Survivor - What a finish!

[dr.strangelove]

WOW. Thats about all I can say. What a great finish to the season. I think its somewhat sad that the best player did nto win because the jury was pretty filled with losers with sour grapes, but that said, What a finish.

In the end, Russell lost because of how he played. I suspect the vote was more for "not Russell" then for anyone in particular. I think the jury questions were clear that they were trying to decide between Mick and Natalie and Mick gave them nothing to go for.

I think I began to see it several weeks ago when Monica and Russell were arguing at tribal and russell said that he beat her and she said "with idols." Like that was cheating somehow. But it showed me that there was not going to be respect paid for greatness. I liken this to All-Stars, when Rob lost to Amber because of egos more than anything else. Well, Natalie played smart. She gave no one a reason to dislike her. She stayed under the radar long enough to win, which is all that matters. Her strategy paid off while Russells did not.

I can't wait for next year. Rumor is that Survivor 20 will be it. Probst is still not signed up for any more and I can;t see the show without him. .

Best part of the reunion show, Probst being told that he makes Betsy sweat everytime he says her name.

[romana]

1. Russell

The problem, IMO, was Russell's arrogance over how he played the game, not how he played the game itself. He did not take the "Nothing personal, it's just a game" approach, as others have. He took the "I am the greatest player of this game who ever lived" and that was his downfall. He did not let his actions speak for him. Had he done that, I think he would have won. In the end, Russell blew the social game, and Natalie didn't, and sometimes that's more important than anything else. I'm not really sure Natalie deserved the win more than Russell, though one could argue she played a better overall game than he did. I don't think "I was smart enough to ride Russell's coat-tails all the way to a win" counts as an effective strategy and is not worthy of winning in my book. But that's just me. :)

Jaison's speech about how Survivor is like real life was laughably stupid. That was Russell's other mistake, not taking Jaison to the finals. If he'd ditched Natalie and kept Jaison, Russell would've won hands down. That, or Jaison should've been voted out much earlier. IMO he was unworthy in almost every possible way. Jaison checked out of the game pretty early on.

I have to admit I did enjoy how obviously pissed off Russell was last night when he did not win. In a way, I can understand it. But it also illustrates the fact he did not understand the social game at all. It'll be interesting to watch him in Heroes and Villains to see if he learned from his mistake, or continues to miss the point.

[Phentex]

5. I mostly agree with what you've said but

I think Natalie outplayed Russell in the social aspect of the game which is a very real part of the game, as you said, but I do find that worthy of winning. He also screwed up by telling people he was a businessman. They really did not want to give him more money!

He really only wanted the title and now he'll want celebrity status. Boston Rob, anyone? *barf*

[Stevenmarc]

2. Plain and simple a bunch of losers pissed that they were played

Russell is the only player in the history of the game that in his opening statement went down the entire list of exactly what he did to get him to the end of the game, he preempted any questions of his game play. If Russell made any mistake at the end he should have called Erik out on his idiotic weak weepy diatribe and reminded the group that the game is out play, out wit, and out last and he did that better than anyone else in the history of the game.

[lpbk2713]

3. Natalie missed a great opportunity in the Reunion show.

When Russell wanted to make a deal so he could be called "Sole Survivor" Natalie should have said "screw you, I don't need you any more". The expression on Russell's face would have been priceless when it dawned on him that Natalie turned the tables on him.

:rofl: :rofl:

[Demit]

4. What a life lesson, too.

You don't have to have better skills than other folks to get ahead, you just have to make sure that the right people like you.

Jury sour grapes is right. They were so offended that Russell outplayed & outwitted them that they picked the lesser player out of spite. Another life lesson—reinforcing the stereotype that females only get ahead if they are the nonthreatening type.

I liked Natalie right up until she won and preened as if she had won by deserving it. Bah.