Survivor: Cook Islands – Advice for the Final Five

After the merge, there are always certain key votes where Survivors have to make smart decisions in order to advance their endgame. These come when there are odd numbers of Survivors left, as those votes will set the stage for the next vote as well. It’s hard to change the game when there are an even number of players, as it takes more than one vote to alter the outcome at Tribal Council.

That’s not to say it can’t happen. If Ozzy weren’t wearing immunity, he might have gone home because he’s been winning challenges, often by large margins and using different skill sets. That makes him a threat to win the game on brute force alone, which should scare everybody. Indeed, his own alliance considered voting him out until he won immunity. My biggest wonder over all of that was where Becky has been for the last 30 days or so if she only now recognizes his skills!

Once he won immunity, either Parvati or Adam was a goner, and no matter how much naked hot tubbing she did, Parvati has shown more ability to win challenges than Adam. That pretty much sealed her death warrant in the game. She did try to talk strategy with Ozzy, but it took four votes to control the outcome, and she wasn’t getting it. I do give her credit for trying, though.

The reward challenge goes back to the first Survivor, and Ozzy won without it even being close. He carried a lot of mud on his head, and navigated the obstacles in order to keep it balanced. Yul used his back, and several of the women used their hair. All were good tactics, and it was fairly close among anybody not named Ozzy.

The immunity challenge was another interesting one, combining several elements, including balance, puzzles, and the table balance game. Again, Ozzy ran away with it, gaining a huge lead on the balance portion of the challenge, and never looking back.

At this point in the game, everybody needs to do a threat analysis of every other player. Who stands between them and the money? It might be because somebody is a little too popular with the jury, or perhaps because somebody can win challenges. What should everybody be doing to win the game? It’s advice for the final five.

Yul: The game is slowly slipping away from you because you aren’t reading the mood of the tribe and the jury correctly. You are considered the decision-maker of the Aitu alliance, and the jury does not seem to appreciate strategy. Plus, while I think too much was made of returning Jonathan’s hat, you compounded it by admitting it might have served as a form of bribe. Your best bet right now is to get rid of the people who have favor with the jury. They are Ozzy and Adam. Ozzy is too dangerous in challenges, and while Adam isn’t the best player, the jury might be vindictive. If you have any choice in the matter, take Sundra to the finals. I think you can beat her easily. Your arguments should be strategy while being polite to everybody (Probst once called you the U.N.). Good luck!

Becky: I’m surprised it took you this long to notice just how good Ozzy is during challenges. Getting rid of him is the right move. Like Yul, you should be focused on voting off the two threats that stand between yourself and the money – Ozzy and Adam – and then trying to get to the final two against Sundra. I think that maximizes your chance of winning the game. Your argument to win should be that you aligned yourself with threats so that you could take them out at the last moment.

Sundra: Like most of Aitu, your threats are Ozzy and Adam, with Yul being the final obstacle between yourself and Becky at the final Tribal Council. Don’t let either of them present a case to the jury. If you make it to the end, you’ll need to stress that you formed tight bonds, but never lost sight of the money at the end. Also, try to come across as warm. It might work with the emotional jury.

Ozzy: Everybody is probably going to be gunning for you, as you are a challenge machine. It might be a good time to try to talk Sundra and Adam into breaking up Yul and Becky. While you can’t evict Yul just yet, you can get rid of Becky, and if you can sell them that Yul has the jury won over, you can perhaps take a diplomatic approach to getting to the finals. If you get to the end, you’ll want to say you were playing for yourself the entire time. By playing each day like it was your last, you made sure it never was. Sundra is probably your best opponent, but you have a good shot against everybody.

Adam: You’ve made it to the final five, but you aren’t going much further unless you start cutting some deals or winning some challenges. You’ll probably have to bargain with Sundra and Ozzy, telling them that Yul and Becky won’t vote against each other, so it’s time to break up the pair. If you can get rid of Becky now, you might want to try to get rid of Ozzy next, as he’s a threat on two fronts (challenges and jury). If you make it to the end, you’re going to have to play up the emotional side of the jury. Deny that you are a scheming manipulative jerk who used others to get that far. As the jury is largely going to be ex-Raro, it might strike a chord with them and let you go home with the money.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other Survivor: Cook Islands articles that have been posted here on RealityNewsOnline in the last 24 hours:

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

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