Brad Watch

A weekly look at the progress of Brad Virata, a 29-year-old Oak Harbor native who is a contestant on “Survivor: Cook Islands,” which airs at 8 tonight on KIRO, Channel 7.

Brad finally stood out last week, but it wasn’t in a good way as his tribemates said things such as “I don’t know what his deal was” and “I want to punch him in the mouth.”

Our guy might have waited a while to create a presence, but there’s no denying he’s there now.

Brad first started to ruffle some feathers when the tribe had a choice of which rewards to request if it won the reward challenge. Brad wanted potatoes and peanut butter, looking to make the most of the carbohydrate options available. His teammates, though, voted for bread and peanut butter.

It didn’t matter, and that’s why his tribemates were so mad at him.

The reward challenge included swimming to retrieve pieces to a puzzle; the first team to finish would win. Brad, one of the most athletic members of the team, puzzled everyone by opting not to swim but instead to work on the puzzle once the pieces came in because “I’m better at puzzles.”

The pieces never came, in part because Brad didn’t swim out to get them. The other tribe won, and Brad’s tribemates lambasted him.

The elimination challenge also featured swimming out to puzzle pieces before putting them together.

Brad was the first one from his tribe in the water, and the team won.

Safe for another week.

– Victor Balta

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