If Cook is now "TCO," it's because of his own efforts and his voting fans. Without either of those things, tptb would not be supporting him.

What's really silly is that TCO isn't something that someone becomes during the season. The TCO tag belongs to someone going into the 12, at the latest, as the one the producers want to win.

If someone becomes the front runner, you can say tptb are pimping them for the win, but it doesn't make them the TCO. Archie was one of, if not THE, TCO from the beginning. If he's fallen from grace now, it doesn't change that. Cook was never TCO, he was fodder at the beginning, at least for Simon.