Oh Snap!

Holy cow, last night's episode of Survivor: Cook Islands was one of the best ever. Let me just say that again...one of the best episodes ever. Even with the slow start, this season is shaping up to be one of the ages. Thank you Jonathan.

Why Jonathan? He's one of the best characters Survivor has ever had. And he was in rare form last night. First, he cleaned up on the Survivor auction. And he wasn't shy about it. Pepperoni burps when no one has eaten are classic. He played that auction exactly how you should - spend every last cent because you never know. They've already had the reward challenge with letters from home, so you know that you're probably only looking at food & comfort items being up for grabs - spend away! I don't feel at all bad for the knuckleheads who came away with nothing. What were you waiting for? And why Adam & Candice didn't pool ALL their money to get the chance to send someone to exile was ridiculous. You don't know what the note is, only that it is a power? You're at a 3-5 minority - take any chance you can to change the game.

There is a tradition of Survivor meltdowns, but nothing like the "fish incident" last night. Five eat while three make-out in the shelter (which, by the way, was so gross...don't be kissing Candice while you've got Parvati snuggled in on your other arm! Ewwww!). Every season there is someone who realizes that they are about to go home, and they stop putting in all the work at camp. But never has the rest of the tribe decided to just stop feeding them. And Jonathan & Candice's fight was classic.

Speaking of classic, Candice's exit certainly falls in that category. No rant, no gesture, just a long sloppy kiss with Adam. Once again, ewwww! I think that Nate's jury reactions would also go in the "classics" category. I think he may have gotten more screen time on the jury then Sundra did this episode. And Jeff Probst's parting line was also fantastic - "A kiss is nice… Maybe if it were love he would have given you the Immunity necklace."

A few other notes. Yul is maybe the smartest person to ever play the game. Showing everyone the immunity idol was brilliant. They all knew he had it; by showing it he pretty much bailed out Jonathan. He is clearly running every possible scenario in his head, and is smart enough to make moves to keep his alliance going. If he's in the final two, I don't think he can lose, even if the Raro folks hold to their promise to not vote for him as retaliation for keeping Jonathan in the game. We also have a LOT of people left for day 31...something has got to happen, especially with the jury. Rumor is that the finale will start with 5...there are three episodes left (including the finale on 12/17, so I guess that makes sense...sort of). I'm still convinced there will be at least one more big twist to come. Hmmm...