I can agree with that. The problem is what you stated earlier. If you're going to take someone out to prove "you are the boss" then you take out the winning threat. You take out Teeth.

That having been said, I think that would have backfired on him though b/c Danielle is not quite the rational player Parvati is. I still think it unlikely that Parvati turns on him. There's no benefit to her. She's too smart, and he's a giant goat.

Why is everyone getting on Russell's ass for falling for Rupert's ruse? Why wouldn't he? It looked like an idol. Nobody else found it and Sandra didn't say she had it to anyone.

Wasn't the vote going to be split regardless? Since Parv/Russell/Danielle had not found the idol they had no choice but to split it. What's the difference voting 6-0 vs 3-3?

And there is no reason whatsoever for the Colby/Rupert to vote Russell unless they could have turned someone... with 6 votes whether it's 6-0 or 3-3, 2 votes on a villain are 2 wasted votes... they had no choice unless they were voting on principle.

The rock made for good TV, but the villains would have been stupid to vote in block when noone but Sandra knew where the idol was.

This is what I thought as well. Maybe he also thinks since Parv has already won that it will help him with the jury (as opposed to Danielle)? He might think he has a better shot against Parv than Danielle?

Given his strategy was to split the two of them up, it was the right time to do it. If one of the heroes went home he probably never would have gotten another chance as it would mean having to flip Jerri and Sandra (and there's no way Sandra's flipping to Russell's side). Still though the strategy seems illogical unless he was certain there'd be a final 2 and he was certain they would take each other (both huge assumptions). The only other concern I could see is maybe he thought Parv/Danielle would be tempted to take Sandra since she's already won or if Sandra won an immunity at the Final four he'd be the one going home?

In the end it seems like an emotional decision as opposed to a logical one (or at least that's how CBS edited it for us to think). Parv's done the same thing in the past so I wouldn't mind seeing them both getting punished for it. The only problem with that hope is that Sandra's probably the only one who could orchestrate that type of maneuver (especially as she has an immunity idol), but she's smart enough to realize that Parv and Russell are her best bets to go against in front of a jury vote... She's not going to want to go with a hero in the final 3 as that would probably cost her any chance at the hero jury votes. She knows her best hope is really to stick with the villains and use the "I'm not as bad as they are" argument.

Russell will never win the game of Survivor because he's the most active player ever and has a hand in everyone leaving. The bitterness would never allow for him to get the votes. That being said, he's certainly done some of the most crazy shit I've ever seen in all the seasons of Survivor. The guy thinks he's invincible. He's certainly not, but the other castaways don't really do a good job at teaching him otherwise.

I find it hard to believe I'm saying this, but this season has just gotten better and better. Another entertaining episode. I think Russell has to be a lock for the final 2/3. Wouldn't anyone want to face the jury standing next to him? And as someone mentioned earlier, Russell will take his chances and try to impress on folks that he controlled the game from start to finish in hopes that the votes will come his way on that basis.

It's fairly obvious there's no way in hell Russell's winning if he makes final three but man, he is the most amazing thing ever to happen to this show. Watching him get crazier and crazier and still have his wacky plans work is impressive.

But they don't work, because he ultimately loses the million dollars.

Question: Did they shoot this season before Russell learned the results of his season? Because he hasn't adjusted the horrible social game that cost him the million dollars, and probably will again.

Just because a band doesn't end up winning a grammy doesn't mean their songs don't kick ass.

Music is entirely subjective . Same thing with films or books.

Survivor or any other competitive even like sports where the objective is to win who did better are determined by outlineed objectives. The only objectives for Survivor if you want to be considered the best or win a million dollars is getting jury votes. Winning over tv viewers by showing them how "in charge" you are is not the objective unless your goal is to be a reality tv "celebrity" like Johnny Fairplay.

They are crowning a Dumbest Move Ever champ at the finale. Good stuff, and two of the five moves from this season.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/vote/

Yes. By the time the reunion show for Russell's first season was aired, this all-star season was already in the can. Many fans have theorized (myself included) that Russell's passionate (teary-eyed) plea to Natalie for the title of Sole Survivor at the reunion was a clear indication that he doesn't make it to the final 2/3 of this season. We'll see.

I don't see any scenario of him not making the f2/3.

Parvati,Sandra and Jerri don't seem like people who would throw away their best chance to win the game(Ie sitting against Russell in the f2/3).

I don't know how one can say he's a lock, unless you think he's lock because others think he can't get jury votes at this point and will take them with them. That was a curious move last night. Now you have a ready-made 4-some in Colby/Rup/Sandra/Jerri that can go against the 2 'favorites' at this point, Parv and Russell. Plus that move was made all the more confusing since he has to know that someone must have the Idol, but it could be Parv, Sandra, or Jerri for all he knows. ,

On an unrelated note, I don't think I've seen someone turn into an old man faster than Colby. He is completely worthless this season in challenges.

^ That's exactly what I'm thinking. It appears as if everyone is now expressing their animosity toward Russell. Going up against him in a final 2/3 scenario would be advantageous for any of the remaining players.

Interesting. Thanks!

Colby gave up a shot at immunity for some donuts. Was he this big of a pussy the first 2 times around?

Even though JT is close, I still think Erik wins that. At least JT had somewhat of a plan that had a shot of working if they read the situation correctly, which they didn't. There's no way what Erik did made any sense at all.

Yes, but the farther he gets the more money he makes, just might not be the million. On the other hand, Russell is wealthy and anything other than the million bucks is considered a loss to him.

They had not revealed the winner of the last season when this was filmed so Russell has no idea he gets smacked down in the finale. That would have been something if he had won back to back seasons. He really would have been the best ever.

Russell is my favorite player this season, but what the hell was he thinking? I agree that he can make the moves to get to the end, but he ends up burning all bridges to the jury and I can't imagine any final 2/3 where he can win over the jury at this point.

I don't understand why this type of thing happens almost every season. One alliance has the obvious numbers, with 1 or 2 of the opposing alliance left. The alliance in charge then implodes and at least one of the losing alliance players make it to the final and almost auto-win (best example is Chris in Vanautu). I can't believe that out of 5 people, nobody tries to bring the rest back to reality and continue their voting block, there will be time to cut each other's throats later. This makes me scream at the TV.

Props to Rupert for the decoy idol play. How late can the HII be played? Now that Sandra has the idol I can see her getting into the finals, if not just winning. That sucks, because I still don't like her.

I know I asked this late in the last thread, but don't think anyone answered. Where do the non-jury players go when voted out? Is there a crappy ponderosa for them?

No, I would much rather watch someone like Russell then say Vecepia. It's the journey thats the best part not the end. And the jury votes are very subjective. This is closer to figure skating than hockey.

You may not agree that Russell makes GOOD DECISIONS

But NO ONE can dispute that when Russell decides that something must happen IT ALWAYS HAPPENS

That is the truly amazing thing about him.

No, which is surprising. IIRC he won back-to-back-to-back challenges to get into the final two in the Australian Outback. His heart just doesn't seem to be in this one.

Of course in his season he also just completely gave away the money.

Yeah. The guy simply says 'Danielle' and he gets Jerri to jump. I almost believe he could say 'Jump' to someone standing on a cliff and get them to do it.