10 Thoughts On… Survivor South Pacific Episode 7 Review – “Ozzy’s Big Move”

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

I don’t write about Survivor as much as I used to. It’s strange, considering my role as the world’s foremost reality television expert and I guess it is because I have never felt compelled to because until this past episode of Survivor, I didn’t really see a game being played.

That all changed on Wednesday.

Episode 7 was the true season premiere. And it changed everything.

Here are my thoughts:

1. I am friends with Ozzy and I am friends with Coach. At this point in the game, I believe that Coach is playing the better game. With that being said, I do not blame Ozzy for becoming the Savaii martyr. He had no other moves left. After he isolated himself in the aftermath of the Elyse vote, he really had no other shot to win the game. I don’t think his tribe would have voted for him if he went up against any other members of Savaii in a jury vote. As a result, he now can argue that he put his own life on the line to ensure the tribe’s collective safety. That finally will give him an argument because if he did make it to the end, his back would be against the wall since there would be a prejudice against voting for a returning player.

2. Coach has played a very good game thus far. You have to remember that while editing is focusing upon his ridiculous moments, he has made the right decision each time he has been faced with a choice in the game thus far. From being ostracized on day one, he has such a stranglehold on his team right now that he really can do whatever he wants. The only time his rule was challenged was last week when Sophie and Albert wanted to vote Edna off. It didn’t take much effort for him to swing Cowboy to his side. Similarly, this week he decided that he was going to show the entire team the idol. While I don’t agree with the move, I was shocked that Sophie and Albert didn’t even fight him on the point. He is completely in control.

3. The main reason that I believe Savaii made the wrong move is because Christine has made it publicly known she is turning against her original team. Sending Cochran would have made no difference because whoever returned from that duel was with them. Had Cochran left, they would have just picked up Christine.

4. I loved Cochran initially. I have never seen a player on the show that I have identified with more. And it’s for the same reasons that I like him that I think he is ruining his game. His ego is spiraling out of control. There are two kinds of people who watched Wednesday’s show. Some will say Ozzy was an egomaniac and shouldn’t have blamed Cochran for a team loss. Others will side with him and say Cochran should have left because he cost them the challenge. I am strongly in the latter category. I knew the writing was on the wall about Cochran’s ego when he made the ‘bitch’ comment about Ozzy last week behind his back. His confessional in the preview for next week solidified it. He has no shot of winning anymore and I just don’t think he is coming off as very likeable. Certainly not as much as he first did. The strange thing is that even with his confidence boost costing him, I still believe there are many like me who have never seen a better representations of themselves in a player.

5. Albert made a bad move by helping Mikayla in the Redemption Island challenge. Showed his hand even more to Christine and it wasn’t necessary.

6. LOVED Jim’s like about Dawn being their third guy and Cochran being their fourth. While he is very excitable and for all the hype about Cochran being the biggest fan of the game, I believe Jim is the real student of the show.

7. Sophie vocalized exactly what every person was thinking when she questioned Coach praying to find the idol knowing that he already had it. Her timing couldn’t have been better (although her makeup in the challenge needed a lot of work).

8. The best pure players right now are Coach, Edna and Whitney. This is an absolute fact.

9. I don’t think there will be a merge next week.

10. Get ready for Matt Elrod v. 2.0. Nobody will be able to beat Ozzy at Redemption unless they bring Boston Rob back. Can I start the petition now?

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.