Jeff Probst has noted in his Survivor blog that self-proclaimed “daddy” villain Russell Hantz should work with Boston Rob, rather than against him, and I could not agree more. Thus far in “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains,” Russell’s game has been a little painful to watch.
I didn’t start out loving Russell in Samoa, but by the end of the game, it was clear that a) he was the most delightfully devious character to watch since Richard Hatch and b) he deserved to win. Which, obviously, he did not. Frankly, I don’t think he will win this game, either, more so based on his tragic pout of defeat at the final Tribal Council (remembering that by then, Heroes vs. Villains had already wrapped production), than his current game. Because his current game could change.
And Russell, I really want it to change.
In a lot of ways, Russell is up to the same tricks that led him to the runner-up spot in Samoa. He is making alliances with many. He is stirring the pot at camp with outrageous side projects, such as a late-night hiding of the machete. He is hell-bent on finding that hidden Immunity Idol. But, his tribe mates are different this go-around, and where Russell should be stepping up his game in order to hang with his fellow villains, he is instead failing to match even his own skill level from Samoa.
Russell of the Samoa season would never have let that clue fall out of his hands and into that of his tribe mates’. In fact, Russell of Samoa wouldn’t even have waited for a clue to arrive – he would already have the idol in his pocket. Also, Russell of Samoa would have plugged his ears to Parvati’s siren song, recognized her for the charmingly cunning force that she is and initiated her ousting two episodes ago.
On a related side note: Seriously? Why is Parvati still around? Vote. Her. Off! Will not be happy to see this girl bamboozle yet another cast of alleged all-stars with her cute bathing suit and throaty cackle to win a million dollars.
Lastly, the Russell who played in Samoa would not have stopped at Parvati when making alliances. While he has allied with some, Russell has not appeared to have approached every single member of his tribe to forge an alliance. Granted, in the eyes of his fellow deviants, Russell’s promise of loyalty would perhaps be less credible than one of Coach’s Amazonian adventure tales. But, at least in the footage we have been shown, he has not yet ingratiated himself with a few key players, and as a result, he is on the outs.
Russell, I’m begging for the sake of your game, take your ego and bury it right in the sand next to the machete. For just a moment. And approach Boston Rob. Tyson. Sandra, even. All the players who weren’t sure what to think about you in the beginning and now know you’re trouble since you not-so-sneakily crept away from camp to find the idol they deemed off-limits. They are your ticket; the only way for you to beat them is join them.
Boston Rob has called Russell a “marked man,” and it’s not looking good for my favorite player in the next villain vote-off. I’m hoping Russell will give the big talk a rest and realize what he needs to do to stay in this game. Maybe a good Tai Chi session with the Dragon Slayer will help put him back on the right path.
Clacked by Guest Clacker
on Mar 07, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
Hi there Angela :-)
Here’s my take on the whole thing:
Russel of Samoa was edited to look good. He made the same mistakes he’s making now on Samoa, but there it didn’t affect him that much, because he was playing with fools – just like he said.
On Samoa it came out that he even told others that he already owns an oil business making millions – and with that he was doomed to fail. That mistake alone cost him the million dollars and the only reason he made it that far is because people on that season were simply not survivor material.
This season it’s WINNERS against each other or runner ups or people who got caught early on because they were identified as strong players. A lot of them are there for the THIRD time. Russel isn’t making more mistakes than before, he’s just called out for them instantly because these players can smell bullshit 15 miles against the wind.
Richard Hatch won because he was playing against fools, and because the show was new and because the final tribal council wasn’t aired nationwide. The rules were different back then. Russell lost because he didn’t play the social game AT ALL. He chose the wrong person to go to final tribal council and that was his second mistake. Sitting there in the end claiming he was the best survivor player ever just made it really really embarassing. People liked him for he clearly outwitted and outplayed everybody, but he wasn’t able to play the social game right.
Look at what happened this week – Cirie got voted off because she was clearly identified as a strong social player by JT. He did the right thing allying with Tom and Colby. Decisions like these usually only happen AFTER the merge when eight to five players are left – this time they are doing it right from the beginning.
If you look at it closely the person who said you get the mark when you get the idol was Sandra. People before made others throw the idol into the ocean and everybody deemed that to be the right decision, when this _exact_ episode this week showed that it didn’t. Without the idol, Tom wouldn’t have survived this tribal council. He was right to start looking for it and just because everybody _says_ the person gets voted off on the villain’s side doesn’t mean that it will really happen because once you got the idol there, you have something to barter with. You have an object of power and just because they wanted to put together their shelter for the night and not waste their time searching doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good idea to look for the idol.
Russel wasn’t in any good alliances either, just like you pointed out. He was too friendly with Parvati and that’s a problem right form the get-go. He thought he could do the same thing he did on Samoa all over again with allying with more than one person – but pros like the villains, that’s a no-go.
IF Russel finds the idol, he’ll make the merge, I promise you that. I have a gut feeling that the villains will win a couple more immunity challenges and if Russel has the idol he’ll survive at least one tribal if they don’t win a challenge. The merge isn’t that far out and once they do merge, Russell can team up with others in a heartbeat.
I think the editors want us to believe that Russell is a goner so all his new fans will tune in next week. I don’t think he’ll be on the chopping block. But I also don’t think he can win this season. He’ll be gone sooner than later, I don’t see him on the final tribal council at all. He’s not that smart, at least not as smart as he wishes to be. There’s more needed to win Survivor than he has to offer. The only reason to take him along would be to think he’s the lesser evil – which he is compared to some other players. All in all this Season turned out to be extremely interesting and I just love it. Survivor has never been stronger and just like “Lost” I think there are a ton of people who just don’t know what they are missing.
By the way, nothing of which I wrote above was a criticism, it was just the post I would’ve written if I had had the time this week ^^; I so wanted something to pop up here so I could comment so thanks a ton for this, I really appreciate it :-)
Oh and I’m a total fan of Boston Rob. I want him to end up on the final tribal with Colby. That would be super-awesome :-)
Thanks for the awesome response, Sebastian! Boston Rob is a favorite of mine as well. A Rob/Colby matchup in the end would be fun. Thanks for reading. :)
Regarding Russell, I couldn’t agree more. If he actually has any game at all, he needs to quit talking and finally show us something.
The problem with Russell is that this season taped right after the last one. He didn’t know how badly his brand of game play had screwed him out of a million bucks at that time so that’s why he is still playing his game. The thing with Parvati, if behind the scenes scuttlebutt is to be believed, is that someone on the crew gave her a heads up about Russell before they started taping. No one else knows this guy because that season had not aired yet, so everyone is pretty much in the dark about him. Another reason he’s not trying to make alliances with each tribe member is because, and he pointed this out in an earlier episode, these people have all played the game before and they cannot be manipulated as easily as the people he played with in his season. He’d rather play hide the machete and try to break down the tribe so he’ll come out victorious rather than play a real strategic game. I think Boston Rob is surprising all of us with how he’s become such a strong – and dare I say it, likable – leader! I think Russell’s lust for the hidden immunity idol will be his downfall.
Sure, he’s playing the same game. But compared to the last season he MUST know that these people aren’t fools like the ones on Samoa. Playing the same game is just plain stupid. Even more so he’s NOT playing the same game, he’s getting buttered up by Parvati and that’s just ridiculous or better: especially fun to see when you know how full of himself Russel was/is all the time. I mean even after the Reunion for Samoa he still thinks he’s the best and even wanted to BUY the title of best player. How desperate is that? If he was going to be on the next final tribal council as well he wouldn’t have been THAT desperate so I guess that’s a definite sign that he won’t make it that faron Season 20.
He’s desperately trying to play the same game by doing things like hiding the machete. But as I said, he knows this group is not like his tribe last season because they have all played the game. But he still thinks he’s smarter than all of them, he’s still trying to find the hidden immunity idol, and he’s tried to form a new “dumb girl alliance” but even when none of that works in his favor he’s still full of himself. The fact that he’s kind of tight with Parvati just reinforces the suspicion that someone gave her inside information about his game play last season that no one else on the tribe has.