Survivor: Samoa Winner — Warning: Spoiler Alert

16 Comments

1. 1
   mere2142
   Posted December 21, 2009 at 1:30 pm

   Boo! I’m not happy…Russell should have won this game. I hate when people get on their high horse about playing the game morally. That’s not the point of Survivor! Plus Russell went from this hated character to someone I found myself really rooting for at the end which is quite a feat.

   The Heros/Villans concept might be interesting next season but I can’t wait for the next All-Stars!

2. 2
   cattyfan
   Posted December 21, 2009 at 1:36 pm

   It was gratifying to me that Russell wasn’t rewarded for his lying and machinations. It’s been proiven by other winning players that you can play the game without resorting to what Russell pulled. I think the easily found idols didn’t help Russell’s cause, as without them he would have been long gone.

   I wish when Jeff asked Mick why the audience liked Russell but the players didn’t, Mick should have pointed out that the audience sees an edited version…but the players had to live with Russell, and there’s a lot we, the audience, never see.

   Natalie, however, needs to thank Eric. Without his speech, she wouldn’t have won.

3. 3
   rj472
   Posted December 21, 2009 at 2:47 pm

   I was rooting for Russell but Natalie did show she was a very strong competitor when she needed to be. The way she hung on the platform with her legs to get extra reach won them the challenge. I don’t think she had a strategy other than not looking too capable or she would be voted off.

4. 4
   itchy
   Posted December 21, 2009 at 3:10 pm

   I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, Russell’s a douchbag –he proved it in spades on the reunion show.

   And I also never felt he had much of a strategy going on, he was just too damn loud and abrasive and needy. Nathalie figured that out and rode him like a sad old mule. Perfectly legitimate strategy.

   Erik was great though. Especially his point about how any sane person would hate having a Russell in their life.

5. 5
   scpsc
   Posted December 21, 2009 at 4:11 pm

   You nailed it, Itchy!
   What Russell did was in no way strategic or smart regardless of what he and Probst may say. His lack of any real game will insure he is off Heroes/Villains within the first three weeks. The audience response proved he is not thought of in any high regard.
   On a lighter note, the highlight for me was checking out his wife and seeing what they chose to wear – there is nothing more entertaining than a redneck with money.

6. 6
   baymenxpac
   Posted December 21, 2009 at 8:09 pm

   oh please. natalie had NO strategy. all of natalie’s moves were made for her as were mick’s. let’s face it: like him or not (which i happen to like him) russell was the only one playing this game. let’s consider this: despite most players figuring they had little chance to beat him in the end, STILL no one thought about voting him out when brett won immunity with 5 people remaining. instead he basically told natalie she was the next to go, which she bought hook, line and sinker.

   also, i think whoever brings ‘morality’ into this game is a fool. this isn’t real life people. no one is going to run up to you at your desk tomorrow morning and ask you to quickly assemble a puzzle from five bundles you gathered up from the water cooler. it’s a GAME. a 39 day version of something about as serious as a pick up game of monopoly. morality has no place in a game where you HAVE to deceive to some extent to win. i really think the argument that ‘russell’s behavior shouldn’t be rewarded’ is just childish ranting. in fact, i think that’s what this season should be called. survivor: samoa- petulant children who couldn’t get over the fact that they lost to a better player and punished him because of it. sad.

   russell goes down as one of the all time greats no matter what.

7. 7
   Bookworm
   Posted December 21, 2009 at 9:55 pm

   I am so glad that Russell won $100,000-Player of the Game-because he outwited and outplayed all of those clowns that didn’t vote for him to win the one million dollars. I find it mind boggling-of why people who play Survivor-just don’t get it, it is JUST A GAME! It is a game to ‘outwit and outplay’ your opponent. Russell did this and because he did, he get punished by not getting his right reward. I don’t get it.

8. 8
   itchy
   Posted December 21, 2009 at 11:59 pm

   It is indeed just a game.

   And how you choose to play a game speaks volumes about who you are.

   Why should the game of Survivor somehow receive its own category, opposed to every other game we play?

   No one would accept Russell’s behavior elsewhere–why accept it here?

   The proof: he outwitted no one. These people PURPOSEFULLY took him to the final, knowing full well there was not a chance in hell that he would win.

   The true final was between Natalie and Mick. Russell was an afterthought, a cartoon character helping to drive up the show’s ratings.

9. 9
   briar
   Posted December 22, 2009 at 2:19 am

   Totally agree with you itchy and cattyfan. Russel just got lucky to be dropped into a cast of not so smart people or he would have been voted out immediately.

   I can’t believe that Jeff didn’t run the clips of Russel calling all the women “stupid”…and I feel sorry for his wife.

   And does he really expect us to believe he’s the total opposite of his Survvor personna in real life? Puh-lease, no one would call women they don’t even know stupid on national television if they didn’t really feel that way.

   The best part of Nat winning is that Russel was beaten by a stupid girl.

   Eric should get an award for best speech ever.

10. 10
    briar
    Posted December 22, 2009 at 2:36 am

    Oops. I see from the recap Jeff DID call Russel out on his dumb girl comments, I fast forwarded through that part because there was just too much Russel for me to bear. Carry on.

11. 11
    Considerthis
    Posted December 22, 2009 at 7:37 am

    I really hate the 3 person finale. Please just make it 2 people. There is always so lame loser who has to plea and be humiliated to no avail. I have NEVER seen a 3 person finale be really tight in the voting.

12. 12
    baymenxpac
    Posted December 22, 2009 at 8:26 am

    i also think that some need to drag a line between what russell said in confessionals and what he actually did. what did he actually DO that was so deceptive? voting out john? did john really think that russell would give them back numbers? voting out jaison? he was forced into that. for all of russell’s bluster about “having a deal with everyone” (which you sort of HAVE to do) he was loyal to the foursome alliance of jaison, mick and natalie and stayed true to the alliance. could you argue that he was forced into staying true to them by going into the merge down 8-4? yes, i suppose. but he could have ditched mick before the finals. he could have cut ties with natalie and kept around a weakened galu member say…monica and made a big move with her. he didn’t. i just think people see him and say “hey, he’s a jerk off. yeah he played the game dirty” when in all actuality, he didn’t.

13. 13
    cattyfan
    Posted December 22, 2009 at 8:52 am

    I’m with itchy…just because it’s a “game” doesn’t mean you abandon ethics, morality, and integrity. And since what you’re playing for is REAL money (and affecting real lives,) your real values should definitely be a factor.

    Poker is also a game. Do you think the casinos will let you keep playing if they discover you cheat, and you steal other people’s cards? That is, in essence, what Russell did by taking other people’s property and dumping out the water.

    And, by the way…I wouldn’t cheat at Monopoly, either. If you have to cheat and lie to win, where is the victory?

14. 14
    itchy
    Posted December 22, 2009 at 9:27 am

    Actually, briar, now that it’s pretty clear that Mick, Natalie and Jaison (and probably the others too) were wise to Russell’s shenanigans, they seem a lot less like the idiots the editors made them out to be.

    For one thing, it’s pretty clear that none of Russell’s ‘big moves’ were his alone, but were actually worked out in concert with the others. And the true key moment– eliminating Erik, thereby ensuring that Shambo would flip and allow them the endrun to the final, was definitely Natalie’s doing at least in part (since they at least showed her doing this).

    So yeah, I complained a lot during the season that it looked like Erik was a shark dropped in among minnows. But at least some of those minnows turned out to be baby piranha.

15. 15
    itchy
    Posted December 22, 2009 at 9:45 am

    Oops…I meant Russell, not Erik.

    Damned lack of a comment editing function…grumble grumble whine moan complain…

16. 16
    82kmara
    Posted December 22, 2009 at 10:58 am

    Russell grew on me (thanks, in large part, to Mr. Dangerous’ observations!) over the season. I’m sad jury members couldn’t see what more tv viewers should have: this was the BEST Survivor season EVER for the very reason Russell-haters don’t get him–it was finally exciting and escapist to watch what was coming next… all cast members group-hugging, doing yoga, and and being moral would be boring! May as well watch a Monopoly game on Thursdays instead…

    Survivor’s keeping this fan at least one more season, thanks to Russell.