"Survivor: South Pacific" unites two tribes into one

(CBS) Yes, Ozzy's plan for the merge worked Wednesday night on "Survivor: South Pacific" but not thanks to his acting skills. (SPOILER ALERT)

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Pictures: "Survivor: South Pacific

As he had planned, Ozzy arrived at Redemption Island with a tale of how Cochran had found and played an immunity idol to orchestrate Ozzy's ouster from the tribe. Christine bought it, but his over-the-top soliloquy before the duel, witnessed by all the castaways, left the rest of the Upolu team skeptical.

They turned even more skeptical after Ozzy's team cheered his return to the game in a merged tribe with a level playing field - six members of Upolu and six of Savii. After a valiant fight, Christine, who could not piece together a stick long enough to snare keys from a hook, was out of the game.

The one thing Ozzy and his Savii tribemates didn't count on was the revenge of the nerd. Harvard law scholar Cochran, after being berated and targeted by fellow Savii castmates for much of the season, struck back.

With the vote deadlocked 6-6 (Keith and Rick on the chopping block) on the first try, Cochran sided with Upolu and sent Savii member Keith home. Had the second vote been a tie, castmates would have had to draw stones to see who would be eliminated.

The reaction to the betrayal was immediate. "Coward," sneered Jim as the rest of Savii looked on with disgust. And who comes to Cochran's aid ? Not Dawn, who earlier in the segment was ruing that she did not do more to help the misfit.

Instead, it was Russell's nephew, Brandon Hantz, who tells Cochran, "Stick close to me."

Also throwing a curve to members of the new Te Tuna tribe was a double immunity challenge requiring castaways to balance a coconut between ropes while standing on a perch. The last man and the last woman standing won immunity necklaces.

Dawn and Ozzy, both of the former Savii tribe, won immunity, leading to some interesting math calculations. More than one tribe member suggested it improved the tribe's odds in the vote. I am not sure how they figured that - without a betrayal, it would always be 6-6.