance. Find them, quickly,.

New Aitu: Your tribe has had battle lines drawn, but when it appears to be a 6-2 majority (for now) consisting of the former Puka and Raro members, that division isn’t worrisome, at least for the members of the controlling alliance. However, there was plotting on all sides, and the two nutballs (Flicka and Cao Boi) ended up controlling the vote. They could still end up controlling the vote if Yul, Jonathan, or Candice return to Exile Island, or Becky goes for the first time. With a missing tribe member, four votes control the eviction. If you do win immunity and can send somebody to Exile Island, I’d suggest Nate. It would mean there are two members of each original tribe, but also leave the women in control with four votes to three.

Jonathan: I think you upgraded your position with your new tribe. You aren’t saddled with the lazy people anymore, and you’ve formed a solid alliance which will help you make it to the mid game. You obviously talked some sense into Flicka, and overall provided a better strategy for her to follow. She ended up talking it over with Cao Boi, who agreed on principle with it. Keep in mind, you can’t fully trust her as she’s a known blabbermouth and doesn’t seem to grasp game strategy. However, both those traits can be used by a smart player to their advantage, by feeding false information, or getting the useful idiot vote.

Yul: I’m not sure why you shared knowledge of the hidden immunity talisman with Becky, but promising to give it to her to save her if needed was a mistake. Keep the talisman for yourself, unless you are wearing immunity at the final four, in which case you can give it away to rig the end game in your favor. For now, you have control in the tribe. You can keep it by loosening up a bit with Cao Boi to retain him as an ally.

Becky: Half the tribe thought you were the weakest link in the tribe, while the other half valued you as a political ally. In a choice between power and politics, the politics should always win if an alliance is thinking rationally. In any case, you have perfect knowledge that Yul has the hidden immunity talisman, and a solid alliance. You are likely safe for now.

Candice: You’ve done something quite remarkable - gotten into a majority alliance while stuck on Exile Island, safe from the vote. Of course, your vote might have been useful, but your allies pulled through. You also handled the whole revelation of the Billy incident well. You are safe for now.

Flicka: It’s quite obvious you haven’t prepared for Survivor, as hanging out with cool people hasn’t been a winning strategy in any version of Survivor to date. However, your position has actually improved quite a bit. The chicken incident has been neatly swept under the rug, and you seem to have an ally in fellow misfit Cao Boi. You can either attempt to straddle the two groups in your tribe by switching back and forth with your votes (assuming one of the Puka/Raro alliance groups goes to Exile Island), or you can stick with them for now and prepare for battle at some point after the merger. I suggest the latter, as getting tagged with playing all sides will probably hurt you at the mid game. Also, don’t blab like you did in the last episode. It only allows time for a counter attack, which Jonathan successfully accomplished.

Cao Boi: Your position has improved dramatically, to the point where your vote was needed. In the end, you decided to vote out Cecila, which was probably a smart decision. While both factions had the numbers if you and Flicka voted together, the Puka/Raro alliance has the physical strength and a better control of the tribe when missing Candice returned. You are in a solid position right now, which is made stronger by your influence and thus perhaps control over Flicka’s vote. Nice job.

Ozzy: Perhaps you figured out too late that throwing a challenge was a bad idea. While you never know what would have happened, the odds would have been even that you’d have been shuffled into a tribe with another Aitu male, which would have helped your political situation. Right now, you are in trouble, though you have a bit of time to work with unless Sundra goes to Exile Island. Your best bet is to try to win back Cao Boi and Flicka if one of the former Raro or Puka members goes to Exile Island.

Sundra: You have problems, and there are only a few ways out of your situation. The first is to go to Exile Island while the others are at Tribal Council. That might mean doing some obvious signaling to the new Raro tribe if it comes to it. The second option is to try to work on Cao Boi and Flicka. This is the better solution if Candice, Yul, Jonathan, or Becky goes to Exile Island. Otherwise, you might need tribal immunity to keep in the game.

Cecilia: What went wrong? Numbers, politics, and strength. While you had a loose alliance and tried to bring in Cao Boi and Jessica, Jonathan’s sales pitch worked enough for her to talk it over with Cao Boi. All things being equal, they apparently decided to stick with the side with the same argument, but with more strength. It probably helped that they were originally in the same tribes as they were, and might have feared getting picked off after the merger to a single tribe. Plus, you have to admit that throwing the challenge last week was a bad decision.

Jeffrey Clinard has been writing about Survivor since the second series, and has published over 100 articles about the show and given advice to nearly 150 different Survivors on RealityNewsOnline. He can be reached at realityfeedback@bookslv.com.

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