Survivor Samoa

[Slurktan]

Jaison just catapulted up my list of all time favorite survivors. He was cool, collected, and undeniably intelligent. It was such a stark difference between his thoughtfulness and Ben's ignorance. I was really thinking that Ben was going to stay, but I think for once Tribal Council actually did something (or at least I'd like to think so).

I'm sure Russell's mind is just running right now trying to figure out how to regain control. I think he'd be making a bad move to try to wrest power away from Jaison. He'd be better off finding a way to control Jaison and therefore everyone else through him. But I'm hoping Jaison turns around and gets rid of Russell next.

Uhh what? Russell still has the control he could have kicked Ben off as he had the numbers; he said himself he was going to get Ben off sooner rather than later but didn't want to now(at that point of the episode) so evidently he changed his mind. So he sticks with his stronger ally whom he needs to help win challenges. There was a significant shot during the challenge today of Ben whiffing and then Russel shaking his head, it's obvious he noticed that Ben stunk in challenges.

So now Jaison is his ally and so is Mick and the girls do whatever he wants already. Mick was willing to do whatever Russell wanted. He lost Ben as a bitch and gained Mick - a significant upgrade. He quite frankly is completely dominating that team. I wonder what he will do if Foa Foa ever wins a challenge and then he gets sent to the other teams camp and finds the idol. Does he show it to Mick or Jaison? Does he give his other one to one of them to build more trust? Of course that is depending upon them actually winning.

[Guest Nadine]

Russell will never have Jaison - Russell made his support of Ben too obvious. Jaison may have kept cool, but I cannot believe he would fall in with any supporter/conspirator of Ben's.

[Slurktan]

Russell will never have Jaison - Russell made his support of Ben too obvious. Jaison may have kept cool, but I cannot believe he would fall in with any supporter/conspirator of Ben's.

You mean Russell's show of support for Ben that involved kicking him out?

And what makes you say that about Jaison exactly? Jaison is just another doofus like the others on that tribe and I wouldn't be surprised if Jaison considered Russell a far stronger ally given that Russell decided to boot out a seemingly strong physical player because his ally asked him to. And if Jaison is truly stupid enough to turn on Russell then Jaison is gone, Russell has the numbers to kick off whomever he likes.

[SergioCQH]

Russell is a fucking god.

[The Wedge]

Russell was wise to let Jaison think he has a bit of control, if only for one tribal council.

Going forward, though, do you think Russell wants someone who is so emotionally wrapped up in what other players' think and say? Not saying that Jaison's take on Ben was not correct, but that that Jaison's very public reaction to Ben makes Jaison a bit unsteady in the long run.

I think Russell will attempt to play with Jaison on this through planting more of his, umm... Russell Seeds. (Ugh... that's vile to even type.)

And will the Galu tribe find any immunity idols w/o clues?

[Ken Stone]

I don't think people are being fair to the non-Russel survivors. What exactly has Russel done that makes people stupid for trusting him? THe other survivors aren't privy to the confessionals, so they don't know what he is saying behind their backs. What has he really done though that they should be suspicious of? He orchestrated the removal of the two physically weakest players. I tend to believe that would happen regardless. Just because Russel on camera says "I'm running this game", doesn't mean he is strutting around telling everyone that. Clearly he isn't as in control as he pretends, because Ben is gone and Ashley is still there.

ETA: Although I did think Ashley seemed a bit dumb when she didn't catch Ben in his lie. He said "I'm not going to tell you who told me you were gunning for me, BUT IT WASN'T RUSSELL!" With Russell being Ben's bff on the island that should have clued her in right there.

[Mya Stone]

I loved when Jaison refused to go along with the voting. I'm surprised he was as controlled as he was in the face of extraordinary provocation. And it was GREAT that everyone joined him in voting Ben.

All I could think of was "Bam. Ben just got LAWYERED."

Jaison was awfully eloquent in his speaking. In Probst's EW blog, he had mentioned that he's never met another Survivor as well-spoken as him. This was a week or two ago, so I imagine last night's episode was exactly what he was referring to.

[Ken Stone]

All I could think of was "Bam. Ben just got LAWYERED."

Jaison was awfully eloquent in his speaking. In Probst's EW blog, he had mentioned that he's never met another Survivor as well-spoken as him. This was a week or two ago, so I imagine last night's episode was exactly what he was referring to.

I thought that too. Unfortuantely Jaison also set himself up as "The Guy You Don't Want To Face In The Final Tribal Council."

[Kat]

Totally misread the preview for yesterday. Thought Jaison was going to go after Russell, but Ben was equally vile so I'm glad he's gone.

I don't see this as a win for Russell-- he did not get what he wanted with regard to who's getting voted out next, and I think he only voted for Ben because Ben made himself so undeniably a jerk during the tribal council that he would have looked like an idiot for vocally gunning for Ashley at that point. I don't really believe that he would have voted out Ashley and then Ben the next week; I'm fairly certain that he would have voted out Ashley and then whoever he needed to next week to maintain control. Promises really don't mean a whole lot to that guy. So now he's going to go after Jaison, I'm sure, because he'll see him as a threat to his "Russell always gets his way!" strategy.

[AndyP]

And will the Galu tribe find any immunity idols w/o clues?

How sick would it be if Russell were to find both idols.

[Tears of Lys]

Very sick. But all too possible. :(

It is a little funny how so many players go into the game so naive. Some of the women are ticking me off by their inability to see through him. Not all of them, of course - but the ones who did are now gone. Seeing through him AND keeping your mouth shut about it would be a very good strategy :thumbsup: .

[Slurktan]

It is a little funny how so many players go into the game so naive. Some of the women are ticking me off by their inability to see through him. Not all of them, of course - but the ones who did are now gone. Seeing through him AND keeping your mouth shut about it would be a very good strategy :thumbsup: .

You'd be able to see through him if you weren't able to see his confessionals?

[DivisionByZero]

ETA: Although I did think Ashley seemed a bit dumb when she didn't catch Ben in his lie. He said "I'm not going to tell you who told me you were gunning for me, BUT IT WASN'T RUSSELL!" With Russell being Ben's bff on the island that should have clued her in right there.

Hehe. I loved that "but it wasn't Russell!" part. That sure would have made me immediately suspect that Russell had told him. Sheesh. Anyway, as much as I don't like Russell, I think he definitely is playing a smart game. He realize that if he pushed for his choice rather than Ben, he'd lose people's trust or whatever. He went along to maintain his position in the tribe, even if it meant not doing exactly what he wanted to.

I still wonder if the idol he found will be valid for him to use, since it was intended for the other tribe's visitor or if it's good for anyone who finds it...

[The Wedge]

You'd be able to see through him if you weren't able to see his confessionals?

This is, what, the 20th season of Survivor? If anyone going in to it at this point trusts anyone else, then they deserve to get bounced regardless of the confessionals.

Just look at Russell's eyes. That dude is psychotic.

[Tears of Lys]

Yeah, that ^^. But it's obviously not totally impossible to see that he's a lying sack, since someone already did see through him. She underestimated his influence over the rest of the tribe, though.

[awesome possum]

Russel has played smart so far. The two people who mentioned that they didn't trust him he got rid of so that they couldn't spread the idea around. And gotta agree, the only reason we may think he's a d-bag is because we see his confessionals. How are the people there supposed to know? The females are probably glad to have a strong guy claiming to have their back and the other two guys have been shown the immunity idol to make them believe they're in tight.

Russel is only an ass in the confessionals. Otherwise he comes off like a cool guy who may be a bit of a snake, but that type of guy who his allies will view as their snake without believing he will turn around and bite them.

The previews I saw for next week showed Russel getting tired of Jaison's whining, which may lead to an early standoff between the two. Jaison looks like he would be an incredible all-around contender but he does sort of act like a spoiled brat, one who will let the mental aspects of losing and the elements get to him sooner rather than later.

From the edit so far, that tribe is doomed. We've barely even met any of Galau (?) except for the two people who have gone over to Foa Foa (I think that's right) and Dave, which makes me believe it will be all them sitting in the jury. There's gotta be a tribe switch-up soon.

[Tears of Lys]

Well, that was a mistake, IMO. While she may have been irritating around camp, she was a strong competitor in the challenges. I can't help but think a bit of racism may have crept into the decision to vote her out.

Russell's certainly not going to trust the rest of them from now on.

[Guest Ro_]

I thought she was a rather unpleasent person and trying to do the 'do nothing around camp' "strategy" is laughable. I hope we still see more of that tribe - less Russell is nice.

[Tears of Lys]

Yeah, her "strategy" left a lot to be desired, but in the long run, she would have been better to keep around. She helps you win challenges AND has few friends in camp. I admit I was surprised to see how many of the Galu members went against their leader.

Ashamed to admit, but I found myself sort of rooting for asshole Russell from Foa-Foa in the challenge. Must be temporary insanity - or just not hearing him brag too much this episode. I'm sure it won't last long.

It was great to see the tall guy (name??) find the immunity idol at the Galu campsite. It'll take some wind out of asshole Russell's sails when he finds out he isn't the only brilliant one. :P

[Tsavong Lah]

Aside from Yasmine being good in challenges, the whole notion that how much a person does around camp should be a deciding factor in your vote is ludicrous at this point. They had 10 frickin' people in the tribe. You mean to tell me that there is so much to do that one idle person really makes that much of a difference? At Foa Foa, where they are down to 6, one person sitting out is noticeable. But Galu would have still had 9, which is one more than most tribes start out with on Survivor.

I really think that only Russel is actually playing the game so far. I think winning all the challenges at the beginning is a bad thing, because you don't get into the gameplay aspect of Survivor and you could get eaten alive at the merge, even if you have the numbers.