Aitu Four

The Aitutaki Four (also known as the Aitu 4) was a major alliance on Survivor: Cook Islands.

Created instantaneously by the mutiny of two tribe members, the foursome banded together against their rivals and with the revelation that de facto leader Yul Kwon had the Hidden Immunity Idol, they used his mindset alongside Ozzy Lusth's strength in challenges to improve their standing.

Muntiny
On Day 20, Candice Woodcock and Jonathan Penner both accepted the Mutiny offer and joined Rarotonga, which was their original tribe. That left Yul Kwon, Ozzy Lusth, Becky Lee, and Sundra Oakley as the last Aitutaki members. Rarotonga now has an 8-4 numbers advantage, with Aitu needing to avoid losing members before going into the Merge. The Aitu Four, however, proved that the numbers disadvantage didn't lose their hope, as they blew out the newly formed Rarotonga in the next tribal Reward Challenges, where their reward was sending a contestant to go to Exile Island. They selected Candice to go to Exile Island, as payback for backstabbing their former tribemates. The Aitu Four also crushed Rarotonga at the Immunity Challenges, losing Brad Virata, Rebecca Borman and Jenny Guzon-Bae where the latter two are both eliminated in the same Tribal Council as part of a twist. After Rarotonga lost three members, five were left and merged with the Aitu Four into Aitutonga.

Surviving The Merge
Merging into the newly formed Aitutonga tribe, the "Aitu Four" was down a member to create a majority. Yul was targeted by the former Rarotonga members, so Yul came up with a plan involving his Hidden Immunity Idol he found on Exile Island. Yul approached Jonathan and shows him his idol, and told Jonathan that if he declines to flip, he will be targeted by the alliance and whoever the Rarotonga bloc voted for would have the idol used at him/him, eliminating Jontahan. Penner agreed to flip and suggested to target former Rarotonga member Nate instead. At Tribal Council, Nate and the other former Rarotonga members were shocked to find that Jonathan had switched alliances again, turning Rarotonga's target to Jonathan for his treachery. Rarotonga lost Candice at the next Tribal Council. Aitutaki, however made a deal with Rarotonga that they would blindside Jonathan at the next vote. The deal went through, eliminating Jonathan, but then Aitutaki finished Rarotonga off in the next Tribal Councils (with also the help of Ozzy winning the next Immunity Challenges) eliminating Parvati and then Adam.

Turning On Each Other
thumb|300px|right|The tiebreaker between Becky and SundraAfter finishing the Rarotonga members off, the Aitutaki Four participated in the Rites of Passage before the final Immunity Challenge. But, before the challenge, Jeff announced that three of them would face a Jury of nine, a twist that would become the default in future seasons. Ozzy would end up winning the challenge, and with Yul's idol making him virtually safe in Tribal Council, Becky and Sundra has to fight for the last spot in the Final 3. Yul debated with Becky on blindsiding Sundra, but decided that a tiebreaker would be a fair settlement. At Trbal Council, Becky and Yul voted for Sundra and Sundra and Ozzy voted for Becky, where the two women faced off in an very long tiebreaker. After one whole hour of using flint to start a fine, neither of them succeeded, giving them matches to start the fire instead. After a short period of time Becky burnt through her rope first and sent Sundra to the Jury, making her the ninth and final Jury member. Yul, Ozzy, and Becky became the members of the very first Final Three, with Sundra being the only Jury member among the Aitu Four.

Final Tribal Council
During the Final Tribal Council, Yul was praised for his strategy. Ozzy was praised by his strength. But Becky was criticized for her perceived coattailing with Yul and her poor performance during the tiebreaker challenge. After the Jury votes were read, Yul was declared the 13th Sole Survivor in a close 5-4-0 vote against Ozzy, with Becky not receiving any votea.

Impact
The Aitutaki alliance dominated the game, to the point of ending as the final four. The team's utilization of Ozzy's physical strengh and Yul's strategic play (as well as the hidden immunity idol) was what gave the group an advantage. Their pre-merge domination took revenge on Candice Woodcock by sending her to Exile Island for a total of three times altogether. They picked off the Rarotonga members one by one before and after the merger. Also, Jonathan Penner was another aspect of the team's sucsess, aiding them in eliminating Nathan Gonzalez.

Trivia

 * The Foa Foa Four can be seen as a later version of the Aitu Four, overcoming a majority with physical and strategical play, as well as the hidden immunity idol. Also, the afflimations of both groups were part of their success in both cases.