Survivor: Cook Islands

Survivor: Cook Islands
Season Information
Version	United States
Season No.	13
Filming Location	Aitutaki, Cook Islands
Filming Dates	June 26, 2006 - August 3, 2006
Season Run	September 14, 2006 - December 17, 2006
No. of Episodes	16
No. of Days	39
No. of Castaways	20
Winner	Yul Kwon
Runner(s)-Up	Ozzy Lusth Becky Lee
Tribes	Aitutaki Manihiki Puka Puka Rarotonga Aitutonga
Viewership (in Millions)	15.75
Cast
Opening Sequence
Season Chronology
Previous	Panama
Next	Fiji

Survivor: Cook Islands is the thirteenth season of Survivor.

The season initially generated much controversy due to the decision to split tribes by ethnicity. The season also saw drastic format changes in the game's format, such as an expanded jury and a 3-finalist Final Tribal Council. In the end, Yul Kwon won in a 5-4-0 vote over Ozzy Lusth and Becky Lee in the first Final Tribal Council to deviate from the original Final Two format. To date, it has produced five returning players (Candice Woodcock, Jonathan Penner, Ozzy Lusth, Parvati Shallow, and Yul Kwon) for subsequent seasons.

Production

The tribal camps, Exile Island, and many challenges of Survivor: Cook Islands were filmed on small "motu" (Polynesian word for "islet") in the Aitutaki 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 loser's lounge, 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.

The season was themed around sailors and explorers, specifically James Cook and his expeditions of the Pacific Ocean. The tribal council set was a British-styled shipwreck adorned with maps and sailors' items.

Twists/Changes

• Four Tribes: For the second time, the castaways are divided into four tribes, containing five members each.
• Tribes Divided by Ethnicity: This season featured twenty contestants that were divided into four tribes divided by race, despite controversy.
• Exile Island: Returning from the previous season, after a Reward Challenge, players may banish a player from the rival tribe to Exile Island. This island (entirely separate from the existing camps) will force the banished player to fend for him/herself until the upcoming Immunity Challenge (unless stated otherwise). The player would not be left in despair, for he/she will be given clues to a Hidden Immunity Idol that is hidden somewhere on the island.
• Hidden Immunity Idol: During this season, the Hidden Immunity Idol is hidden somewhere on Exile Island.
• Tribe Switch: On Day 7, the four tribes became two. Puka Puka and Manihiki were dissolved, with the 18 remaining contestants spread into the new Rarotonga and Aitutaki tribes with nine members each.
• Double Tribal Council: On Day 15, both the Aitutaki and Rarotonga tribes were forced to visit Tribal Council to eliminate one of their own.
• Mutiny: On Day 19, the tribes were offered to switch tribe affiliations.
• Message in a Bottle: After losing the Day 24 Immunity Challenge, the Rarotonga tribe received a sealed bottle with a note that can only be read after the Tribal Council elimination. The tribe assumed it was a note about instructions about the upcoming merge. But much to their shock, the note instructed them to vote out another member of the tribe.
• Delayed Merge: Because of the sealed message in a bottle twist, the tribes were merged with nine members.
• Final Three and Expanded Jury: Unlike the first twelve seasons where the usual Final Two facing a seven-player jury is featured, this season featured a Final Tribal Council with three remaining finalists facing a nine-person jury.

Castaways

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation				Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Shuffled Tribe	Post-Mutiny	Merged Tribe
	Sekou Bunch 45, Los Angeles, CA Jazz Musician	Manihiki				1st Voted Out Day 3	3
	Billy Garcia 36, New York City, NY Heavy Metal Musician	Aitutaki				2nd Voted Out Day 6	4
	Cecilia Mansilla 29, Oakland, CA Risk Consultant	Aitutaki	Aitutaki			3rd Voted Out Day 8	5
	J.P. Calderon 30, Long Beach, CA Professional Volleyball Player	Aitutaki	Rarotonga			4th Voted Out Day 11	7
	Stephannie Favor 35, Columbia, SC Nursing Student	Manihiki	Rarotonga			5th Voted Out Day 14	9
	Cao Boi Bui 42, Christiansburg, VA Nail Salon Manager	Puka Puka	Aitutaki			6th Voted Out Day 15	6
	Cristina Coria 35, Los Angeles, CA Police Officer	Aitutaki	Rarotonga			7th Voted Out Day 15	5
	Jessica Smith 27, Chico, CA Roller Girl	Rarotonga	Aitutaki			8th Voted Out Day 18	6
	Brad Virata 29, Santa Monica, CA Fashion Director	Puka Puka	Rarotonga	Rarotonga		9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 21	7
	Rebecca Borman 34, Laurelton, NY Makeup Artist	Manihiki	Rarotonga	Rarotonga		10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 24	6
	Jenny Guzon-Bae 36, Lake Forest, IL Real Estate Agent	Puka Puka	Rarotonga	Rarotonga		11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 24	6
	Nate Gonzalez 25, Playa del Rey, CA Shoe Salesman	Manihiki	Rarotonga	Rarotonga	Aitutonga	12th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 27	5
	Candice Woodcock 23, Washington, DC Pre-Med Student	Rarotonga	Aitutaki	Rarotonga		13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 30	6
	Jonathan Penner 44, Los Angeles, CA Writer	Rarotonga	Aitutaki	Rarotonga		14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 33	15
	Parvati Shallow 23, West Hollywood, CA Boxer	Rarotonga	Rarotonga	Rarotonga		15th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 36	4
	Adam Gentry 27, San Diego, CA Copier Sales Executive	Rarotonga	Rarotonga	Rarotonga		16th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 37	5
	Sundra Oakley 31, Los Angeles, CA Actress	Manihiki	Aitutaki	Aitutaki		Eliminated 9th Jury Member Day 38	6
	Becky Lee 28, Washington, DC Attorney	Puka Puka	Aitutaki	Aitutaki		Second Runner-Up	5
	Ozzy Lusth 24, Venice, CA Waiter	Aitutaki	Aitutaki	Aitutaki		Runner-Up	1
	Yul Kwon 31, San Mateo, CA Management Consultant	Puka Puka	Aitutaki	Aitutaki		Sole Survivor	5

Season Summary

The 20 players were initially divided into four tribes based on race. On Day 7 of the competition, two of the four tribes were dissolved and the remaining members were split up and joined the two remaining tribes. An early visit to Exile Island resulted in Yul discovering the Hidden Immunity Idol. With the tribes having six members each on Day 19, Probst announced that any tribe member may mutiny and join the other tribe; Candice and Jonathan opted for this move, leaving the Aitutaki tribe at four members, consisting of Yul, Ozzy, Becky, and Sundra, and an eight-strong Rarotonga tribe.

However, this betrayal served to only increase the determination of the Aitutaki tribe. Between strong teamwork skills, Yul's intelligence, and Ozzy's physical skills, Aitutaki remained strong and continued to win both tribal and individual challenges, sending the Rarotonga tribe to Tribal Council three times in a row. Additionally, they would continuously send Candice to Exile as payback for her mutiny.

The tribes merged with 9 players remaining: 5 Raros and 4 Aitus. Yul cemented his Aitutaki alliance by showing them the Hidden Immunity Idol, and convinced Jonathan, a former Aitutaki member who had accepted the mutiny offer, to vote along with them in order to give the former Aitutaki tribe the majority and eliminate Nate.

The Aitutaki 4 would eventually pagong the remaining Rarotonga members and become the final four. With Yul holding the Hidden Immunity Idol and Ozzy winning the Final Immunity Challenge, the four agreed to let a fire-making challenge decide who would join them at the Final Three. Despite this taking more than an hour to complete, Becky emerged victoriously.

At the Final Tribal Council, Becky was criticized for her perceived coat-tailing of Yul and poor performance at the fire-making challenge, Yul was respected for his strategic mind, while Ozzy was commended for his challenge performance. Ultimately, Yul defeated Ozzy and Becky in a 5-4-0 vote.

Episode		Air date	Challenges		Exiled	Eliminated (Vote)	Finish	Viewers (in millions)	Rating/Share (18-49)
			Reward	Immunity
1	"I Can Forgive Her but I Don't Have to Because She Screwed with My Chickens"	September 14, 2006	Puka Puka1		Jonathan	Sekou (3-2)	1st Voted Out Day 3	18.00	6.5/20
			Aitutaki1
			Rarotonga1
2	"Dire Strengths and Dead Weight"	September 21, 2006	Puka Puka1,2		Yul	Billy (4-1)	2nd Voted Out Day 6	17.43	6.5/18
			Rarotonga1,2
				Manihiki
3	"Flirting and Frustration"	September 28, 2006	None	Rarotonga	Candice	Cecilia (5-3)	3rd Voted Out Day 8	16.85	5.9/16
4	"Ruling the Roost"	October 5, 2006	Aitutaki	Aitutaki	Adam	J.P. (7-2)	4th Voted Out Day 11	15.83	5.6/16
5	"Don't Cry Over Spilled Octopus"	October 12, 2006	Rarotonga	Aitutaki	Jonathan	Stephannie (7-1)	5th Voted Out Day 14	15.84	5.5/15
6	"Plan Voodoo"	October 19, 2006	Aitutaki		None	Cao Boi (6-1-1)	6th Voted Out Day 15	15.02	5.3/14
			[Nate]3			Cristina (4-2)	7th Voted Out Day 15
7	"A Closer Look"	October 26, 2006	Recap Episode					N/A	N/A
8	"Why Aren't You Swimming?!"	November 2, 2006	Aitutaki	Rarotonga	Adam	Jessica (6-1)	8th Voted Out Day 18	15.30	5.4/14
9	"Mutiny"	November 9, 2006	Aitutaki	Aitutaki	Candice	Brad (7-1)	9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 21	14.39	4.8/13
10	"People That You Like Want to See You Suffer"	November 16, 2006	Aitutaki	Aitutaki	Candice	Rebecca (6-1)	10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 24	15.35	5.3/14
						Jenny (4-2)	11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 24
11	"Why Would You Trust Me?"	November 23, 2006	None	Ozzy	None	Nate (5-4)	12th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 27	12.67	4.3/13
12	"You're a Rat..."	November 30, 2006	Survivor Auction	Adam	Candice	Candice (5-3)	13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 30	15.63	5.4/14
13	"Arranging a Hit"	December 7, 2006	Parvati [Adam, Sundra]	Ozzy	Jonathan	Jonathan (6-1)	14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 33	15.72	5.3/15
14	"I Have the Advantage... for Once"	December 14, 2006	Ozzy	Ozzy	Adam	Parvati (4-2)	15th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 36	14.55	5.0/14
			Parvati
			Yul
15	"This Tribe Will Self-Destruct in 5, 4, 3..."	December 17, 2006	None	Ozzy	None	Adam (4-1)	16th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 37	16.42	5.7/14
				Ozzy		Sundra (2-2; tiebreaker)4	Eliminated 9th Jury Member Day 38
			Jury Vote			Becky (5-4-0)	Second Runner-Up
						Ozzy (5-4-0)	Runner-Up
						Yul (5-4-0)	Sole Survivor
16	"Reunion"							13.53	5.1/13
Notes: ^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge. ^2 Rarotonga was initially declared the sole winner of the reward, but after reviewing challenge footage, it was found that Puka Puka also finished at the exact same time as Rarotonga. Thus, both tribes shared the reward reserved only for the first-placing tribe. ^3 Aitutaki was instructed to kidnap a member of Rarotonga, allowing them to share in their reward and abstain from the vote at Tribal Council. ^4 Per Survivor rules, a fire-making challenge would be held between the tied players in case of a tie at the final four Tribal Council.

Voting History

		Original Tribes		Switched Tribes						Post-Mutiny Tribes			Merged Tribe
Episode		1	2	3	4	5	6		8	9	10		11	12	13	14	15
Voted Out		Sekou	Billy	Cecilia	J.P.	Stephannie	Cao Boi	Cristina	Jessica	Brad	Rebecca	Jenny	Nate	Candice	Jonathan	Parvati	Adam	Tie	Sundra	Becky	Ozzy	Yul
Vote		3-2	4-1	5-3	7-2	7-1	6-1-1	4-2	6-1	7-1	6-1	4-2	5-4	5-3	6-1	4-2	4-1	2-23	Tiebreaker	5-4-0
►►►	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	Eliminated			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	—	—	Exiled1	—	—	Cao Boi	—	Jessica	Brad	Rebecca	Jenny	Yul	Jonathan								Yul
►►►	Nate	Sundra	—	—	Stephannie	Stephannie	—	Kidnapped2	—	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
Notes: ^1 After winning the Immunity Challenge, Rarotonga was given the opportunity to send one member of Aitutaki to Exile Island, making that player skip Tribal Council. They selected Candice. ^2 After voting out Cao Boi, Aitutaki was given the opportunity to kidnap one member of Rarotonga, making them immune from their Tribal Council and will stay at Aitutaki camp overnight. They selected Nate. ^3 Per the rules of Survivor, a fire-making challenge was held to break a tie in the final four Tribal Council.

Trivia

• Cook Islands is the first season to feature a "cold open", a narrative technique where an episode directly begins the story before playing the title sequence. This practice began in "Ruling the Roost" and has been used since.
• Thus far, this is the only season to have one tribe accidentally stumble upon the opposing tribe's camp (Aitutaki members Jessica Smith, Ozzy Lusth, and Cao Boi Bui had accidentally ended up on the rival Rarotonga's beach while exploring the bay).
• This season ties with Panama for the most starting tribes, with four.
• It is the first and only season to have the tribes divided by ethnicity.
• This is the first season to feature a Final Three at the Final Tribal Council rather than a Final Two as in previous seasons. Since Cook Islands, the only seasons to not have had a Final Three were Micronesia, Tocantins, and Cagayan.
• Cook Islands is the only season where the mutiny offer was accepted.
• The jury (except for the last member) consists of all former post-mutiny Rarotonga members, while the Final Three and last member of the jury consists of all former post-mutiny Aitutaki members.
• This is the second season to have the jury phase start before the merge, following Thailand.
• This is the second season to have only two different players (Adam Gentry and Ozzy Lusth) win individual immunity post-merge, following Palau.
• This is the second season to have the merged tribe consist of nine members, following All-Stars.
  • Palau had its individual stage start at the final nine, but it was not a merge as the eight-member Koror tribe conquered the one-member Ulong.
• This season had the most representatives in Micronesia, with three.
• This is the first season in which a finalist (Becky Lee) received no jury votes, which has since become very common in seasons with Final Threes.
• This is the first season where the first two people voted off were both men. It would be followed by Cagayan.
  • This is also the first season where the first two people eliminated were men, unless one counts The Outcasts from Pearl Islands as not being eliminated when they were voted out of their original tribes. It would be followed by Blood vs. Water and Cagayan.
• 13 of the 20 contestants of this season were from the state of California. This is a Survivor record for the most castaways from one state in a single season.
• This season has the most pre-merge jury members, with three.
  • Fiji has three jury members who never took part in an individual challenge, but one of them was a member of the merged tribe.
• This is the first season since Borneo to not have the Second Chance challenge.
• 17 out of the 20 contestants were recruited for this season.
  • The ones who were not recruited were Jenny Guzon-Bae, Stephannie Favor and Cao Boi Bui.
• This season has the most people voted out pre-merge, with 11.
• This season ties with The Australian Outback and Pearl Islands for being represented in the most seasons with returning players, with 7.
• This season has the most Latin-American contestants, with 6.