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« Survivor: Cook Islands
December 7, 2006: Everybody Hates Jonathan
And now we know why Parvati doesn't do any work at camp. It's just not safe. The girl nearly sliced her thumb off trying to open a coconut. Tragic as that may have been, Parvati's mishap allowed us another glimpse of that cute Aussie doctor from last season. Her sacrifice will not go unnoticed in my book.
This week was the family visits. Sundra's heartfelt weeping at the sight of her mother had me wondering if she'd be able to actually perform in the reward challenge of throwing water from one bucket into another while blindfolded. I’m still not sure. Mom wasn’t catching much water and Sundra was all over the place. While Jonathan and his wife were well-matched — both competitive and innovative — it was the injured Parvati and her father who won the challenge and chose Sundra and Adam to join in the reward.
What happened next is why I think Cook Islands is clearly among the best Survivors we've seen. While the winners were feasting and Jonathan was at Exile Island, courtesy of Parvati, the remaining players were plotting to hide food from their enemies. These people are playing to win, but not with all the sneaky Richard Hatch tactics that made surviving purely a social game. Jonathan is Hatch-lite. He's an emotional player who did his best to play his opponents off of each other while he advanced. But this week, when I had finally fallen off of my fence and landed in the yard that liked him, Jonathan got the boot. The show has lost a worthy player. Up to the end, Jonathan made a strong case for staying on the island. On any other season, he might still be in the game. So long, Jonathan. I for one will miss you.
Another reason the season is great is that Burnett has stepped up the challenges. This week, going for immunity was a punishing ordeal. I honestly thought Sundra broke her leg on that fall she took off the barrel. And yet Ozzy literally flew over that obstacle course and won immunity like it was nothing. Even so, we continued to pay attention, because it was a close race between him and Yul.
Cook Islands has a good cast, a good location and good challenges. Frankly, Burnett could have ditched the whole ethnic divide stunt, because this group of characters did not need it to make the show work. I believe the castaways are playing the game the way Burnett first envisioned it, and as viewers we're getting our money's worth. Maybe it's because the castaways are not students of the game, as past players have been. Maybe it's because the cast is more diverse. I don't know. What I do know is that Cook Islands has been mighty entertaining. And even though we've already seen a mutiny, a thrown challenge, an invasion, a lost-at-sea moment and a dominant group withholding food, I can't wait to see more.
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Dec 7, 2006 10:58 PM
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Part of me did miss Jonathan but most of me was glad he's gone. Sundra was right about Adam and Pavarti being more pleasant without him. And Adam was great with Yul about how it's better without Jonathan around. I'm wondering, however, how Candace is doing without Adam considering that kiss from the last ep...
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Dec 7, 2006 11:09 PM
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I agree that this is one of the best seasons of Survivor in a long time.
I think it was a bad idea to get rid of Jonathan this week. They should have voted off Adam, who is clearly more of a threat physically and then maybe Jonathan and then Parvati. Now that Adam and Parvati are still together, they will stop at nothing to stick around.
I agree that Jonathan has a strong personality and that life may be a little more fun around camp, but are you really willing to risk that for a $1 million???
Right now I'm rooting for either Ozzy or Yul to win the big prize.
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Dec 8, 2006 3:23 AM
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Ozzy made that challenge look easy. It really wasn't that close between him and Yul. He will definitely be a tough competitor.
I think it was time for Jonathan to go. No one wanted him around. They really gave him the freeze after he came back. It was obvious that he was going home. Maybe the producers were trying to throw off the audience by not showing him too much in the ep. They didn't show him at all on Exile Island. I am still wondering what he said at tribal council right after he said he wanted his hat back. It was like one word, but I just couldn't make it out even after rewinding several times.
Cool reward. I like the whole blessing the water and jumping into it. Too bad Yul did not break out the Brando impersonation tonight. I was hoping.
Yul still has control of the game for a couple more week with the immunity that he has. It will be interesting what happens next.
From the interview she did, it sounds like a minor fling between Candace and Adam. Nothing lasting. The date of this commentary should be changed on top. Got confused when I saw November up there.
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Dec 8, 2006 3:31 AM
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i was also thought that sundra had broken her leg after she hit that hard on the barrel. im surprised that she was able to walk after that. i was rubbing my leg for about 5 minutes after that happen. im also glad that jonathan is gone. he was frankly getting on my nerves tonight. actually he was getting on my nerves the whole time. i would defianlty wont miss him.
im still rooting for ozzy and yul. i knew ozzy would win the immunity challenge.
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Dec 8, 2006 4:51 AM
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I agree that Cook Islands is one of the best Survivor's ever. For the same reasons - this is a great psychological experiment. I was thinking tonight if Burnett or anyone has done follow ups on previous Survivor contestants? The strain was so obvious when each person so much as looked at their loved ones. The stress must be unbearable.
Ozzy is one of the best Survivors ever - right up there with Tom the Fireman and Terry the fighter pilot. He is frakkin' awesome! The competitor came out in Ozzy, Yul, and Becky while everyone except Jonathan was off feasting. The way it was edited, it kind of made them look selfish, but, hey, it's a game, and only one person can win. My money is on Yul or Ozzy.
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Dec 8, 2006 5:14 AM
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I just don't understand why Adam is mad at Jonathan for switching sides when Candace did the same thing,where's her integrity?I for one cannot stand Adam and Pavaroti,I really hope Yul or Ozzy win the big pay out,I also thought it was A bad move on their part to keep Adam in the game.Does it annoy anyone else when people get mad bacause they were lied to and back stabbed,do they not watch the show before they go,it's part of the game.Your suppose to do what ever you have to to win.
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Dec 8, 2006 5:54 AM
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Gonna miss Jonathan. At least he spoke in actual sentences-not "I wanna throw up on his face" or "caca head". Maybe it's an age thing.
Aitu better get rid of Adam and "Poverty"-they'll get jury votes.
Great season-love the twists.
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Dec 8, 2006 6:06 AM
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It bugs me too, when people freak out about deception on this game. As important as integrity is to me in real life, in Survivor it just doesn't play that way.
I love Ozzy!! I totally respect Yul, but Ozzy seems to be born to win Survivor. Ironically (after my anti-integrity talk above) I was bothered by the previews for next week insinuating that Ozzy would be willing to flip. I've been rooting for the Aitu underdogs - I'll be sad if they split. Especially for Adam and Parvati.
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Dec 8, 2006 7:15 AM
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I'm loving this season. I am rooting for Ozzy or Yul to win but I was disappointed by the vote last night. I realize they needed to get rid of Jonathon soon, but after the way Adam was shooting his mouth off AGAIN at tribal council, I thought he should have been the one to go. I would think since Adam and Jonathon were the next targets, the foursome could have discussed it before tribal council and gone in with the idea that Jonathon was next to go unless Adam shot his mouth off and then Adam would go.
I also hurt after watching Sundra fall. The blow to the back of the head that she took made my head ache. I thought that had to be the worst of her pain problems after the challenge.
I hope that it's just the editing that makes it look like Ozzy is switching sides in next weeks episode. He was on the chopping block a few weeks ago and if he switches sides now, I fear he will be next to go.
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Dec 8, 2006 7:47 AM
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I just read an article yesterday by a man how can predict the winner of Survivor by watching the opening credits of the show. In past seasons he was correct in his predictions and this season he believes that Parvati is going to win. I don't know if this is going to happen or not but I think Parvati should let the guys continue to do the dirty work and let them take out Adam. Then, she should align with Becky and Sundra and take out Yul and Ozzy. Otherwise I don't see how she can win it.
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Dec 8, 2006 8:21 AM
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I'm sorry to see Jonathan go; he reminds me a little of Rob Mariano, who is one of my favorite Survivors. But he was getting quite abrasive lately. I still would have voted Adam off first, though. He's more of a threat to win immunity. I guess the fried chicken did the trick!!!!
I couldn't read Yul's vote. Did he keep his word & vote for Adam, or did he vote for Jonathan. I watched a couple of times but couldn't tell.
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Dec 8, 2006 8:27 AM
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I was quite disappointed that everyone flipped and voted out Adam. Wasn't it Yul and Ozzy who said they didn't want either Jonathan or Adam to be final 5? The best way to avoid that was to drop Adam first since he actually stands a chance at winning immunity next week as opposed to Jonathan. And personally I didn't see anything wrong in how they portrayed Jonathan throughout this episode [and very little throughout the past, he was playing the game]. He defended himself at TC, he didn't start saying what a great guy he was. How rude was it of Becky to just ignore him when he attempted to start some conversation by asking about her sister. That just seemed too cold for words and unwarranted given that he hadn't been around for at least a day and therefore couldn't have done anything wrong around camp. I felt very sorry for him this episode.
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Dec 8, 2006 8:43 AM
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I think former Aitu made a big mistake in voting Jonathan off before Adam or Parvati. I never understand why, at this point in the game, you would vote someone out just because they are annoying. Why not get rid of someone who can beat you in challenges? Adam won immunity last week and Parvati won the reward after she practically chopped her thumb off! Jonathan hasn't won anything (although I guess he was close on the reward.) Jonathan is a good player who's done what he can to stay in the game. But, at this point everyone knows his game, so he wasn't really a threat. Why not get rid of a strong competitor and leave the guy everyone dislikes in the game? At least that leaves a target other than yourself in the game. I just hope that the previews were misleading. I really want Aitu to be the final 4.
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Dec 8, 2006 8:50 AM
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I agree that this was one of the best episode in one of the best Survivor seasons ever. Great location, great competitions, great strategizings, great twists...just great! I also think the "Godfather" and his cohorts messed up by voting out Jonathan over Adam. They get rid of Adam who actually has a better chance of winning immunity than Jonathan, and THEN lose Jonathan, and then Parvati. I really hope that the preview next week about getting rid of Ozzy is just to give us something to think about all week, and has no real merit. They had better lose Adam next, or he and Parvati may just find themselves at the end. You don't eliminate Ozzy before Adam, you just don't. Anyway, I sure hope nobody suffered any longterm injuries in that challenge. At times it was funny, like when Parvati was falling off the barrell, she was making cute "girl in trouble" noises. But some of those falls were worthy of Most Extreme Elimination Challenge's Painful Eliminations of the Week. Indeed!
~ÐL
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Dec 8, 2006 9:01 AM
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