Everybody assumes riding on coat tails is a sign of weakness. Natalie picked a strong player at the beginning to hide behind. She had temptations to make moves but resisted and maintained her Russel relationship. It was a very effective plan. A pretty blond who doesn’t flaunt it is at an advantage. She could not lose a vote. Russel could not win one.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The 3rd place guy with no votes is the whole point of a final three. Say what you want about Natalie or Russell, but Mick could not win, and didn’t deserve to win, but if there was a final 2, he would have been in it. Either Natalie or Russell would be insane not to take him with them, and whoever ended up sitting next to him would have won.
The Final 3 (almost) guarantees that there will be two deserving vote-getters in front of the jury. The one “waste of space” is the price we may have to pay to ensure that.
With the possible exception of hidden immunity idols, The Final 3 is the best innovation to be added to survivor, and I’ve been saddened the few times they backpedaled from it and went with a final 2 again.