'Survivor: Samoa': The evil get ... eviler
Oh, that dastardly Russell, he of the striking blue eyes, unfortunate propensity to walk around camp in unfortunate underwear and the unshakable faith that he's the smartest person in the game.
Sadly, so far, none of his tribemates seem to be stepping up to prove him wrong on that last thing. At least, not yet.
His smartest move was anticipating that there was a hidden immunity idol at camp -- and actually finding it without any clues ... and without any of his tribemates noticing, even though it was inside a tree literally next to where several of them were standing around.
I'm not sure yet whether this was a dumb or smart move, but early in the episode Russell decided to ally with Jaison. He decided he wanted to prove to Jaison that he was trustworthy, so he told him about finding the immunity idol. (Glimpses of next week, though, make it look like Jaison is hip to Russell's weirdness. Whew.)
There was only one challenge, and instead of puzzle-maze-swim-run-unlock-unscramble-raise-flag, it was of the beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-and-try-to-make-baskets variety. It was rough. Jeff stopped the game a few times for questionable moves, then warned them that any future cheap shot would get them thrown out. Ben tripped someone rather spectacularly and got thrown out. Shortly thereafter, Galu won, and since it was a combination reward and immunity challenge, Foa Foa was headed to tribal council.
But first, Mike, who was really out of it after taking a hit in the challenge, was evaluated by medical and eventually removed from the game. That didn't mean there wouldn't be tribal council, though.
And in a twist, Galu got to choose a member of its own tribe to go back to camp with Foa Foa and stay with them through TC. They chose Yasmin.
In a totally bizarre move, back at the Foa Foa camp, Yasmin decided to start out her visit by lecturing them about how she was there to help them, to help them learn strategy so the tribes would be more evenly matched because so far, it was like taking candy from a baby. That went over just fabulously (and it went on forever -- she cannot read a room). Then she pulled Ben aside to lecture him about playing dirty and tackling her like she was a "dude." He said he didn't break any rules, and she again went on forever even though it was clear there was going to be no changing of minds.
Ben, also not the best strategist in the world, said she was from the ghetto and probably "ate ketchup sandwiches" and other phrases he probably should regret but likely won't. After all, he's an "outlaw." Whatevs. He proceeded to spend the entire night chopping wood and keeping everyone awake. Why no one told him to stop is beyond me, but they were all so annoyed.
But not so upset to think he should go. All eyes were on the oldest person left on their tribe: police officer Betsy. (NOOOO! Betsy is the only one we know for sure thinks Russell is a snake!)
When the votes came in at tribal, Betsy was out. Sigh.
Oh, right, I almost forgot about the other tribe. Shambo took the reward package -- a fishing kit -- out for a spin and 1) caught nothing and 2) lost the mouthpiece from the mask. She's so toast if Galu ever loses anything. (Speaking of Galu, I was taking a spin through the bios on CBS.com, and I hardly recognize anyone from that tribe other than the other Russell and Shambo. They have gotten so little screen time!)
What did you think of the episode?
Comments
There's another tribe?
Posted by: Mike N | September 25, 2009 12:27 AM
You have to admit, no matter how evil and dastardly he is, Russell was pretty smart to look for the idol and find it without any clues. It's one thing to be evil and dumb, scary to be evil and smart...
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like in past seasons when they've had to pull someone out of the game they didn't make them go to tribal and vote someone out? Am I wrong?
SKK: I thought the same thing, Chris. I was wondering if they felt like they had to do TC since Yasmine was supposed to watch them there.
Posted by: Chris in KS | September 25, 2009 7:26 AM
Russell does not need the money, he is there to get his 15 minutes of frame and see what can of crap he can stir up. Why they didn't vote out the cheap shot artist, Ben. Go figure. First time in history of the show, that they had to kick somebody out. Even after keeping them up all night. This tribe is crazy. I didnt understand Yasmin. I thought she was supposed to go and observe, not lecture and provoke. Not a smart move on her part. Except the part about telling Ben off. He deserved it.
Posted by: Capt Jack | September 25, 2009 8:01 AM
Like Shambo, I'm seeing good news and bad news here. Bad news: Russell, the Samoan Satan, found the immunity idol. (Gotta give him credit for that. Very smart move.)
Good news, he told Jaison that he found it. Now Jaison is forced to set up a blind-side to take him out before he plays it. Oh, more bad news...I'm not sure that Jaison is savvy enough to figure that out. We'll see.
Yasmin: you gotta be kidding. Please tell me she has some odd strategy. Because if her lecture wasn't a part of a bigger plan, it was...well, it was just stupid.
Ben: the firing off an imaginary pistol at Betsy during the vote was every bit as offensive as Russell's lie about being in Katrina. Maybe more offensive, since Russell was playing out a strategy, but Ben was just being Ben.
Good episode, all in all.
Posted by: Bucky | September 25, 2009 9:44 AM
Admittedly at first I didn't care for Russell at all, but he's playing the game to his strengths and you have to applaud him for that. I wasn't surprised that he found the idol, because after seeing survivor for several years the idol is always usually in prominent place that tribe is centered around for their daily activities.
Yasmin should have introduced herself and felt out the tribe before going on a tirade because it didn't help her cause if she makes it to merge.
Ben is on my shortlist with his racist comments, because anger brings out your true character and he was probably making some cheap shots. I mean really who eats ketchup sandwhichs?
Posted by: Nicole | September 25, 2009 10:04 AM
Hmmm.... I like all of your comments.
But, I find it very suspicious that Russell found the immunity idol, without any help from the producers of the show.
His offensive antics just reinforce my belief that he has been planted to boost ratings...
What do you think?
Discuss...
Posted by: bmason | September 25, 2009 11:42 AM
bmason: I don't know that I would call it "planted" but, yeah, I'm sure when they cast every season, there are certain "types" they are looking for and one of those is "villian." It would be a pretty boring show if they cast 20 introverts who just want everyone to get along and "play fair."
As to the Evil-Doer finding the hidden immunity idol on his own...that's not out of the realm of possibility, in my mind. My guess is that next season we will see something entire different than a hidden immunity idol, now that Russell pulled off finding it without any clues. Maybe a fake hidden immunity idol, planted by the producers? Or--whoa--did they already think of that and the one Russell found is a fake? The clue Yasmin got said something about "barking up the wrong tree". What if Mr.-Hotshot-Texas-Oilman "barked up the wrong tree"?
Now THAT would be sweet.
Posted by: Bucky | September 25, 2009 12:55 PM
Bucky, the only problem with that theory is that if you'll remember there was a letter that came with the hidden idol that he showed to Jaison.
Posted by: Chris in KS | September 25, 2009 4:19 PM