Survivor: Cook Islands

Template:Infobox Television Survivor Survivor: Cook Islands is the thirteenth season of the reality series Survivor.

It was officially announced by Jeff Probst during the Survivor: Panama finale. Applications were due February 3, 2006. In March 2006 about 800 applicants were selected for an interview by CBS. Out of those 800, about 48 semi-finalists were selected to go to Los Angeles during late April and early May. Out of those semi-finalists, 20 were selected to participate in the show between late June and August 2006 on the atoll of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands. The location was discovered by the website Survivor Maps before it was revealed on the Survivor: Panama finale. The show premiered on September 14, 2006. The two-hour season finale aired on December 17, 2006, followed by the Reunion show live from CBS Television City in Los Angeles.

There were several new twists and first time events that occurred during this season:

For the first time in Survivor, the contestants were divided into four tribes by race and one ethnicity; African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Caucasian-American. Previously, tribes have been divided by gender and age. The respective tribes' names were Manihiki ("Hiki"), Puka Puka ("Puka"), Aitutaki ("Aitu") and Rarotonga ("Raro"). In episode 3, the four tribes evenly divided into two new mixed tribes, just Aitutaki and Rarotonga. After the merge, the tribe decided to name themselves Aitutonga.

A 'mutiny' offer was made to all remaining players during this season. In Survivor: Thailand, mutiny was offered but no one accepted the offer. In this season, two players from the same tribe accepted the mutiny offer, which turned out to be a critically important turning point in the game, as it caused the remaining tribemembers of that tribe to become underdogs through the rest of the competition.

During one Immunity challenge, the losing tribe was given a bottle with a note in it that was only to be revealed after that tribe voted off a member at the following Tribal Council. As it turned out, the note required the losing tribe to immediately vote a second person off, thus creating the first time a tribe has voted off two members during a single Tribal Council.

The concept of Exile Island returned with a picture of a sunken ship rather than a skull for decor and/or shelter, with a hidden immunity idol located somewhere on the island. While the idol itself was never used to prevent a player from being eliminated, it was used strategically as a lure to swing a vote at a key turning point in the game.

Instead of the usual Final Two players facing a jury of seven, there was a Final Three facing a jury of nine, which included players that were voted out before the merge. The final jury setup meant that a two or three-way tie to decide the winner of the game was possible, though the method to resolve this tie was unknown at the time. However, based on the finale shown on December 17, 2006, the method used to tally the votes suggests that if a tie were to occur, resolution would have been made at that point during the finale as opposed to during the final Tribal Council.

Contestants

Contestant	Original Tribe	Episode 3 Tribe	Episode 9 Tribe	Merged Tribe	Finish	Total votes
Sekou Bunch 46, Los Angeles, CA	Manihiki				1st Voted Out Day 3	3
Virgilio "Billy" Garcia 36, New York, NY	Aitutaki				2nd Voted Out Day 6	4
Cecilia Mansilla 29, Oakland, CA	Aitutaki	Aitutaki			3rd Voted Out Day 8	5
J.P. Calderon 30, Marina Del Rey, CA	Aitutaki	Rarotonga			4th Voted Out Day 11	7
Stephannie Favor 35, Columbia, SC	Manihiki	Rarotonga			5th Voted Out Day 14	9
Anh-Tuan "Cao Boi" Bui 42, Christiansburg, VA	Puka Puka	Aitutaki			6th Voted Out Day 15	6
Cristina Coria 35, Los Angeles, CA	Aitutaki	Rarotonga			7th Voted Out Day 15	5
Jessica "Flica" Smith 27, Chico, CA	Rarotonga	Aitutaki			8th Voted Out Day 18	6
Brad Virata 27, Los Angeles, CA	Puka Puka	Rarotonga	Rarotonga		9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 21	7
Rebecca Borman 34, Laurelton, NY	Manihiki	Rarotonga	Rarotonga		10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 24	6
Jenny Guzon-Bae 36, Lake Forest, IL	Puka Puka	Rarotonga	Rarotonga		11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 24	6
Nathan "Nate" Gonzalez 26, Los Angeles, CA	Manihiki	Rarotonga	Rarotonga	Aitutonga	12th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 27	5
Candice Woodcock 23, Fayetteville, NC	Rarotonga	Aitutaki	Rarotonga		13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 30	6
Jonathan Penner 44, Los Angeles, CA	Rarotonga	Aitutaki	Rarotonga		14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 33	15
Parvati Shallow 24, Los Angeles, CA	Rarotonga	Rarotonga	Rarotonga		15th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 36	4
Adam Gentry 28, San Diego, CA	Rarotonga	Rarotonga	Rarotonga		16th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 37	5
Sundra Oakley 31, Los Angeles, CA	Manihiki	Aitutaki	Aitutaki		17th Voted Out 9th Jury Member Day 38	6
Rebekah "Becky" Lee 28, Washington, D.C.	Puka Puka	Aitutaki	Aitutaki		2nd Runner-Up	5
Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth 25, Venice, CA	Aitutaki	Aitutaki	Aitutaki		Runner-Up	1
Yul Kwon 31, San Mateo, CA	Puka Puka	Aitutaki	Aitutaki		Sole Survivor	5

Template:FnbIn episode 6, Nate was "kidnapped" by Aitutaki and became a part of that tribe through the next Reward Challenge, after which he rejoined Rarotonga.

The game

As said on the Panama reunion show, the concept of an Exile Island returns — with new twist(s). According to a local guidebook, pre-production began in the spring of 2006 and principal filming began on July 3, 2006 and ran through August 11, 2006, for broadcast in September.

		Challenges
Episode Title	Air Date	Reward	Immunity	Exiled	Eliminated	Vote	Finish
I Can Forgive Her But I Don't Have To Because She Screwed With My Chickens	2006-09-14	Puka Puka 2		Jonathan	Sekou	3–2	1st Voted Out - Day 3
		Aitutaki
		Rarotonga
Dire Straights and Dead Weight	2006-09-21	Puka Puka 3	Puka Puka	Yul	Billy	4–1	2nd Voted Out - Day 6
		Rarotonga 3	Rarotonga
			Manihiki
Flirting and Frustration	2006-09-28	None 4	Rarotonga	Candice	Cecilia	5–3	3rd Voted Out - Day 8
Ruling the Roost	2006-10-05	Aitutaki	Aitutaki	Adam	J.P.	7–2	4th Voted Out - Day 11
Don't Cry Over Spilled Octopus	2006-10-12	Rarotonga	Aitutaki	Jonathan	Stephannie	7–1	5th Voted Out - Day 14
Plan Voodoo	2006-10-19	Aitutaki	None 5	None 5	Cao Boi	6–1–1	6th Voted Out - Day 15
					Cristina	4–2	7th Voted Out - Day 15
A Closer Look	2006-10-26	Recap Episode
Why Aren't You Swimming?!	2006-11-02	Aitutaki	Rarotonga	Adam	Jessica	6–1	8th Voted Out - Day 18
Mutiny	2006-11-09	Aitutaki	Aitutaki	Candice	Brad	7–1	9th Voted Out - Day 21
People That You Like Want To See You Suffer	2006-11-16	Aitutaki	Aitutaki	Candice	Rebecca	6-1	10th Voted Out - Day 24
					Jenny	4-2	11th Voted Out - Day 24
Why Would You Trust Me?	2006-11-23	None 6	Ozzy	None 6	Nathan	5–4	12th Voted Out - Day 27
You're a Rat	2006-11-30	Survivor Auction 7	Adam	Candice 7	Candice	5-3	13th Voted Out - Day 30
Arranging a Hit	2006-12-07	Parvati [Sundra, Adam]	Ozzy	Jonathan	Jonathan	6-1	14th Voted Out - Day 33
I Have the Advantage...For Once	2006-12-14	Ozzy, Parvati, Yul 8	Ozzy	Adam	Parvati	4-2	15th Voted Out - Day 36
This Tribe Will Self-Destruct in 5, 4, 3...	2006-12-17	None	Ozzy	None	Adam	4-1	16th Voted Out - Day 37
			Ozzy		Sundra	2-2 9	17th Voted Out - Day 38
The Reunion	2006-12-17	Jury Vote		None	Becky	5-4-0	2nd Runner-Up
					Ozzy		Runner-Up
					Yul		Sole Survivor

In the case of multiple tribes or people who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one player won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets.

Template:FnbThe challenge was a combined reward and immunity challenge. In addition, Puka Puka received an additional reward for coming in first.
Template:FnbThe challenge was a combined reward and immunity challenge. Puka Puka and Rarotonga tied for first and both won reward.
Template:FnbThere was no reward challenge in Episode 3 due to the tribe merger.
Template:FnbThis was a double elimination episode and thus there was no immunity challenge and nobody was exiled.
Template:FnbThere was no reward challenge in Episode 11 due to the tribal merger and nobody was exiled.
Template:FnbInstead of a Reward Challenge, there was a Survivor Auction where Becky won the right to send someone to Exile Island and chose Candice.
Template:FnbIn this challenge, the Top 3 finishers got to go for the reward. Ozzy placed first, Parvati was second and Yul was third.
Template:FnbLost in fire making tiebreaker challenge.

Elimination notes

1. Sekou - Two alliances: Sekou and Nathan, and Sundra and Rebecca, formed, with Stephannie as the self-proclaimed swing vote. In the end she decided to vote with the girls and Sekou was voted out. Sekou was seen as a tribe leader, albeit a lazy one. (3–2)
2. Billy - Believing that Billy was a liability to their tribe because of his poor work ethic and his attempts to pit them against each other, the Aitutaki tribe decided to intentionally lose the immunity challenge to vote him out. Following the immunity challenge, Candice from Rarotonga, in an effort to cheer Billy up, said, "We love you," with "we" meaning the Rarotonga tribe as a whole, but Billy mistakenly believed that Candice was making a singular declaration of love to him. (4–1)
3. Cecilia - The newly reshuffled Aitutaki tribe lost the third immunity challenge. Cao Boi, Ozzy, Sundra, Jessica, and Cecilia conspired to get rid of Becky, whom they perceived to be the weakest person in their tribe. However, Yul and Jonathan, who had an alliance with Becky and the exiled Candice, convinced Cao Boi and Jessica to vote for Cecilia. Their plan worked, and Cecilia was promptly voted out. (5–3)
4. J.P. - In a moment of frustration, Stephannie accepted responsibility for losing the Immunity Challenge, but soon regretted doing so. The girls took the opportunity to band together to gain an upper hand on the men, and convinced Adam and Brad to vote out J.P. for his demanding (and somewhat lazy) nature at camp. Going into the vote, it seemed that most of the women would vote for J.P. while most of the men would vote for Stephannie, with Brad and Parvati as swing votes. The recap episode revealed that the women informed all the other men except J.P. of their plan. (7–2)
5. Stephannie - Cristina's tribemates were ready to vote her out for being bossy like J.P., but Stephannie made a mistake by telling Nate that she was ready to eat mashed potatoes and gravy. This was taken as a second sign that Stephannie had given up, and she was voted out. (7–1)
6. Cao Boi - Although Cao Boi trusted most of his tribe in his plan to flush out the Immunity Idol, he was betrayed and was voted for by everyone but Jessica. He was also seen as annoying, and Becky never trusted him again after he attempted to get rid of her in episode 3. (6–1–1)
7. Cristina - Cristina performed well in the challenge, but her tribemates still saw her as bossy and voted her out. (4–2)
8. Jessica - Becky, Candice, and Yul plotted to vote out Ozzy before Jessica, but the tribe switched to Jessica for being annoying, outside of the majority alliance, and lobbying too hard. (6–1)
9. Brad - Brad's comment that the game would soon become "every man for himself" aroused paranoia among the members of Rarotonga. Despite the addition of Jonathan and Candice, the tribe decided to eliminate Brad before he had the chance to switch sides. In a twist, Brad was revealed to be the first member of the jury. (7-1)
10. Rebecca - After Rarotonga lost another Immunity challenge, members of the tribe felt frustrated by Rebecca's poor performance in the challenges, as well as her laziness around camp. Dubbed "the weakest link," she was the next to go. (6-1)
11. Jenny - In a surprise twist, Raro was forced to vote out another member right after voting out Rebecca. Jenny was voted out because Rarotonga felt they needed Jonathan's strenth in challenges and also because there had been earlier speculation that Jenny would become a threat, as she would pull for Candice's elimination and could potentially switch sides after the merge.(4-2)
12. Nathan - After the merge, the former Rarotonga tribe had the numbers advantage. Yul, sensing that the former Aitutaki members were in trouble, showed Jonathan his hidden immunity idol and convinced him to realign himself with the former Aitutaki members. Believing that his former Rarotonga tribemates were not mentally & strategically focused (insisting to vote for Yul disregarding the immunity idol) Jonathan was given the opportunity to select the member who would be eliminated from the game. He did not want to vote out Adam or Candice because he still felt grateful that they kept him alive in the game, so he chose Nate because he felt that he was the one he knew and trusted the least. (5-4)
13. Candice - Adam, Candice, and Parvati's open attempt to persuade the former Aitutaki members to vote out Jonathan failed. The former Aitutaki members and Jonathan alliance held and Candice was voted out. This was likely a revenge vote from the former Aitutaki tribe, who all openly expressed their disgust for Candice's mutiny from a past episode. She was also seen as an immunity challenge and strategic threat. (5-3)
14. Jonathan - After Jonathan was sent to Exile Island, Adam and Parvati persuaded Yul to eliminate Jonathan before them, promising him their jury votes in return. Several tribe members commented that camp life felt much nicer with Jonathan's absence. Despite Jonathan's argument that he saved the Aitutaki alliance, he was voted out. (6-1)
15. Parvati - After Yul, Becky and Sundra's first pick, Ozzy, won immunity, they turned their attention to the Rarotonga outcasts. Parvati was seen as a more mental, strategic threat than Adam; therefore she was voted out. (4-2)
16. Adam - Being the last remaining Raro member, the Aitu 4 held strong, and voted out Adam 4-1.
17. Sundra - After Ozzy won the final Immunity Challenge, he and Yul decided not to specifically vote out one person, and have them go through a tiebreaker challenge. After one 1 hour and 30 minutes, and switching from flint to matches, Becky won the fire-making tiebreaker challenge, which mean that Sundra was voted out 2-2.
18. Becky - The jury saw her as riding the coattails of Ozzy and Yul. She did not receive any of the jury's votes.
19. Ozzy - Ozzy was seen as one of the greatest physical competitors in Survivor history. However, he was criticized for being arrogant and did not have a set strategy. He gained the votes of Jenny, Nathan, Parvati, and Rebecca, but lost by one vote to Yul.
20. Yul - Yul was seen as a strategic mastermind, but even he said that every decision he made, he made with his tribe. He won the season in a 5-4-0 decision with the votes of Adam, Brad, Candice, Jonathan, and Sundra.

Exile notes

The person sent to Exile Island, by episode number (excluding the clip show):

1. Jonathan - By losing the Immunity Challenge, Manihiki was allowed to send anyone else to Exile Island. They decided to send Jonathan after they heard that he stole Puka Puka's chicken.
2. Yul - Aitutaki chose to send Yul, believing him to be Puka Puka's strongest member. During his stay, Yul found the hidden immunity idol.
3. Candice - After the newly reshuffled Aitutaki tribe lost the Immunity Challenge, Rarotonga was told to choose someone from Aitutaki to go to exile. They chose Candice, protecting her from the next tribal council.
4. Adam - Aitutaki won the Reward Challenge and selected Adam to go to Exile Island because of his strength. He would later return in time to compete in the Immunity Challenge.
5. Jonathan - Rarotonga sent Jonathan back to Exile Island because he had been there once before. He suggested that the hidden immunity idol had been found upon his return to the other tribe members after this trip to Exile Island.
6. Nobody - Due to the double elimination, no one was sent to Exile Island.
7. Adam - Aitutaki won the Reward Challenge and selected Adam to go to Exile Island because of his strength.
8. Candice - In a special twist called Mutiny, Candice and Jonathan chose to switch tribes and went to Rarotonga. Aitutaki won the reward challenge and as revenge sent Candice to Exile Island.
9. Candice - Candice was sent to Exile Island for the third time as part of Aitutaki's revenge for her betrayal. Yul commented that it was strategy as much as it was betrayal.
10. Nobody - Due to the merge, no one was sent to Exile Island.
11. Candice - During the Survivor Auction, Becky bought a "power that would change the game" for $640, then read it aloud to the other castaways. It stated that she had to choose one person to send to Exile Island immediately and steal whatever that player had not spent. Having been told by Yul that Candice and Adam had not spent any of their auction money, she picked Candice, sending her to Exile Island for the third time in a row.
12. Jonathan - Parvati won the reward challenge and had the right to send Jonathan to Exile Island as strategy and revenge.
13. Adam - Ozzy, finishing in first, won the reward challenge and chose to send Adam to Exile Island.
14. Nobody - From the Final 5 onward, no one was sent to Exile Island.

Voting history

	Starting Tribes		First Merge					Mutiny			Merged Tribe
Episode:	Episode 1	Episode 2	Episode 3	Episode 4	Episode 5	Episode 6	Episode 7	Episode 8	Episode 9 11		Episode 10	Episode 11	Episode 12	Episode 13	Episode 14		3rd Place	Runner-Up	Sole Survivor
Eliminated:	Sekou 3/5 Votes	Billy 4/5 Votes	Cecilia 5/8 Votes	J.P. 7/9 Votes	Stephannie 7/8 Votes	Cao Boi 6/8 Votes	Jessica 6/7 Votes	Brad 7/8 Votes	Rebecca 6/7 Votes	Jenny 4/6 Votes	Nathan 5/9 Votes	Candice 5/8 Votes	Jonathan 6/7 Votes	Parvati 4/6 Votes	Adam 4/5 Votes	Sundra 2/4 Votes	Becky 0/9 Votes	Ozzy 4/9 Votes	Yul 5/9 Votes
						Cristina 4/6 Votes
Voter	Vote
Yul			Cecilia			Cao Boi	Jessica				Nathan	Candice	Jonathan	Parvati	Adam	Sundra	Jury Vote
Ozzy		Billy	Becky			Cao Boi	Jessica				Nathan	Candice	Jonathan	Parvati	Adam	Becky
Becky			Cecilia			Cao Boi	Jessica				Nathan	Candice	Jonathan	Parvati	Adam	Sundra
Sundra	Sekou		Becky			Cao Boi	Jessica				Nathan	Candice	Jonathan	Parvati	Adam	Becky			Yul
Adam				J.P.	Stephannie	Cristina		Brad	Rebecca	Jenny	Yul	Jonathan	Jonathan	Sundra	Yul				Yul
Parvati				J.P.	Stephannie	Cristina		Brad	Rebecca	Jenny	Yul	Jonathan	Jonathan	Sundra				Ozzy
Jonathan			Cecilia			Cao Boi	Jessica	Brad	Rebecca	Jenny	Nathan	Candice	Adam						Yul
Candice			Exiled9			Cao Boi	Jessica	Brad	Rebecca	Jenny	Yul	Jonathan							Yul
Nathan	Sundra			Stephannie	Stephannie	Kidnapped10		Brad	Rebecca	Jonathan	Yul							Ozzy
Jenny				J.P.	Stephannie	Cristina		Brad	Rebecca	Jonathan								Ozzy
Rebecca	Sekou			J.P.	Stephannie	Cristina		Brad	Jonathan									Ozzy
Brad				J.P.	Stephannie	Jenny		Jonathan											Yul
Jessica			Cecilia			Jonathan	Jonathan
Cristina		Billy		J.P.	Stephannie	Jenny
Cao Boi			Cecilia			Candice
Stephannie	Sekou			J.P.	Cristina
J.P.		Billy		Stephannie
Cecilia		Billy	Becky
Billy		Ozzy
Sekou	Sundra

Template:FnbCandice was exiled in episode three. However, she was not returned to her tribe until after tribal council, meaning she could not be voted out or participate in the vote.
Template:FnbAs another twist to Aitutaki winning reward, they were allowed to "kidnap" one of Rarotonga's members. They selected Nate and he was granted immunity and could not vote.
Template:FnbAfter losing the Immunity Challenge, Rarotonga was given a sealed bottle with a note inside that was opened after they voted out a member. The note said that another member was to be immediately voted out; so two people were eliminated by vote at the same tribal council.

Episode summaries

Episode 1: Contestants were given two minutes to salvage whatever they could from a boat before having to paddle to their shore. There was a combined reward and immunity challenge. All tribes (except for Manihiki) won reward (flint) and immunity. In addition, Puka Puka, who came in first, got an extra reward in the form of a fire-making kit that included kerosene and water-proof matches. Manihiki, the losing tribe, chose to send Jonathan from Rarotonga to Exile Island. Manihiki went to Tribal Council and eliminated Sekou by a vote of 3–2.

Episode 2: Day 4 started well for Manihiki when the tribe managed to start a fire. Jonathan returned from Exile Island to Rarotonga, where nothing much has changed since he left. At Puka Puka, tribe members couldn't stand Cao Boi's jokes. At Aitutaki, feeling like his tribe could do better, Ozzy forced his tribe to throw the reward/immunity challenge to get rid of Billy, who had not been putting in much effort at camp. At the challenge, Puka Puka and Rarotonga tied for first place, so they each received two large tarps as reward and immunity. Manihiki finished third and was also safe from Tribal Council. The losing tribe, Aitutaki, sent Yul from Puka Puka to Exile Island, where he successfully deciphered the clues to discover the hidden immunity idol (a compass) in the sand. At Tribal Council, Billy confessed an apparent romance with Rarotonga's Candice, which was later found to be taken out of context. Despite his efforts, Billy became the second castaway to be voted out 4–1.

Episode 3: Instead of a reward challenge, the four tribes were merged into two racially and/or ethnically mixed tribes by school yard pick. Cecilia and Parvati were chosen by lot to start picking amongst the women and Brad and Jonathan amongst the men. The group headed by Cecilia and Jonathan were merged by chance. Yul, Becky, Jonathan, and Candice quickly formed an alliance at the newly created Aitutaki. Yul also told Becky that he found the hidden immunity idol. Aitutaki lost the immunity challenge to Rarotonga. The challenge was exactly the same as a challenge that took place in Survivor: Palau. Rarotonga selected Candice to be sent to Exile Island, thus throwing the Yul-Becky-Jonathan-Candice alliance plans into disarray. The others in the tribe banded together to try to vote out Becky. After strong lobbying by Yul and Jonathan, Cao Boi and Jessica switched their vote to Cecilia, who was voted out 5–3.

Episode 4: At Rarotonga, the women complained about the men's growing egotism, specifically J.P.'s bossing around. Aitutaki won the Reward Challenge of pillows, blankets, and a hammock. They choose Adam to go to Exile Island. After the Reward Challenge, Cao Boi went egg hunting, but instead knocked down a booby chick from a nest, which disturbed Jonathan. However, Cao Boi successfully returned the chick to the nest. Aitutaki easily won the Immunity Challenge. Out of frustration, Stephannie accepted blame for the defeat and put herself up to be voted out. However, later on, she retracted the offer to the other girls, who then used the opportunity to vote J.P. out 7–2.

Episode 5: At Aitutaki, Cao Boi complained about Becky, Candice, and Sundra being lazy. At the Reward Challenge, Rarotonga won a weight-holding competition, and selected Jonathan to go back to Exile Island because he had been there once before. After spilling an octopus into the ocean, Cristina's tribemates complained about her being bossy like J.P. Cao Boi, Jessica, and Ozzy went exploring around the bay and accidentally ended up on Rarotonga's island. Their unexpected visit did not sit well with Rarotonga. Meanwhile, back at Aitutaki, Becky, Candice, and Yul tried to pull Sundra into their alliance with Jonathan. Aitutaki came from behind to win the Immunity Challenge. Cristina's tribemates were unanimous in wanting to vote her out next, but Stephannie made a mistake in showing weakness to Nate, and the vote swung to her, 7–1.

Episode 6: Back at Rarotonga's camp after Tribal Council, Cristina clashed with her tribemates after being pointed out as being annoying. At Aitutaki, Jonathan argued with Cao Boi after Cao Boi wanted to take the Immunity Idol to the next Reward Challenge. At the Reward Challenge, it was revealed that regardless of who won, both tribes would have to vote a member out. Aitutaki won the Reward Challenge, and had to go to Tribal Council first. Before Tribal Council, Cao Boi woke up from a strange dream that spawned a plan he called "Plan Voodoo." Its purpose was to reveal the hidden Immunity Idol by splitting a 3 to 3 vote between Jonathan and Candice. He chose these two in particular for two reasons: 1) He believed Jonathan had the immunity idol, and 2) Even if he did not, one of the two people from the original tribe of whites would be eliminated. Regardless, his plan backfired and he was voted out 6–1–1. Aitutaki enjoyed a feast as they got to listen in on Rarotonga's Tribal Council. Just before Rarotonga's vote, Aitutaki was given the opportunity to "kidnap" one member of Rarotonga who would be not allowed to vote, would be immune from the vote, would be given a share of Aitutaki's reward, and would be staying at Aitutaki's camp until the next Reward Challenge. Aitutaki selected Nate. Cristina's lobbying failed and she was voted out 4–2.

Episode 7: At Aitutaki, Jessica felt blindsided by the previous Tribal Council where Cao Boi was voted out. She confronted the rest of the tribe with Nate watching after being "kidnapped". Becky, Candice, and Yul plotted their preferred order of elimination: Ozzy, Jessica, Sundra, Jonathan. At the Reward Challenge, Aitutaki easily beat Rarotonga to win peanut butter and potatoes. They selected Adam to go to Exile Island for a second time. After the Reward Challenge, Brad's tribemates were upset at him for sitting out the swimming portion of the Reward Challenge. They considered him as one of their strongest swimmers and the swimming part of the challenge was where they fell behind. Rarotonga rebounded to edge out Aitutaki for immunity. Jessica lobbied hard to have Jonathan voted out, but her efforts failed and she was voted out 6–1.

Episode 8: Candice and Jonathan plotted their paths post-merge. At Rarotonga, Brad said "it's like every man for himself", which turned his tribe against him. At the Reward Challenge, a new twist called "Mutiny" was presented were anybody could change tribe allegiances. Candice decided to jump to Rarotonga, and Jonathan quickly followed. A decimated Aitutaki regrouped and won the reward of coffee, pastries, letters, and pictures from home. Aitutaki quickly selected Candice to go to Exile Island in revenge for mutinying. With Candice at Exile Island, Jonathan tried to form an alliance of the remaining original Rarotonga members, Adam and Parvati. After Yul discovered a shortcut in the Immunity Challenge, Aitutaki came from behind to win. It appeared as Jonathan might get voted out by his new tribe because of a distrust for him after he easily sold out his former tribe, and Adam becoming infuriated after learning that Jonathan decided he should go to Exile Island on previous instances. Ultimately though, Brad's tribemates feared that he would join Yul and Becky post-merger, so they voted him out 7–1. Unexpectedly, Brad was announced as the first member of the jury.

Episode 9: At Rarotonga, Jenny and Parvati showed concern over Candice and Adam's closeness. Aitutaki crushed Rarotonga at the Reward Challenge and sent Candice back to Exile Island as continued revenge of her betrayal. Aitutaki took their fourth straight win by winning the Immunity Challenge. A sealed bottle with a note inside was given to Rarotonga after they lost the Immunity Challenge. The bottle was to be opened after the vote at Tribal Council. At Tribal Council, Rebecca was seen as the weakest link and she was voted out 6–1. The sealed bottle was then opened and the note said that another member of Rarotonga would be immediately voted out. Although Rarotonga had agreed that, if the bottle had asked to vote a second member out, they would vote off Jonathan, the four white members of Rarotonga voted Jenny out 4-2. Showing complete anger over the vote, Jenny reluctantly stormed away.

Episode 10: Expecting a challenge, the tribes arrived to be surprised by the announcement of the merge. The castaways chose to live on Rarotonga's beach, and decided to call themselves "Aitutonga". The former Aitutaki merged at a 4-5 member disadvantage. Yul and Becky agreed that Jonathan was the best bet to flip. Yul informed Sundra and Ozzy about the hidden Immunity Idol and his plan to bring Jonathan over. Ozzy outlasted Candice holding onto poles to win the first individual Immunity Challenge. Yul decided to show the hidden Immunity Idol to Jonathan to sway him back to Aitutaki: if Jonathan did not vote with Yul and Aitutaki, they would vote for Jonathan, and Yul's idol would deflect the former Rarotonga members' highest votes and send Jonathan home. Jonathan requested that Yul vote for Nate in exchange for him flipping to their side, which Yul readily agreed to. Jonathan joined the former Aitutaki members in voting out Nate 5-4.

Episode 11: Instead of a Reward Challenge, a Survivor Auction was held. Becky, teaming up with Yul, outbid Candice and Adam to win a note that was advertised as "the power to change the game." The note said that she would select somebody to immediately go to Exile Island and therefore forfeit all of their remaining money to her. Upon being told that Candice and Adam had not yet spent any of their money, Becky selected Candice. Before Candice left for Exile Island, Yul revealed to everybody that he had the Immunity Idol. After the Survivor Auction, everybody was annoyed at Jonathan due to his arrogant behavior after winning a hot dog and pizza at the auction. Adam easily won the Immunity Challenge. Back at camp, Adam, Candice, and Parvati openly pushed the former Aitutaki members and threatened Yul with withheld jury votes should Jonathan not be voted out. After a heated Tribal Council, the three continued their push to vote out Jonathan, but ultimately failed and Candice was voted out 5-3.

Episode 12: Parvati sliced her thumbnail with a machete while cutting open a coconut, which required medical attention, but not removal from the game. At the Reward Challenge, the castaways were surprised by the arrival of their loved ones, who partnered up with the castaways in the challenge. An injured Parvati was able to work through her injury and win the Reward Challenge. Her reward was a picnic with her Dad and the right to send somebody to Exile Island. Parvati selected Jonathan. Parvati's Dad was allowed to select two other castaways to join in the picnic without any input from Parvati. He selected Sundra and her Mom and Adam and his Dad. While the Reward Challenge winner and invitees were enjoying the picnic, Ozzy, Yul, and Becky decided that they would begin to hide food from Jonathan, Parvati, and Adam, but the plan collapsed after Parvati and Adam brought back leftovers from the picnic. Ozzy easily won the Immunity Challenge. The former Aitutaki members turned on Jonathan as they banded with Adam and Parvati in voting him out 6-1.

Episode 13: Worried that they could not break the Aitutaki 4, Parvati and Adam tried to figure a way to befriend one of the four to swing the vote. Ozzy won a mud-carrying reward challenge, and sent Adam to Exile Island. Parvati and Yul, the 2nd and 3rd place winners, also got to partake in the reward: a day trip to a local spa for a shower, massage, and dinner. During this reward, Parvati tried to get closer to Ozzy in order to secure his vote, even with Yul around. Meanwhile, Becky and Sundra discussed the possibility of voting physical threat Ozzy off. When Yul returned from the reward, Becky informed him of her plan, but Yul believed it would be best to wait at least until after the next Immunity Challenge to determine if this was necessary. For the second time in a row, Ozzy handily won the Immunity Challenge. Adam, with very little time left, talked to Yul about keeping him on the island over Parvati, which Yul agreed to as long as Adam didn't try to sway the other Aitutaki members. However, Adam and Pavarti were later caught trying to gain Ozzy's vote. Prior to Tribal Council, Yul decided to bring Jonathan's hat (which he had left at camp prior to being voted off) to return it to him as requested. This gesture caused some stir in the jury. In the end, the 4 underdogs stuck together, booting off the somewhat craftier Parvati over physical threat Adam, with a vote of 4-2.

Episode 14: In the most difficult puzzle/challenge ever in Survivor according to Jeff Probst, Ozzy won Immunity for the third straight time. Back at camp, Adam tried to stir up the vote by trying to get Ozzy and Sundra to vote for Yul, for the sole purpose of making Yul use the hidden idol and making the game more interesting after he was gone. However, Adam's plot failed and the Aitutaki Four held and voted out Adam 4-1. In a twist, the Aitutaki Four were told that they would be competing in the final Immunity Challenge and memory walk together, meaning that the final vote would have 3 people eligible to win. Ozzy outlasted Sundra to win the final Immunity Challenge. Initially, Yul offered Becky his hidden immunity idol to try to save her, but Becky declined because she felt it wasn't fair to blind-side Sundra just to get to the Final 3 as the 4 underdogs had went through so much together, and tight friendship forged between them to just turn on each other. So the Aitutaki Four decided to let the third spot in the final Tribal Council be decided in a fair manner, meaning a tiebreaker fire making challenge between Becky and Sundra. Neither Becky or Sundra could get their fire started with flint and machete after one hour and the jury became bored and restless. As an alternative, matches were given to Becky and Sundra, but both had trouble again maintaining a fire long enough to burn the rope. In the end, Sundra ran out of matches after half an hour, whereas Becky finally kept a fire long and high enough to burn the rope to secure her spot on the final three. At the final Tribal Council, the jury saw Becky as riding the coattails of Ozzy and Yul even though she tried to convince the jury that she had played the game with much integrity as possible. She received no votes whereas between Yul and Ozzy, the jury was split on the importance of Yul's masterminding of the social game versus Ozzy's physical ability to win challenges, and which contributed the most to all of the Aitutaki Four making it to the end. The final vote was 5-4 in favor of Yul. Ozzy subsequently won a new car based on a viewer's poll in which Ozzy and Yul were nearly tied in the vote count throughout the polling period.

Filming locations

Two of the four tribal camps were on Motu Rakau and Motu Rapota. Tribal Council was filmed near Vainamu, Arutanga on the main island of Aitutaki. Motukitiu was the location of Exile Island and Motu Maina was the overnight reward location. Challenges were filmed on Motu Akiami, which also hosted the eliminated contestants (known colloquially to some as the "Mutiny Motel" or "Loser's Lounge").

Diversity and controversy

The decision to divide the teams by race and ethnicity has made this series of Survivor controversial even before airing. Members of the New York City Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus have called on CBS to dump Survivor. Those who work with the show indicate that as divisions by age, gender, or gender and age combined, have been accepted this should not be treated much different or it would set race apart. Host Jeff Probst conceded, by implication, a small difference in that racial segregation had actually been practiced in US history.

Conversely, previous seasons have been criticized for not having many non-white contestants. Compared to a system of proportional representation used by some affirmative action programs, and favored by many civil rights groups, this scheme represented much higher exposure particularly for Asian Americans who were only slightly above five percent of the US population in 2000, and normally underrepresented on most network television shows, as well as the other minority groups. Native Americans were not represented as a separate group. Probst has since pointed out that over 80% of Survivor's applicants are white.

According to Advertising Age Magazine, more than a half dozen major advertisers such as General Motors and Coca Cola withdrew their advertising after hearing about the teams' division. However, a New York Times report indicates that the decision by several advertisers not to advertise for the current season, including General Motors, Coca Cola, Home Depot, United Parcel Service, and Campbell Soup, was made three months prior to the start of the show and unrelated to the show's racial format.

The early advertisements for the season also attracted some criticism, as they all coyly hinted at how the tribes would be divided, despite the producers having completely revealed the racial divide some time earlier.

MADtv parodied Survivor: Cook Islands in its twelfth season premiere episode, which aired September 16, 2006. The parody involved giving the white challengers significantly easier tasks, such as a swimming challenge which allowed the white challengers to use a canoe, or building a fire with a fire building kit that consisted of gasoline and a DVD on how to build fire, the Hispanic contestants received flint, the Asians received a matchstick, and the African-Americans were given a glass of water.

In the Survivors Strike Back blog on the official website, several Survivor contestants from past seasons criticized the castaway choices, saying that many of them are not good players and are not Survivor fans and are merely there to gain fame. Evidence of this is the fact that well over half are from California and several of them are models or involved in the entertainment industry in some way. Another reason is that there was a limited number of choices because of the low number of non-whites that applied to be on the show. In early interviews, Jeff Probst has said that they had to go hunting for some contestants and several of those who made the show did not actually apply to be on Survivor. The bloggers at Survivor Strikes Back have also said that this season's contestants have had it easy because they were given all their supplies in the first episode.

Records and firsts

• Yul is the first Asian-American castaway to win Survivor.
• Survivor: Cook Islands was the first season to have have a three person final tribal council.
• Candice equalled the record set by Terry Deitz from Survivor: Panama for the most times sent to Exile Island with four. She also set the record for most consecutive visits to Exile Island with three.
• Jonathan received the largest number of cumulative votes in a single season with 15.
• Ozzy ties with Colby Donaldson from Survivor: The Australian Outback, Tom Westman from Survivor: Palau, and Terry Deitz from Survivor: Panama - Exile Island for winning the most number of individual immunity challenges: 5 immunity challenges. Percentage-wise, Ozzy edged over the other three. Ozzy won 83% (5 out of 6) of individual immunity and 75% (6 out of 8) of total individual challenges in his season. Colby won 63% (5 out of 8) of individual immunity and 62% (8 out of 13) of total individual challenges. Tom won 71% (5 out of 7 (it was originally meant to be 8)) of individual immunity and 60% (6 out of 10) of total individual challenges. And Terry won 71% (5 out of 7) of immunities and 57% (8 out of 14) of total individual challenges.
• For the first time ever, two people from the same tribe were eliminated at the same tribal council; prior to this, the other double eliminations were two people from different tribes.(Jenny and Rebbecca of Raro Tribe)
• Becky is the first Survivor to fail to gain any votes in the Final Tribal Council.

External links

See also: Additional Survivor Links

• Official CBS Survivor Cook Islands Website
• Survivor Fever
• Survivor Maps for Cook Islands