Survivor: Cook Islands- Survivor Live, Episode 7

It’s time for the seventh episode of the season of Survivor Live, CBS’s Internet interview show that features the most recently eliminated contestant from the previous night’s Survivor: Cook Islands episode. The show is co-hosted by Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly and Survivor: Amazon winner Jenna Morasca. As Halloween is this week, Dalton is dressed like a cowboy and Jenna as a sexy law enforcement officer.

With this being the recap week, there are no booted players to interview, so instead there will be general discussion of each player, a review of the recap show, some esteemed awards for remarkable and unique events from the first half of the season, and more.

But first, my trivia question. In a week where a detailed look back is indicated, a tougher question is called for… and here it is: How often has a player been booted while receiving less than fifty percent of the votes cast? As usual, the answer will be near the bottom of this article.

The show begins with Dalton commenting that although he’s never been a fan of the clip shows, at least last night, we got a lot of original stuff. Jenna adds that some of the clips actually made sense of some things we’ve seen in earlier episodes.

Our first clip of the week features Candice and Adam lost at sea. Jenna is surprised they wasted the energy to take a pleasure trip, plus, it is irresponsible that they lost their tribe’s boat. However, this clip shows one possible reason why the two of them have bonded so well.

The first caller today is David from North Carolina. He asks who they think is in control in each of the two tribes. He wins a Survivor buff for being the first caller of the day.

Caller David also mentions Jenna’s appearance on VH1’s Celebrity Paranormal show. Dalton notes she was constantly bleeped and is amazed she keeps it under control for the hour of this show. Jenna explains, “When I get scared or nervous, I tend to drop the F-bomb!” She also tells us that this week, Ethan is going to be on. Alas, I don’t get this show locally.

Getting back to the question, Jenna says Adam seems to be a force (on Raro), while the comments of other booted players indicate that Becky and Yul are strongest on Aitu. Dalton says Yul and Jonathan are in control at Aitu. He has no idea who’s running the show at Raro, noting that after the women’s alliance seemed to assert itself it then proceeded to vote out of their own (Stephannie and Cristina). Jenna is sure it’s Adam because we saw in the recap episode that he feels safe being rude and expressing negative opinions, such as those to Cristina.

Nelly from New Hampshire thinks Jonathan looks like actor Ingo Rademacher, who plays “Jax” on General Hospital. Additionally, all agree that he sounds a lot like Alan Alda. That one I’ll buy. Later on I looked Ingo up on the web and, dare I say it, I don’t see much of a resemblance to Jonathan.

Dalton reminds us that Jonathan and Sundra are both actors who have appeared on top TV shows. I looked them up on IMDB and both have appeared on some version of CSI. Besides some recurring roles, Jonathan has Arrested Development and Seinfeld episodes on his lengthy resume [Associate Editor’s Note: Don’t forget “The Champion” on The Tick!]. Sundra’s highlight may be a Sex and the City episode. So watch those reruns closely!

Now, I’m going to do something a little different, I’m slipping out of “recap mode” and into “full transcript mode” for a minute. You’ll see why.

Since we’re speaking about who looks like who, Jenna segues to remind us that she thinks Ozzy looks like Ethan. She adds, “There is a website online called RealityNewsOnline, and they do recap of our show. The guy on there absolutely hates when I talk about Ozzy, and he doesn’t see any similarity between him and Ethan.” Dalton interjects, “So, he’s hating you right now?”

Well, maybe not so much this time.

Jenna continues, “So I’d just like to give him some Halloween love right back.” They show a picture… is it Ethan, or is it Ozzy? (Ozzy). She reiterates, “First of all, he looks a little bit like Ethan.”

Dalton says, “I like the sound of this RealityNewsOnline guy, give me a call, we have something in common.”

Jenna continues, “He actually writes a recap of our show, it’s pretty good.” Blush! We get still shots of Ethan and Ozzy on the screen at once. I wish I could vidcap it for you it but I can’t. “But, come on!” she concludes.

OK, you win, maybe there could be a very mild resemblance. I’m not sure I see it yet but that’s what my wife tells me, and I’m WAY too smart to disagree with her!

Actually, Dalton, after a couple of minutes passed I did call in. However, the second segment started up on a totally different topic, so after a minute or two of sitting on hold long-distance, I bailed. But Jenna, thanks for the kind words!

The next clip run is the new scene where Rebecca tells Nate that J.P. is being targeted. Jenna observes that although Rebecca isn’t seen much, she’s obviously on the inside when decisions are being made.

Dalton then gets Jenna to tell the story from her season where, very similarly, Roger was blind-sided right after the merge. Jenna points out that it seems like whenever anyone says out loud who is going home next, it never seems to happen that way.

Dalton comments on the last part of the clip, where J.P. is commiserating with Stephannie, telling her he is going to miss her. In the background, it’s all Rebecca can do not to laugh out loud. Dalton imagines J.P. watching his boot episode at home and how happy he must have been not to see that scene… only to have it turn up on the recap episode.

Jenna comments that on the recap show, Stephannie had two clips that were quite different. First was her uplifting singing, and then suddenly she was a falling-down drunk. You see, deep down inside, TV film editors are much crueler than recappers!

The second segment begins with the news that Jenna won’t be here next week. She is supporting one of her ventures, the annual Model Challenge USA National Finals. You can find out more here. She promises this will be her only missed episode of the season and adds, “So, for all you haters, I’m sorry.” I know your haters, Jenna – they write to me, too!

The hosts now review each player in alphabetical order, commenting on their game play to date and their prospects for the future. It’s OK, this is all spoiler-free.

Adam is first. Dalton says Adam didn’t want to make a shelter and Jenna interjects, “He’s kind of a meanie.” Dalton pours her an invisible glass of Hatorade, which she mock-drinks. Ha! Jenna wonders if it’s a “man testosterone thing” and he’s showing off for Parvati. She thinks he’s a strong player in the game and a strong force, but his attitude may get the best of him. Dalton reveals to us that Adam developed tonsillitis right before the game and could barely swallow.

Dalton says Becky has an alliance with Yul and she is a smart player. Jenna thinks she’ll be gone soon, and that the hidden idol will be forced out into the open soon. She thinks Yul and Becky aren’t trying to bond with the others. Dalton thinks Becky is allied with Jonathan, Candice, and maybe Flica. He calls it “a strong four-and-a-half alliance.” Jenna sees Yul and Jonathan as the base of the alliance, rather than Becky.

Initially, Dalton felt Brad would not do well in the game. Dalton says, “I thought his mouth would get him into trouble and he seemed opinionated.” Now, he thinks Brad’s playing pretty well. Jenna is indifferent about Brad because we haven’t seen much of him yet. I can add that one worrisome thing for Brad is that he was out of the loop on the last vote, and that’s never a good sign.

The next caller is Jerry from California. He thinks Brad is a dark horse who may do well after the merge, saying he is polite, strong, cooperative, and ruffles no feathers. He waits to see if Brad and Yul work together after the merge. Dalton calls Brad strong, strategic, and smart, yet also points out that Brad does well in many areas without sticking out by excelling at any one particular area. Jenna says that in her season she talked a lot about others in her confessionals, but not so much around camp.

Dalton feels Candice was playing well but made a bad move sending too-obvious messages to Adam at the last Tribal Council. Jenna wonders if she’s smarter than she’s acting, or perhaps Survivor just isn’t her game. Jenna feels the White tribe needs to be cut down in size and jokingly adds, “Kill Whitey!”

Quiet Jenny comes next. The one thing we know about her so far is that she drew a shooting gun on her vote against officer Cristina. Dalton hopes this isn’t the act she ends up being known for in this game. Jenna doubts Jenny will admit to being rude on purpose, if that’s in fact the truth. Grudgingly, Dalton is still willing to give Jenny the benefit of the doubt.

“Flica is out,” pronounces Jenna. Jenna says that she’s kind of annoying, she lost the chickens, and no one really respects her. Jenna adds that although she is good in the challenges, they can do without her. Dalton sees her as the fourth-and-a-half member of the majority alliance, and it could carry her to an early-jury finish. I rather doubt Flica’s in the primary alliance any more because she was also out of the loop in that last vote.

Both hosts seem to feel that Flica’s love and peace/here for the experience approach to the game means that when the need arises, she may not be cutthroat enough. We’ll see; most roller-girls don’t seem very shy. However, I just don’t see evidence that she has the gameplay skills. As she’s currently on the outside of the main alliance, those skills may be tested soon.

Jeff from NYC doesn’t see the logic of following a double-boot episode with a recap. Good point. He wonders if Candice didn’t want to go boating with Ozzy and the others because of her bad boating experience with Adam. Dalton spills it that this boating incident with Adam occurred on day two. Dalton likes caller Jeff’s theory and he also wins a buff. The buffs are lime green, by the way.

Jenna says Candice only seems to hang out with those in her alliance. Dalton says she is nice, cute, and smart but doesn’t “put herself out there.” As we’ve already covered Candice, Dalton gets us back on track with the next player.

That next player is Jonathan. Both see him as a good player, smart and physical, but one who is a little too obvious and aggressive. Jenna likes it that he knows that game and came ready to play the game to win. Dalton calls him “super-competitive.” That may even be more evident this season, where so many recruited players are just along for “the experience.” Dalton also feels that Jonathan speaks his mind a little too readily, and even before the game started, “people were getting a bad vibe with him.” Jenna thinks he can’t make it to the end. Although I’m not expecting it to happen, I could see him being dragged to the end as an easily-beatable finalist.

The next clip we see is Stephannie singing “Amazing Grace.” It’s beautiful. However, why didn’t they hang on to this clip for five minutes when it’s Stephannie’s turn? Jenna recalls that in her season, Joanna sang to them and although some of the others didn’t care for it, Jenna really liked it.

Nate is described by Dalton as social and competitive. He takes the games personally and plays hard. Jenna thinks he’s balancing well between playing hard yet remaining likable. The hosts hope he avoids regressing into Bob-Dawg-like smack talk. No one has a great feel yet for why Nate was the one kidnapped last week and they can’t wait for an Aitu player to get booted so they can find out.

Caller Leyeo from Houston speaks of Dalton’s appearance on TV Guide’s Immunity Challenge (he finished second), and she also saw Jenna’s appearance on Celebrity Paranormal. Caller Leyeo thinks Gary Busey is sweet on her, but Jenna thought he was being more paternal.

Jenna swoons over Ozzy, calling him cute once again and comparing him to Ethan, especially in the way he is playing. Boy, I gotta program a function key to generate that phrase, it seems to keep coming up.

Dalton doesn’t agree Ozzy is playing like Ethan. He says, “Ethan never would have thrown a challenge, and never would have butt heads with Billy (so outwardly).” Jenna agrees, “Ethan would have never ever thrown a challenge.”

Alas, if Jenna hadn’t been so nice to me earlier I might have to ponder that statement and Ethan's actions in episode five of Survivor: Africa. To his credit, Ethan told Kim Johnson how he was morally conflicted over the idea. But, back to this season.

Jenna thinks Ozzy is in trouble of being sent home soon and the way his role as a provider is being played up, it may come back to haunt him. She figures he’s a huge challenge threat when the game goes to the individual stage. Jenna says that in her Amazon season, Joanna was seen as an individual immunity threat, and that’s one reason she was targeted pre-merge. She also mention that Ozzy is part of the minority alliance and also that he could be a victim of Billy karma.

Leanna from Canada sees the Ozzy-Jonathan relationship as similar to the one of Palau Tom and Ian. Dalton feels that Jonathan sees Ozzy as a threat and will try to oust him at some point, whereas Tom was ready to take Ian to the end. The hosts revisit Ian’s self-booting move, and it’s still pretty inexplicable.

Parvati’s flirting is the next topic. Jenna says she’s doing it successfully, the first one to do so since herself. Jenna says although she was flirting with the guys, she made sure the girls such as Deanna and Heidi who she was aligned with were not offended.

Dalton asks Jenna who looks better in a bikini, herself or Parvati. She says Parvati, because she’s younger. I stand by my gal Sundra, even if she hardly ever gets on camera for any extended periods of time. Jenna says that as long as no one younger than her ever wins the game, she’s happy because she wants to keep her record as “youngest winner” (she was 21 when she won).

Ricky from Chicago says Jenna looks better than Parvati and he wins a buff from Dalton. He asks Jenna when she used her sex appeal in the game, besides stripping for peanut butter. She says Heidi was working Dave and Alex… and Rob. She admits to working Dave herself. She suggests, “Maybe it was a tag-team thing.”

Jenna calls Rebecca the silent one. Dalton doesn’t understand why the women’s alliance didn’t last. I’d say the same for her ethnic alliance. Both hosts note she seemed to resent the invasion from the other tribe the most. Bottom line, there isn’t much to comment about Rebecca, who has had as little screen time as anyone.

Sundra may have worked herself into the main alliance, but the hosts don’t think so. I must disagree; Sundra has taken Flica’s place in the primary Aitu alliance. We know this because she now votes with the majority, and before she did not. The hosts also think she’s a potential “flipper” at the merge. That one could happen; it may depend on how many original Hiki members make it that far. She’s another one who has barely spoken on camera at all.

Yul was Dalton’s pre-game pick to win. He calls him smart and tells us he was the only player that figured out the ethnic twist before it was announced. Dalton calls him strong and social, and able to do things subtly. Jenna calls him boring and thinks they’ll gun for him until the idol is played. Jenna hasn’t decided who her favorite is yet.

Mark from Montreal also prefers Jenna over Parvati. Sorry, no buff. He notes she doesn’t have the red mark on her face and Jenna says she has no bad winds. The caller notes that although the show is popular in Canada (where it’s always in the top ten), Survivor has not had any Canadian players. Well, Kel was Canadian-born, I believe, but wasn’t here long. Caller Mark notes that even The Apprentice has had a Canadian contestant, not that we’re all that proud of Brent.

Jenna isn’t sure why Mark Burnett is so adamant about not having Canadians on the show and hopes he’ll change his mind one day. She also knows we have no tax on the winnings. Too bad Survivor: Borneo winner Richard Hatch didn’t know about that one!

Mike from Oklahoma has even more love for Jenna, comparing her to Marisa Tomei. His pick to win is Yul and wonders if he can indeed win. Dalton still favors Yul as his choice. Jenna sees him as “too good to be true.”

The final segment begins with some special awards. Jenna confirms Price Waterhouse did NOT validate the results.

The first category, complete with fanfare, is the “Seeing Red” award. This is the same fanfare that usually precedes Jenna’s “Question of the Week” feature. The award goes to… Brad, because after Cao Boi removes his bad wind it leaves him with a bright red mark. A short clip plays to remind us of the occasion. It turns out they play a clip of all winners and their special moments.

As the next category is announced it seems the fanfare will precede every award. The last note may be drawn out longer than usual, though. This second award is the “Sneakiest Tribe” award. And the winner is… Aitu, for throwing the challenge so they could boot out Billy. I don’t think anyone could argue with that choice.

The third award is for the “Most Intimate Gathering.” Is it Candice? No, the winner is “tribes on the water perch,” from the end of the last challenge. Challenge designer John Kirhoffer told Dalton he’s gotten a lot of positive response to that challenge.

Darn, I was rooting for the cuddle puddle!

The next one is the “Funkiest Survivor Live Moment” award. The winner is Sekou Bunch, playing his acoustic base. I LOVE that clip, he is one talented dude!

Jenna admits that it’s killing her to stay quiet during the whole lengthy fanfare. The “Whole Lotta Love” award goes to Billy Garcia and his giant heart. The clip shown is his pronouncement of love for Candice. Ouch, that’s still a tough one to watch, though Probst and Cecilia’s reactions are priceless.

The final category is the “Best Dressed On Set” award, voted on by the behind the scenes crew. Dalton mentions Jenna’s plunging neckline, and, disturbingly, the camera zooms in on his chest instead. At any rate, it’s cowboy Dalton who wins! Jenna agrees he did a fine job of dressing up this season, and I must concur.

We’re getting near the end now. And it’s time for Dalton to take care of a couple of bits of business. One, he announces that the guest host next week will be none other than Terry Deitz, from last season.

The final piece of business is running the CBS promo. Nate causes stress for Aitu; Ozzy’s stock skyrockets; and one exiled Survivor takes a beating (on Exile Island).

Alas, that’s the end. The hosts give props to their crew and to the rocking strains of the Survivor: Live theme, Jenna dances us out.

CBS Website Clues:

• At an extremely physical reward challenge, a Survivor collapses out of exhaustion, leaving the burden of completing the challenge to their other tribemates.
• One Survivor confronts another about their choice to sit out of the physical portion of the reward challenge, blaming the loss on them. How will this affect their position in the game?
• With little shelter available, a raging storm makes one Survivor's trip to Exile Island a nightmare.
• One Survivor brings a seabird back to camp after having caught it with their bare hands. Can they convince their fellow tribe members that their strength around camp is an asset or will they quickly make themselves a target?

Trivia Answers:

Thanks to those who pointed out my brain cramp last week – it really was Survivor: Vanuatu’s John P. who was the first victim of a Survivor double-boot, not Willard as I had erroneously stated.

This week’s question was about being booted by a minority of the votes. It’s happened twice. The first time was in Survivor: Borneo, when Gretchen was the first to be Pagonged. She got four votes out of ten, while six others received one each. The second time was The Bob Dawg from Survivor: Exile Island. The Casaya tribe cast three votes for him while three others shared the remaining four votes.

In Conclusion:

It was an interesting change of pace this week, but I do look forward to the game resuming and the upcoming stream of booted players and their behind-the-scenes stories.

Everyone is invited to share his or her opinions at the eAddress below. I’ll be back next week to report on another Survivor Live interview. Rumors are that there will actually be guests next week!

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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