LAST EDITED ON 10-20-11 AT 09:16 AM (EST)
I have to agree, ladies. I find Cochran very unappealing and he reminds me of a weasel of some kind. An opportunist. He's clearly a sexist. And, as michel pointed out, first Mikayla was pegged as a victim. A hard working girl member of the tribe, who gave her best at challenges was marked as a Delilah and a femme fatale from the troll boy, Brandon. But, as soon as Mikayla turned the tides and started bullying Brandon in her confessionals, she was no longer portrayed as the victim, she was marked as someone that was headed for the boot.
Isn't this the same thing? At first, Cochran was marked as a victim, especially by Ozzy, as the weakest member in the chain link Savaii fence. But, now, he's appearing like the bully, at least verbally, as did Mikayla. I know that they laughed at it, but me, the audience, thought him a little too arrogant for his britches. I really don't like him...He has had no original thinking...but, I am afraid that he could be the winner.
Regarding Ozzy. Clearly Ozzy's edit hit ROCK bottom this season, and especially in this episode. He was lazy, arrogant, etc, etc. There was NO way that he was winning this season with an edit like that! But, now, with the blindside of his girlfriend, and his rock bottom reaction, declaring himself a free agent and revealing his idol, I feel that this was a HUGE development for him.
This was like a huge slap in the face for him. Reaching rock bottom, then alienating himself and making the worst possible move (as we were told by Jim). But, then we heard him first note it as a big mistake, and how he wanted to get back with his tribe, and that he needed them and their trust. So he first makes amends with Keith, who tells him that he always thought they could go all the way together, get to the merge and run all of the IC's and take whoever they want to take. Then, Ozzy says he regrets telling them about his idol, and they share a laugh. He's able to re-evaluate his moves and laugh about how stupid he had been. This is what we call character development, right?
THen we immediately see Ozzy apologizing to Cochran, and the rest of the tribe, asking for their forgiveness and telling them that he wants to be one of them to the end. Jim again tells us that this is the best thing for him because Ozzy is the perfect tribe mate, he can help win challenges before the merge, and after the merge he's a bigger target than me...the perfect tribe mate. So, concerning Jim, we see that Ozzy will still have obstacles to surmount in the later game....but don't all winners have odds to surmount?
Then Ozzy is the one that talks first in the reward portion. We see the camera zoom in on them all as they have their arms around each other and one arm in the middle ready to do a cheer, and Ozzy says, "The most important thing about that challenge is we just had to stay calm...." Then hear Dawn say, "right!". Then Ozzy continues, "Even though it looked like we were gonna stay behind, just coming back and BOOM!" And they all cheer. Ozzy has his hand around Cochran and on Jim's shoulder, and Ozzy just seems to be now EMBRACING his tribe. This scene is ALL about team "reunifying" as Ozzy had called it earlier....
Then the scene ends with a "1, 2, 3....SAVAII" and we hear Ozzy say, "yes"!
Then they cut to Dawn's confessional:
"To win the immunity and the reward could not have come at a better time. We were coming off lots of hurt feelings, and lots of drama. So, winning was the BEST feeling!"
Then we see them on the picnic blanket and we hear Ozzy say..."SAVAII SIX, to the end, man!" and we see him raise his glass with he and Cochran in close up...
This reminded me of how committed he was to the Aitu 4. This is the Ozzy that we knew and loved. I can't help but think will the Savaii 6 get to the end...together? Is the HERO, Ozzy, reemerging?
Then Ozzy has the big confessional...A reward like this really brought us all back together. It really made me want someone (we see COCHRAN) from this tribe to win the million. (Now we see WHITNEY), then we see OZZY....I don't care if it's me....well, I do care if it's me, I want it to be me, but if it's not me, I do hope it's someone else from my tribe. Immediately we cut to Ozzy as he stands high among the rock cliff and prepares to dive in, head first from the rocks.
Then, immediately we hear Dawn's reaction...That was CRAZY!!!.... and she asks Cochran if he agreed. He replied, "I'm not physically or emotionally capable of doing that".
This was indeed a very significant scene. First of all, I wondered will Cochran, Whitney, and Ozzy be the F3?
Regardless....as Cochran was seen when Ozzy said he really wants someone to win from his tribe, clearly, Cochran could be the winner. BUT, the thing that gave me pause was if Ozzy wasn't meant to be a final contender, than they could have "cut/spliced" the sound bytes to omit the part where he says, "well, I do care if it's me, I want it to be me". But, they included it, and I can't help that they included that for a reason. I am beginning to think that Ozzy has a shot at this.
Then with his CRAZY high dive, it makes me think that Ozzy will do something very risky, "crazy", with his eyes wide open, head first to get to the end....does this foreshadow his volunteering to go to RI for the sake of his tribe, which we speculate may happen next episode? It sure could earn him some jury points in the end, if he makes it. Risking self sacrifice for the good of his tribe...it's a plan.
Also, it was an interesting repsonse from Cochran....I'm not physically or emotionally capable of doing that. Is this foreshadowing that he will not win, or is it misdirection. I think that there is argument to support both.
Then the scene ends with Cochran stripping off "the boundary between him and nature", his sweater vest, and take the plunge down the rocks to the water, where Ozzy, Dawn, Jim, and Whitney sat in judgement. Do they represent the jury that will sit in judgement later? Sure seems that way....
But, immediately after that scene, we have Ozzy following effortlessly down the same path, with the entire tribe sitting in judgement...Cochran, Dawn, Jim, Keith, and Whitney. Again, I can't help but to wonder if Ozzy and Cochran will be in the F3? Which one is the "journey" player and will fall short, and which one is the one that deserves the most redemption?
In sum: This was a very pivotal episode for Ozzy. He hit rock bottom and now seems like he is reborn. Will he take the commitment that almost won him the show in Cook Islands and apply it with a new unified Savaii tribe to dive right in, head first into another final showdown? Is this reformed Ozzy solid enough to win it, or is this too little, too late?
With a theme of redemption, I am now thinking that the old Ozzy I used to know and love may indeed re-emerge and could even possibly win this thing? OTOH, I think Cochran could be the journey player that hopefully has his dream come true by lasting till the end. With a less than stellar edit....self depreciating comments, sexist remarks and someone that can be somewhat socially inept himself ( a la the herpes conversation), I just don't know if he will win....he certainly has many qualities that could be redeemed. He could be our winner...?
With this episode, I think that Dawn will not be the winner. She is starting to narrate more than be talked about herself. She's used to validate the feelings and events...
I feel strongly now, that the winner is on the Savaii tribe. They became unified at a GREAT time, where as now, merge pending, it really seems like the previously unified tribe of Upolu is splintering, as was noted with the divided vote. Very telling, imo! This was a huge episode and most of it was because of OZZY. Yes, his stock has risen immensely with this show...fwiw.