Survivor retro rewatch: Cook Islands episode 11, “Why Would You Trust Me?”

Relationships played a major role in the Survivor: Cook Islands merge, whether they were old, new, or coming back into play after a hiatus.

Survivor: Cook Islands didn’t really play up the merge as much as Survivor normally does. We’ve talked about why that is already. (Spoilers: it’s because of the mutiny.) But that didn’t mean that the merge didn’t matter. It’s time to talk about episode 11.

Rarotonga’s Day 25 started bright and early for Jonathan, who went out fishing and well aware that he had dodged a pair of bullets at last night’s pair of Tribal Council votes. He tried to get everyone else going to get water and fire. No one else really responded well to that.

Fortunately, he did not have to suffer Raro’s general shenanigans for much longer. Jeff Probst called both tribes in and asked some questions about the numbers … before revealing a new tribe flag and the black tribe buffs. Everyone decided to go to Raro’s camp. But first came the standard merge meal.

This sort of thing accomplishes a couple goals. First, it usually provides a great scene of socialization. It allows the game to start being played again on a social level … and, of course, it feeds the players.

Yul and Jonathan’s confessionals during that scene also set up a turn. First, Yul talked about finding an entrance into the Raro five. Jonathan then promptly talked about how the old Raro members getting drunk didn’t really sit well with him. It’s really not that subtle.

Aitutonga then arrived at the old Raro camp, and the discussions began. Nate and Ozzy made a connection, and Nate passed some information to Ozzy. Meanwhile, Becky and Yul devised a plan about telling Jonathan about the status of the hidden immunity idol.

The Jonathan and Yul connection came into play yet again. Even though Yul hadn’t seen Jonathan for a few days, they’d been together enough on Aitu for him to get the read on the situation. He didn’t need to know that Jonathan had found the Raro situation not great. He had the sense that Jonathan was most likely to flip.

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The two of them then sat down. From what we saw, Jonathan brought up the topic of the idol first, and said that he would only consider switching sides if it was part of Aitu’s assets. He even said it would make for a “fantastic twist” if that’s what ended up happening. (Leave it to the writer to make the narrative argument for me.)

Yul took a few moments to cement his foursome by telling Sundra and Ozzy about the idol and Plan Jonathan. This was a wise decision, because Parvati started planning to take Yul down as well.

The idol didn’t come into play just yet, though. Probst revealed the immunity necklace and then challenged all nine people to climb up a pole and stay on it. This reappeared in Game Changers, the most recent season. It’s an endurance challenge that usually doesn’t last super long, and it’s one of the most basic setups production has, so it hits the sweet spot. It also has a way of pointing out some more subtle physical threats, as Yul explained about the rope footholds.

That moment was good for levity as a whole, but it also complicated his character a little more. Yul’s story so far has mostly been about his general strategic acumen, but remember, Becky started thinking of him as an older brother at the beginning of the game as well. In the rain, Candice became the last person to fall after two hours and 15 minutes, giving Ozzy his first individual immunity.

Back at camp, Parvati and Adam laid the case for voting Yul out, but Yul himself showed Jonathan the hidden immunity idol and made a case. Jonathan went and tried to warn the rest of everyone on Raro about the idol. They didn’t take it well.

Additionally, Adam didn’t take Nate’s behavior well, so that signaled yet another shift. He and Candice also had more of a moment in private. Perhaps they learned something from the last episode? Jonathan referred to them as a partnership before picking Nate as a target, but all of his confessionals painted him as still going in undecided. However, Survivor also showed Jonathan lying to Candice about Yul’s attempts to flip him.

Tribal Council gave Jonathan the first answer, but most answers talked about the two tribes. Becky pointed out Candice and Adam’s bond, and Parvati picked up on it in her own wry way. There were laughs, sure, but it’s still obvious. Nate then warned about flips shifting the game.

Production also didn’t show a single vote and left Jonathan for last. For additional drama, Probst brought it down to the last vote and revealed that Nate was out in a 5-4 vote, with Yul taking the four votes.

Now, the formation of the Aitu Four signaled the second half of the season. Jonathan’s flipping basically ensured that the underdogs — a word Aitu used often — had more than enough of a fighting chance to make it to the end. Probst talked about how much Nate’s elimination had changed the game too, albeit more in a general sense.

Next: Ranking the first 33 seasons of Survivor

For Cook Islands episode 12, how does one play after flipping? In Jonathan’s case, it’s by bonding more with the old Aitu.