An “Insider” Look at Survivor: Cook Islands, Episode 9 – Twist in a Bottle

Rebecca’s Final Words

Rebecca says she is so “pumped” to be going home. It hurts to be voted off, but she thought that once Jonathan and Candice came over to Raro that her time on her tribe might be eliminated. They already had bonds on Raro and she thought it might hurt her. She was still a player. She had down times, but she dug herself out. She says it makes you feel bad to be taken out, but it’s all part of the game and you have to take it with a grain of salt and now I am approaching cliché overload and cannot listen anymore.

Okay. Back again. Rebecca still likes her tribe and told them she wanted to know if she was about to be voted out. They didn’t tell her. She knows Jonathan’s a stronger player than her and she wanted someone to tell her she was being voted out. She understands that it’s hard to do, though. But she knew in her gut that she would be voted out tonight because she could see the alliances forming around her. She thinks she was close because Rebecca feels a merge was coming. It’s disappointing to know she wasn’t really part of Raro’s final five.

Rebecca says she now realizes that she’s a lot more mentally strong than physically so. Her mind loved the game, but her body just couldn’t keep up. For the first time, she really felt her age in that. She was truly physically exhausted, but her mind and heart were loving the experience of it and the chance to do things she has never done before. She’s a stronger person now and her skin is a lot thicker. She’s proud of herself and glad to be on the jury, and wow, Rebecca can talk a lot. Phew.

Rebecca, The Day After

Rebecca looks refreshed and relaxed in her interview. She starts by saying the worst time in the game for her was when she collapsed from dehydration. Yeah, that’s no fun. It took Rebecca days to recover and she was hard on herself. She didn’t expect to be the reason they lost that challenge and she was really disappointed in herself.

Rebecca says she made a lot of friends on the show and that she’s a really social person. It was interesting to meet all the different types of people. But her favorite thing about the show was the challenges. You got to do crazy things that you would never do in normal life and that was great. The show taught Rebecca that you don’t have to always be strong, or the strongest, and that’s okay. You can be vulnerable, too. She’s from New York and that’s a hard lesson to learn.

The next thing Rebecca turns to is her two tribes. She says it was easy to switch tribes because most of the members of her first tribe came with her to the new Raro. It was a “melting pot” tribe and she liked it. When she found the tribes were split by race, she didn’t like it. She felt a lot of pressure and worried people would watch the show and evaluate people by race. She hopes people will watch the show and realize that is not true.

Rebecca says the island will teach her to appreciate things at home more. She will never forget that she gutted a chicken, skinned a fish, and just the sheer amount of work she did on Survivor. It was amazing. Rebecca thinks her tribe will miss her sense of humor, upbeat attitude, and massages! On the jury, Rebecca will vote for who she thinks has the best game overall.

Survivor was the hardest, most encompassing experience of her life. She’s proud of herself and how she competed in the game.

Jenny’s Final Words

Jenny starts off by saying she is completely pissed off about tonight’s vote for her. It was hard to vote Rebecca off because she adored and respected her, and she felt bad for not having the opportunity to tell Rebecca they were voting her off. Then, in some twist in a bottle, Jenny herself got voted off! Jenny thought she was secure in her alliance with Nate, Parvati, and Adam. She saw herself as going far, but Jenny should have seen what was coming when Jonathan and Candice came over to Raro. They obviously had a much better bond with the tribe – particularly Candice with Adam. Jenny respects that Jonathan worked so hard on the tribe, but she really feels burned by tonight’s vote. If she had known there would be two votes tonight, she would have worked harder to secure votes.

Jenny doesn’t think there was a ringleader in voting her out, although Jenny thinks Nate, Parvati, and Adam probably got together and discussed whether they would vote her or Jonathan out if necessary. Jenny’s disappointed because her tribe knew she tried 110%, but she thinks they wanted another guy for challenges. After 24 days on the island, she realizes she’s stronger than she thought in so many ways. The game is hard mentally and physically, but Jenny’s learned she’s resilient and can handle anything that comes along. She’s bitter right now, having just been voted out, but she knows its part of the game. As far as the jury goes, she doesn’t know whether or not her tribemates will be able to win back her trust and get her vote.

Jenny seems to be wrong about her alliance members deciding ahead of time to vote her out that night as Nate did not vote Jenny out. Otherwise, she seems to be right.

Jenny, The Day After

Jenny says that as soon as she heard her name called to be booted, she couldn’t really hear anything else. Everything was silent and she was in shock. It was surreal. Jenny didn’t know whether she should wave goodbye or flip them off – so she did both! Snork. She was very mad and wanted them to know they lost her vote. Each day in the game was a surprise – you never knew what was going to happen. You had to work for everything, even a cup of coconut water. Even keeping warm was hard. Getting water was hard. Everything was a chore. You’d think you could just relax in a beautiful environment, but you can’t. Even going to bed was a chore!

Jenny goes on to say that being on Puka was a chore, too. She could only take Cao Boi in small doses, and the other three were the “climbing the corporate ladder” types and she couldn’t fit in with them. Her life and career are in a totally different place because she puts family first and her priorities are different. She’s a goof. But she felt she couldn’t even burp or fart in front of them, so she was happy about the merge.

As with Rebecca, Jenny’s favorite part of the game was the challenges. As a close second, she really enjoyed outwitting people. Jenny thinks that she wouldn’t have made it as far in the game if she hadn’t done that. Jenny’s proud of her game. She says her sister thought she would be the first person out because Jenny can’t even stand going camping. But Jenny is NOT satisfied or happy to be out of the game. It was a wonderful experience – it was a revelation. Survivor is such a negative thing and so hard, but it draws out so many positive things in yourself.

I think Jenny’s being a tad hard on her fellow Pukas by assuming that because they care about their careers, they don’t put family first, but it’s clear from her words that she just didn’t gel with her original tribe at all. It’s also interesting to hear Jenny describe herself as a goof because she always struck me as a bit of a sourpuss.

Reward Challenge: Make Your Point

This is the reward challenge from the episode. Aitu once again beats upon the Raro tribe, doing better at both the physical and mental aspects of the challenge. Then they gleefully send Candice to exile yet again. Between Ozzy and Becky, Aitu really has both aspects covered.

Yul Offers Up the Idol

This clip starts with the entire Aitu tribe working on memorizing the islands on the map. Yul interviews that the tribe is very tight and he really hopes that they won’t lose an immunity challenge. Yul then talks to Becky privately. He tells her he’s given a lot of thought as to how he’s going to use the idol. He doesn’t want to just use it to save his own skin. He wants the person who has the best chance on their tribe to get it and go forward. He offers the idol to Becky, saying in that situation he would want her to have it. Becky says she appreciates it, but she can’t let him do it. She wants to be his true friend and she can’t let him.

Wow! Becky and Yul really seem like sweet people and I completely believe that they will be true to each other. Of course, this kind of bond will also make them (particularly Yul) a target once the tribes merge.

Immunity Challenge: South Pacific

This clip shows the immunity challenge where Aitu repeats their reward prowess and rubs Raro’s nose in their own incompetence.

Tribal Council One

Candice votes for Rebecca. “This isn’t a personal vote. This is only to keep the tribe strong for challenges. I wish you all the best of luck.”

Jenny votes for Rebecca. “You did great today, but I’m so sorry. This is being done for overall productivity and performance in the challenges. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you.”

Parvati votes for Rebecca. “You just haven’t been pulling your weight around camp and I think you’ve gone as far as you want to in the game.” Why does Parvati so often sound obnoxious in these speeches?

Jonathan votes for Rebecca. “This is just about the productivity. I’ve been with this tribe for four days, and only this afternoon did I see anything from you. You didn’t seem really ready to step up. You didn’t even really seem like you wanted to be here. So, good luck.”

Rebecca votes for Jonathan. “Jonathan, I think you’re a great guy. You just came into the game too late.”

Adam votes for Rebecca. “You’re a great woman and it’s been a pleasure to have you around camp, but you don’t do much around camp and you don’t produce much during the challenges.”

Nate votes for Rebecca. “It’s nothing but love, but you are our weakest link right now and I will do what’s best for the tribe.”

Tribal Council Two

Candice votes for Jenny. “Well, I don’t know what to say. I hope this is the right vote, but this is crazy.”

Jenny votes for Jonathan. “You’re a great guy and I respect your work ethic. But I’m sorry; it just had to be done.”

Nate votes for Jonathan. “I’m sorry, brother. It’s nothing personal, but you’re the last person left I don’t trust.”

Parvati votes for Jenny. “This really sucks. I totally didn’t want to vote for you tonight. I didn’t know what else to do. We’ve got to keep Jonathan around because he’s feeding us and keeping us strong. I’m really going to miss you and I’m sorry.”

Jonathan votes for Jenny. “Nothing personal. It’s probably going to be you and me. I’d rather it be you. Sorry.”

Adam votes for Jenny. “I hate to do this. You’re such a great competitor and I want to keep you around. I don’t know. This was a shock to me that we had to vote someone else off. I’m sorry.”

So Jonathan’s strategy to work hard and provide food seems to have really paid off for him in this double Tribal Council. I thought his mutiny was going to get him booted pretty quickly, but so far he’s making it work.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Survivor: Cook Islands articles here on RealityNewsOnline:

Teeuwynn is a professional puzzle, game and event designer. You can check out one of Teeuwynn’s current puzzles at: http://www.gencon.com/2006/socal/events/puzzlehunt.aspx. You can reach Teeuwynn at Teeuwynn@gmail.com.

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