Survivor: Cook Islands, Episode 6 MVPs: Where Have All the Cao Bois Gone?

Oh, Cao Boi. You really never had a chance in this game, did you? Being older than anyone else on your initial tribe was a hurdle, but pinching the “bad wind” out of their foreheads, making racially insensitive jokes, and hurting a baby bird sure didn’t help matters.

In Episode 6, Cao Boi tried to shake things up and to improve his lot in the game. His intentions were good. He was convinced that either Jonathan or Candice had the hidden immunity idol. He was also worried that after the merge, the former white tribe – a tribe that’s yet to lose a member – would reunite and knock out all of the people of color. That’s a legitimate concern.

So why wait until the merge? Why not force whoever has the idol to play it? The worst case scenario, as far as Cao Boi was concerned, was that neither of them would play the idol and he’d get rid of one of the white people.

The plan was nice in theory, but it really wasn’t well considered. For one thing, the person Cao Boi confided the plan in was Yul. Yul, as we viewers at home know, is the guy who actually has the idol. Yul is also in an alliance with Jonathan and Candice, a fact that Cao Boi should at least suspect from the time a few weeks ago when Yul needed his vote because Candice was on Exile Island. The other issue is that if the tribe voted as Cao Boi suggested and landed a tie vote between Jonathan and Candice, nobody would have to play the idol right away. As far as we know (and to be fair, we never seem to know until it happens), if there’s a tied vote at tribal council, the two players in question have to compete to make fire. If Jonathan had the idol and made fire first, he wouldn’t have to play the idol. Sure, Cao Boi still would have gotten rid of a white player, but his plan still wasn’t nearly as effective as he thought.

To make matters worse, by coming up with this plan and talking it up to the rest of the tribe, Cao Boi went from being perceived as a harmless kook to a kook coming up with crazy plans that target members of the majority alliance. Sorry, Cao Boi, but you’re not getting an MVP award for that. You’re getting the boot.

Cao Boi sure didn’t win the Most Valuable Player award for Aitu this week. But the person who did win it played her heart out. That was Candice. In the immunity challenge, that woman clung on to the post like a barnacle. When Parvati and Rebecca finally got her off of it, she lunged back and grabbed it again. Then she fought to stay away from the line for as long as she could. Not only did Candice’s tenacity give her team a lead, but she also wore out Parvati and Rebecca. By the time they had to go retrieve Sundra, they weren’t nearly as fresh as they’d been in the first challenge. Candice performed amazingly well in the challenge. She showed incredible physical strength, combined with a real will to win. I’m sure the rest of her tribe really appreciated the contribution she made to the team. That is why Candice is this week’s MVP for Aitu.

Meanwhile, at Raro, Nate once again scored the Most Valuable Player award. He caught a huge octopus for the tribe, taking a bit of the sting out of not having a lamb feast at tribal council. Then, better still, he was “kidnapped” by the Aitu tribe. He was immune from the vote and will live with Aitu through the reward challenge. Sure, it’s always a bit of a risk to be away from your tribe, but Nate is in a pretty safe position right now. He can use this opportunity to renew any new alliances, meet new people, and gather information that could be potentially valuable after the merge. Nate is in a great position right now, and I think he’s smart enough to use it to his advantage. I’ll be watching him with interest this week to see how what he does with this opportunity.

Congratulations to this week’s MVPs, Candice and Nate. And happy trails to failed MVP Cao Boi.

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online. She can be reached with MVP nominations and any feedback at betsywasser@gmail.com

For more news about Survivor, be sure to check out SirLinksALot: Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor Fever!