Happy Halloween everyone!
After last week’s action packed episode of Survivor: Samoa in which Russell S. was taken out of the game, the aftermath hits the castaways on Thursday’s episode.
With Russell’s evacuation, the men of Galu lost their gender majority and were forced to take in a new member – Shambo. Smart move? Heck yes. The girls of Galu aren’t too smart in the game and don’t realize that having a tight three-person alliance is going to get you NOWHERE unless you allign with others as well. And what most people seem to forget in this game, you don’t have to like someone to ally with them. You don’t even have to trust someone completely to ally with them. You just need to take advantage of them and further yourself in the game.
Sound harsh? Well yeah, it is. But the castaways need to remember – IT’S A GAME! Russell’s lies prey on people’s emotions like using Hurricane Katrina or religion as basis to create sympathy or trust. Now this is obviously deceit at it’s lowest, but all is fair in Survivor and if you’re not willing to play at that level of deceit, well you’re not going to be making it to the end game.
That’s why Survivor is such a tough game. You’re forced to lie. You’re forced to manipulate. Or you’re going home. And that can really screw with your head.
But Russell (Now I will refer to him as just “Russell” seeing as Russell S. was evacuated) seems to be immune to the mental issues that can come with manipulation which is what makes him a fantastic player. He’s saying the right things to get people to trust him and he does it convincingly. I don’t like the guy too much, but he’s a good player. Very good actually.
Although it could just be that he’s such a great player in comparison to the other castaways in Samoa who…well… aren’t great players. Monica, Laura and Kelly on Galu are flat-out alienating Shambo who they’ll soon find out that they need on their side. A three-person alliance is good, but it’s not going to be majority until the final five. And sorry to break it to you girls, but the guys aren’t looking out for you. They’re using you. There’s quite a difference.
At the immunity challenge, Foa Foa loses again. Big surprise. I don’t really understand what’s wrong with this tribe. They seem to work together well in camp, there’s no real hostility towards anyone and everyone is individually strong too. But that doesn’t seem to keep them out of tribal council and they’re forced to vote out yet another member.
The two targets – Liz and Jaison. Liz because she’s “threatened” Russell and his chances to make it further and Jaison because he gave up in the immunity challenge.
WHY IS NO ONE TARGETING RUSSELL???
Everyone except maybe Liz knows that Russell has an idol, so why aren’t you trying to get rid of it? Or try to manipulate HIM for a change? He’s obviously a much bigger threat than Liz, so why does Foa Foa continue to keep him there? Sigh.
Like clockwork, Russell’s plans go into motion again and he boots out Liz. Surprisingly, the editing was fantastic this episode. Even though I should have known that 99% Liz was going to go home, the editors made it seem like there was a good shot Jaison could as well. Made it a lot more exciting.
Next week is a merge, or what looks like a merge at least. Something interesting is bound to happen, but Foa Foa is going to need to work pretty hard to overcome Galu’s majority. But with Russell on their tribe, I can definitely see some fireworks happening and Galu turning on each other. Should be interesting!
