Survivor: Samoa

[srmom]

Somebody on another blog site put what I was thinking perfectly:

I think we argue till we're blue in the face whether being the snake or the coattail rider is the better move, but it really just varies with the jury. If you have a petty and vindictive jury, the coattail rider wins (Danni, Sandra, Amber, Vecepia... etc. and now Natalie); if you have a less bitter and more detached jury, the powerplayer wins (Brian, Richard, Yul, Tom... etc.).

This just happened to be a season where the jury voted more on emotion and the social game, as opposed to the strategic side.

And, I knew before last night that the petty whiners back in Ponderosa would never vote for Russell. They voted for the person they disliked the least, Natalie. Dave is even quoted as saying that. All the Galu's felt they were the better tribe, and it gauled them to no end that Foa Foa's made it to the end and not one of them. They somehow forgot that they were the main instruments in Galu's downfall. They had an 8 to 4 advantage, and they BLEW IT!!

Natalie didn't win because she played a socially strategic game, she won because Galu had to hold their nose and vote for the person that disgusted them the least.

[AGDee]

I wish they could vote AFTER they've seen the season. Remember, they don't see all those interviews with the camera where Russell talked about the dumb women, etc. There are often things they don't even know went on at the time that they're voting. I've wondered how many would change their vote after watching the whole season.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I wish they could vote AFTER they've seen the season. Remember, they don't see all those interviews with the camera where Russell talked about the dumb women, etc. There are often things they don't even know went on at the time that they're voting. I've wondered how many would change their vote after watching the whole season.

Given how poorly Russell kept some of his other secrets, I find it a little hard to believe that he hid this particular sentiment as well as he thinks he did.

Originally Posted by Jen

Jeff seemed so shocked the castaways didn't respect Russell's game while the audience loved him. I was surprised no one mentioned that there's a difference between watching it on TV and having it happen to you.

Right. We saw 2 or 3 days contracted into 44 minutes or less. They lived with him.

Of course, the audience voted Shambo as runner-up, so maybe a lot of people in the audience don't have a clue.

Originally Posted by srmom

I also was surprised by Russel's non-stop crying at the finale. It obviously meant ALOT to him to be the "Sole Survivor". I hated him at the beginning, I thought he was a jerk throughout, but I do believe he earned the million dollars. BUT, I knew that the people in Ponderosa were not the type to vote based on strategy, they were petty to the other bootees, they sure as heck weren't going to reward game play! They voted for the one they "liked" the most. UGH!

I disagree about Russell. I don't think he earned the million at all. He excelled at parts of the game but completely failed at others.

He was great at getting the person he wanted out voted out. But he never seemed to understand, especially after the merge, that he needed people on the jury to vote for him. As far as I could tell, he made no real effort to try and shore up jury support, nor did he really think strategically (or at least strategically well) about who to take with him in front of the jury. He summed up his plan by saying he knew that if he got to the final 3 he'd won. If he'd taken Shambo and Jaison, maybe, but not with Natalie. He'd alienated almost everyone on the jury.

Yeah, the ex-Galu were sore and petty. (And yes, they screwed themselves.) But that was obvious at camp, and Russell did nothing to take that into consideration. He was too convinced that everyone would be in awe of him.

Meanwhile, he made stupid mistakes. He told lies about his background, but then fessed up to one or two people. The result was that everyone on the jury knew he'd lied about how much money he had (and maybe about the Katrine story as well). Major mistake. Meanwhile, I don't remember any mistakes from Natalie.

Russell played part of the game very well, but he completely ignored other parts of the game.

Meanwhile, Erik really needs to grow up.

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

I totally agreed with Eric's (and Jeff's) take: Natalie's strategy was just as valid as Russell's. . . . Cliff's Notes version: Natalie deserved to win because whatever she did in the game, it got her to the same place as Russell and won her more votes.

This!

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by srmom

I hated him at the beginning, I thought he was a jerk throughout, but I do believe he earned the million dollars...

And, it REALLY pissed me off to hear Eric talk about how "bad" Russel was and how "good" Natalie was. She not only LET him be the bad guy, she encouraged the behavior, and she totally benefitted from it!!

Think about it... Russell's strategy was to be open about being a snake in the grass. Natalie was quiet about it, played Russell (while he tried to play EVERYONE else the entire game), and somehow out-smarted the one guy who thought he had it all figured out. I say... good for her!

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

My take on Survivor has always been that whomever wins deserves it

Precisely.

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I disagree about Russell. I don't think he earned the million at all. He excelled at parts of the game but completely failed at others.

Exactly. While he voted out basically whoever he wanted, he also:
- Told people about his yearly earnings
- Made deals with EVERYONE at the same time
- Revealed his hidden immunity idols to too many people
- Acted extremely cocky, especially at tribal council
- etc.

And let's be honest... If Russell never found those immunity idols, he would have never made it as far as he did. Are the immunity idols part of the game, and a way to get around being voted out? Yes. And I applaud him for finding them without any clues. But if he didn't find them, he would have been gone a long time ago. People were gunning for him from the beginning. He just happened to be lucky enough to find those idols the way that he did.

In conclusion: Yay for Natalie!

[irishpipes]

I don't watch Survivor and maybe this has been discussed already, but Natalie is an AOII alumna from Arkansas State University.

[AlphaFrog]

Good decision. She would have been a complete liability at the merge, with as much as the other tribe hated her. I can't wait to see the looks on the faces of Foa Foa next week.

My TV Guide thingy said that someone makes a shocking revelation. I missed that?? What was it?

And how in the world did Yaz think that doing nothing around camp was a good strategy to not get singled out?? At least LOOK busy, even if you're not actually accomplishing anything!

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

My TV Guide thingy said that someone makes a shocking revelation. I missed that?? What was it?

I was going to suggest Eric's discovery of the hidden immunity idol, but that wasn't very shocking... either for us or for Eric.

[AlphaFrog]

^^I agree with the above two posts. I don't know any of the answers to any of the questions, and I've watched the whole season.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Maybe they should attempt to vote out Shambo next week?

Oh no. They should all be wanting to take Shambo to the end.

And the fact that she's a wild card was why they couldn't tell her Dave wasn't going -- too much risk she'd be so upset about it she'd sabotage the blindside.

Originally Posted by Jen

Every time I see Brett I forget that he was even there to start with. Has he said 2 words all season!?

I hate when they start with 20 people. It's too many. Because I barely know Brett's name and there are still 9 people on this damn tribe. Stop it, show.

We saw more of him in the recap show than any other time I think (except maybe that task where he was made the leader b/c Shambo sat herself out). What little they've shown of him gives me the impression he's smart and actually thinking about how to play the game, and I'm still impressed over how he dressed the rat that Natalie killed. But he's gotten a small enough share of screen time that I'm guessing he's not going to make it to the end.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Is it me, or did Natalie put on A LOT of weight? Not saying I blame her, but I think the difference was shocking. She was a tiny girl going in, too, so it wasn't just the starvation there - she's definitely bigger now than before she started playing.

I read an interview with Natalie yesterday, and she said that she couldn't stop eating now - even if she was full - and her boyfriend had her on a 6000+ calorie diet to get her back out of malnutrition.

Originally Posted by Jen

Speaking of, how did the votes shake out? I can't recall Jeff showing who voted for who.

Shambo and John voted Russell - everyone else voted Natalie. So, not only did Russell lose - IT WASN'T EVEN CLOSE. That's another reason why I say Natalie deserved it. If it was 5-4, there might have been more argument room. I completely agree with MysticCat saying that Russell missed part of the strategy of the game.

I have to say, though - as bitter and petty as the jury was, I'm surprised that the Final Tribal wasn't more lively and dramatic. I did like Brett's question about the Bro-date. Kind of reminds me of Natalie's question to Parviti on Fans v. Favs. And, I think Brett made his point...Mick made NO attempt to get to know anyone on the jury. Neither did Russell. $900,000 Mistake. I bet Natalie could go through the jury and tell at least one thing about each of their families, hobbies, careers, etc. All part of the game.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

I have to say, though - as bitter and petty as the jury was, I'm surprised that the Final Tribal wasn't more lively and dramatic. I did like Brett's question about the Bro-date. Kind of reminds me of Natalie's question to Parviti on Fans v. Favs. And, I think Brett made his point...Mick made NO attempt to get to know anyone on the jury. Neither did Russell. $900,000 Mistake. I bet Natalie could go through the jury and tell at least one thing about each of their families, hobbies, careers, etc. All part of the game.

I thought Mick was totally boring. I thought Brett was more present in the game than Mick was. And Mick really had no excuse not to know more about Brett after he, Brett and Natalie hang out and had fun around camp the afternoon/evening the other three players were off at the reward challenge.