Survivor: Cook Islands – The Yul Tide Season?

It’s rather appropriate that the current season of Survivor ends during the holiday season, because someone’s about to find a seven-figure check in his or her tribal stocking, and someone else is about to find a huge lump of coal. But no one will know for sure until “The stockings are opened from the Council with care, in hopes that a million will be waiting there.”

But who has the best chance of pulling off the win? Let’s look at the players one by one. First, and foremost, there’s Yul. It’s hard to imagine him not making the final two, and frankly, he may well be the most deserving. After all, he’s the only player so far this season to get a Reality TV Hall of Fame Moment, due to the skillful way he used the idol not to save himself per se, but to entice Jonathan to switch sides.

Yul has tried to play with as much honesty and integrity as he can, and this may well be how he needs to present his case to the jury. On the other hand, because he is perceived as a “puppetmaster,” the others may resent the control he has had over the game and may stick it to him come jury time.

Then there’s Ozzy, who has dominated challenges on both land and sea, and most likely would be on the jury if he hadn’t won this last one. But can he keep it up? Suppose one of the remaining challenges is more mental? Not that I’m questioning his intelligence, but a challenge that’s more mental than physical puts everyone on a more level playing field. Otherwise, he could very well keep winning until the very end. If he lasts long enough to make the finals (which I believe he can only do if he keeps winning immunities), he will probably win no matter whom he goes against, including Yul.

Becky and Sundra? They both seem like nice people and are smart enough to know Ozzy needs to go sooner rather than later. But in my opinion, they have pretty much been carried to the spot they’re at now by Yul and Ozzy. While neither is particularly unlikable, I’m not sure either has played well enough to merit winning the game.

Still, either one of them could pull it off, if for no other reason than that haven’t offended too many jurors. If one of them goes up against Yul in the finals, she could win just because people are voting against Yul.

As far as Adam goes, his only chance to make the finals is immunity until that point, and somehow, I don’t see that happening – at least not if he can’t do any better than he did in the latest immunity challenge.

Now let’s look at the last episode before the finale. Does anyone remember back to the first season, when Mark Burnett and Co. put on a very similar challenge to the latest reward challenge? If my memory serves me correctly, the players had to roll around in the mud in a similar manner to this challenge. That day, the winner was Kelly Wigglesworth, who dominated challenges that season much in the same way Ozzy has in this one.

Speaking of which, when he jumped over the fence to start out the challenge, I couldn’t help but think, “Man, is this guy amphibious or what? He dominates on land AND sea.” And let’s not forget air, as he climbed trees in search of food like no one’s business.

Incidentally, the funniest line of the season may belong to Jeff Probst, who noted while watching the players squeeze every last bit of mud from their bodies that it was like “watching bad performance art.” Bad performance art maybe, but an overwhelmingly good performance from Ozzy, again.

This episode may have also contained the greatest example of too much information. That came from Parvati, who stated while lounging in a whirlpool au natural with Ozzy and Yul that she laughed so hard she just peed in her pants, and she wasn’t wearing any.

Last week, I wrote an article about repulsive things in the season, and frankly, the thought of being in a whirlpool with someone who just peed ranks right up there. Hopefully though, Parvati was just joking. Of course, it’s ironic that this came from someone who made flirting a huge part of her strategy.

Speaking of strategy, what was Yul thinking by telling Adam, “If you want to stay you’ll stay”? Either way he’s up a creek, because if he keeps Adam, a threat stays in the game, but if he boots him after promising otherwise, Adam could well retaliate in the final jury. Remember that despite voting out members of his own alliance, Adam can’t seem to appreciate that action by others, at least not if it doesn’t benefit him.

Then came the actual Tribal Council. WHY did they keep Adam? Yes, Yul told Parvati she was a bigger challenge threat than Adam (which, frankly, I wasn’t buying), and yes, Adam didn’t do nearly as well at the last challenge as Parvati. But keeping Adam and booting Parvati may have been one of the biggest strategic blunders ever. If Adam doesn’t win immunity, it might not matter, but at the time you couldn’t help but wonder, “What are they thinking?”

Well, by the next time I talk to you, we’ll know who has a million reasons to be full of holiday cheer. See you then!

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

Ken can be reached with any comments, criticisms, or money orders at YourNextOfKen@aol.com.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find all of our recaps and other info on this show at the Survivor: Cook Islands page, and take a look at our The Amazing Race 8 page and our Apprentice: Martha Stewart page. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

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