Survivor: Cook Islands – Survivor Live, Episode 13

First, my trivia question: This season, every player has received at least one vote in a Tribal Council. Who was the last one to see their name written down on a piece of parchment? To see the answer, drag your cursor between the square brackets that follow: [ It was Parvati; no one had voted against her before last night. As a point of interest, this is only the third time that all of the players entering the finale (usually, four) have previously received votes. ]

The show begins with Dalton giving us a scheduling note. On Monday, there will be an episode of Survivor Live for the four runners-up. They will be phone conferencing from LA, one at a time. On Tuesday, the winner will be in the studio for a normal, full hour edition of this show.

Dalton and Jenna open things up with a promo for the “Blast” DVD, which is a Survivor trivia computer game. They’ll be giving them away to selected callers today. Dalton assigns that task to Jenna.

Attention now turns to Parvati. She says she might have been the cleanest Survivor ever, because three times she won a chance to get clean – a bath, a spa visit, and at the family reward where they got to jump into a pool. She tells us that after the mud experience, she was in the shower for two-and-a-half hours and washed her hair about six times.

Dalton notes that Adam was fully cleaned up on Exile Island. Parvati says that’s rare for Adam and she says she’s proud of him. I thought it rather silly that they had to fly to reward all caked up with mud.

Dalton notes that Parvati was obviously playing the social game well, especially with Nate, but wonders if she overdid it at the end with Ozzy. She says she wasn’t really flirting with Ozzy, but she saw the other three as so tight that they couldn’t be broken up. She felt she was just talking to Ozzy as a friend.

Jenna notes that when Becky and Sundra were happy that Yul was getting a reward, there was no mention of Ozzy, who was also sharing that reward. She sees this as an indication that he is indeed low man in the pecking order. Parvati says that is true, as everyone wanted to vote out challenge-threat Ozzy. She adds, “He was made for this game.” Jenna thinks he’s a bit of a show-off now.

Sheldon from Louisville is the first caller. He tells Jenna he likes the philanthropy work she does, but he doesn’t win a game. Dude; just tell her she’s pretty! Sheldon asks if there were scenes that weren’t shown where they were trying to sway Ozzy to their side, including the threat of withholding of jury votes.

Parvati says they didn’t use the threat of jury votes against Ozzy. She says she “talked herself in circles” trying to convince Ozzy to flip sides, and he gave the impression he was entertaining the idea. She says that if Nate liked Ozzy, it sent her the message that there had to be something to Ozzy worth investigating.

Dalton says Parvati is trying to “sell something she herself would never buy.” Even if Ozzy goes with them, it’s a three-three tie, Yul has the idol, and Ozzy would have exposed himself in the game.

Jenna has noticed that the jury is more receptive when Ozzy speaks than when Yul speaks.

Dalton wonders if the “hat” issue was blown out of proportion. Jenna insists it was important, and Parvati agrees. Parvati adds, “Everyone knew that Yul was playing for the jury.” Dalton wonders if anyone would have known where the hat came from, if Probst didn’t make such an issue of it.

Jenna says, “This may be where Yul is starting to overplay himself. You notice how everyone has to go to Yul to prove their worth in the game?” She adds, “He’s playing so outright and so honest, I just want him to shut his trap for a while, keep things to himself.”

Parvati says Yul was adamant about playing the game with integrity and being honest, but she told him you can’t be like that in the game if you’re going to win. Jenna says that integrity in the game is not the same as in real life.

George from Brooklyn wins a “Blast” game for saying he agrees with Jenna’s blog on CBS. That’s odd, because she didn’t make any posts this week. He asks if Parvati’s opinion of Jonathan has changed from watching the show on TV. She says, “Jonathan was playing the game with the cards he was dealt.”

Parvati relates that on day one, she, Jonathan, and Candice formed a tight alliance. When Jonathan mutinied, she saw him in a higher spot than Brad or Jenny, and she took it as “a personal stab in the heart” when he flipped on them. She says that when she is hurt, she responds immediately and then puts the issue behind her. She claims she doesn’t hold a grudge against Jonathan.

Dalton plays the clip of “Mud Run,” the reward challenge. I feel dirty just watching it. Both hosts felt certain a woman would win the challenge. Jenna thinks Sundra and Becky aren’t that concerned about winning challenges, because Yul protects them.

Parvati says any girl would want to win the spa reward, and she thinks Becky and Sundra didn’t try so hard because they were comfortable in the game.

Dalton says Ozzy ought to consider not winning some reward challenges. Parvati says Ozzy is so competitive that he would never throw a challenge… and the hosts jump all over her, reminding her that he threw a challenge to get Billy booted.

She amends it to say that he is too competitive to throw a challenge where he can get a reward. Jenna says he ought to throw reward challenges, because people are getting bitter about it.

Parvati informs us that the guys were naked in the hot tub before she got in. She doesn’t understand why she’s the one getting flak for being naked in the hot tub.

The second segment usually begins with a graphic relating something from the player’s biography. Many are really impressive achievements. Parvati’s graphic tells us she is the eldest of three siblings in Florida and grew up on a commune.

Dalton asks Parvati about her finger. She says there’s a tiny scar and she gets occasional twinges, but she’s not in danger of losing it. Jenna says she was brave. Dr. Ado is given kudos for the way he handles emergencies, including bluffers and fakers.

The next caller is young Allie from KC, who asks which was the hardest challenge. Parvati says it was the one where she had to do a lot of swimming for peanut butter, after Rebecca punked out. Jenna commends Parvati for her swimming abilities, and adds, “It’s amazing what people will do for peanut butter.”

Dalton asks Parvati about being portrayed as “the bad guys” of the season. Parvati says this was strange for her, because they had been losing and she thought they were the underdogs. It’s her opinion that Candice wanted to be with her and Adam and have more fun. That isn’t what Candice told us last week, but I guess the topic of game strategies never came up at Loser Lodge?

Discussing the mutiny, Parvati wishes everyone had stepped off the mat and effectively made a merge, or else waited for the real merge that had to be just a few days out. She figures it fueled Aitu’s fire and made them tougher in the challenges.

Parvati isn’t sure why the Raro tribe was so reviled. The hosts explain it to her as people always root for the underdog and Raro had such an overwhelming numerical advantage. Jenna adds the additional factor, having Jonathan on your team.

Paul in New York has multiple questions. He wants to know why they passed up three chances to eliminate Jonathan. That one doesn’t get addressed. He also wonders who would she most like to have kept, and how would that have affected the game?

Parvati quickly says she’d have kept Jenny, because she feels Jenny would have stayed loyal to Raro. She’s sure Jenny would have stayed loyal and that would have changed the whole game. She calls Jenny “My little partner,” and, “very mischievous, very cute.”

The next discussion concerns the vote that followed the opening of the glass bottle at Tribal Council, which led to Jenny being voted out. Noting that Jonathan got the second most votes in the first round (after Rebecca) Jenna wonders why Jenny’s name came up next. She asks if they had a signal to cue the second vote. No. Parvati reiterates what she said before about their day one alliance and that she placed Jonathan above Jenny in the pecking order.

Parvati says she is a trusting person and that was her weakness. She says, “Jonathan is very manipulative, but in a way that doesn’t make you feel like you’re being manipulated.” Jenna says that his stealing chickens in episode one, “was a little bit of a sign.”

Madeline from Malibu is confused by Parvati. She says Parvati is much-maligned on the message boards and was portrayed on the show as “very lazy, and bitter, and somewhat of a sleazy contestant.” Parvati grimaces. Madeline asks, “Do you think you received a fair edit, or is that exactly how you are?” “Ouch!” replies Parvati.

She says her edit as a lazy person was “unmerited.” She tells us only Jonathan called them lazy. She says before he came to Raro, she was “the hunter,” getting crabs and shellfish. Adam, too, and in fact everyone, pitched in. She says that when they are edited as lazy, they are easier for the public to dislike.

Dalton points out that the Aitu four withheld food from them, so it wasn’t only Jonathan who thought they were lazy. Parvati thinks Jonathan was the ringleader of that event. Parvati says Jonathan and Ozzy were providing food, but not Yul or the others. Parvati says Jonathan was playing up to the Aitu foursome, so he wouldn’t have criticized their work levels. I think I’m mostly with Dalton here.

Parvati says most decisions were made as a group among the Aitu four, so it would be harder for the jury to single any one person out as wholly responsible.

Another clip is run, and it’s muddy people on a plane flight, and then in a hot tub. Dalton notes that when the great Cook Islands humpback whale reared its ugly head, Yul couldn’t get away fast enough. He notes Yul wasn’t drinking. Jenna likes that hot tub banter, and when Parvati says she would vomit on Jonathan.

Parvati doesn’t understand why her flirting was portrayed as such a negative. Dalton says if the guys are dumb enough to fall for it, why not use that tactic? Jenna adds, “And, it works.”

Christie from New York had her question stolen, so she asks about Parvati being perceived as a bigger threat than Adam. Parvati says, “I was kind of flattered by that, being a stronger threat than Adam, but I think they were right.”

Dalton says Jeff Probst is a stronger threat than Adam at this point. Parvati points out that Adam did win the recent math challenge. Jenna says she doesn’t think Adam has a prayer, and Dalton heartily agrees.

Bob from Bama is Parvati’s uncle. Jenna gives him a “Blast” game. He asks about her dad coming out in the family visit. She says that after chopping her finger, she was at her lowest point and seeing him made her an emotional wreck. She confesses to being “a daddy’s girl.” She admits she was freaking out when it fell to dad to pick those who would share her reward, fearing that Adam might not be chosen.

Parvati shares that although it wasn’t shown, the family members spent the night with them as well. Her dad loved it.

Dalton shifts focus to the “Probst’s Thoughts” feature, where a message is played that Jeff Probst previously recorded about the departing player. He starts by saying that he remembers Parvati promised to use her sexuality to get further on the show. He is aware that he didn’t pronounce her name properly, but insists he was trying hard to get it right. He says, “Parvati was underestimated from the intelligence side.” Jenna blames Jeff for her own mispronunciation of Parvati’s name at the beginning of the season.

Parvati likes Jeff. She says no one gets away with anything where Jeff is involved.

Mark in New York sucks up to Jenna and wins a game as well. He asks if they considered voting for Yul to force the hidden idol to be played. Parvati says they worked that angle, especially with Sundra, but had no success.

Jenna says it looks like Sundra is doing the least amount of strategizing in the four, and asks Parvati if that’s true. Parvati says, “Sundra was part of the Yul-Becky alliance, so she felt comfortable. She didn’t have to make decisions. She flew way under the radar.”

Dalton says she was on her way out on original Aitu but stayed out of the spotlight and let others get themselves booted out first. Now, however, there may be some coattail-riding going on.

The final segment begins with the hosts laughing about something Jenna said during the break. Dalton says, “Jenna has water in her eye, and it’s making her cry. Things that come out of her mouth are making me cry.”

The next feature is Dalton’s “minus 10,” where he reads ten rapid-fire categories for the guest to comment on, each in ten words or less. Here’s how it went:

• 10. Flirting – Great strategy, it worked, use it
• 9. Slicing your finger – Painful, scary, and gross
• 8. Boxing – Amazing, such a release
• 7. The great Cook Islands humpback whale – hilarious, I was dying laughing
• 6. Jonathan – I respect him as a worker
• 5. Alpha Omicron Pi – Oh, my sorority, the good old days
• 4. Making the jury – Awesome to be a part of who wins this game
• 3. Adam – My big brother; big dumb animal and I love him
• 2. Entertainment Weekly – Excellent journalistic piece
• 1. A Morasca-Parvati flirt-off: Who wins, and why? – That would be a tie

Dalton asks about Adam stroking her leg while he was kissing Candice. She says, “He was a flirty guy who was throwing it right back at me.”

The next caller is David from North Carolina. He asks if she ever tried to form a girl’s alliance. They did form one for one vote (to oust J.P.) but felt they weren’t strong enough to survive as a group of girls.

Dalton reminds her that in two previous seasons, (Amazon and Vanuatu) there were all-female tribes. I can add that we also saw gender-based tribes to open the Survivor: Exile Island season, albeit far too briefly. Parvati says they had “a lot of little girls” and many of the challenges were strength-oriented.

Matt from Maryland wins a “Blast” for sucking up to Jenna. Dalton vetoes it, but then he gets it back for also sucking up to Parvati. He wants to know, if she could eliminate one of the remaining players, who would it be? Parvati says she respects all who are left, but would pick Sundra because she is the least competitive and not pulling her weight, strategy-wise or in competitions.

Dalton runs the clip of “Hat-gate.” The hosts don’t understand why Yul added the last part of his explanation; saying that part of the reason he did it was to win Jonathan’s vote.

Dalton asks if Yul deserves the grief he’s getting, being called the puppetmaster. Parvati says he tries to play it down that he’s pulling the strings.

Jenna says Yul says too much. Her advice is, “Just play the game, don’t try to explain it.” She thinks he’s setting himself up for a tough final Tribal Council by insisting he’s playing with integrity.

She adds, “He’s trying to be so honest, it’s almost getting ridiculous.” Dalton adds, “It’s not a lie if you don’t say it.” Parvati says Yul wanted it to be known that he was playing with integrity and honesty.

Brendan from Boston flirts with the women as well, but I think Jenna is out of games. He asks if Becky was as invisible in camp as she appears to be on TV. Parvati says, “Becky doesn’t get enough credit.” Becky was very supportive when Parvati cut her finger, and also, is definitely a big part of the strategy decisions with Yul. She calls Yul “the face of their alliance.”

Introduced by a longer fanfare than usual, it’s time for Jenna Morasca’s “Question of the Week,” “What are you going to do now?” Parvati would like to host an adventure-travel show. Currently she is training for a half-iron-man. She also does volunteer work for the Make-A-Wish foundation.

The final piece of business is the running of the CBS promo. The finalists are identified as Yul, the brain; Ozzy the dominator; Becky, the crafty one; Adam, the outsider; and Sundra, the heart. There will be three Tribal Councils. Adam says, “I would like to get the idol out of Yul’s hand” and we are promised, “The biggest surprise yet.”

The surprise is, of course, that there is a final three, not two. It’s noted that Jeff gave a hint of that to the Survivors by mentioning the number of days left in the game. Dalton is pretty sure they didn’t pick up on it, though.

Dalton asks Jenna who she wants to win, and who she thinks will win. She names Ozzy, because she thinks Yul is overplaying himself and the jury will pick on Yul over honesty issues, and she thinks he’ll stumble.

Dalton chooses Yul, because he is the one who shaped and controlled the game. Jenna reminds him that this jury may lean towards the emotional side. Dalton remembers that although Tom Westman won, an equally-deserving Boston Rob did not.

Asked to name his final three, Dalton selects Yul and Becky, and adds Ozzy if he wins the final challenge, otherwise, Sundra.

Parvati is excited about the upcoming Reunion show, and the following party. Jenna is sure Jeff Probst will ask some good questions. “Oh, it will be dramatic,” promises Parvati.

And that’s all the time there is. Jenna dances us out, and mercifully, we are done. Ouch, that was painful. I felt sorry for Dalton today.

CBS Website Clues:

• As the number of remaining tribemates dwindles down, one alliance is forced to think about turning on each other. Will this strong alliance finally crumble?
• At the Immunity Challenge, the Survivors must complete an obstacle course that ends with the most difficult puzzle in Survivor history. Who will capture this all-important victory for a spot in the final four?
• Endurance is a key factor in the final challenge for Immunity. Who will be the last one standing to secure a chance at $1,000,000?
• The final Survivors battle it out to convince the jury that they are the most deserving of the $1,000,000 prize. Who will walk away with the money and the title of Sole Survivor?

In Conclusion:
Remember, on Monday there will be an episode of Survivor Live for the four runners-up and the winner comes in on Tuesday.

Everyone is invited to share his or her opinions about all this good fun at the eAddress below. I’ll be back next time to report on the latest Survivor Live webcast.

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

Brian lives in Toronto where he can be reached at uncle_bto@rogers.com. He’d like to hear your opinions and promises to respond to all serious email!

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