Survivor: Samoa

[srmom]

My DVR cut out, who won the fan vote of $100,000?

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!

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

And, Eric - it's SURVIVOR!! Outwit, Outplay, Out survive! If you think it should all be truthful and fair, and that only "good" people should win, then DON't watch the show! And, why in heaven's name did you go ON the show? Did you actually think you could make it to the end without being shady at times? Even Yul, my all time fav, had to pull some shady deals to win!! Have you watched the show?

[SWTXBelle]

Russell won the fan vote, and continues to be a colossal ass about not winning, even saying Natalie didn't deserve it. Um, last time I checked, the winner was the person who 1.) made it to the finals and 2.) got the most votes.

And who in the world would want to do business with him? He can say he's different IRL, but his behavior last night and today proves otherwise.

The villains next season should be interesting - how do you use your sneaky skill set when everyone KNOWS who and what you are?

[Psi U MC Vito]

Is there a cast list yet for that?

[PeppyGPhiB]

I totally agreed with Eric's (and Jeff's) take: Natalie's strategy was just as valid as Russell's. I've watched Survivor from the beginning, and I've seen so many people win with many different strategies. Some people win by being nice, some win by messing with everyone, and some win because they skate under the radar and impress everyone with how they got away with it. My take on Survivor has always been that whomever wins deserves it, because they ultimately got to that point by generally being well liked and not annoying/jerky (can't get the jury votes), not intimidating (gets you kicked off), playing really strong in the immunity challenges at the end, or playing so ruthlessly that for some reason the jury respects you for it. In this case, though Russell played ruthlessly, he rubbed some people the wrong way. He also masterminded the voting off of Galu, which made up the majority of the jury. Anyway, whatever your strategy - whether that was letting someone else pull the strings or not - if it gets you to the end, you deserve to win. In fact, I think if you can get away with that, it makes you a brilliant player!

Natalie performed strong in the challenges, but since she's a girl she wasn't noticed for that until the end when it was almost all guys. Russell picked her to go to the end because he thought she was a weak, stupid girl and would annoy the other tribemates - but that wasn't the case. She didn't do anything to ruffle anyone's feathers, and by the time they got to the end, Russell needed her for votes and so he couldn't vote her off. Russell's mistake was voting off Shambo when he should have voted out Natalie.

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.

[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!

[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.

[irishpipes]

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