Cochran Faces Rival Ozzy on Redemption Island

We entered tonight's episode of "Survivor: South Pacific" with Oakton resident John Cochran on borrowed time.

After being voted to Redemption Island last week, he is tasked with facing Ozzy for a chance to get back in the game. And up to this point, Ozzy has shown no sign of weakness during his time in solitary.

After seeing that it's "friends and family" day for the remaining Te Tuna members (the opportunity to have a visit from a family member or friend), we headed over to Redemption for the battle royale.

It was a two-part challenge. First, they had to use grappling hooks to retrieve bags with balls in them. Then, they had to use a ball, and a set of pulleys, to navigate the ball through a maze without letting it fall through any of the holes.

Cochran got off to a slow start, and received encouragement and help from both the rest of the tribe and host Jeff Probst on how to throw, to maneuver, to hurry up ...

It looked like Ozzywa going to walk away with this one, but his ball fell out, allowing Cochran to catch up. It was neck and neck at the end, but Cochran's ball went over the center target and out a hole just as Ozzy's nested nicely in the center. It was as close as it could have been.

But, alas, Cochran has played his last challenge on this season.

Ozzy seemed to be impressed and looked like he realized how much of a super fan Cochran is.

Cochran gave a speech about how big a fan he is, that he lives and breathes Survivor, that when he hears Jeff tell everyone to "Come on in, guys" and realizes he's one of those guys, he's so excited.

It was hard for everyone not to feel bad for him, as they all know how close he was and how much he wanted to play.

"I was up against one of the most competent challenge dominators to play this game," he said, and to come so close is a dream come true for him. "I love Survivor."

"I'm talking so much to keep from getting teary-eyed because this has been one of the most incredible moments in my life," he said, and expounded upon how much he's grown.

Even Probst gave him kudos for getting so far while being a small guy who was ridiculed, and acknowledged he was the only one to really make a big game move this season.

But then he had to leave, and he reluctantly threw his buff on the fire.

After that, the Te Tuna tribe members' "people" came out and gave hugs. Ozzy then had to choose the three people who would get to spend time with their people at Redemption. He chose Albert, Coach and Brandon.

They all went back to Redemption and hang out: Hantz's dad gave him a little talking to about playing the game to win. Pretty amusing considering Hantz just told him he doesn't care about being sole survivor or the $1 million. Sigh.

Edna tried to make some inroads and see if anyone would be willing to vote off Hantz. And she not only didn't win immunity (Coach did) but was singled out by Hantz who tried to help her lose.

She became more upset and tried again to get Coach, Sophie and Albert to vote Lil' Hantz out, saying he was not playing with the honor and integrity Upolu tribe members have touted all season, that he was just being outright mean to her.

It appeared they were all a little annoyed at how Hantz was outwardly treating her, as well, but in the end, Edna was sent to Redemption to battle Ozzy.

We get to see Cochran all cleaned up on the jury, and though I know he wanted to win, I think being on the jury will be a big thrill for him, too, because it is so much a vital part of the game.

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Cochran, we hardly knew ye.

One of our regulars in the live chat, Craig from Australia, made a good point: Cochran could easily be voted fan favorite at the end. (Fans vote for a favorite before the finale and that person typically wins $100,000). So we'll keep our fingers crossed!

Being such a huge fan, and the only person (in my opinion) to mix it up this season, Cochran would also be a great choice for a future all-stars episode. Just sayin, CBS ...

Check Oakton Patch on Friday for our post-Survivor interview with John Cochran.