lucasorion

Ben, Russell's early ally in evil, seems like he might be the most toxic survivor contestant ever. Take the narcissism and general disregard for other people of Tyson, from last season, amplify it tenfold, throw in pure maliciousness, and you get him.

wildcatlh

This. I think I lost my reason to watch this season already.

Tommy Ceez

GOOD for voting her off!!

I hope they lose all the useless eye candy moron actors off immediately and convince Survivor that they should cast REAL PEOPLE

Quack

Hate white Russell.
Ashley has a slamming body.
Hillbilly can get eaten by a shark.

mugwump

I just don't get it. If you threw me out on a miserable island and asked me to choose between spending an undetermined length of time with A.) A bevy of lovely ladies, or B.) A pack of obnoxious dudes I know which option I would pick. Screw alliances at this point.

And if you look up "Napoleon Complex" in Webster's you'll see a picture of white Russell and his gut.

Jim

An interesting villain is one thing, Russell is quite another. I just don't see how he will be able to go undetected for very long. The girl that got voted off seemed like she was really nice and didn't deserve that. Your one chance on Survivor and you get victimized by a sociopath.

Jim

First blog of the season:
http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/09/18/je...moa-episode-1/

LiquidSky

I want to see Shambo kick some ass!

Double_Oh_7

They didn't. Ashley is still in the game.

Alyoshka

I agree with all of that except the first part. I think that Russell is, like Jeff Probst says on his blog, an actor writing his own part. He is just interested in seeing what that does for the game -- as am I.

I'm tired of seeing people get on reality shows and being completely and utterly boring. Play the game and stop talking about not wanting to break social rules. It's a game! Go all out with your strategy and see what happens.

clckworang

I agree. Pretty much whenever you have one of these characters who makes alliances with everyone it backfires. Eventually, these ladies are going to compare notes and there won't be anywhere for Russell to hide.

When Russell and that other asshole really started pushing Marissa at TC, I really expected her to finally say, "I was worried about the alliance that I made with Russell." She probably still would have got the boot, but it would have at least caused her tribemates' ears to perk up and immediately let them know that they were being played.

Russell is such an over the top Survivor villain. I hate him (how couldn't you?) but I know he's going to provide a lot of entertainment while he's on the show.

Jim

Survivor hasn't needed 'false' personalities in the past. When someone has tried to play a character before, like Richard Hatch in all-stars, they become a caricature of themselves and less interesting. There have been plenty of interesting people who have shown something that we didn't see in them at the start by displaying perseverance and courage. Guys like Yao-Man who surprisingly won several challenges with skills he didn't even know he had. Seeing real personalities put to the stress test of Survivor is far more interesting than an actor pretending out there. It will be good to see Russell go so the real game can begin.

Joeboo835

Tradition lives on as the hottest girl gets the boot.

I was actually very annoyed with Russell, but I think its an interesting take on the game. I would have loved his character more if he did all these things, but wasn't so classless about ripping on people behind their backs. Like if he was nice about explaining what he was doing an why, but still did the evil things he was doing.

How do you not kick the fat guy off who looked like he couldn't run 10 yards to save his life.

JuryDuty

Thank you! Geez, I love these.

mdc3000

I don't think Marissa was that at all though - she seemed pretty smart to me and knew how the game worked...she gets voted off for being the smartest member and seeing through Russell's shit... the only stupid thing she did was not say "Anyone in a secret alliance with Russell, raise your hand" at tribal - all hands go up, she proves he's a douche, he goes instead.

shanester

Samoa looked amazing in high-def last night on my Sammy DLP!

Would love to see this season released on Blu-Ray

dino88

That was probably my favorite premiere episode yet. I was praying that Russell didn't get the boot. I thought he might after having the episode focus on him and all the commercials, but luckily that didn't happen. Every time he was on screen I was cracking up and I'm very surprised by the reactions he is getting here.

Kevin M. Dean

Here's a better link to bookmark and catch all the blog posts.

http://popwatch.ew.com/category/survivor/

sven

Yeah Ashely and the other blond were both doing very well in the physical part of the challenge and his fat ass couldn't even help with the puzzle.

I'd rank her 3rd.

Nicest jugs though.

Howie2000

I really wish they would go back to to how this was edited in early seasons with a greater focus on the cast as a whole instead shoving 1 player down our throats who is trying to play a villian for airtime.

DJariya

Very good premiere episode.

Fatass Russell is a major dick. I actually thought Coach from last season was quite obnoxious, but this prick takes the cake.

That was so wrong of him to dump out all the water burn their socks.

Agree with the earlier comment about the pretty boy swimming in his jeans...what an idiot. No wonder he was so tired, his pants probably weighed 10 LBS with all the water they absorbed.

kenny79

I'm looking forward to Russell, in the sense that he's rich and isn't playing for the money. He's playing to win, whereas a lot of contestants are afraid to lose.

OscarBluth

at the 'well dressed, Yale-type black man' vote. Just say 'black man,' he's the only one on the team!

Russell will make this season a blast if he stays on. It's a dangerous game he's playing, though. Marissa could have easily turned around before walking away and told everyone he made an alliance with her. Had she done that, he'd be the next one gone.

Baron Of Hell

I wouldn't call sabotaging your team before the merge playing to win.

davidh777

Good job by the captains picking the low-cut tops for the agility challenge