Survivor: Cook Islands

Template:Infobox Television Survivor Survivor: Cook Islands is the thirteenth season of the United States reality show Survivor.

It was officially announced by Jeff Probst during the Survivor: Exile Island finale. Applications were due February 3, 2006. The location was discovered by the website Survivor Maps before it was revealed on the Survivor: Exile Island 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.

During this season of Survivor, the contestants were divided into four tribes by race; African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and White American, a decision that generated some controversy prior to the premiere. Besides random division or team-choosing by the contestants, tribes had previously been divided by gender and/or age. The respective tribes' names were Manihiki (Hiki), Puka Puka (Puka), Aitutaki (Aitu) and Rarotonga (Raro). These four tribes were named after islands located in the Cook Islands. In the third episode, 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 members of that tribe to become underdogs through the rest of the competition.

During the Immunity challenge in Episode 9, 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 one tribe has voted off two members during a single Tribal Council.

The concept of Exile Island returned, 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.

In the end, Yul Kwon defeated Ozzy Lusth and Becky Lee by a vote of 5-4-0 to become the Sole Survivor.

Ozzy Lusth, Jonathan Penner, and Parvati Shallow were selected to be three of the favorites of Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites. They would then place 9th, 15th, and 1st place. Shallow would later return again for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, where she was joined by Candice Woodcock.

Contestants

Contestant	Original Tribe	Absorbed Tribe	Mutined Tribe	Merged Tribe	Finish	Total votes
Sekou Bunch 45, Los Angeles, CA	Manihiki				1st Voted Out Day 3	3
Vergilio "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
John Paul "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 29, 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	Rarotonga1	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 23, 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

The Total Votes is the number of votes a castaway has received during Tribal Councils where the castaway is eligible to be voted out of the game. It does not include the votes received during the final Tribal Council.

The game

As said on the Exile Island 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.

Episode Title	Air Date	Challenges		Exiled	Eliminated	Vote	Finish
		Reward	Immunity
"I Can Forgive Her But I Don't Have To Because She Screwed With My Chickens"	September 14, 2006	Puka Puka2		Jonathan	Sekou	3–2	1st Voted Out Day 3
		Aitutaki
		Rarotonga
"Dire Strengths and Dead Weight"	September 21, 2006	Puka Puka3	Puka Puka	Yul	Billy	4–1	2nd Voted Out Day 6
			Rarotonga
		Rarotonga3
			Manihiki
"Flirting and Frustration"	September 28, 2006	None4	Rarotonga	Candice	Cecilia	5–3	3rd Voted Out Day 8
"Ruling the Roost"	October 5, 2006	Aitutaki	Aitutaki	Adam	J.P.	7–2	4th Voted Out Day 11
"Don't Cry Over Spilled Octopus"	October 12, 2006	Rarotonga	Aitutaki	Jonathan	Stephannie	7–1	5th Voted Out Day 14
"Plan Voodoo"	October 19, 2006	Aitutaki	Nate12	None5	Cao Boi	6–1–1	6th Voted Out Day 15
					Cristina	4–2	7th Voted Out Day 15
"A Closer Look"	October 26, 2006	Recap Episode
"Why Aren't You Swimming?!"	November 2, 2006	Aitutaki	Rarotonga	Adam	Jessica	6–1	8th Voted Out Day 18
"Mutiny"	November 9, 2006	Aitutaki	Aitutaki	Candice	Brad	7–1	9th Voted Out Day 21
"People That You Like Want To See You Suffer"	November 16, 2006	Aitutaki	Aitutaki	Candice	Rebecca	6-1	10th Voted Out Day 24
					Jenny	4-2	11th Voted Out Day 24
"Why Would You Trust Me?"	November 23, 2006	None6	Ozzy	None6	Nate	5–4	12th Voted Out Day 27
"You're a Rat..."	November 30, 2006	Survivor Auction7	Adam	Candice7	Candice	5-3	13th Voted Out Day 30
"Arranging a Hit"	December 7, 2006	Parvati [Adam, Sundra]	Ozzy	Jonathan	Jonathan	6-1	14th Voted Out Day 33
"I Have the Advantage...For Once"	December 14, 2006	Ozzy, Parvati, Yul8	Ozzy	Adam	Parvati	4-2	15th Voted Out Day 36
"This Tribe Will Self-Destruct in 5, 4, 3..."	December 17, 2006	None	Ozzy	None	Adam	4-1	16th Voted Out Day 37
			Ozzy		Sundra	2-29	17th Voted Out Day 38
"Reunion"	December 17, 2006	Jury Vote			Becky	5-4-0	2nd Runner-Up
					Ozzy		Runner-Up
					Yul		Sole Survivor

In the case of multiple tribes or castaways who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway 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 absorbtion.
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 10 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.

Episode 1: I Can Forgive Her But I Don't Have To Because She Screwed With My Chickens

• Reward/Immunity Challenge: - The tribes must race to assemble a puzzle boat using seven braces, then paddle the boat out and retrieve fire from a bonfire floating on a raft in the ocean. Then they must paddle back to shore and carry the boat braces and fire with them. After putting together yet another puzzle, they must use the braces as ladder rungs, climb to the top of a platform and light their tribe fire bale. The first three tribes to the top win flint and immunity.
  • Reward: All three winning teams receive flint. The first-placing tribe will also receive a crate full of fire-making essentials.

Contestants were given two minutes to salvage whatever they could from a boat before having to paddle to their shore. As the castaways frantically scoured the ship for supplies, Puka Puka's Yul grabbed a chicken, got distracted by the commotion and the chicken escaped and got into the hands of Rarotonga's Jonathan. At Aitutaki, Billy haplessly created shelter, but Ozzy's survival skills duped him. In Rarotonga, Jonathan's stolen chicken got escaped as Jessica accidentally freed it, angering Jonathan. At Manihiki, the women complained as their leader Sekou took a lot of breaks. In a combined Reward/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. The Manihiki guys (Sekou and Nate) sent Jonathan from Rarotonga to Exile Island in return for Puka Puka's lost chicken (much for the girls' dismay; for they felt isolated as the boys took the responsibility of sending someone to Exile Island for themselves). In the end, Stephannie, Sundra and Rebecca banded together to get rid their overbearing but weak leader Sekou in a 3–2 decision. After the vote, they received their flint so they can make fire.

Episode 2: Dire Strengths and Dead Weight

• Reward/Immunity Challenge: - Before the challenge starts, host Jeff Probst will tell a story about the voyage of James Cook. Each tribe must remember a historical story of Captain James Cook. Tied together as a group, the tribe must make their way over and under logs and through a field of poles, gathering seven answer flags. Once they cross a two-line rope bridge over a pit of water, they must use the seven answer flags collected to solve five questions about the story. If a tribe misses a part of the storyline, they may consult from their copy of the story; but they must go back through the course to reread it. The first team to finish wins Reward; but the three top finishers wins Immunity.
  • Reward: The first placer wins Immunity and two large tarps; and all three top-finishers win Immunity

Day 4 started well for Manihiki when the tribe managed to start a fire. Jonathan returned from Exile Island to Rarotonga, and was disappointed as nothing much has changed since he left. At Puka Puka, tribe members rapidly became fed up with Cao Boi's jokes and never-ending stories. At Aitutaki, feeling like his tribe could do better, Ozzy forced his tribe to throw the next 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 broken compass) in the sand. At Tribal Council, Billy gushed about finding love with Rarotonga's Candice, which was later found to be his taking her comments to him wildly out of context. Candice said "We love you" to him as he said that he may be the next to go, but he was mislead and claimed that she said "I Love you" to him. Either way, Billy became the second castaway to be voted out 4–1.

Episode 3: Flirting and Frustration

• Immunity Challenge: - The tribes will be clipped together by a rope carrying 15 pound sand bags each. They will start on opposite sides of the course, racing through knee-deep water to catch the other tribe. If a tribe member drops out they must give their 15 pounds to someone from their tribe, doubling that person's weight. The first tribe to tackle a member from the other tribe to the ground wins Immunity.

Instead of a reward challenge, the four racially-divided tribes will be merged as two new ones. Manihiki and Puka Puka were abolished, but the supplies that were left at those camps will be equally divided by the newly-rehashed Aitutaki and Rarotonga tribes. At the new Aitutaki, Cecilia told Candice of what happened during the previous Tribal Council (Billy's "I Love You" incident), leaving a bewildered Candice laughing as she made alliances with Yul, Becky and Jonathan. Yul also told Becky that he found the Hidden Immunity Idol. During the Immunity Challenge, the Aitutaki men tried to fend off the fronting Rarotonga men (Adam, Brad, J.P., and Nate) but to no avail as Rarotonga tackled them, securing Immunity for their team. Rarotonga banished Candice to Exile Island, thus throwing the Becky-Candice-Jonathan-Yul alliance plans into disarray as she will be immune from the vote and will not need to go to Tribal Council. Cao Boi, Cecilia, Jessica, Ozzy, and Sundra banded together to try to vote out Becky. After strong lobbying by Jonathan and Yul, Cao Boi and Jessica switched their vote to Cecilia, who was voted out 5–3.

Episode 4: Ruling the Roost

• Reward Challenge: - Each tribe will have two tribe members attached by belt to a rope, which snakes over, under and around a series of obstacles. The rest of the tribe will push and pull their two tribe members, attached to the rope, through the course. Once the entire tribe reaches the end of the rope, one person from each tribe will swim out to a barrel where they will retrieve a decoding wheel, bring it back to the tribe mat and use that decoder wheel to decipher one phrase. The tribe that solves the phrase first wins.
  • Reward: Three blankets, two pillows and one hammock.
• Immunity Challenge: - Tribe members from each tribe will assemble a stretcher puzzle and race though the jungle with the stretcher to the beach. Once there, one tribe member will swim out to rescue another tribe member shackled to the top of a mast. Both members will swim back to the beach while holding onto a life ring, place the rescued tribe member on the stretcher and race back through the jungle to their starting mat. There, the remaining three tribe members must build a fire tall and strong enough to burn through a rope and raise the tribe's flag. First tribe to unfurl their flag wins.

At Aitutaki, Ozzy became furious about the elimination of his only remaining fellow Aitu tribemate Cecilia, but his tribemates comforted him. At Rarotonga, the women complained about the men's growing egotism, specifically J.P.'s bossiness. Aitutaki won the Reward Challenge of pillows, blankets, and a hammock. They chose Adam to be Exiled. After the Reward Challenge, Cao Boi went egg hunting, but instead knocked down a chick from a nest, which disturbed Jonathan. However, Cao Boi successfully returned the chick to the nest. Cao Boi's tactics, though odd (e.g. dancing crazily with a smoking coconut husk) nevertheless carried Aitutaki past Rarotonga at the fire-making 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 women, who then used the opportunity to vote J.P. out 7–2.

Episode 5: Don't Cry Over Spilled Octopus

• Reward Challenge: - Both the tribes will split into three pairs, each of whom will stand on a platform. Each person on the platform will use one arm to hold onto a hook. Every two minutes members from the opposing tribe will load one of those pairs with five-pound bags. The more weight added, the harder it will be to hold on to the hook. The last pair holding their hooks and weight for their tribe wins Reward.
  • Reward: Fishing gear, spices and some wine.
• Immunity Challenge: - The tribes must assemble stepping poles which they will use to transport two tribe members from one platform above water to another platform a short length away. Once both tribe members are across, all eight tribe members will climb up and over the platform, swimming out to a smaller tower. The first tribe to climb the last tower and get all eight tribe members on or above the top deck wins Immunity.

At Aitutaki, Cao Boi complained about Becky, Candice, and Sundra being lazy. At the modified weight-holding Reward Challenge, the tribes began trash-talking each other; but Rarotonga's Nate and Adam came in victorious. Rarotonga sent Jonathan back to Exile Island since he had been there before. Back at camp, Cristina's tribemates complained about her being bossy like JP. 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. That afternoon, Raro knew who will be voted off next (Cristina). But when Stephannie and Nate gathered water from the well, Stephannie told a confused Nate that she "wanted mashed potatoes and gravy." Though Cristina spilled their octopus lunch earlier and her continued grating personality were enough reason to vote her off, Stephannie made a mistake in showing weakness to Nate, and the vote swung to her, 7–1.

Episode 6: Plan Voodoo

• Reward Challenge: - The warring tribes will battle it out in a sand pit. Each tribe will select three people to be stationed at a post. Two members from the opposing tribe will try to physically remove them from their posts, drag them through the sand and over the finish line. First tribe to get all three opposing tribe members across their finish line wins.
  • Reward: A feast consisting of lamb shanks, bread and apple cider, to be eaten at Tribal Council.

Back at Rarotonga's camp after Tribal Council, Cristina again, clashed with her tribemates after being pointed out as being annoying. At Aitutaki, Jonathan argued over bringing the Immunity Idol to the next Reward Challenge. Jonathan believed that unnecessarily taking the Immunity Idol in Reward Challenges and Tribal Councils was tantamount to gloating over the other tribe, but Cao Boi claimed he had 'spiritual reasons' for bringing the idol along. 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 awoke from a strange dream that spawned a strategy he called "Plan Voodoo." Its purpose was to reveal the hidden Immunity Idol by splitting a 3-3 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. Unfortunately, his ally Yul possessed the idol. Yul did not want to reveal his idol; furthermore, he was fed up with Cao Boi's eccentric behavior, and so he decided to remove the threat. "Plan Voodoo" backfired as Cao Boi was voted out 6–1–1. Aitutaki then 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 ineligible to vote, immune from the vote, given a share of Aitutaki's reward and would be staying at Aitutaki's camp until the next Reward Challenge. Aitutaki selected Nate. Though Cristina made amends with her tribe, her lobbying still failed and she was sent packing in a 4–2 deciscion.

Episode 7: Why Aren't You Swimming?!

• Reward Challenge: - Each tribe will select three swimmers and two puzzle makers. The swimmers will grab a club, swim to a platform, climb to the top and leap off. While in midair, they will smash a plaster box releasing a key, retrieve the key and swim back to shore. After retrieving six keys, the two puzzle makers will use those keys to unlock a chest filled with puzzle pieces. First tribe to solve the puzzle wins the Reward.
  • Reward: Two items that the winning tribe chose from the Survivor Catalogue that was given to them earlier together with the Tree Mail. The Aitutaki tribe chose a sack of potatoes and peanut butter. Rarotonga chose bread and peanut butter.
• Immunity Challenge: - Each tribe will race to arrange a series of logs, building a staircase to the top of a tower. Once the entire tribe is on the tower, three tribe members will sail down a zip line into the water, retrieve a bag of puzzle pieces and swim back. Once all three are back, they must climb a rope ladder to the top of the tower where the three remaining tribe members will solve the puzzle. First tribe to solve the puzzle wins Immunity.

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 was given a chance to make Nate perform at the challenge for their tribe or just sit out. After much deliberation, they chose Nate to sit out in the challenge. Nate got helplessly irked as his team fell apart as Aitutaki easily won in the Reward Challenge. They selected Adam to go to Exile Island for a second time. After the Reward Challenge, Brad's tribemates were upset at him for not performing the swimming portion of the Reward Challenge, claiming that "he's better at puzzles." They considered him as one of their strongest swimmers and the swimming part of the challenge was where they fell behind. Despite losing morale as well as challenges, Rarotonga finally ended their losing streak by winning the immunity challenge. Jessica lobbied hard to have Jonathan voted out, but her efforts failed and she was the first White to be voted out 6–1.

Episode 8: Mutiny

• Reward Challenge: - Two tribe members will squeeze into a barrel together and remain in the barrel while two other tribe members push, pull and roll the barrel through a series of obstacles in order to retrieve four buoys. Next, they must float the barrel through a final water obstacle, where they will collect four flags anchored underwater. Once the flags have been collected, the tribe must paddle back to shore, hang their flags on a flagpole, recover a buried axe and chop a rope in order to hoist their flags. The first tribe to raise their flags wins.
  • Reward: A trip to a local coffee shop with muffins, danishes and letters from home.
• immunity Challenge: - The four tribe members have to paddle out in glass bottom boats in search of three targets on the ocean floor. They must line up the targets with cross hairs on their glasses, drop a cannonball and release two buoys. Once all six buoys have been collected the tribe must paddle back to shore. Reading a clue from one of the buoys, the tribe must use all six buoys to spell out the answer. First tribe assemble the mystery word ("bounty") wins Immunity.

At Aitutaki, Candice and Jonathan plotted for the impending Merge. At Rarotonga, Brad revealed that he doesn't trust his tribemates at all, speaking about his fate if he made it to the merge - a speech in which turned his tribe against him. At the Reward Challenge, a new twist called "Mutiny" was presented where anybody could change tribe affiliations. Candice and Jonathan decided to jump back to Rarotonga (their original tribe, for they're members of the tribe once comprised of the Whites). A decimated Aitutaki (Aitu's down at 4, adding Raro's roster at 8) regrouped and made a comeback victory at the reward challenge, thus winning 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 (Cao Boi's previous predictions of a "White's Alliance" may come true after all). In the Immunity Challenge, Rarotonga already got a sizeable lead but Jonathan got infuriated about the painstaking task (even yelling at Jeff Probst to shut up at his commentaries) brought the patient Aitutaki the victory. 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 "Every Man for Himself" speech cost him dearly and he was unanimously voted out. Unexpectedly, Brad was announced as the first member of the Jury.

Episode 9: People That You Like Want To See You Suffer

• Reward Challenge: - Two tribe members, armed with a compass and a coordinate, will race out to a large sixteen-point compass rose to locate treasure chests buried under the sand. Each chest has the next coordinate painted on the top. When tribe members find a chest, they must race back to their mat. The next two tribe members will take the compass and the new coordinate to retrieve another chest. Once the tribe has all four chests, they will remove seven nautical flags, remembering that each flag represents a letter from the alphabet. First team to complete it wins.
  • Reward: A feast prepared by locals
• Immunity Challenge: - Each tribe will swim out one at a time to a platform. Each member will dive down and unclip a bundle of island names and swim back to shore. Then the next person goes, until all four tribe members have had a turn. After all of the members are back, they must identify ten islands at an answer table. The first tribe to correctly identify all ten islands wins Immunity.

At Rarotonga, Jenny and Parvati were alarmed over Candice and Adam's closeness. The tiny tribe of Aitutaki crushed the over-populated 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 — then the mysterious bottle was finally opened. Initially assuming that the note inside the bottle will give them instructions about the impending merge — since they're just 10 remaining castaways — usual time for the merge, everything got turned on its head as Parvati reads the message. It read: "Now you have voted off one member of your tribe, it's time to vote another." Though Jonathan's the next intended target, the four white members of Rarotonga voted Jenny out (believing that Jenny, the last remaining Asian left in Rarotonga, might switch sides with her former Puka teammates Yul and Becky come post-merge). Showing complete disappointment over the surprise vote, an angry Jenny stormed away as her torch was snuffed.

Episode 10: Why Would You Trust Me?

• Immunity Challenge: - Each individual must hang on to a pole for as long as they can. When they fall off of the pole, they are out of the challenge. Last person left hanging on their pole wins Immunity.

Expecting a challenge, the tribes arrived to be surprised by the announcement of the merge. The castaways chose to live on Rarotonga 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 his side: 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 would send Jonathan home. Jonathan requested that Yul vote for Nate in exchange for him flipping to their side, which Yul readily agreed to. Jonathan blindsided his old Raro tribemates and joined the former Aitutaki members in voting out Nate 5–4.

Episode 11: You're a Rat...

• Survivor Auction - Each contestant will be given $500 and can only bid with $20 increments. Highest bidder gets the item. Survivors may share money, but not with the item. The auction will end without notice.
  • Reward: Here's what the Survivors won from the auction:
    • Jonathan - Hot dog, fries and a cold beer; toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash; and a pepperoni pizza
    • Parvati - A bubble bath and a huge slice of chocolate cake
    • Becky - Power to send someone to Exile Island and may take his/her money
    • Candice - Nothing (She was sent to Exile Island by Becky without spending any money)
    • Ozzy - Bottomless soft-serve ice cream that can he can indulge until the end of the auction
    • Sundra - A Sea cucumber
    • Yul - Nothing (but he shared his money to Becky so she could win the power to send someone to Exile Island)
    • Adam - Nothing
• Immunity Challenge: - The castaways will be quizzed on how well they recollect the events of the last 30 days. First, each tribe member will answer four questions which will have numeric answers. Then, each tribe member will add, subtract or divide the numeric answers to come up with a final number. Then they must untie a corresponding box, searching for a key. That key opens a lock and raises a flag. The first three to raise their flag move on to a final round. In the final round, the remaining contenders will use the key to unlock a timber tunnel, crawl though the tunnel and go over a series of floating pontoons to raise one final flag. First to complete the course wins Immunity.

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 sweeping a lot of items during the auction. Though worried about him being voted out next, Adam put up a good fight as he "casually" won the Immunity Challenge. Back at camp, Adam, Candice, and Parvati were taking a "snuggling session" in the shelter while the majority alliance downed a handful of fish that Jonathan caught. But Candice, seeing all the action, started confronting Jonathan about his arrogance and told him that the whole tribe hates him. In a heated Tribal Council, the three continued their crusade against Jonathan, but ultimately failed and Candice was voted out 5–3.

Episode 12: Arranging a Hit

• Reward Challenge: - The survivors, while blindfolded, must scoop water using a bucket and must pass it to their loved ones. The loved ones will now transport the bucket to another bucket which is elevated from the ground. When there is enough water in that bucket, the weight of the water will lower the bucket, raising a flag. The first person to raise their flag wins Reward.
  • Reward: A picnic that consists of fried chicken, meatloaf, and apple pie and will enjoy it with their loved ones.
• Immunity Challenge: - The castaways will have to race out into the water and maneuver across a series of obstacles. When a tribe member reaches the end, he or she will retrieve a bundle of sticks and race back. Then each tribe member must repeat the process for a second bundle of sticks. Once a person has both bundles back, they'll untie the sticks and use the rope and the sticks build one long pole. The tribe member will then use the pole to collect two rings. The first person to retrieve both rings wins Immunity.

Upon returning from Tribal Council, Jonathan felt uneasy after being called a "a rat" and "cancer" but he declared that he will not let [Adam and Parvati] ruin his gameplan. Meanwhile, assuming that they were doomed, Adam and Parvati asked a favor to Yul that if they help them vote Jonathan out before them, they will give their jury votes in return. Parvati accidentally whacked 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 to make sweet revenge for his deception. 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 again to smuggle food from Parvati, and Adam, and surprisingly, to Jonathan too. But the plan collapsed after Parvati and Adam brought back some leftovers from the picnic. Ozzy easily won the Immunity Challenge. Though he saved the Aitu 4 from near extinction, the former Aitutaki members turned on Jonathan as they banded with Adam and Parvati in voting him out 6–1.

Episode 13: I Have the Advantage...For Once

• Reward Challenge: - Under a time pressure of ten minutes, tribe members are going to dive into a mud pit and cover their body with as much mud as they can, then race back and scrape it off into a bucket. They may not carry mud in their arms or in their hands; they can only use their body. Then Jeff Probst will weigh each bucket. The three castaways that own the heaviest buckets win Reward.
  • Reward: A trip to a local spa.
• Immunity Challenge: - Tribe members will each carry four bundles of puzzle pieces one at a time across balance beams to a mat. Once all four bundles have been collected, tribe members will use those pieces to create a table maze. Then they'll use the maze to maneuver one cannon ball past the decoy holes into each of the two corner pockets. The first person to complete the puzzle and sink the balls into the correct holes wins immunity.

Threatened by the presence of the impenetrable Aitu 4, Parvati and Adam tried to figure a way to befriend one of the four to swing the vote. Ozzy won the 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 challenge monster 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 Parvati 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 irked some of the Jury members; nonetheless, Jonathan is happy. In the end, the Once-Underdogs-Now-in-the-Position-of-Power Aitu 4 was indeed tight, voting off the somewhat craftier Parvati over physical threat Adam, with a vote of 4–2.

Episode 14: This Tribe Will Self-Destruct in 5, 4, 3...

• Final 5 Immunity Challenge: - The castaways will race around a ropes course to eight different stations, collecting a bag of puzzle pieces at each station. Each time a tribe member gets a bag he or she will have to come back to their table before they can go back out on the course. Once a tribe member has all eight bags, he or she will use the puzzle pieces to construct an eight point compass rose puzzle. Once the puzzle is assembled correctly a flag will raise. First to raise his/her flag wins Immunity.
• Final 4 Immunity Challenge: - The remaining castaways will be standing on a small steel perch situated in the water. Each perch has been individually proportioned to each tribe member's foot size, making the game as fair as possible. Every 15 minutes tribe members will remove a section of the perch, making it smaller and more difficult to stand on. The last piece of the perch will be a section that is less than half the size of a postcard. The last person left standing wins Immunity.

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 foursome had gone 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 nor 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 and claimed that she and Yul shared voting strategies and not just Yul alone. 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 and became the thirteenth Sole Survivor. Ozzy subsequently won a new car (a Mercury Mariner) based on a viewer's poll in which Ozzy and Yul were nearly tied again.

Voting history

	Original Tribes		Absorbed Tribes						Mutined Tribes			Merged Tribe
Episode #:	1	2	3	4	5	611		7	8	913		10	11	12	13	14		Reunion
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	Cristina 4/6 votes	Jessica 6/7 votes	Brad 7/8 votes	Rebecca 6/7 votes	Jenny 4/6 votes	Nate 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
Voter	Vote
Yul			Cecilia			Cao Boi		Jessica				Nate	Candice	Jonathan	Parvati	Adam	Sundra	Jury Vote
Ozzy		Billy	Becky			Cao Boi		Jessica				Nate	Candice	Jonathan	Parvati	Adam	Becky
Becky			Cecilia			Cao Boi		Jessica				Nate	Candice	Jonathan	Parvati	Adam	Sundra
Sundra	Sekou		Becky			Cao Boi		Jessica				Nate	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	Nate	Candice	Adam						Yul
Candice			Exiled10			Cao Boi		Jessica	Brad	Rebecca	Jenny	Yul	Jonathan							Yul
Nate	Sundra			Stephannie	Stephannie		Kidnapped12		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:FnbThis was a double elimination episode.
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.

Filming locations

The tribal camps, Exile Island, and many challenges of Survivor: Cook Islands were filmed on small "motu" (Polynesian word for "islet") in the Aituaki lagoon. The Rarotonga (later Aitutonga) tribe's camp was on Moturakau. The Aitutaki tribe lived on Motukitiu. The short-lived tribes of Manihiki and Puka Puka lived on Rapota and Muritapua, respectively. Most challenges were filmed on Tekopua and Tapuaetai (One Foot Island). Exile Island, a small sand cay south of Tapuaetai, is called "Nude Island" by locals in reference to its lack of vegetation. Akaiami hosted challenges and also "The Ponderosa," where eliminated contestants were sequestered until the end of the game. Tribal Council, the production camp, and a few challenges were located on the main island of Aitutaki. There were three reward trips to the neighboring islands of Atiu, Mitiaro, and Rarotonga.

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. This scheme represented much higher exposure particularly for Asian Americans who were only 3.6 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.

External links

• Official CBS Survivor Cook Islands Website