Jonathan finally figured out what most of us already knew: his Raro
tribemates are stupid. Fortunately, a merge gave him the perfect
opportunity to save himself and sacrifice one of the dummies. As a
result, Nate became the next jury member on Survivor: Cook Islands.

From
minute one of this episode, the Raro tribe gave Jonathan plenty of
clues that they weren’t the ideal candidates with whom to be stuck on
an island. First, Nate, Parvati, Adam, and Candice slept in while
Jonathan went fishing.

Then, when Jonathan returned from his
hunt, hours later, he came back to a camp with no fire, firewood, or
water. His tribemates became resentful when he asked them to fetch
water and make a fire.

Nate pouted, “We’re not knuckleheads. We know what to do.” Meanwhile, Candice failed repeatedly in her firestarting attempts.

There was no Reward Challenge this episode, but there was still a reward: a feast to celebrate a merging of the tribes.

Because
Raro went into the merge with 5-4 advantage in members, the former
members of that tribe — save Jonathan — were feeling overconfident.
At the feast, the “Raro kids,” as Jonathan called them, insisted on
getting “faded.” They drank too much beer and spent a good part of the
celebration throwing up.

After he was done puking, Adam started
hitting on Parvati, despite his already being on kissing terms with
Candice. He told Parvati that both women could share him, a statement
that struck Adam as immensely funny at the time. If he and Candice were
at home watching this week’s show together, I doubt she was laughing.

Jonathan thought the Raros were stupid for getting wasted, when an Immunity Challenge could come at anytime.

At
the camp of the newly formed Aitutonga tribe (formerly Raro’s camp),
Jonathan enjoyed an intelligent conversation. He discussed strategy
with Yul, namely the possibility of Jonathan re-aligning with his old
Aitu tribemates: Yul, Becky, Sundra, and Ozzy.

Though the topic
of the hidden immunity idol came up, Yul didn’t cop to having it.
Nearly every sentence in the discussion began with the word
“hypothetically.” (“Hypothetically, if I had the idol…”,
“Hypothetically, if you did…”, “Hypothetically, if you switched after
I told you I did…”, etc.).

In the end, Jonathan wouldn’t
commit to anything, since he didn’t want to commit to turning on the
Raros unless he was pretty sure Yul had the idol.

The season’s
first individual Immunity Challenge favored the lighter and more
dexterous tribe members. Contestants had to hang onto a 15-foot tall
pole, using bands of rope spaced at intervals for footholds. Once a
survivor slid down to the ground, that contestant was out.

Jonathan
complained to host Jeff that being relatively heavy and having large
feet put him at a disadvantage when standing on the thin bands of rope.

Yul,
who agreed with Jonathan, explained the physics of the challenge to
everyone. He lectured them about surface area relative to mass, saying,
“It’s why elephants can’t run up trees.” He ended his nerdy soliloquy
with the sentence, “I’m never gonna get a date again.”

Big boys
Adam and Jonathan dropped within 15 minutes, and before the first hour
was over, there was only one man left in the challenge (Ozzy) and
several women. After 90 minutes, it was down to Candice and Ozzy.

A
downpour forced Candice to shift for a better position, and like
everyone before her, that was the beginning of the end. She moved down
to the next rope band, and when she couldn’t get a stable foothold, she
was forced to move even lower.

Candice’s feet hit the ground, and Ozzy won immunity from that evening’s vote.

Back
at camp, Yul told Jonathan that he was in possession of the secret
Immunity Idol from Exile Island. To prove it, he showed the idol to
Jonathan. That confirmed for Jonathan the precarious position he was in.

At
Tribal Council, the Raro tribe would certainly vote for Yul, (the
biggest threat from the the Aitus) and he would produce the Immunity
Idol. That would mean the elimination of the person with the
second-highest number of votes. If Jonathan failed to align with the
members of Aitu, Yul promised they would all vote for him.

Jonathan
told Yul he would think things over. He then contemplated having to
betray everyone on his new tribe, after just recently betraying
everyone on his old tribe when he switched teams a few weeks back. In
an interview, he said, “Either way, I’m a complete bastard.”

Jonathan
then went to feel out the mood among his old Raro tribemates, by asking
them to consider the possibility that Yul had the secret Immunity Idol.

Nate,
Parvati, Adam, and Candice were adamant that there was no way that Yul
could have the idol, since he’d only spent one night on Exile Island.
After all, Adam, Candice, and Jonathan had all spent time on the
island, and none of them had been able to find it.

That foolish
reasoning (They didn’t realize that the reason they couldn’t find the
idol was because Yul already had it!) confirmed for Jonathan that he
was aligned with a bunch of nitwits.

So, Jonathan decided to
backstab the Raros, only weeks after backstabbing the Aitus by
deserting them. At Tribal Council that night, he joined his old Aitu
tribemates and voted Nate out of the competition and into the jury.

Jonathan’s
flip was a smart move, it was the right move, and — for viewers — it
was the most interesting and satisfying move. But it could put Jonathan
in a real tough spot with the jury, should he make it to the final two.
As he’s all too aware, he’s now turned on everyone at least once.

After the vote, Candice, Parvati, and Adam gaped in amazement, and Jonathan avoided their gaze by staring upward.

Nate knew exactly who had switched allegiances. In his closing comments, he said, “Jonathan, you can kiss my ass!”

Next
week, the former members of Raro are enraged by Jonathan’s betrayal.
But vengeance is his, as he and his industrious Aitu allies refuse to
share the food they gather.