Yeah, the circumstances are (a) Rupert gets his way, and (b) Rupert doesn’t get his way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yLYpeN3ZT4&playnext_from=TL&videos=MGWTZSRqg5s is what’s in the spoilers.
Russell has a huge ego, that’s his downfall, he’ll never win Survivor with his massive ego. Once he gets passed that he’ll know why he’s not as good as he thinks he is.
Movie wouldn’t play for me. What’s in it?
Russell’s confessional a transcribed in the spoiler post that you posted. Starting "Colby is the main guy in the… "
Maybe, but it might be more fair to say that it was naïve. It was only the second season, and I don’t think anybody correctly calculated the role of the spite vote yet. Tina won Australia 4-3, and at least one vote – Jerri’s – went to Tina because (paraphrasing) the fact that Tina could convince Colby to take her just proves that she’s a better manipulator than he was.
Ian just outright lost his mothertruckin’ mind out there. He quit an Immunity Challenge that he was most likely going to win and bowed out of the F2 to assuage his own guilt, or whatever. It was insanity, but that does not excuse stupidity. He gets a little credit because he was young and immature and trying to do what he thought was the right thing, but it was still weapons-grade stupid.
Kind of how I feel as well, better articulated than my sad little “I have an irrational dislike for her whaawhaawhaaaaaa.”
Just wanted to pop in and balance out the Russell-hate a bit. Every time Russell gets his evil little way, my wife and I cheer together. He is exactly as good as he thinks he is in manipulating people. Watch him plant “the Russell seed” in Tyson and snatch victory from certain defeat. Watch him stop an obvious Pagong-ing of the Villains by planting the same seed in Sandra and Candice. It’s a beautiful and bizarre thing, really. Watch him get Jerri to vote off Danielle with no reason at all! (“It’s not a threat, I’m telling you like it is. If you don’t vote her off, you’re next. Can’t tell you why.” WTF??? that worked?!?!)
Whether that skill will win the game for him this time depends on if this group of very strategic, very backstabby players on the jury will be respect his skill, or become “bitter betties,” like the Samoa jury, to borrow a James-ism.
I think his best bet right now is Jerri/Colby for his final three. He can really work the “outplay, outwit” angle with them. Sandra and/or Parv will be tough to beat since they’ve both been masterminds in their own ways. Rupert has the hero appeal without the defeatism of Colby, so he’s dangerous to take. FloatyGimpy had it right in that Candice would’ve been a better #3 for him, which he might have realized when he told everyone it was a mistake to vote her out. Mistake for him, really, is what he meant, not for the villains as a whole.
I feel about Russell similar to what Probst said in his blog about Parvati. I don’t think I could be his friend, and he’d be tough to date… but he’s great fun to watch play this game.
I don’t think Colby’s move to take Tina to the finals was dumb, exactly. I think he knew what he was doing. But he really disliked Chef, and liked Tina, and placed friendship (or “integerity”) above winning $1M. I think he knew the risk and took it, and lost.
Yes you do, actually. Russell has been doing this to great effect two seasons running. If this is your only reason that JT’s move was dumb, that’s no case at all.
I’m on the same page as gonzoron. Russell is a horrible person, but plays this game so well.
Right now, everyone wants to go against him in the final 3(are we sure it’s 3?). At the same time, I think everyone wants to hold onto the Heroes too, since there’s only 3 Heroes on the jury (JT, Amanda and Candice) They won’t garner too much sympathy.
If Russell makes the final three, makes his pitch about beating the best and still loses, I think the game will remain unscathed. But if he wins, I predict the game lasts only 3 more seasons before it ends. The next season to be cast after this one will have everyone a backstabbing, lying, cheating, sumbitch. They’ll cause havok and scorch the earth whenever possible for no reason except to be unpredictable.
Actually as I write this I think, that may be an interesting show to watch: “Survivor: Villains v Villainier villains”.
I do hope Russell makes the final and gets his ass handed to him at the final jury.
This makes a lot of sense, but I’m hard-pressed to imagine how he can configure these as the final 3 without Parvati or Sandra throwing a wrench in the works. Either of those two will not go down without a fight, and while Jerri & Colby make pretty weak competition in a final 3 scenario, that also makes them less than surefire as allies up that point, too.
Plus Sandra has the ACE up her sleeve. The Hidden Immunity Idol which no one else knows she has.
I love it how you leave the second part of the sentence in the quote out.
JT used it to try and gain a person into his alliance of Heroes. That is dumb.
Russell used his to deflect votes off of him by telling people he has it. Knowing where the votes were going, he gave it to HIS own alliance member Parv (twice) to save her which in turn him/his alliance. He used it to help his existing alliance gain strength. He even had it so he made a speech to garner favor with others to show that he’s “a man of his word” and grew more standing with Jerri and Coach. To put it in a similar situation as JT, Russell would have to have given Coach his HII to gain his favor. But he didn’t, he told him he had it, used it on Parv, gave a little speech and gained Coach’s favor.
Erik did the exact same thing, believing in an alliance that wasn’t there to begin with, giving his immunity, and hoping beyond all hope that there will be an alliance afterwards, then paying the price.
You do not give HII or immunity to another alliance to gain their favor. You use the HII or immunity to help your immediate and well-established alliance. Or you can use it like Yul and parlay it into power, but the rules changed and now you can only play HII before the votes are read. Yul had it so you can use it after the votes have been read.
Yeah, I have no idea how he can get there. I just think it’s his best shot. 