'Survivor 13: Cook Islands' - Ep. 2 -or- "A Challenge Thrown, But Chickens Caught"

Yes, the tribe has once again spoken and Zoetawny has given me yet another graphic. They didn't seem to smile so much at Tribal Council tonight, though.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

Here's the skinny on tonight's second episode of Survivor 13: Cook Islands and some of my thoughts regarding the events --

Oh, let's skip the inevitable recap. In this day and age, do producers really think it's all that necessary to waste up to five minutes a week going on about what we saw last week? What's up with that? Heck, anyone following the show has either seen it or read about it. Stop it, television shows. No need to do that each week. Viewers want fresh chickens.

It looks like the Hiki Tribe sans Sekou is getting its act together to an extent. They received flint in the last Tribal Council, yet still had problems making fire. Yikes. On a personal level, they're meshing better without a perceived leader. But I wonder how one cannot start a fire for a long time when they have flint, rocks, a machete, dry wood, and nice tinder materials.

Over at Aitu, they're just rocking in the food department. They're spearing fish, digging clams, snagging crabs and all is cool in their little Cook Islands world. Or, is it? When they see chickens running around, Cristina wants to build a trap. Yet, Ozzy has even better ideas for a chicken trap. For someone who said last week that he didn't want to appear as a leader, Ozzy's not being shy. He and Cristina clash, but Ozzy's trap idea worked out. Cristina told her tribemates about being shot in her work as a policewoman. Cecilia and JP seemed suitably impressed; Ozzy seemed to be not too keen on cops.

The Puka Tribe also devised a chicken trap, an old-style crate with bait propped with a stick. Wham! Two chickens at once! Is there anything this tribe can't do? Becky and Yul developed a trust or, on this island, it's an alliance. They're both Korean and they both have the same values, work ethic, and will do well working together.

Jonathan returned to the Raro camp to find that his tribe had done nothing since he left. They still have no real shelter. He tried to get them in gear. Now, last week I didn't care for Jonathan, but in my eyes he's redeemed himself a bit this week. At least, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Adam wants to sit around and conserve energy; both Adam and Candice are busy flirting and doing nothing together. Jonathan could have really freaked, but he didn't. Candice advised Adam not to make an enemy out of Jonathan. Whether Adam will heed the advice, we'll see down the road. Meanwhile, JessFlicka set out "pimpin' out our palace."

The show cut back to the Aitu Tribe where Billy's conserving energy. Perhaps he and Adam should join up together? We find out later on that they might share another interest, too. Heh. Billy has a friend in Cristina who could be protecting him just to spite Ozzy for her own plans. Billy told her that "metal (heavy metal music) is his culture, not Hispanic." Okay, if he says so.

Each tribe seems to have one member who is getting on the nerves of the others. On Puka, it's fan-favorite-to-watch, Cao-Boi. He snores, he tells ethnic jokes about Asians, and he's alienating the others with no care for their opinions. While he cured yet another Bad Wind Headache, he's not making real friends here, not at all. His fellow tribemates are very concerned that his jokes perpetuate stereotypes and most of them want to disprove stereotypes. Oh, Cao-Boi, shhh!

The night before the Immunity/Rewards Challenge, Billy was snoring as Ozzy planned to oust him by throwing the challenge. He insisted that Billy was nothing but deadwood and was bringing an otherwise strong tribe down. He got JP on the bandwagon, although Cristina wasn't happy with the thought at all. She referred to Ozzy by his given name of "Oscar" as she spoke of her distrust of him in confessionals.

I'm not sure if the entire season will combine the Immunity and Reward Challenges, but this one followed last week's example. It was an obstacle course, tied together, retrieve puzzle pieces and solve the puzzle genre challenge. Jeff told a story about Captain Cook and the puzzle was based on the story. Hoo-hah. Since the other three tribes had one more member than Hiki, one from each tribe had to sit out. Jenny and Adam sat out. Billy tried to sit out on Aitu, but instead JP was determined he would and practically left them mid-sentence. The plan was in motion. Or, more precisely, the lack of motion. Ozzy was dragging his heels so much that it was clear what was going on. Billy and Cristina both picked up on it, but when you're tied together, there's not too much you can do at that point.

In the photo on the right, Billy looks on from below as Ozzy oh-so-slowly unties a clue.

Jeff first announced that Puka had won, but then decided it was a tie between Puka and Raro - both won Immunity and two tarps per tribe. Hiki didn't fare all that well, but because Ozzy threw the challenge, Hiki won Immunity.

Aitu chose to send Yul to Exile Island. A big mistake on their part as he made rather quick work of the clues and found the hidden Immunity Idol. I think we have a Korean Terry on our hands. This guy is good and he doesn't seem to alienate others. He could very well make it to the end, I think.

Billy figured Ozzy was trying to vote him off and turned to Cristina who, in turn, turned to Cecilia. It looked like Ozzy's plan just might backfire and the OzMan may find the tables turned. Cecilia thinks a lot of Cristina, they're amigas. Can she be trusted when she gives her word?

In Tribal Council, tempers flared as Billy exposed Ozzy's plan. JP backed up Ozzy saying that Billy was just trying to act like a victim when it's all his own actions which put him in the boat. (Not the Survivor boat, although they all put themselves in that one.) Cristina defended Billy until Billy made an odd announcement which silenced everybody. Um... he declared his love at first sight for Candice. Yes, Candice of Raro. Yes, Candice, the apple of Adam's eye. No, they haven't talked, but Billy knew it was love.

Well, just what could anyone say? Jeff, practically speechless for the first time in years, declared that it was time for them to vote. Of course, Billy voted for Ozzy and Ozzy voted for Billy. We knew that JP would also vote for Billy. While Jeff read four votes - one Billy, one Ozzy, one Billy, one Billy... the real shocker at the end when they showed all of the tribemates casting the vote was that Cristina also voted out Billy. It was 4-1.

So, did the trust thing work between Cecilia and Cristina? I don't know. I'm assuming that they must have talked about changing the vote. But I had it almost figured for a 3-2 Ozzy ouster. When it turned out it was really Billy, I was confused. The plot thickens.

But they have chickens!