Survivor retro rewatch: Cook Islands episode 8, “Why Aren’t You Swimming?”
A literal storm arrived in episode 8 of Survivor: Game Changers, but there are only rumbles of thunder in the narrative just yet.
After we had a brief recap of a recap interlude, Survivor: Cook Islands came roaring back with an episode full of intrigue. Even though there was a literal storm in this episode, narratively speaking, this season is still teetering on the precipice, waiting for the big plunge.
Aitu had a visitor in the form of Nate (this one actually sanctioned by the game of Survivor). Although Jonathan tried to get some information out of him, Nate also got to hear Jessica air her grievances publicly.
He did not, however, get to hear Candice, Yul, and Becky start planning to turn on Jessica and Jonathan sooner rather than later, adding yet another twist to the Jonathan-Yul connection.
The clue for the reward:
"“Swim, fly, dive, think.Either way you’re in the drink.Browse this catalog and just pick two.It could be yours by the time you’re through.”"
A non-sponsored catalog provided the source of the “choose your own reward” prizes.
Two puzzle makers had to wait for three swimmers to break boxes and get keys. Aitu chose peanut butter and potatoes, while Raro wanted bread and peanut butter. Nate could have played for Aitu, but they sat him out instead, which Jeff Probst of course commented on.
Aitu had Ozzy lead off in swimming and devising a new strategy of throwing the baton to break the box ahead in the water. Raro did not even start the puzzle before Aitu got the win and sent Adam back to Exile Island.
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Even though there was nothing to find on Exile, Survivor still showed part of Adam’s stay there because of the storm that erupted that night.
The show also took some time to reinforce Ozzy’s skills in survival before Yul made the case to take Ozzy out pre-merge. Speaking of, Ozzy started actually making a case to protect himself based on feeding the tribe.
Granted, this argument has been around since Borneo. Remember Richard’s “They’re not voting me off because I’m not letting them” confessional? Yeah, Ozzy was not really playing on the Hatch level here, but he was at least playing.
Speaking of playing, the next immunity challenge didn’t get started until Adam told a little bit of his Exile experience. First up, putting poles in height order, then three people ziplining out to retrieve puzzle pieces and swimming back with them.
But it still ended with the puzzle (which looked like it might have a timeline component), as these sorts of things usually do. Raro came from behind to win.
Do you know what that means? Time for more Aitutaki intrigue. Lots of names surfaced: Jessica, Jonathan, and Ozzy. Production had Candice and Sundra narrate what was going down, especially Jessica. Ozzy and Jessica tried to form a four-person alliance with Yul and Becky (wait a second) against Jonathan. But then Jonathan started talking to Yul, which complicated things further as it tends to do when Jonathan and Yul talk to each other.
To further muddy the waters (or clear them, at least in the case of the coming Tribal Council and not the game as a whole), Jessica got some sad piano music and basically made a weird sort of goodbye speech.
At Tribal Council, strategy and relationships tangled up, or, in some cases (Jessica’s), they were completely divided, which, Probst being Probst, he also picked up on. That complete division also led to Jessica’s elimination.
No one save Jessica voted for Jonathan.
Next: Survivor retro rewatch: Gabon episode 2
In episode 9 of Survivor: Cook Islands, it is time for the rise of the best quartet … okay, maybe not ever, but definitely up there. It’s time for the hinting to end and lightning to strike.