Well, we got a little unexpected treat on this week’s Survivor as it turned out to be two episodes within the hour (minus, unfortunately, the Redemption Island duel).
The episode started rough for Cochran, who was totally vilified by his tribe (except for Dawn) for flipping his vote at Tribal. But Cochran had a logical explanation — he didn’t want to draw rocks to determine who got eliminated. Had he stuck with Tribal lines, there would have been a tie and that would have been the outcome. The things said by Jim and Whitney were really uncalled for, but sending Keith to Redemption pretty much sealed the fate of the remaining Savaii tribe.
But there was no time for hard feelings as we moved right into an immunity challenge that knocked Ozzy out right from the start. I was really pulling for Dawn to win, but Jim barely edged out Sophie, who wasn’t able to hold a mouthful of coconut water long enough to secure herself Immunity. Seriously! Does coconut water taste that bad? She pratically froze and shut down when she could have kept moving and won immunity. With Jim out of the running — and the one person Cochran really wanted to go next — the obvious vote was for Ozzy.
Jim did try to get clever a few times, throwing out Edna to Albert and Sophie as the one to vote out, and then considering giving his immunity to Ozzy and throwing Cochran under the bus by labeling him a traitor who can never be trusted. At the first Tribal Council, Jim started to set his plan in motion but Coach said that voting out someone who took their game into their own hands would send the message that if you stand up for yourself, you’ll be voted out and that wasn’t the message he wanted to send to anyone. I think that scared Jim a bit because he ultimately chose not to give away his immunity — fearing the vote would be for him? — and Ozzy was sent to Redemption once again, despite his attempt at being humble with Coach.
It’s interesting to note that when the votes were revealed, both Dawn and Whitney voted for Ozzy, yet there was no indication that either of them would vote against their alliance. Dawn said she was considering it earlier, but I never heard Whitney mention it and no one brought it up the next day. If Cochran was so completely ostracized by his former tribe for voting out Keith, why didn’t Jim go ape about Dawn’s and Whitney’s votes? There must be more to this story.
The rest of the episode moved rather quickly with a glimpse at life on Redemption (Keith and Ozzy living it up on 15 lb fish), and another immunity challenge with a twist: play or sit out and eat pastries and iced coffee (and the heightened audio level as everyone started eating and pouring coffee was almost gag-inducing). Only the three remaining Savaii members played, with Upolu and Cochran sitting out. It’s interesting that even Probst still refers to the original tribes by name instead of the merged tribe name. Jim was first out, Brandon cheered, and Dawn and Whitney battled it out, with Whitney winning.
After the win, the obvious vote was Jim or Dawn, but are we starting to see Coach’s alliance fracture? Coach’s plan was to vote out Jim, for obvious reasons, but Albert wanted to vote out Dawn because he feels she’s getting too close to the Upolu tribe and he thinks that is more dangerous than Jim, because he can probably beat Jim at a challenge. Sophie thinks it’s too early to worry about Dawn, but at Tribal, Jim calls Dawn the strongest female of the season. Brandon added his two cents to a comment Dawn made about the tribe eating during the challenge, misunderstanding what she said about being happy for them while it was hard for her. Brandon thought she was contridicting herself, and she tried to clear the air but I don’t think he was buying it. Then Whitney started crying because she felt vilified by the Upolu tribe (ironic since she had been the one to tell Cochran that he disgusted her), but Jim was ultimately voted out.
I was really hoping to see a Redemption Island duel between Ozzy and Keith, but now we’ll get to see the guys who thought they would be the final three battle it out next week. Who do you want to see win the next duel?
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Nov 10, 2011 @ 01:36 EST5EDT
I don’t think there is a fracturing in the Upolu tribe yet, as much as it was tried to be portrayed that way. Albert brought up a strong argument for Dawn, which it seemed was reasonably heard. And everyone is in agreement that they’re all going anyway, so it was a debate on order. There was no real drama or change in the vote.
Brandon was probably the least annoying he’s been all season, and I am almost starting to like him, as long as I see him as not an adult. As long as I expect him to have the maturity of a 15 year old, you know, he’s okay. I think he’s two episodes away from his next meltdown, but you know, he had a good episode.
Ooooh, and Ozzy. I do not understand the producers’ love for this guy, but they’re milking his long man-locks and earnest stares into the horizon for all it’s worth. Never-mind that his strategy seems to be the less likable Rupert. Catching fish for the tribe is more impressive for the old Hagrid looking hippy. For Ozzy, I mean, for him having a consistent thought-out strategy with the ability to make contingency plans would be an impressive feat for him. He keeps getting distracted by those shiny big moves. And he lacks the maturity to be a leader.
I would vote for Coach right now. But there are so many player that haven’t had a real presence yet, I think it’s too early to tell. Sophie might be the dark horse. Or the cowboy. What’s his name?
*POST AUTHOR*
There may not be a fracture yet, but once all the Savaii are gone, it’s going to start getting ugly as they have to cannibalize the Upolu tribe. Can Coach keep the peace like Rob did last season and take the prize? I think Albert and Sophie will be gunning for him at some point because, like Rob, Coach would probably win in the end. At this point, Cochran should not have a worry in the world because none of his former tribe would ever give him a vote (except maybe Dawn, who was the only one not to jump on him for flipping), and none of the Upolu tribe would give him a vote. All he has to do is coast to the finals because if they have a final two, he’ll probably take second place. He’s the guy you want to sit next to at the end.
Ozzy — there’s a theory that they’re playing him up so much now because he’s not going to be returning from Redemption Island. And if he does, I bet he’d get voted right back out. He’s not as smart a player as he thinks he is.
The cowboy’s name is Rick. Not that it will matter by the end, unless he does something really spectacular between now and then.
See, I think Cochran will be out before the Upolu tribe starts picking each other off, unless he wins immunity when it’s his turn (hahahahaha.)
Like I said, once it gets down to just Upolu, all bets are off. There’s no telling.