Survivor: Samoa

[Roger Wilco]

I thought it was pretty clear at final tribal, that Russel had no chance.
Obviously Laura, Kelly, Brett and Monica were never going to vote for him, Dave was also unlikely and Erik made it clear who he's voting for. That's 5 or 6 votes already.

 

[gh4chiefs]

Well you know for a long time, I've been suspicious of this show and some of the things going on (For example Russell finding an idol with NO clues whatsoever.) But then I think about the number of seasons, and the number of people involved, and I'm forced to conclude there's no way this could be rigged.

But something is funny about that vote, or at least about the fact that it seems prety clear that at least Russell knew the outcome before hand. It would be interesting to know the story behind that. Maybe every time they know ahead of time and this bunch were just not good enough actors to pull it off or something.

 

[Roger Wilco]

There's no way anything was rigged about the idol. I am certain it was simply a matter of Russell working his ass off finding the thing while all the others were lying around on the beach. He always got up earlier than everybody else, and probably turned around every stone on the island.

 

[OmahaStar]

Well, it was registered on 12/11/09. So, if true, he's known for at least two weeks. Meh. I couldn't stand Russell, and still think Brett should have won.

 

[Roger Wilco]

What the fuck did Brett ever do to deserve the million?

 

[gh4chiefs]

I thought it was pretty clear at final tribal, that Russel had no chance.
Obviously Laura, Kelly, Brett and Monica were never going to vote for him, Dave was also unlikely and Erik made it clear who he's voting for. That's 5 or 6 votes already.

Well it may very well be that Russell is just that astute, but to me, he showed no doubt whatsoever that he had lost before Jeff read the votes. He was visibly shaken and distraught and his demeanor was exactly the same after the vote as it was before the vote. If it was just a case of him making a good guess, I think there would have been some glimmer of hope in him when the vote was 2-2. And there wasn't. He KNEW he'd lost. How I don't know, but he knew it. I'm convinced of it.

 

[Pegaritaville]

I thought it was pretty clear at final tribal, that Russel had no chance.
Obviously Laura, Kelly, Brett and Monica were never going to vote for him, Dave was also unlikely and Erik made it clear who he's voting for. That's 5 or 6 votes already.

That's kind of how I saw it. I didn't expect Russell to win (too many bitter people on the jury), but I also didn't think they'd vote overwhelmingly for Natalie. I thought Mick would sneak through by a vote or two.

Russell deserved to win, but he didn't help himself at the final tribal council (none of the three did). Some of the jurors were so bitter they wouldn't have voted for Russell regardless of what he said, but had he clearly pointed out the reasons he deserved to win, he may have been able to persuade a few. By acting so cocky at the final tribal council, he pretty much sealed his fate.

 

[Nowhere Man]

The thing is that even in the first season Richard Hatch was HATED and yet he still won because they voted for the best player, despite that hatred. These people voted out of spite and voted for the person who least deserved it. People have voted out of spite in the past, but this was the biggest ripoff in Survivor history. I think that no matter what Russel was screwed, the only chance he would have is if he kept Jaison instead.The biggest problem is having 3 people to choose from instead of 2. If there was only 2 you get a chance to vote one last person out. I mean Mick deserved more votes than natalie.Even Jeff seemed to be thinking Russel was the better player and probably thought the jury was stupid. The worse thing about it is Russel already knows the outcome of HvsV,unless he made it to final tribal council. I think he'll be given a 3rd shot though.I doubt we've seen the last of him. Clearly the fans think he should have won.I'd like to see a Survivor with all the shitty players that would be interesting to see a bunch of shitty players sucking it up for a season.

 

[Roger Wilco]

^^
I believe there is no combination of players out of the final 6 Russell can win against in front of this jury.

 

[Data Holmes]

I think that something getting downplayed a lot is the religion aspect. It was hinted at many times, and it's leaked out that several of the Galu tribe knew each other before the show through something...

I think the vote went to Nat because it was split along a majority religious line.

 

[Stiletto]

Russell may have guessed from talking to the jury members since the show ended that he lost. That's how he had that website made already. Also, I read an interview with him from last night and he said that going into Final Tribal that he was going to win 100% but during the questioning he saw that they jury was bitter and lowered his expectations.

 

[OmahaStar]

I thought it was pretty clear at final tribal, that Russel had no chance.
Obviously Laura, Kelly, Brett and Monica were never going to vote for him, Dave was also unlikely and Erik made it clear who he's voting for. That's 5 or 6 votes already.

Well it may very well be that Russell is just that astute, but to me, he showed no doubt whatsoever that he had lost before Jeff read the votes. He was visibly shaken and distraught and his demeanor was exactly the same after the vote as it was before the vote. If it was just a case of him making a good guess, I think there would have been some glimmer of hope in him when the vote was 2-2. And there wasn't. He KNEW he'd lost. How I don't know, but he knew it. I'm convinced of it.

I know, it's just rumors, but ... A rumor I heard on the radio this morning was that there was a tie. Mick was in third place with ER and Nat getting a tie. During the airing of the finale, there was a new vote, with Nat getting the higher amount of votes.

I thought I remembered there being a tie once before and the last two having to do some sort of challenge, but who knows?

What the fuck did Brett ever do to deserve the million?

Russell - Could not stand, he's an arrogant little prick. I wanted him to be on the world's stage and let the entire nation see him fail.

Nat - Did nothing. The entire time she was on the show, all she did was ride R's coat tails. She just sat back and let everyone else do, well, everything.

Mick - Also did nothing. As with Nat, he just sat around doing whatever R told him to, and only occasionally did something during a challenge.

Brett - The final member left of his tribe, won immunity three times in a row, and he seriously brought the pretty.

 

[Yoda]

Jeff did the thing where he was like, if it was Jaison and Shambo, would you have voted for Russell. I think the jury said yes merely because they wanted to rub it in, even though it probably wasn't true. I mean, the votes for Natalie are largely inexplicable, so there's nothing to make you think that the bitter final questioning would have been much different. Maybe instead Eric makes a bullshit speech for Shambo serving her country, or Jaison fighting racism in his life.

"I grew as a person, I killed a rat!" Whoopty-fricken-do. That's right, her greatest accomplishment in the 39 days was to thwap a rat with a log.

 

[Roger Wilco]

^^
Absolutely. Laura claiming she would have voted for Shambo? Are you fucking kidding me?

I think Data Holmes may have a point with the religious angle - Laura and Brett knew each other from church (and from what I gathered from Laura's interviews it must be some hardcore evangelical church), Dave mentioned "God" a lot too and so obviously did Natalie, I don't remember anything about Kelly. Maybe it was that religious extremist voting bloc that robbed Russell.

 

[Yoda]

^Well, I'm not exactly a fan of hardcore religion, so I'll be happy to blame church for this travesty

 

[AJBryant]

You know, I have to admit that I have no respect for people who support Russell.

There are only two words that I can think of to describe him: despicable, and repugnant.

I hate people who lie, cheat, enjoy engendering chaos, and so on. Especially those who claim "I'm only doing it here, cause it's a game" or "I'm only doing it because this is really special" -- and they then say that they're not really like that outside that situation, that "that's not like me."

You know what? If you're doing it, it *IS* like you. It DEFINES you. He says he believes in honor and loyalty. Really? What are his criteria for that? Cause they don't seem to matter when a million bucks are at stake. Would he lie or cheat to get a HALF a million? Maybe to work out a good (or better) business deal? Perhaps because that blonde over there is really hot, it might be worth a BIT of a lie and a LITTLE cheating?

People who let guys like that slide, people who say "it's how the game is played" disgust me.

People do get far in the game -- like Brett -- who don't backstab, who don't cheat or lie, who don't try to upset things JUST FOR FUN. And we say "they sailed under the radar." No, they didn't. They just didn't act like assholes to get to the end.

I wish the game, like real life, would more often reward people who DON'T do the expedient thing to win.

I'm glad Natalie won.

Screw Russell, and screw his fans.

Oh -- and I can't believe what an unmitigated idiot Shambo was, right through to the end.

 

[Stiletto]

I wish the game, like real life, would more often reward people who DON'T do the expedient thing to win.

So, you admit it is a game? That it is not real life? What about the game's motto of "Outlast, outwit, outplay"?

 

[AJBryant]

What part of "outlast, outwit, and outplay" encompasses "lie, cheat, and steal"? You know, you can "outlast, outwit, and outplay" without compromising your moral center.

That it's a game is irrelevant. Would you play Monopoly with someone who keeps palming money, or cards with people who carried extra aces in their sleeves?

 

[RobertScorpio]

What part of "outlast, outwit, and outplay" encompasses "lie, cheat, and steal"? You know, you can "outlast, outwit, and outplay" without compromising your moral center.

Oh come on....have you really watched this show? EVERYONE lies at least once on Survivor. Richard Hatch set the template and everyone, including RUPERT, has lied..for a million dollars so would you..

OUTWIT could mean lie as surely as you think it doesn't...RUSSLE is by far the more interesting character from the later Survivors; which all seem the same now...he should have won..

Rob

 

[Data Holmes]

The first interview with Russell today.

http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/12/21/survivor-talk-russell/