The tribes had several things in common: a strong alliance of five including the returning player, two outsiders, an idol possessed by the returning player, and the knowledge of the idol shared with two other people. But over two episodes, one of the Savaii five got blindsided and the knowledge of the idol was leaked out to all, while at Upolu the alliance and idol knowledge remained intact. Ozzy's position at Savaii declined significantly while Coach's control over his Upolu tribe improved. What a contrast in fortunes for the two returning players, considering Ozzy started off far more popular.
Savaii
The situation at Savaii was that Ozzy, Elyse, Keith, Jim, and Whitney were all strongly allied, and Cochran and Dawn were allied in adversity by default. Ozzy and Elyse were too strongly allied for Jim's liking, and he felt Elyse should be the one to go next. It was easy to obtain Cochran's support, and Cochran was able to pull Dawn in. Now the question was whether Jim could persuade Keith to agree with the plan.
Jim had an idea of getting Keith to agree to vote out Elyse. He had heard about Stacey's and Christine's remarks at the duel about Coach / Benjamin controlling the game, and possibly being willing to vote out one of his strong allies. After he told the tribe about this, Ozzy considered that a good idea for Coach. Drawing a parallel with the situation in Savaii, could he alarm Keith into thinking that Ozzy should be weakened a little?
It was easier than Jim must have thought. Keith too was well aware that Ozzy and Elyse were too friendly, and seemed to take no time to agree with Jim to vote out Elyse, but - note - he felt he ought to secretly consult Whitney first. It looks like these two were stronger allies than was apparent to everyone else. Were they always going to vote together? They did this time, and did so as diplomatically as possible by giving two innocuous votes to Dawn, knowing that Jim, Cochran, and Dawn were going to vote for Elyse and eliminated her. Ozzy and Elyse naively thought it was a routine elimination of Cochran, and were effectively blindsided. Even though this scenario was quite predictable one episode in advance, they did not have the benefit of seeing what the cameras saw, and had no clue it was coming.
Upolu
At the duel, Christine and Stacey made comments about Coach / Benjamin being too powerful that frightened Albert into looking for the idol. He was not able to find it on his own, but got Coach and Sophie to help. Coach found it, and kept it too. Albert felt this was fine anyway, as he had brought himself a little closer to Coach. The tempting idol continued to capture Brandon's imagination, and he later went searching for it with Coach's and Albert's "help" - and had no idea how much of a fool he looked.
Did the idol knowledge really bond Coach and Albert together? It looks like it did not, really, as the Edna factor was still there. When the time came to vote someone out, the alliance of five had to choose between Mikayla and Edna. It was clear to Albert and Sophie that the tribe had to be as strong as possible, and so they wanted Edna out. Also, Albert was not happy about Edna and Coach being too close (though it was not as blatant as the strong bond between Ozzy and Elyse). He was not too keen about Coach having too loyal an ally who would do anything for him, and naturally preferred having a strong tribe member in Mikayla. Coach's reason that Mikayla did not listen to him when asked to make way for someone to fire the coconuts in the lost immunity challenge was certainly a worry for Albert.
Brandon wanted Mikayla out, but now his excuse was something like this had been some decision the alliance had commited to long ago, and it was the honourable thing to do. Nonsense, really. With four people having no doubt about who to vote for, the vote hinged on uncommitted Rick. People would be displeased with him no matter which way he voted. The alliance was divided on this.
And Mikayla was voted out. Everything had gone perfectly well for Coach. One small detail which the tribe did not seem to consider but should not be overlooked is that, due to the Redemption Island factor, Mikayla was a preferable person to vote out. After all, she was more likely than Edna to defeat Christine in the duel.
After the Vote
Ozzy's influence waned rather severely once it had sunk in that Elyse was out. For some reason, it prompted him to tell the whole tribe that he had the idol - that seems to have been an outburst rather than a considered move. He told them he wanted to break away and become a free agent, but later retracted his statement. After all, he and his tribe needed each other (and the idol too). With the idol, there is little doubt that Ozzy will make the merge. He could theoretically be blindsided, but with Redemption Island as recourse, he would not play and most likely waste the idol to safeguard himself. As a strong player, the tribe cannot afford to lose him. Certainly Jim would want to keep Ozzy around for strategic reasons. He commented that Ozzy should certainly get to the merge, as he would then become the biggest threat that the other tribe would want to target. It looks like it will finally be game over for Cochran at the next tribal council, unless the tribe think that with the merge so close they could vote out Dawn, who would be a bigger threat towards the end-game.
Coach in Upolu has found himself in a position in which almost everything has gone his way so far. His alliance of five plus Edna the extra has stayed intact. One irritation on his mind must be that Christine still exists, which would be bad news should she survive the necessary duels to get to the merge - she would definitely desert to the other tribe. Another concern is that Edna is surely doomed, since he cannot continue to prop her up. It is possible, though, that Brandon through his odd behaviour might be putting up enough neon signs to tell them to vote him out. That would be potentially wonderful. It would be such a sweet and legendary Survivor moment should there be a romantic Redemption Island retreat for Brandon and Mikayla together. Unfortunately this is a reality show, not a movie, and there is no script written for it (or is there?).
Girl... this maybe your best one yet!!! I love the juxtaposition between Coach and Ozzie!!! Ozzie really shot him self in the foot by not playing a more social, strategic, game... while he's very good at comps .. I feel he has little else going for him.. he should have kept his strong alliance with Elyse on the OT like Keith and Whitney have. Then spilling the secret of having the idol....made him look so childish.. Shame, because going in... he deffo had the backing of most of these people...
While on the other hand ... Coach with a lot of luck has really turned things around for him self.. With the somewhat deluded reasoning of Brendon ... who deffo has the Hantz walk..lol... he managed to save his loyal.. some what ineffective sidekick!!! It will be interesting to see how things play out... especially if Christine can some how beat Mikala the more athletic evicted to redemption island!! hahah!!!
The very last line in this blog made me laugh my head off!!! I love your blogs girl... they are a sweet treat after most of the blogs on here... mine included !!! lol <33333333
I think Ozzy's bond with Elyse would have survived in many another tribe. If not for Jim, people would generally have tolerated it, and voted out Cochran the weak.
Coach has a similar relationship with Edna, who's not even in the five, and one would understand why Albert wanted her out. If not for Brandon's inane insistence on voting according to some imaginary agreement set in stone that Mikayla had to be voted out, Edna would definitely have gone.
