Survivor - TV Fanatic

Survivor: One World - Meet the Cast!

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:03:34 EST

CBS will kick off a new season of Survivor on February 15, one it is dubbing "One World" due to a twist that has never been attempted on any of the previous 23 - yes, 23! - seasons:

Both tribes will be living on the same beach. The tribes will go by the names Salani and Manono and be divided into all female and all male, respectively.

Ready to meet the 18 contestants that will comprise the groups? They include a male model; the wife of former NFL star Daunte Culpepper; and a sushi chef and they range from ages 21-64. Get introduced to each in the following video:

Survivor One World Cast Introductions

Survivor Winner: Revealed!

tiaradio@hotmail.com (Luke Dwyer) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 23:42:25 EST

A common question at the end of reality television game shows is if the right or the best person won the game.

The interpretation of that question is highly personal and often has different definitions, There will certainly be plenty of debate over who won last night’s Survivor: South Pacific finale.

Personally, I’ve always appreciated Jeff’s interpretation of who should win Survivor – the person who did win Survivor. Whether you agree with that or not (I’m guessing most of you don’t) it’s hard to argue that Sophie was an undeserving winner. What you could argue is that someone else was more deserving.

The obvious first candidate for this debate is Ozzy. Unquestionably a fan and game favorite, if he had made it to the finale, he would have won. Does that mean he deserves to win?

In my opinion, it doesn’t. Kind of.

Once Ozzy got to Redemption Island, he put all his eggs in one basket; winning challenges. He won every challenge ... but one. No one was going to give the New England Patriots the 2007 title for winning every game but one and no one should give Ozzy the title for winning every challenge but one.

Before anyone starts with “wait, but what if Cochran doesn’t betray Savaii?” just stop. That changes our entire perspective of Ozzy. He doesn’t go to Redemption Island; he doesn’t get the chance to always be the good guy by simply winning challenges. Instead he’s got to back stab people and play the game. His image could be entirely different.

Could Ozzy still have won without going to Redemption Island? Absolutely? However, the entire scenario could be reversed. What if Brandon wins a string of challenges and has five automatic Upolu jury votes as Ozzy did with Savaii? Ozzy is not guaranteed anything of Cochran sticks with Savaii.

The other candidate who may have deserved to win over Sophie was Coach. Certainly this is a more complicated case. Love him or hate him, I’d hope that everyone agrees with Cochran’s assessment of Coach’s game. After all of the honor and religion are out of the way, Coach played a great game.

Cochran was correct. The proof for me is twofold. First was a scenario that occurred two episodes ago. When Albert was confronted about lying he commented to Brandon, Rick and Sophie that none of them had to go home. The only person left is Coach. Not a word was spoke of getting rid of him.

What we’ll never know about the first example is if Coach’s immunity idol impacted the decision never to target Coach. It doesn’t work for me because there was never discussion of flushing the idol. The Upolu alliance legitimately never considered voting Coach out. He didn’t need the idol.

The other example was Coach correctly pointing out after Ozzy returned to the game that he had an agreement with every remaining player to go to the final three. It was true! It almost backfired on him, but he was able to escape and make the final three.

My vote would be for Coach, but I struggle to argue against Sophie. One thing she did much better than Coach was play the same game, without needing the veil of honor and religion. This was vital because when it came time to cut people loose, her actions did not seem as hypocritical.

The other major difference between Sophie and Coach is that she not only won more challenges, but won the challenge that mattered the most. As much as Ozzy lost one million dollars when he lost the challenge, Sophie won that same prize for winning the challenge (ok, she needed Ozzy ousted first, but in his heart Coach knew he couldn’t win against Ozzy and was never seriously going to take him to the finals).

At the end Sophie became the most well balanced candidate among the final three. She was as involved in the Upolu plan as Coach and as competitive in challenges as anyone not named Ozzy. That’s a recipe for winning Survivor.

Plenty more from this episode:

Brandon looked legitimately relieved to be on the jury and out of the game. However, I wish he had gone after Keith during the jury questioning so he could have asked Coach about the scheme to hide how the idol was really found.
Are people satisfied with Redemption Island? So far we’ve had two people basically dominate Redemption. Is that the best way it can be?
Wait, only Russell from Brandon’s family came to the reunion show and none of his immediate family? They suck (because I’m sure Russell was paid/coerced to be there).
The game got very tricky at the end. My favorite parts were before the second to last tribal council when Ozzy had immunity. He did a great job of stirring the pot and the remaining four were questioning everything. Usually I feel smarter than everyone on the show and have the answer for everything. I didn’t at that point.
Could Coach have won if he was not apologetic about betraying honor and integrity and simply said that was part of his plan to get to the end and win?
Did anyone else notice how thin Coach was at the end of the show? He needed a makeshift rope belt to keep his pants up.
This might start an internet war, but I think Boston Rob is still the best challenge player in Survivor history. His ability to dominate puzzles puts him a notch ahead of Ozzy.
I'm glad they took out the Fallen Comrades part of the finale. Too long and not interesting enough.
I absolutely love the idea of Survivor: One World. First, hopefully it gets us away from returning survivors. Second, hopefully it gets us away from Redemption Island. Lastly, it’s drastically different and different is always awesome.

Survivor: South Pacific may be over, but don't forget to check back in with TV Fanatic and @LilLukeD starting in February for coverage of next season, Survivor: One World.

Survivor Review: The Cardinal Rule

tiaradio@hotmail.com (Luke Dwyer) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:55:19 EST

After the opening few moments of Rounders, the now-broke Mike McDermott narrates the scene of him driving a delivery truck by saying:

To Rounders who forget the cardinal f****** rule... always leave yourself outs.

While we likely could write an entire article about how ‘always leave yourself outs’ is an important rule to keep in mind in Survivor, I’d rather focus on those who forget the cardinal rule: as long as it ain’t me.

On the penultimate episode of Survivor: South Pacific, "Then There Were Five," Brandon forgot the cardinal rule. He was so focused on Albert not going home he forgot that there was always a possibility he could go home by giving up his idol. Why Brandon thought he would be safe without the idol while Albert was not safe without the idol I’ll never understand.

Of course, you could easily argue that Brandon has never been playing this game with the cardinal rule in mind. From the get-go his crusade against Mikayla was in complete disagreement with Sandra Diaz-Twine’s now famous line. He put his neck on the line simply to get a cute girl removed from the game.

Since that time Brandon has so proudly trumpeted and lived by his faith, he’d make Tim Tebow blush. Combined with Coach, they turned Survivor: South Pacific from a game of Survivor in to a squabble at your local congregation. What mattered more than staying in the game was faith and honor.

Fortunately for us, the game could never be completely replaced. Brandon gave Coach an opportunity to play the game this week, confident that Coach would not take it. Coach will tell you until he’s blue in the face that his decision to vote out Brandon came from God, but we know what really happened. To quote another movie, Braveheart:

You let yourself be deceived. In your heart you always knew what had to happen here.

Coach started out playing Survivor, building a family culture to create unity. It was exactly what Boston Rob rode to the top of last season. Along the way he ran in to Brandon, who took Coach’s theme to an extreme. Suddenly, Coach was straying away from what he came back to do: win Survivor.

Would Coach have voted for Brandon if, say, he won immunity? Maybe he really did want to get rid of Albert. Regardless of what he might have done, hopefully Coach some day admits that playing with Brandon was too dangerous. He was bound to get burned eventually.

Albert found out what playing with Brandon can do. Brandon did not go off his rocker like he has earlier in the season, but he created a situation few other competitors ever would have done. ho’s bold enough to gather up the tribe and air dirty laundry? Only someone who has none to air.

This was the problem of playing with Brandon. He plays the game of Survivor in such absolutes you have no choice but to go along with whatever his plan is. If he catches you going behind his back, you can’t counter with you felt he was going behind yours. He wasn’t.

One thing I found particularly interesting about Brandon’s air it out session with Albert was a casual comment Albert made at the end of the argument. Talking with Rick, Brandon and Sophie, Albert said that none of them had to go home. They stood there, silent and confused, but no one took Albert up on the idea.

Why did any of them have to go home? Why not try to send Coach home? Sure, he’s got the idol, but he’s been the most confident player this entire game. How could he have ever expected it? If nothing else, isn’t it worth the risk?

Besides Ozzy (who is out of everyone’s control at this point, so not worth discussing as a threat) who else is going to beat Coach? If Coach walks in to the final tribal council and describe how he built and led the dominant alliance in the game to the finals, isn’t that what this game is all about? He’d have my vote, that’s for sure.

Yet, no one seems to think he’s a threat. Everyone talks about the final three being themselves, Coach and anyone else. Do the remaining players really feel like Coach is beatable? If they can’t vote for Ozzy, I see the five (including Ozzy) former Savaii members all voting for Coach. That’s all he needs.

Of course, as I mentioned earlier, Ozzy could derail everyone’s plans. If he makes it to the finals, he wins.

Survivor Review: A Ticking Time Bomb...

tiaradio@hotmail.com (Luke Dwyer) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 23:01:08 EST

In the TV Fanatic offices, we share Brandon’s open door policy. With that in mind, I feel it is my obligation, as a Christian man, to be straight with you about this week’s episode of Survivor, "Ticking Time Bomb."

It stunk.

Disappointingly, I don’t think it is going to get any better next week, either. If what seems to be the core trio of Coach, Albert and Sophie were not going to vote out Brandon this week, why would they do so next Wednesday?

There’s no reason to do so. He’s not bright enough to see that he’s number-four in the alliance. Instead, they’ll send Rick home and then calmly vote out Brandon the following week.

Not only is Brandon blind to his place on the tribe, he wouldn’t be able to see the writing on the wall if someone tried to tell him all about it. Thus, it made little sense for Edna to try to talk to him to get some numbers on her side. Brandon would have ignored any warnings she presented and ran to Coach to tattle on Edna.

What is surprising is that Edna played one card, that of integrity. Predictably, it didn’t work. Edna spent a lot of the episode talking about how she felt duped, but kept trying to play in to the same bulls*** that was fed to her in the first place.

It didn’t work for Cochran, why would it suddenly work for her? Because Brandon mouthed off at the challenge? Again, she keeps ignoring the elephant in the room: Upolu’s honor and integrity policy is a smokescreen. It’s designed to distract the players away from thinking about the game.

In all likelihood, Edna’s fate was sealed when Cochran was voted off. But why not try to talk to Rick? Play the ‘tomorrow, you’re going to be in the same position as me’ and see if he can help you with the leg work. Yeah, okay, unlikely coming from Rick, I know, but why not try? She received next to nothing positive from Coach, Albert and Sophie.

The most interesting part of the episode was Sean Hantz, Brandon’s father, virtually joining the game. He’s the real mini-Russell Hantz and he went right to work once he got the chance. After assessing Brandon’s pathetic excuse for how he planned to play the game, Sean went straight to Coach and tried to bully him in to getting his son to the finals.

I loved it! Finally, someone stood up to Coach and Ozzy to take the spotlight in the game. Not only that, the way he did it went completely contrary to Coach’s honor and integrity Upolu tribe policy. He’s the type of personality the show has needed for the past two seasons.

Speaking of Ozzy, how obnoxious was he when Cochran showed up at Redemption Island? Did you learn your lesson? Shut up, cocky punk. It was a good move for Cochran and I think he would do it again if the same scenario played out. How did Cochran handle it? In his typical demur style, virtually admitting that he made a mistake switching sides. I’d rather he just went in and told Ozzy to keep his mouth shut. Ozzy’s future was no better with Savaii either.

More from this episode:

For the life of me I cannot figure out what Coach is doing by thinking taking Ozzy to the finals is a good idea and then telling him about it. How is having Ozzy next to you beneficial? He's got at least four Savaii votes on the jury already.
The immunity challenge did not make for great television, but it’s an awesome game for a challenge. Everyone’s got a reasonable chance no matter their size.
Brandon tries to hide behind his transparency, which is ironic. He really does absolve anything he does by apologizing for it. The first time that’s reasonable. But the second time?
I wish CBS would save us the fake drama build up. Did anyone actually think Edna was going to be saved?
Some great quotes this week, particularly from Edna and Sophie. Check ‘em out.

For more on Survivor, follow Luke on Twitter @LilLukeD

Survivor Review: The Family

tiaradio@hotmail.com (Luke Dwyer) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:48:44 EST

Games evolve. The NFL has moved from a league dominated by running the football and defense to an aerial assault. After years of offense, baseball has recently been dominated by pitching.

If the game is played long enough, it will evolve. Now in its 23rd season, Survivor has officially done so again. Gone are the days when alliances changed based on dwindling numbers. A new era has been ushered in: The Family.

Appropriately, this era was started under the stewardship of Rob Mariano. He’s most famously known as Boston Rob, but his other nickname is The Robfather. Heck, CBS even launched an advertisement for Survivor the week after Rob made his famous Godfather quotes that had Survivor written with the puppet strings like The Godfather.

It is a nickname that goes back to Rob’s first season on the show, Survivor: Marquesas. Back then the game was in its infancy, just the fourth season. Either his tactics were not nearly as refined or the players were not ready for it, but his cult-like tactics didn’t work and he didn’t even make the jury.

Two seasons, a wife and a child later, Rob came in to Survivor: Redemption Island perhaps more focused, but most importantly in to an environment that was ready for The Family style of game play he would employ. The Redemption Island wrinkle had no effect on his game or his plan and everyone bought his act en route to a victory.

We saw that strategy in full force this week. Benjamin “Coach” Wade is employing the same tactic to dominate Survivor: South Pacific. Even those who are not born-again Coach believers like Brandon seem anxious to challenge The Family Coach has reacted. Albert and Sophie have both openly expressed their cynicism with the over use of family, but have done little about it.

Even the man who’s manufacturing the tribal climate is unwilling to break stride. One potential move for Coach this week was to vote off Rick with Albert, Cochran and Edna. This seemed like a very logical move leaving Coach with a new alliance of four against two remaining non-alliance members (Sophie and Brandon).

Did Coach make a mistake not trying to narrow his numbers to four? Probably not because it’s obvious that Edna is going home next. Certainly Sophie and Brandon showed a cult-like confidence in her being sent to Redemption next.

Even if, as Cochran suggests, Edna does win immunity, the next targets seem obvious. Brandon took a beating at tribal council and could easily be “five." If not Brandon, Rick seems like the obvious choice as well.

The brilliance of The Family strategy is that people do not realize they’re not really in the family until it’s too late. It only dawned on Edna this week that she was six and is all but done after next week’s episode. Similarly, it’s unlikely that Brandon and Rick realize that they are five and four and the next to go after Edna.

That leaves a final three of Coach, Albert and Sophie. Isn’t this the perfect final three for Coach? Cochran, Edna and Brandon are near certain to vote for Coach in that scenario. It also seems likely that the former Savaii on the jury would vote for Coach as well.

The wrinkle, of course, is Ozzy. No, not Redemption Island, just Ozzy. If Ozzy somehow loses at Redemption Island, it becomes irrelevant. None of the Upolu being voted out now or to be voted out in the future will challenge Coach or the other two at the final tribal council.

Ozzy, however, could. He’s got four votes on the jury already – the former Savaii. If anyone gets bitter at being duped by The Family (hello Edna!) the might switch over to Ozzy as well.

Could Ozzy be the one to bring down The Family?

Survivor Picked Up For Two More Seasons at CBS

steve@iscribelimited.com (Steve Marsi) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:54:17 EST

CBS has picked up two more seasons of the original reality competition, Survivor, taking the show into its 25th and 26th seasons. The network also announced a premiere date for Season 24, which kicks off February 15.

Jeff Probst, whose contract was up at the end of Season 24, isn't going anywhere.

"I'm thrilled to continue working on the longest-running reality competition show with the world's greatest adventure crew for two more seasons," he says in a statement. "We are so thankful for the supportive fans who remain with us every season, and we promise to deliver another year of quality television."

Jennifer Bresnan, Executive VP of alternative programming, adds: "Survivor is an outstanding franchise. Its format guarantees fresh characters, exotic places and fascinating social dynamics every season."

Excited about the pickup? Is the show still in its prime, or did it peak long ago?

For the latest on the current season, Survivor: South Pacific, check out our Survivor review from last night. TV Fanatic's resident expert has watched and analyzed every episode of the show. Seriously. Every one.

Survivor Review: The Cochran Plan

tiaradio@hotmail.com (Luke Dwyer) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:28:24 EST

To the untrained eye, this week’s episode of Survivor, "Running The Show," was not very interesting. Tribal council was predictable with who was sent home. Even the twist wasn't shocking and didn’t impact the game much.

Or did it? The show spent a lot of time on Albert’s discussions with Sophie, Cochran, Dawn and Whitney about how now is the time to make a move and how he wanted to reward Cochran with something better than seventh place. Why spend all of that time if they were just going to vote off Dawn and/or Whitney?

I believe that Albert and Sophie really are contemplating the eventual fracture of the former Upolu, but felt the twist was too risky to make their move then. Along those same lines, I feel that Albert and Sophie are confident that they can make a move now, even after Dawn and Whitney’s votes are out of the picture.

But Luke, Albert, Sophie and Cochran are only three votes. They still need one more. Where is that coming from? I don’t know. However, I have a theory...

The twist also revealed Sophie’s hand. As Whitney improbably kept surviving through the impromptu question and answer session, Sophie began to sweat out the challenge. Why would she care? Even if Whitney wins, that simply means Cochran goes home.

She did care, however, and that means something. How I interpreted her sense of relief is that she actually needs Cochran around. She did not want to vote him off because she and Albert need him and a fourth vote to make a move next week.

The loose thread in my theory is who that fourth vote is. In reality, there’s only one option: Rick. Brandon is far too loose of a cannon to suggest turning on Coach. Whitney summed up Edna’s allegiances pretty well: “Edna’s so far up Coach’s butt it’s ridiculous.”

That leaves Rick. You know what? Rick is eminently possible. We know nothing about him. He’s virtually never featured. He never has anything to say. He hasn’t been a factor or a non-factor in any challenge. Who’s to say where he lies?

Another counter argument is that the double tribal council was so obvious, why couldn’t Albert, Sophie, Cochran, Dawn and Whitney have prepared for something Cochran predicted? How hard is it to vote off Edna and then have two names ready for a possible next vote?

Nevertheless, my money is on Albert, Sophie, Cochran and Rick making a move next Wednesday.

More from this episode:

Coach’s plan was to get to this point. Now what does he do? Voting out Cochran is not the long term answer. He needs a plan with numbers and more victims than just Cochran.
One thing I didn’t mention above was if Coach’s threat right before tribal council had any impact on Albert’s Edna plan not coming to fruition. Possibly, but unlikely I feel. I still think the twist was why they backed off.
I liked that the dual eliminated two players, not one. There’s something to be said for winning a dual rather than not losing it.
Hilarious quote from Albert about Edna: “This game is not out-organize, out-clean and out-gather.”

Survivor Review: Double Feature

tiaradio@hotmail.com (Luke Dwyer) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:30:15 EST

The biggest news of this week’s episode of Survivor, "Cut Throat," was that it was really two episodes. Beyond that, most everything that happened was fairly predictable. The question that remains is whether we, the audience, prefer the way that the presumed inevitable was presented to us.

On the surface, going with a double episode seems to be the best way to do it. Why draw out what we already know will happen? We hate it when they try to build fake drama by showing us the fleeting plans of desperate people.

Jim gave the producers all the material they needed with his harebrained plans. I’m glad they didn’t waste our time with hour long episodes each trying to make his plans seem possible.

After further examination, however, what happens the next time we’re presented with this scenario and we do not get a double episode. Should we assume that something is going to happen? Certainly seems that way.

Would we have been given a double episode if something actually happened this week? What if Albert and Sophie had a warm reception to Jim’s plan to vote out Edna (why Edna there? If you’re going to make a big move, make it worth while. No one cares if Edna goes home)? There’s no way they wouldn’t have given that idea an entire episode.

The Integrity Card
He still had some painful moments later in the episode, but amen to Brandon for calling out Jim’s attempt to paint Cochran as the only dishonorable person left in the game. Brandon (and likely the rest of the former Upolu tribe) saw right through what Jim was trying to do.

Can’t blame him for trying, however. At least he was smart enough to realize it fell on deaf ears and he kept his idol. In the end it only bought him one extra day, as he anticipated, but history has shown that one extra day could make a huge difference.

I find it shocking that the former Savaii truly do not understand why Cochran chose the path he did. The former Upolu’s do not see it as dishonorable. As Coach said, they saw it as someone standing up for themselves. That’s very honorable. Not someone who bailed on their tribe.

Perhaps you agree that Cochran bailed on his tribe. As I wrote last week, I think he had good reason for it. He didn’t really articulate it, but he was last no matter which tribe he went for. At least he wasn’t reducing his fate to drawing rocks the way he was going (yes, I know he articulated this point).

The ultimate irony of Jim’s attempt at the integrity card was that he conveniently forgot the lack of integrity that he and Whitney handled Cochran’s defection. Ozzy still struggled to see the forest for the trees with Ozzy’s move, but at least he didn’t get emotional about it. He just vented some frustration, but removed anger from his discussion.

Jim and Whitney didn’t and then had the gall to act surprised when they were accused of bullying Cochran. Whitney is so blind to her own actions that she started crying at the last tribal council over being made a villain. How could she forget what she said to Cochrane the night before?

Dawn’s Too Late
Last week, I mentioned that instead of trying to manipulate Cochran back in to voting with Savaii, she should have seen the writing on the wall and jumped ship with Cochran. My rationale was that they create a power couple that would definitely impact the eventual split of Upolu. They would both have been safer having each other’s back.

This week Dawn has clearly realized the need to distance herself from Savaii. The problem, one I didn’t anticipate but should have, was that her attempt would become detrimental to her future in the game. It might be too late for Dawn to be a part of what Cochran has done.

If Dawn had flipped with Cochran immediately, she would have become part of the Upolu family, just like Cochran did. There would not be an opportunity for Albert to realize what a threat she’d be posing and lobby for her ouster. She may have survived this week’s votes, but she could be going before Whitney because of her delay.

More from this week:

I really want someone to call out Ozzy and his “I put my ass on the line for you” routine with Cochran. His decision to go to Redemption Island was as much about saving his tribe as it was Cochran.
The best thing that happened to Whitney this week was the randomness of the first part of the first immunity challenge. If Ozzy gets to the second part of the first challenge, he easily wins the first immunity. That means he’s in the second immunity and probably wins that too.
What was Ozzy trying to accomplish by playing the food card at Tribal Council? And, if he’s truly the only person who can fish, why can’t anyone else fish?

Survivor Review: An Explosion of Moves

tiaradio@hotmail.com (Luke Dwyer) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:08:27 EST

Ozzy and Cochran and Dawn, oh my! What an action packed episode we were treated to this week on Survivor. How do you choose where to begin when discussing it? So much happened after Ozzy’s plan worked, it seems like an after thought.

For starters, I believe that Cochran made the right move. Or, as he said, a move that puts him in some control of his fate. Even if the former Savaii had survived the rock selection that occurs after a tie, where would that have left Cochrane? He’s still on the bottom of a six-person alliance.

By going with the former, Upolu Cochrane assures himself at least the top seven. Yes, seventh is not the goal of Survivor. What is important about the top seven is that he gets four more weeks to not worry about going home. Four more weeks to figure out how to crack the Upolu six.

That may seem difficult now, but history shows that the game of Survivor rarely falls in to place the neat “top six” or “top three” places that the contestants promise to each other. Rather, as one tribe whittles down the other, they start to think about life when it’s just them and scheme how to get ahead.

This is exactly where Cochrane will be most in control of his future. If the next four weeks fall down tribal lines and we’re left with Cochrane and six Upolu members, it is not unreasonable to assume Cochrane will be the swing vote in a three-three scenario. Suddenly Cochrane’s at the top four, again, at worst.

What if, as I said before, things do no fall down tribal lines? This is where Dawn comes in.

For starters, she should recognize the power that a duo can be in the game of Survivor. If she had flipped with Cochrane, they become a force to be reckoned with going forward. As the nine contestants around them start to question each other, the certainty of Dawn and Cochrane voting together will become an attractive pair to have on their side.

With Dawn on his side the pair could really start to dictate the game. If the other survivors don’t come to them for their vote, it’ll quickly become obvious who to target. Say Ozzy and Jim are the next two sent to Redemption Island. While Upolu thinks they’re targeting Whitney, Cochrane and Dawn can grab Whitney and, say, Edna and Rick and flip the script on the remaining Upolus.

Before Cochrane even got the opportunity to flip sides, Ozzy inadvertently set him up for it with his well-intentioned and almost perfectly executed plan. A crazy plan that seemed to be completed when Ozzy won at Redemption Island. One thing they never considered was that Cochrane was given carte blanche to talk with Upolu as much as he wanted without suspicion.

Would things have been different if Ozzy hadn’t oversold the plan at Redemption Island? Maybe. Would Coach’s speech have been any different? No. Would its effect have been any different? No.

The end result is that Savaii’s poor treatment of Cochrane set up his switching a long time ago. Even Ozzy’s bold plan probably could not have saved them from Cochrane feeling too low on the Savaii totem pole.

Of course, if Savaii simply sent Cochrane to Redemption Island, they would have had a more loyal player in Christina on their side. Oh, the irony.

More from this episode:

We know Ozzy does not have a future in Hollywood. That was awful.
Getting back to last week’s topic of leadership, you have to appreciate Coach’s plea to Cochrane. I’d call it a sales pitch, but that would imply some sort of deception to the process. He really meant what he said.
I can’t decide if I like the effect of the hidden immunity idol on the post-merge tribe. On one hand it makes for great theater. On the other, unsuspecting soles like Rick get targeted simply because of the randomness of it.
Finally, Brandon does something positive! I loved seeing him stand up for Cochrane.

Survivor Review: What is Ozzy Doing?

tiaradio@hotmail.com (Luke Dwyer) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:35:35 EST

Three-quarters of the way through this week’s episode, "Trojan Horse," I had figured out what I was going to write my review. I wanted to talk about leadership and dissect the difference between Coach’s style and Ozzy’s style.

And then Ozzy went a pulled one of the ballsiest moves in Survivor history.

Or maybe the stupidest. There’s plenty of room to debate the merits of what Ozzy is doing and we’ll do that. Just later. I want to focus on the leadership effect that Ozzy’s choice will have on his tribe.

By sacrificing himself for the betterment of his tribe and his ultimate success as a player, Ozzy’s move will unify Savaii. This is quite ironic because all of his actions leading up to the day of tribal council did anything but accomplish this task.

Ozzy’s temper tantrum after losing the immunity challenge was just that: a temper tantrum. The kind of thing you’d expect to see from a 13-year old who just lost his youth basketball game. It was not that of a mature, experienced player who’s supposed to be leading his tribe.

Any leader knows that what people respond to the most is not outburst of emotion but a projection of confidence and calm. I can say this with confidence as someone who has failed frequently as an alleged leader due to my own exuberance.

I’m sure Ozzy was extremely frustrated after losing this week. It was also easy to point the finger at Cochran. But what did that accomplish other than reinforcing negative feelings that everyone on his tribe was already experiencing? Such actions and emotions are not what engender loyalty and trust.

As crazy as he may seem, Coach’s actions this week were the complete opposite of Ozzy’s. Perhaps he was a bit too overboard with the religious rhetoric, but it worked. At least it worked in unifying what could have easily been a divided tribe after a contentious tribal council.

Whether that’s why Upolu won the challenge or if Cochran’s error was the bigger factor isn’t relevant. More importantly, it kept Upolu focused on being a tribe something that would be vital whether Upolu won or lost the challenge. Having won the challenge only further solidifies their bond as six.

Having completely torn his tribe apart by virtue of his kicking and screaming after the challenge, Ozzy flipped the script by offering to go to Redemption Island. It showed his tribe that he was thinking about how to keep the group as whole as possible. They even came up with a dastardly plan to turn Cochran in to a double agent. It was actually pretty diabolical, if it works.

That, of course, is the biggest wrinkle of the entire plan. The tribes are assuming that they’re going to merge next week and the winner of the final duel will rejoin the tribe. With nine players left in the game, the winner would put them at an even ten players. This is how last season went.

If nothing else, Survivor has demonstrated that it is not to be predicted. Frankly, it seems as if Jeff gets a perverse joy out of the survivors thinking the game is going one way when it is really going another. You know Jeff will be grinning from ear to ear if there is no merge.

This is why Ozzy’s move is stupid, even if the tribes do merge next week. Assuming a merge was far too risky and the reward was minimal for his tribe. At best Ozzy restores a tie game between Savaii and Upolu. At worst, he somehow loses the dual and is sent home.

But there’s more. Even if Ozzy does beat Christina (and I hope he does because she’s miserable) what if the tribes do not merge? He could be returning to a dying tribe anyway. Something he might have been able to prevent if he was still in the game.

For the sake of a dramatic move, I hope it works for Ozzy. It’d be great theatre. I just don’t like his odds.

More from this episode:

The most confusing part about Ozzy’s move was that apparently they forgot that Christina blatantly said she’d join Savaii if she got back in the game. Savaii didn’t need to make the move at all.
I may have applauded Coach’s tactics earlier, but that was just in the sense of how it unified his tribe. What Upolu has become is brutal television to watch.
Why did Brandon paint a bra on his chest for his war paint? To be Edna’s twin? We couldn’t go an episode without something from Brandon.