Survivor: Redemption Island (The Return of Boston Rob & Russell Hantz) — Page 3

Did anyone realize that Phillip is a former federal agent?

My whole family has been going around since last week saying that to each other.

Did you know he's a former federal agent?

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Give him a break. His mouth is dry and he's been getting treatment for it.

I was SO impressed with Julie for not falling for Russell's Bullshlt. And Russell's little lackey needs to be the next to go. She's an incredibly stupid player intentionally making enemies out of her entire tribe when she now only has one person on her side.

Is Julie on steroids? I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but I was sort of wondering if her face is the result of steroid abuse or something. I loved the way she strung Russell and his Goddesses along. And no, I don't think switching sides this early would have worked to her advantage. Even as number 6, she'll have a better shot at strength in numbers going into the merge and she had no reason at all to trust Russell and his Goddesses knowing full well they only approached her for a one-time vote to survival that tribal council.

I like Russell - I've always liked Russell.

Why? He's a hypocritical narcissist. His mistake this time was pretty much the same mistakes he made before. This time, he just made the mistake earlier. He let his ego get in the way and concentrates on absolute control rather than playing the required social game needed to win (not just get to the final tribal). Seeing his tattoo with the cross and the cross around his neck just made me physically ill. I don't think there is anything about the man that is not contemptible.

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I like Russell for three reasons: One, I think he's smart (which is more than can be said for numerous people on the show); two, he is constantly devoted to the game and knows exactly why he's there (unlike many players); three, I respect his observation skills.

I admit, three has been somewhat lacking this season, though he did peg the situation EXACTLY when they came back from immunity. MANY other players would have missed that the rest of the tribe threw it, and more importantly, missed that Julie was the potentially weak link in the six. I attribute his plan not working more to the fact that they've all seen him play before than it being a bad plan. He SHOULD have gone in with an adjusted strategy for that, but given that he didn't, what he did was the best move for him.

I do think Julie should have switched sides. Being one of four is better than bottom of six, and more importantly, she disagreed with the idea of throwing a competition. That, more than anything, was reason enough to abandon them. Worst case? Ralph went home, next time it's 4-4. Those people would either A)turn on themselves to figure out who broke rank or B)most likely, given their narrow focus, continue to pursue Russell and she'd be safe then anyway.

Now that Rob has a win, I think he's going to start building momentum. Throwing the challenge was a TERRIBLE idea (was it THAT necessary to kick someone off a winning tribe??). Julie could have seen that, and flipped sides to the people who at least are TRYING to win.

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Updated On: 3/3/11 at 01:16 PM

Maybe Julie changed her mind after having to listen to Stephanie at Tribal Council.

Since Russell is the GREATEST.PLAYER.EVER. he should have no trouble beating Matt in the next "duel."

I like Russell for three reasons: One, I think he's smart (which is more than can be said for numerous people on the show); two, he is constantly devoted to the game and knows exactly why he's there (unlike many players); three, I respect his observation skills.

1) Russell is very smart at reading people and finding idols. He was smart enough to get to the finals twice. But he flat-out refuses to play to win, only to get to the final tribal. You'd think he would have piked that up after the first time, but he just went in and did the exact same thing again, which lost him the game both times.

2) Russell is only devoted to his deluded idea of how the game is played. He is controlled by his ego rather than by rational thought or respect for the game (or its players). That was quite clear when he told Probst that Survivor should count audience votes into the finale. He does not want to play Survivor. He wants to play Russell's version of Survivor, which has a different set of rules.

3) Russell has good observation skills. I don't respect anything about him, though.

Maybe Julie changed her mind after having to listen to Stephanie at Tribal Council.

I don't know. The way she kept signaling to Russell and Stephanie throughout tribal, it appeared she was playing them all along.

Being one of four is better than bottom of six, and more importantly, she disagreed with the idea of throwing a competition.

Not before the merge. You could more easily end up in the minority in the merge and be the first to be Pagonged. And after disagreeing about throwing the challenge, she knew loyalty would be a stronger asset with those five than with Russell and his Goddesses, who had no interest in her until she could pull them a vote for one tribal. I know when it comes to the merge, I wouldn't want Russell around for any reason. They took a huge risk by throwing the challenge, but by thinking several steps ahead, they may have done themselves a huge favor by the time the merge comes around.

Since Russell is the GREATEST.PLAYER.EVER. he should have no trouble beating Matt in the next "duel."

I hope Matt wipes the floor with Russell, but it was pretty close this week.

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Sandra won last time by distancing herself from Russell and being the voice of reason. She won it the moment she pointed out that her strategy was to vote Russell out, but no one else saw him as a threat. They all ended up on the jury because of Russell. Sandra won because she knew how to work the social angle at tribal and she figured out Russell's game early on. She totally deserved that win. And it was awesome because it wasn't even close. Russell received NO votes. That says a lot about how to play Survivor because everyone that season had played before. Sandra laid low, came up with good strategies (which were ignored by everyone else), and got to the final by being underestimated by Russell. Then she knocked them all in the gut with her social game in the final tribal. Russell just knocks everyone in the gut every day, gets to final tribal and says, "Give me the million, losers." He doesn't play to win. He plays to play.

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Russell didn't even know Julie's name; he called her "the old lady" when he was directing his minions to convince her how to vote.

The show has been renewed for another two seasons and Jeff Probst will return as host for those seasons.
CBS Orders Two More Editions of Survivor

My guess is that Russesll is gone tonight. I don't read spoilers, but CBS has pretty much given it away. In the previews, they say that "you won't believe what happens after the duel." In the blurb about the show in the tv listings, it says a player cries after the duel is over. So, my guess is Russell loses and blubbers like an infant. Should be fun! I'll actually be rooting for the uber-Christian player for once!

Good riddance to the nasty crybaby Russell.

I hope I never have to see that piece of crap again.

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