Survivor Samoa

[Slurktan]

I'm kind of worried about Russell as, like a human being. I know he's trying to be all mustache-twirling evil overlord, but the vibe I get from him, especially with his picking off Marisa this week, and the comment from the preview for next week, is that if a woman has her own thoughts, she must be taken down. He gives me abusive/controlling heebie-jeebies, so the point where I can't even root for him as a bad guy. :thumbsdown:

While he may end up being a sexist (and sure kind of looks that way) his handling of Marissa was the correct move at this point, I'm kind of shocked actually that anyone would see otherwise. She voiced concerns to him about how she doesn't trust him. That's an immediate boot by anyone who can influence others not just Russell, wouldn't have mattered if a guy or girl said it. Overall a very, very dumb move by Marissa and got her booted.

[RedEyedGhost]

Meh, I'd be surprised if Russell makes it to the merge. He seems a little too obvious in his attempt at being the moustache-twirling villain for his routine to actually succeed.

Oh, and if the woman who crosses Russell is the same woman the preview showed a brief clip of, it's probably not the older woman. She seemed kinda young to me.

I only got to see a few seconds of the preview for next week, so I don't know what went on there. But yeah, he'll likely get turned on very quickly, and that's why I'm hoping they can string together some immunity challenge wins. On one of the previews they were saying there's a player that makes Johnny Fairplay look like a good guy (I'll be shocked if that's not Russell), and I'm not sure why they would advertise that if he's off in the first couple of weeks.

[RedEyedGhost]

Overall a very, very dumb move by Marissa and got her booted.

And how harsh was that message from her dad at that end! "I know you'll go far." Just brutal. :lol:

[Gertrude]

I agree that from Russell's perspective, it was smart to get rid of her. If he had had another viable target who he wasn't 'allied' with, it would have been smarter to persuade her to go after them while keeping an eye on her. He didn't however, because he allied with all the obvious early boot targets. No way was Jaison or Mick going over one of the generic girls at this point. I wonder how that is going to work out for him long-term - we'll see. Marissa did make a mistake in talking to Russell about it - she should have gone to someone else (Betsy, for instance) and play along with Russell. She just seemed so in over her head when she actually got to tribal council - didn't nearly stand up for herself enough.

I wonder if he picked the females because then he doesn't really have to interact with them. Perhaps he feels he can get along with the guys on a more honest basis and form an actual relationship or at least respect for his strength. With the girls, he can keep the interaction more limited to strategy and lead them around and feed them the lies (New Orleans) to manipulate their feelings and provide 'safety' in the form of a strong male. **gag**

I feel like a bad person for wanting him to stick around to inflict his personal brand of misery on his teammates, but god damn it - this is why I watch the show. Assholes = entertainment. Doesn't mean I won't cheer when they eventually boot his ass.

[Kat]

I dunno, I get a creepy vibe off Russell that I haven't gotten from any other Survivor contestant so far. I also agree that from his perspective it made sense to vote off Marissa, just the way he's acted so far has made him seem less like a smart and entertaining yet bloodthirsty Survivor and more like a sociopath. :stunned: (Am curious as to what Marissa did that made that other guy say, "Yeah, I'll vote her off, she's a bitch," or if that guy just sucks too.)

Basically the only people I like on that team are Elisabeth the urban planner and Jaison the water polo guy. I actually watch Survivor for the likable people, for some reason. :P I take back whatever I said about the rocket scientist guy on the other Survivor thread, because he reminds me too much of myself. :lol:

[litechick]

I was surprised and pleased that the teams didn't instantly fall into the 'strong team' and the 'weak team'. Wins are one each and I have to admire their teamwork in the challenges.

I didn't see anybody who stood out as a whiner or a pathetic weakling. Of course, that has a lot to do with the selection of footage and editing so it may just be that the producers are specifically trying to eliminate that rather predictable part.

You've got to love stereotypes. :lol: The tall black man gets picked for best swimmer and he says "usually people stereotype blacks as poor swimmers but I play waterpolo" then later someone else says "yeah, blacks are known for being good swimmers."

I groaned when Shambo got picked for smartest because she didn't strike me as all that smart but she did really good. (maybe that's some anti-femmullet prejudice seeping through.)

I will be really surprised if evil guy makes it very far. He's too obvious. Someone is going to catch him at his antics.

[kuenjato]

How much shit is Russell going to get at the reunion show and on the internet because not only is he a pretty contemptible piece of crap, he's an oil man. Redundant, I know.

He dumped out all the water and burned the tribe's socks on the first night! I get the feeling this is only the beginning. That said, they may be pumping him up because he leaves sooner than later.

Dunno if Russel will match the batshit insanity that was Coach, but I'll give him a few weeks.

[Young Wolf]

Dunno if Russel will match the batshit insanity that was Coach, but I'll give him a few weeks.

See Coach was a different sort of insanity all together. He was delusional and mostly full of shit.

Russell knows that millions of Americans will see this, address his actions at the reunion...and he doesnt give a fuck as long as he's having fun fucking with people.

He may be the biggest douchebag ever to be on reality tv.

[Slurktan]

See Coach was a different sort of insanity all together. He was delusional and mostly full of shit.

Russell knows that millions of Americans will see this, address his actions at the reunion...and he doesnt give a fuck as long as he's having fun fucking with people.

He may be the biggest douchebag ever to be on reality tv.

Coach wasn't full of shit, he took an independant lie detector test to prove it!

Russel also isn't anywhere near the most douchy reality contestant, at least not yet. He just wants to fuck with people. Survivor usually casts the same type of people but they went outside their normal box with him and went with someone who has decided to play more like Big Brother than Survivor. It's interesting to see what will happen, at least to me.

[Young Wolf]

Coach wasn't full of shit, he took an independant lie detector test to prove it!

Russel also isn't anywhere near the most douchy reality contestant, at least not yet. He just wants to fuck with people. Survivor usually casts the same type of people but they went outside their normal box with him and went with someone who has decided to play more like Big Brother than Survivor. It's interesting to see what will happen, at least to me.

Well granted my knowledge and watching of reality tv is rather limited, but destroying fellow contestants clothing and emptying their water canteens is pretty douchey.

[Slurktan]

Well granted my knowledge and watching of reality tv is rather limited, but destroying fellow contestants clothing and emptying their water canteens is pretty douchey.

Granted but it is fairly smart in order to create some chaos on the first day without being seen as personally responsible. I'm just surprised he didn't blame it on someone else discreetly.

[Kat]

I think burning your own team's socks is pretty low. Doesn't he understand that he's going to have to compete with this team, and having a dehydrated, cranky team with blisters on their feet on the second day is not a great way to boost their chances?

If I were with that guy and found out what was happening, he would be exiled from the camp before the tribal council even. I'm not kidding. In a lot of ways I'm a forgiving person, but not when it comes to surviving. I'd hand him a canteen and some fire and tell him he was no longer welcome there, and if the team disagreed, I'd leave myself.

[Slurktan]

I think burning your own team's socks is pretty low. Doesn't he understand that he's going to have to compete with this team, and having a dehydrated, cranky team with blisters on their feet on the second day is not a great way to boost their chances?

If I were with that guy and found out what was happening, he would be exiled from the camp before the tribal council even. I'm not kidding. In a lot of ways I'm a forgiving person, but not when it comes to surviving. I'd hand him a canteen and some fire and tell him he was no longer welcome there, and if the team disagreed, I'd leave myself.

I would make a huge wager on the notion that Jaison did not find out about his socks until either Russel told him later after they got kicked out, or last Thursday. I would react the same way as you to that but that would never, ever happen in the course of the game. No one else knows and Russell isn't going to come out and say "Hey know what? I burned your socks ha ha!"

As to the dehydrated cranky part, yes he understands, that is his entire plan. Keep everyone dehydrated and cranky because then they make mistakes. They will be able to turn it around later because they have some strength on that team but they will not turn it around until he has his hooks in. I'd guess they lose again next week and maybe the week after possibly because he throws it to gain further control over the team.

[litechick]

Russell knows that millions of Americans will see this, address his actions at the reunion...and he doesnt give a fuck as long as he's having fun fucking with people.

I would argue that his antics have as much to do with manipulating the audience at home as his teammates. There have been a number of reality TV villains who have parlayed their notoriety into other ventures.

I think he made a mistake by campaigning for Marissa's elimination based on her lack of trust. It's too early to trust anyone and in a game for which 'outwit' is one of the tenets, reasonable people should agree that it is not unfair to mistrust someone, anyone.

It worked because nobody had any strong opinions about who to eliminate but I give people credit for seeing his excessive display of offense for what it is.

[Kat]

I would make a huge wager on the notion that Jaison did not find out about his socks until either Russel told him later after they got kicked out, or last Thursday. I would react the same way as you to that but that would never, ever happen in the course of the game. No one else knows and Russell isn't going to come out and say "Hey know what? I burned your socks ha ha!"

Well yeah, maybe no one actually saw him, but he was doing it right next to the sleeping shelter. Someone could have easily woken up and saw what he was doing, or at least inferred that he drank all the water if he was the only one up while it was dark, ya know? (I'm a light sleeper, so if it was my first night and the only way for me to sleep was huddled with a bunch of strangers, I guarantee I would be noticing stuff at night. I'm actually surprised no one caught him being Evil in Action.)

[DivisionByZero]

If the number one rule in Survivor is "Trust no one," then rule 1a has got to be "but don't come out and tell them to their faces that you don't trust them!" If Marissa had just gone along with Evil Russell, he wouldn't have changed targets to her. Rookie mistake on her part.

I also think that Evil Russell is going too far, too soon with his Evil Plot. He's showing his hand too much and people are already getting vibes about him. He's purposefully trying to make his tribe weak and keeping them shook up in order for him to gain control over them, and that's a really, really risky strategy. I've never agreed with having an early game strategy that doesn't include making your tribe stronger than the other one. But then, if he doesn't care about the money, he can take those risks.

If they really do face negative consequences to his plots, they'll have to decide between trying to keep him, because he's a strong competitor (if he turns out to be one, it's a bit early to tell, really), and getting rid of a troublemaker (strengthening the tribe moral, etc.), even if it weakens the tribe in challenges.

At the very least, he's succeeded in getting people to talk about him, but I still predict he'll go sooner rather than later. He's told a lie about a national tragedy, poured out all their water, and burnt some socks, so that's already got to get him at least as bad a rep as any previous Survivor Villain. He can go any time now and Survivor will have already gotten their money's worth from him.

[Guest Nadine]

*shame*

I only now just watched the first episode. I was expecting far more from Russell due to the pre-show hype - he was all, I am going to go God to Satan to Job on their asses until they are my meat and he burned socks????

He is trying to pull too many strings. He is lame and not entertaining.

Marissa reminded me of Lisa from 6ft Under. A vague flower child without too much upstairs.

No one is jumping out so far - I think the doc will step up in the next couple of shows.

P.S. Who do you think is going to get kicked out of the challenge tonight? I bet Russell - he is the type that won't play fair and is too stupid to get away with it.

[Tears of Lys]

Um, probably not Russell, judging by what just happened.

[Guest Nadine]

That felt staged.

Ooooh, a warning.

[Tears of Lys]

Russell is a total dick wad and Ben is his bitch.

:tantrum: