John Cochran

John Martin Cochran was a contestant on Survivor: South Pacific. On the first day, he requested that he be called "Cochran."

Profile
Retrieved from CBS.com

Name (Age): John Cochran (24)

Tribe designation: Savaii, Te Tuna

Current residence: Washington, D.C.

Occupation: Harvard Law Student

Personal claim to fame: I won the Dean’s Scholar Prize at Harvard Law for an essay I wrote on the “Survivor” jury system. It was one of the few times in my life where my personal interests and academic obligations coincided perfectly.

Inspiration in life: My family.

Hobbies: Guitar, trivia and studying the music and history of The Beatles.

Pet peeves: People who think or act like they are smarter than they actually are and people who don’t have a sense of humor.

3 words to describe you: Neurotic, insecure and brilliant.

SURVIVOR contestant you are most like: I have some of the humor of Rob Cesternino, the candor of Jonathan Penner and the intelligence of Yul Kwon.

Reason for being on SURVIVOR: My respect and admiration for “Survivor” and my desire to make it even better. My secondary motivation is to experience some adventure and excitement in my life during a time when I otherwise feel like I’m on autopilot.

Why you think you’ll “survive” SURVIVOR: I have a strong sense of humor that can defuse tense situations and an ability to listen to conflicting viewpoints and devise a rational compromise that is satisfying to all parties involved. I also have a slender frame that doesn’t take up much space in a crowded shelter.

Why you think you will be the sole SURVIVOR: I understand other people and how they function. Sure, I’m bright and have an extensive knowledge of “Survivor,” but none of that does any good unless you’re able to figure out the reasons why other people do the things they do. Not only can I do that, but I’m also confident that I can leverage their desires and motives in a way that best serves my game.

Survivor: South Pacific
Believing that Jeff Probst calls his favorite contestants by their last names, "superfan" John insisted he should follow suit. Jeff accepted the proposition and challenged him to live up to it. Despite knowing game theories, Cochran found himself unable to use them, and came across as socially awkward. After Savaii lost the inaugural Immunity Challenge, Ozzy has perceived him as the weakest member of the tribe, but was saved when tribemate Semhar Tadesse was voting out for her dismal performance at the Immunity Challenge.

Cochran would continue to find himself on the outs of the tribe but formed a close friendship with Savaii Tribemate Dawn Meehan. Cochran also began becoming more of a provider for Savaii, despite Savaii's de facto leader Ozzy already doing most of the food collecting. At their next Tribal Council visit, Cochran was once against spared over the much weaker Mark Caruso who was blamed for the loss despite Cochran being in charge of rope management during the Immunity Challenge. However, Cochran received a vote from Jim Rice, who was wary of the possibility Mark really had a Hidden Immunity Idol. Cochran's odds in the Tribe would soon increase after Jim recruited him to help blindside Elyse Umemoto, Ozzy's closest ally after losing the Day 15 Immunity Challenge. The tribe lost the Immunity Challenge on Day 17, and the tribe as a whole told Cochran he was leaving, and that if he beat Christine Shields Markoski, he would come back into the game as a hero. However, Ozzy saw it as too risky after having a dream and introduced his new plan: "The Trojan Horse," where he asked to be voted out so that he could beat Christine, allowing the on the outs Cochran to make the merge. Ozzy gave Cochran his Hidden Immunity Idol for safekeeping just in case he loses, but would ask him to return the idol he does return.

Savaii wanted Cochran to become the Double Agent and gather intel from the Upolu tribe at the merge. Cochran, however, feeling that he was being "bullied" by his former Savaii tribemates, flipped over to the Upolu tribe during a talk with Coach Wade. At Tribal Council, it came down to a 6-6 tie between Upolu's Rick Nelson and Savaii's Keith. However, when the tie votes came back, the Savaii tribe was stunned after realizing someone flipped, causing Keith to leave 6-4. Cochran admitted that he flipped to Ozzy and said that he would state his reasoning later. Jim called him a "coward" but Brandon Hantz came to his defense.

Cochran immediately became Savaii's number one enemy, with Whitney Duncan calling him "disgusting". Nevertheless, Cochran maintained his allegiance to the Upolu tribe, helping to take out Ozzy Lusth, Jim Rice, Dawn Meehan, and Whitney at the following Tribal Councils, finding themselves competing each other at Redemption Island, with Ozzy successfully defeated them all. With no common enemy left, it had become clear that Cochran would be the first player out since he was the last Savaii member remaining. Cochran didn't win Individual Immunity, but he pleaded his case to stay to the Upolu tribe members. However, it was not enough as Cochran ended up leaving in a 5-2 vote (Edna Ma being the only player to vote with him).

At Redemption Island, Cochran was doubtful that he would stand a chance against Ozzy in the duel, but Ozzy falsely assured Cochran he had a chance (Ozzy believing he could blow out Cochran in the duel). Much to Ozzy's surprise, Cochran came close to winning in the duel after behind far behind Ozzy. However, Ozzy managed to continue his Redemption Island winning streak, permanently eliminating Cochran from the game.

Voting History
In Double Agent, the vote ended with a tie, forcing a revote. John changed his vote to Keith at the revote.

Trivia

 * Cochran is the second highest ranking member of the Savaii tribe, behind Ozzy Lusth.
 * Cochran is tied with Rick Nelson for the third highest number of votes against in Survivor: South Pacific with 13, behind Ozzy Lusth (17) and Edna Ma (15).
 * Cochran was the only Savaii member to receive a vote against him at every pre-merge Tribal Council his tribe attended.
 * Cochran was the final Savaii member to be eliminated in a Redemption Island duel.
 * In I Need Redemption, John claims to have watched every episode of Survivor and also has a Buff collection at home.