I didn't say he didn't make mistakes, or do dumb things. I wasn't very impressed with his play, but he was on the chopping block from day 1 (and was told so by his tribe constantly), and made it to day 30. He's clearly there to play, loves the game, and I think he's a reasonably intelligent person, even if he did do some dumb stuff last time around.

I'm not defending Cochran's flip, but people ITT are being incredibly results oriented. Making F7 with no allies and a fractured six-person alliance is a pretty excellent position to be in, especially when you have self-interested, rational players like Albert still in the game to help you orchestrate a flip. The problem Cochran ran into was that the people on the bottom of the alliance who should have flipped were all passive idiots who didn't realize their position in the alliance until it was too late.

7th in a 7 person is often times going to be a lot better then 6th in a 6 person anyhow. He was just duped/mismanaged his situation post-flip. He could easily learn.

And as far as lasting long, yes Ozzy wanted him out from day 1. But Cochran did nothing to save himself, he just got lucky they saw Semhar as even more useless, Papa Bear as more of a social outcast, then the others got nervous Elyse was too close to Ozzy, etc.

Cochran could have stayed with Dawn and drawn rocks, then those two could have worked something with the other tribe. Seeing as he was terrible at challenges, not well liked by anyone, and a clueless strategist, flipping didn't gain him anything at all.

But yes, I suppose he could have learned and play better this time around. It can't get much worse than when Coach owns you.

Why do so many of you think Cochran is any good as a player? He's one of the worst players who have ever been on. He's a physical weakling who cannot contribute to challenges or compete for an immunity idol. His social skills are even worse. Who cares if he's a "big fan" of the show?

He's a waste of space.

well apparently hes now a survivor favourite instead of a fan

The reason I'm so optimistic for Cochran this time because Savaii was historically one of the worst tribes for him to end up on whereas this Favorites tribe seems to be the opposite of that. He's got Wine and Cheese bonds with Andrea and Francesca, both Corinne and Shep seem to love him, he's got good relationships from SP with Dawn and Brandon, and the young strong guys (Malcolm/Erik) are both big fans of the game that I think are going to be far easier for him to get along with than Ozzy and Keith. If people buy the "flipping didn't work for me last time, I'm not going to make the same mistake twice" motivation, I think he could find himself in a really cushy spot entering a merge.

I was also really impressed with his continued referencing of what Yul has taught him about the game in the previously posted interview with Dalton Ross. Cochran's clearly an intelligent guy who is very capable of understanding what changes he needs to make to have more success, it's just a matter of actually executing, but at this point I think it's fair to say that almost all signs seem to be pointing in his favor.

I mean he wasn't very good on his season, but he's not one of the worst players to have ever been on the show. He's not even one of the worst players on his own tribe this time around. Phillip/Brandon/Francesca are all pretty brutal.

This is well put imo

I don't think the people knocking Cochran are considering that All-Star seasons play much differently from normal ones.

But he wrote a paper at Harvard, or Yale, or Wichita State, or wherever it was that he went to school.

Except for the fact that if he had made it to the end there are 5 jurors who are almost 100% never giving him a vote. He might have got Dawn's vote but he had no chance at the others.

He definitely is set up well though this season. Savaii may have been the worst tribe for him (I don't think so) but this is without doubt the best tribe he could ever hope for and I see him sticking around for awhile.

I think it is very different to any other all star type season though with the type of players cast. There's certainly no Boston Rob type that will target the thinking players straight up.

That's why I said I wasn't defending the move. I do think this is a stretch, though, as Jim and Dawn both could have voted for him.

Keeping in mind what Survivor is and the ultimate purpose of the game, please explain how a 6-person alliance that all voted together through six straight tribal councils was "fractured".

Pro-tip: The actual "pecking order" isn't always so clearly defined when you're out there actually playing the game. If Special Agent Shepherd and/or Natalie play in South Pacific under that tribe/group dynamic, they most likely leave around where Edna, Brandon, or Rick were booted. But playing in RI with the GOAT, they're at the top of the pecking order and make it to the F3.


edit- in for BrendAndrea

The Cochran haters are trying to generalize too much from his performance in SP imo. Every season there are people who screw up a challenge, don't mesh with their tribe, or whatever, and up being booted with little fanfare; the difference with Cochran is that he flamed out in much more dramatic fashion and received enough focus in the editing that his failure looked a lot more significant than it really was. Unlike most of those people, Cochran knows enough about the game that given the right cast he could do very well; and as cstone said, this is basically the best possible cast for him.

I so would've preferred to see Stephen Fishbach fill the Cochran role. It's pretty disappointing really. Fishbach would've navigated his way through this season magnificently.

this is ridiculous, people were all over him in the South Pacific thread right after it happened

I'm saying they're being results oriented about the idea of "Cochran flipped, therefore he will always flip, therefore he is prone to making bad moves, therefore he is a bad player." There are plenty of casts where Cochran will fit in very well, and I think this is one of them.

I don't doubt he has a better chance this season than in SP, I just don't think he's interesting or smart or likable enough- or played a good enough game the first time around- to deserve another chance.

In other words, if you come on the show as a challenge monster, you better do well in challenges. If you're the dumb, hot girl...you better be hot and get a guy(s) to take care of you. Social alpha dog? Gather some followers, at least for awhile. Etc. etc.

If you're the "student of the game strategist", then DO SOMETHING STRATEGIC! Don't get manipulated by Coach and make important decisions based on emotion.

He may have been unfortunate to get put on the tribe he did, but there have been plenty of people who have played a better game and ran into MUCH MUCH worse runbad than him.

Cochrane came in as the likeable awkward nerd. I think he nailed it the first time through.

seriously, once you get manipulated and outplayed by coach you pretty much need to pack it up and retire from survivor.

I would hate to see Cochran come back on a number of different line-ups because he'd be a too likely insta-boot, but with this starting tribe he has a great shot to be a very entertaining and possibly even good Survivor contestant. Lol at people who say he doesn't 'deserve' to get invited back. How do you look at that list of favorites and pick Cochran out as the one who doesn't deserve to play again.


That Brandon Hantz interview was comedy gold.

Wasn't too hard. He played the worst game imo, and wasn't entertaining.

Worse than someone who was eliminated first, Brandon Hantz, and Erik who both essentially voted themselves out of the game?

Yes. Francesca was a strong personality who was at least trying to target Boston Rob from the jump; she just got screwed by Philip's early stupidity and Rob's (in his 4th season) alliance.

Erik was gullible, but he was thinking what he needed to do to win the game. Cochran never got close to a clue on how he was ever going to win the game.

As far as Brandon, all you need to do is look at their interaction post-merge, when Brandon is convincing Cochran he'd be protected after he flips. One is strong and playing the game, the other is weak and getting played.

Brandon's self-created morality quandary was kind of silly, and obv giving up the necklace was dumb, but he was still a stronger force as a social player.

All three were magnitudes better at challenges.

lol at Brandon ever playing the game. Especially when Coach and others repeatedly told him if he were to give his idol to Albert he would be voted out and still giving his idol to Albert. Even his motivation of "restoring honor to the Hantz" showed his intentions were ulterior. As for him saying he will protect Cochran. I believe this is more a reflection of his character than anything else. As throughout the season he was set on "trying" to do the right thing and protecting Cochran would fall in line with that thinking.