Amph Survivor 25 - Philippines

Tom was the only one I was rooting for with the Survivors.

Now I can unabashedly root for just the villains.

 

Survivor tonight!

yes, it's Wednesday. March Madness, and all that.

 

Russell Hantz, was born to play Survivor. I just don't think he was born to WIN. That being said, what a power play tonight.

 

Russell is perhaps the finest strategist the game has ever seen. On the flip side, he is one of the game's worst social players. His personality grates people.

 

And that's why he'll never win enough Jury votes to ever win the $1,000,000.

Also, Tyson, what a dolt. Hilarious. Russell is amazing at gameplay and manipulation, that's for sure.

And I think James would have been more use than Colby, even with a bad knee. At least he had drive.

 

Used to be a big fan of Colby, and used to hate Boston Rob - my how things have changed.

Heros are a bunch of idiots, Villains - at least they're honest about being cut-throat!

Tyson was just a dolt, and once again coatails Parvo-beast lives through another TC.

 

it was a good move by russell i guess, but man.. everything rested on tyson being a complete and utter moron. changing his vote to parvati wouldn't have helped in any scenario and could only ever backfire. amazingly dumb. boston rob looked like he was in shock.

 

Russell put a lot of faith in Tyson being a moron and effectively voting himself out of the game. It was frustrating, and I hope that now Rob's all out campaign to vote Russell out works. Rob is definitely my favorite player there right now. I sincerely hope he can help put that little brat in his place.

On the Heroes side... wow, really wasn't expecting that. Although I couldn't stand James this season, I thought his alliance was tight. And you know what really pisses me off? They could have just voted James out last week and then perhaps Tom would have had a chance to stay in much longer

I completely gave up on the heroes when they voted Tom out. I honestly don't have anyone on that tribe that I'm rooting for right now.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Probst's show recaps are hilarious. Here's the one for last night's show;

http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/03/25/jeff-probst-blogs-survivor-heroes-vs-villains-episode-6/

 

Tom was awesome and i was sad to see him go--I think voting for him was a mistake. Candice bugs me--wish they coulda voted her out.

I really want Russell to stay--him and Rob make for fantastic TV.

While Russell is a snake and quite full of himself, I'm rooting for him. Rob can also be quite arrogant and I thought it was pretty awesome to see him out-smarted by Russell--the look on his face, he thought he was unbeatable.

Rob may not boast about it as much, but he's so similar to Russell in so many ways when it comes to ego--I'm excited to see what happens next.

Go Russell!

Also, I hope Rupert steps it up. He used to be one of my favourites but lately he's been somewhat over-shadowed by the other contestants.

 

Well, the difference is that Rob, while prideful, is not so out of insecurity as Russell is in a painfully obvious way. Russell's an anti-social, annoying, paranoid little man. Rob is just... Boston He has social skills, whereas Russell is incredibly off-putting and will never win because of it.

Rupert was great before, but he's been pretty annoying this season. In general, I have been extremely annoyed with the heroes besides Tom and Colby.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

It may have just been the edit to make it look like James had a chance, but Colby was pretty 'meh' yesterday. No spirit.

 

Russell's an anti-social, annoying, paranoid little man

and he out-witted Rob, which is why he's so fun to watch. Also, I don't get insecurity from Russell. I think he plays it off that way at times as part of his strategy--especially with Rob. No, I think he really believes he is the bee's knees and does not question it.

I think that's no different from Rob who is so confident in his own skills--he just shows it differently. He smooth talks his way through things, whereas Russell snakes his way through things. Really, it's two sides of the same coin in my opinion.

Russell is a little man, but it's character that counts and despite the fact that he may not be admirable--he's got just as much as Rob in that department.

You're right though, Russell doesn't seem to get that sometimes it's better to smooth your way through the social situations--because he's never going to win the way he plays. However, I hope he stays in the game for a long time because he sure makes it interesting. I love that he's buzzing around Coach right now too...now Coach, there's a little man . He's being used by everyone.

Aside from all the direct character judgments, it's hard to say what these people are really like, although, I suspect, Rob would be much more agreeable/easy to get along with in person outside of the game than Russell. Russell is...loud.

Colby needs to step it up, but either way, I think the Heroes are finished.

Rupert, I used to love him, but I don't get what he's doing this game. I love those occasional looks he gives the camera though...he always looks ready to kill someone despite the ty dy shirts. I think it's a combination of his brow, and that massive...massive beard.

In terms of a social game, I'm curious, Russell might be in a good place to change that up too--if he can let go of his pride a little. He risked a loss to keep an ally, which actually looks really good (folks like coach were gushing over it). Also, he's not the leader and it's often the leader that can easily get painted with a target. He showed the other contestants that Rob is vulnerable and that's really critical. If Russell lasts another round, Rob's in serious trouble.

 

and he out-witted Rob, which is why he's so fun to watch.

except that he totally didn't. rob's plan was completely full-proof. tyson is just really, really dumb.

 

No, he did. He knew what Rob was going to do and he knew that Tyson would probably be dumb enough to mess it up. Just the fact that Russell was always on the same page as Rob in terms of strategy is saying something, let alone the fact that he knew how to beat the "unbeatable" plan--and the fact that, he did.

Tyson wouldn't have done what he did had it not been for Russell. Not only that, but Russell gained support from some folks, especially coach, at tribal council because of what he said and how he played his hand.

Rob "knew" it was an unbeatable plan because he's just as arrogant as Russell at times. It was remarkable to see Russell--a guy who Rob thought was so stupid, to win over his "unbeatable" plan.

Apparently, Rob didn't count on Tyson's "dumbness."

 

well yeah. the only way he could have possibly been voted out was to go against the plan, but he did it anyway. i wouldn't count on that either.

 

Tyson didn't count on Russell playing the idol for someone else, so he switched his vote. Making a move like that puts Russell is a more like-able stance, socially. People were really surprised to see him stick his neck out for someone else, which is what he needs. He needs to trick them into thinking that he's not a snake, but loyal. That Rob would try to vote out the other weak players in an instant, but if you stick with Russell, he'll take care of you.

All that said, I really like Rob too. I hope both of them stay in the game for a long time.

 

they had explicitly discussed the possibility of him using the idol for someone else, which was the entire reason for the plan. otherwise they would have all voted for parvati.

 

Tyson on Parvati and Russell in his exit interview--"I knew he had the idol but I never thought he?d play it for her. Who does that?"

 

like i said, dumb. it was a very distinct possibility, and rob was one step ahead because he knows how russell thinks. they think in a very similar way actually when it comes to the game. tyson just doesn't think at all.

 

But like I said, Rob wasn't a step ahead. Russel knew exactly what Rob was doing. It's just that, Rob outplayed Russell from the start--by gaining the upper-hand/respectful position of leader. The wonderful thing about Russell is that he understands the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and he plays to peoples'...call it, corruptibility or temptation.

Anyways, if Russell gets kicked out, I think it'll kinda suck, because whether you like him or hate him--he just makes the game so much more interesting. He's someone for people to hate, and someone for people to love--that's fantastic, that makes for great TV in the end.

In fact, Rob is that much more highlighted by his struggle with Russell.

 

well if he knew what rob was doing then he took a huge gamble that tyson would change his vote even though there was absolutely no reason to. also what if tyson had been one of the three already designated to vote for parvati? again, a huge gamble.

but it paid off, and i agree that he definitely makes the game more fun.

 

Can't wait for next week!

 

I think part of the reason Russell took such a huge gamble Wednesday night is because he knew that if Parv was voted out, he wouldn't last much longer himself.

 

Everyone keeps saying it was a huge gamble, but I feel like Russell wasn't worried at all. If anything it was quite the calculated gamble. And really, most decisions in that game are a gamble to some degree--I feel that Russell was confident that he could read Tyson accurately and get him to do what he wanted him to. He still might not last much longer himself. He's gotta make a couple more big moves first if he wants to stay.