Survivor: South Pacific "Double Agent" (Episode 8)

Episode 8: "Double Agent"
Original Airdate: November 2nd, 2011
American Ratings: 11.95 million viewers

Hmmm, after two Survivor seasons that were little more than a travesty, Survivor: South Pacific is turning out to be a very entertaining season thus far. And interestingly enough, more viewers are tuning in this time around. See what a better casting can do for a reality TV series? We can only hope that CBS and the producers are taking notes. . .

Not exactly brimming with confidence regarding their plan to send Ozzy to Redemption Island, the Savaii tribe dearly hopes that the merge will indeed take place. Cochran discusses the strategy that will make him a double agent with the others.

Ozzy thinks that Christine believed his story about Cochran playing the hidden immunity idol and sending him to Redemption Island. He wants to beat her and feed the Upolu tribe false information.

Day 19

Both tribes are present at the Redemption Island duel. Feeling that this is the perfect opportunity to put it up Upolu's ass, Ozzy decides to use his acting skills to try to make them believe that he was voted out when Cochran played the idol at the last tribal council. To say that Ozzy overdid it would be the understatement of the year. Needless to say, this wasn't Academy Award material. Indeed, one routinely sees better acting in gonzo porn productions. Ozzy can try to sell it as much as he wants, Coach, Albert, and the rest of the Upolu crew aren't buying it.

Ozzy and Christine must use sticks and ropes to build a pole to retrieve keys to open three locks. To the Savaii tribe's palpable relief, the winner of the duel will return to the game following the challenge.


As expected (only members of the Previously on Survivor Facebook group actually believed that Christine had a shot), Ozzy takes the lead and retrieve his three keys rather quickly. The poor woman hasn't even reached her first key that Ozzy opens his last lock and wins easily.

I just made the craziest move I could ever make.

The merge comes into effect immediately following the duel. Back at camp, the merged tribe shares a meal and get to know one another.

Coach questions Cochran about what occurred the previous night. In another abominable display of acting skills, the Coch-machine attempts to infiltrate the Upolu tribe. Now Coach has proven time and time again that he's not always the sharpest tool in the shed. And yet, even a complete dumbass like Shambo would have seen through Cochran's convoluted web of lies. Coach sets the record straight. He lets the dork know that he feels the Savaii tribe is trying to play them, but they're not getting with the program. He explains that the Upolu alliance will all vote the same way. Coach is willing to risk drawing the black rock in the event of a tie.


Feeling the heat and the desire to perhaps jump shit, the Coch-train reveals Ozzy's plan to Coach, Albert, and Sophie. He realizes that the perfect time to betray his former tribe is now.

Not surprisingly, Cochran returns the hidden immunity idol to Ozzy. Why? So many people appear baffled by this. Aren't they forgetting that had Ozzy only raised his voice, Cochran would have shat himself and started to cry. So yes, of course there was never any doubt that he'd give the idol back to Ozzy. I mean, even Elyse could have turned Cochran into her bitch. . .

I'm finally feeling like I control my fate.

Day 20

Cochran tells Dawn that the whole tie thing scares the hell out of him. She is aware that the weak nerd was treated badly by the rest of the tribe. She feels that she should have stood up for him. The Coch-machine wants the two of them to decide what course they will both take.

Funny how Dawn was all emotional, tearing up at the thought of the poor little dork getting picked on by Jim, Keith, Ozzy, and all the evil Savaii members. Funny how she forgets that Cochran has been a liability from the very beginning, how he is pretty useless around camp, how he is worthless physically and athletically and how he cost the tribe challenges. This is Survivor, not Glee. When you're stuck in a situation where your very survival (in the game and in real life) depends on the people fate has thrown your way, nobody wants to get stuck with a skinny wimp like Cochran. Period. He is a parody of what a true castaway should be, an insult to all the great men and women who have given their blood and their guts to the game of Survivor for more than a decade. Sure, he's entertaining to watch. But no one who's reading this review would want a guy like that on their tribe if they ever appeared on the show.

At the immunity challenge, Keith announces that the merged tribe's new name is Te Tuna. Jeff Probst reveals that two castaways will win immunity today; one man and one woman. They must maintain their balance on a small perch while holding a coconut in place between two ropes. Dawn wins immunity for the women and Ozzy wins it for the men.

Day 21

The Savaii tribe feels pretty good about this turn of events. They discuss who to vote for, and seemingly everyone appears comfortable going for the rocks. Given the two immunity necklaces, there would only be four Savaii members on the chopping block. They feel that Upolu will likely vote for Whitney.

But they should have known that the Coch-train wouldn't be comfortable with the idea of resorting to drawing rocks to remain in the game. Courage obviously isn't this young man's strong suit, and the weakling spills the beans and tells Sophie that the Savaii tribe plans on voting for Rick. He wants the Upolu tribe to protect him. Given the situation, Coach says that he has no choice but to trust the little weasel at this point.

When she learns that he's considering flipping on the second vote, Dawn warns Cochran to beware of Upolu promises. Anxious even on a perfect day, Cochran doesn't know what to do.

I just want to take control for the first time in the game.

Dawn changed her mind and wants to stick with her former tribe. She thinks it's wrong to flip.


At tribal council, when discussing the standoff, Ozzy explains that the odds are in their favor if they must resort to drawing rocks. Jim believes that it would make no sense for a Savaii to swtich now. Odd, but spending three weeks with the neurotic Coch-machine has not taught him anything about his tribesmate. The Upolu tribe feels that Ozzy's little performance prior to the duel was pathetic. At which point Ozzy reveals that they have the hidden immunity idol in their possession.

Before the votes are tallied, Ozzy plays the idol for Whitney. But the Savaii plan goes awry when they discover that every single Upolu member voted for Keith. So Rick and Keith are tied 6-6.

Hence, the second round will be between Keith and Rick. But when the votes are tallied 6-4 in favor of Keith, Cochran turns around and says that he flipped. Jim is livid and calls him a coward, but the harm is done. Keith is sent to Redemption Island and the Savaii tribe is now shorthanded.

A lot of people have been clamoring that the moral of the story is not to treat someone like crap, for they'll flip and betray you at the first opportunity come the merge. Sure, okay. Another moral to this story would be to get rid of worthless castaways as soon as humanly possible, for betrayal and strategy are the only coins they can play with. To be fair, the Savaii tribe has been meaning to eliminate the Coch-train for a while, but somehow it never worked. I wonder how Jim is feeling now about voting out Elyse, who would have remained loyal to the end. Jim, Keith, and Whitney are in many ways responsible for this not-so-unexpected turn of events.

And though it made for some suspense, I still can't understand why the Savaii crew went along with the plan to send Ozzy to Redemption Island. Christine had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with Upolu if she returned. They could have gotten rid of Cochran, who would have lost to Christine, which would have made for a solid six vs six instead of having someone you knew wasn't 100% trustworthy on your side. So in many ways, the Savaii tribe brought this upon themselves.

And with the Savaii gang on the wrong end of the numbers, no one has a bigger target on his back than Ozzy. The guy just won his 6th immunity challenge, and physically and athletically no one on the merged tribe is close to him. With his back against the wall, with no escape but by winning challenges, Ozzy will be at his most dangerous now. Prior to the season's beginning, I was saying that the best thing would be to get rid of Ozzy early, for come the merge he would be hard to beat. Remember how dominant he was in the Cook Island? Now you have an athletic guy like Ozzy with no room to manoeuver and nothing to lose. He could well go on another immunity run like he did in 2006 when he won five immunity challenges out of six.

And Keith will be hard to beat in the Redemption Island duel, which means that another strong competitor could re-enter the game at some point. And since I'm persuaded that the Upolu alliance will crumble at some point, all is not yet lost for the former Savaii members.

If we are lucky, the Coch-train will reach its destination and stop in Redemption Island next week. Where, let us not forget, Cochran will be forced to spend a night with Keith. I reckon the nerd will not receive a warm welcome. If this indeed takes place, they will have to blur the back of Cochran's shorts for there will certainly be skid marks all over the place!

Hands down, this season is the most entertaining Survivor season since Survivor: Samoa.