survivor - heroes vs. villains

I'm still pulling for a "Second Chance" season consisting of players who got pulled for the game for medical reasons and people who were eliminated first. Some of the best players, Black Russell, Mike Skupin, never made it to the jury.

 

Black Russell was fine, but what did he do to earn the tag "great"?

 

He seemed pretty strong until he passed out. His strategy was kind of strange, but people seemed to gravitate to him.

 

That was the season that put Natalie and Mick in the finals. Most of the people didn't even try to strategize. Black Russell was aces by comparison.

 

Well, white Russell masterminded their drive to the finals and blew up black Russell's alliance, which at the start was very strong. Black Russell having to quit was a blow, but it wasn't clear how much of a blow until white Russell started doing his thing.

 

From my understanding (reading interviews with players that played against Russell), Russell was very much "you are with me or you are against me" meaning that he just did not interact with people that weren't in his alliance until he absolutely had to. It's one thing to bond, in some way, with a player and vote them out, but it is very different to never bond with a player, vote them out and then expect a vote in return at the end. Sure, forming a bond could lead to more hurt feelings, but the players that win nearly every season are the ones that formed some kind of bond with the jury. Russell doesn't do that.

The motto of Outwit. Outplay. Outlast isn't really accurate because the most important part of Survivor is the social game. You have to lie, cheat and steal but do it in a way that doesn't completely offend every single person on the island and then own up to it in the right way. Some people have that ability (Parvati, Sandra, Todd, among others) and some don't (Russell, Amanda). It's what draws me to the show every season.

 

Maybe it is DOB, but did anyone notice that Survivor is moving to Wednesdays at 8 p.m. in the fall? They are putting comedies (Big Bang Theory and a new show) on Thursdays at 8. Interesting choice. I think Survivor will do just fine over there.

 

Off topic a bit but I don't understand CBS going for a comedy Thursday head to head with NBC - the one thing NBC does well. Big Bang against Community - 2 cerebral comedies - there will be a lot of DVR action. I personally like it because it means I can watch Survivor and still catch all those NBC comedies instead of having to choose.

 

Anyone here watch Seasons 12 and 13? (Exile Island & Cook Islands)

I just ordered them on DVD from dvdshows.net and have never seen them.

I've seen all the seasons that are currently on DVD and the last three seasons and, for $12, figured I'd give that site a try as I'm jonesing for some more Survivor right now.

 

Danielle was from Exile Island (it was filmed in Panama) and was the first season to use Exile Island each episode. I believe Terry was on that season. He pretty much rocked.

Cook Islands received a lot of attention because they split the cast into four tribes by race at the beginning. Although they idea sounds offensive, it also brought a lot of diversity into the show (instead of having a bunch of white people with the token asian and token black person as before, there was an equal number of each race). It was decent, from what I recall. Parvati and Candice are from that season.

 

Big Bang will stomp Community in ratings and that is why CBS is doing it. Survivor has been winning the time slot for ages anyway, but this will give CBS the head-to-head comedy battle.

 

Putting it against Modern Family? That sucks.

Survivor would do well in just about any time slot.