“This is my game SUCKA!” -Russell
Tonight’s episode saw our dear friend Russell Hance leave camp. The producers had to know that the possibility of him getting voted out early was strong, so they birthed the idea of Redemption Island to “keep hope alive” for one of their most popular players. As Russell himself pointed out, this is the first time he’s been voted out. If he’s as selfish as I think he is, he can at least hang his fedora on the fact that it took a tribe throwing a challenge to accomplish that feat. Russell has to be anxious to run the table at Redemption Island, which we learned a little something about tonight, and make it to the merge.
I have conflicting views about both Zapatera throwing the challenge and Redemption Island. First, let’s start with Zapatera. I know most teams would never consider it, but if you wanted REALLY wanted Russell gone throwing a challenge is a way to do it. I know people are concerned with numbers, but with Russell being on the short end of the alliance, he’s not really a number is he? He’ll flip at the soonest moment. Also, mixing in the reward with the immunity challenge is the deterrent from the producers standpoint. I had a problem with the story telling on this episode. I wish they revealed the “throwing the challenge” angle until after. It just made too much sense for the team to do this, that I assumed it was a done deal. The producers got a little bit lucky. If Stephanie hadn’t faked having the idol, I’m not sure they would have split the votes and there would have been zero drama. Also, I do give them kudos for finding a story line that made sense to offer drama at tribal council. If Julie is on the tail end of her alliance, it actually makes a little bit of sense to switch over and move higher up in an alliance numbers wise. Julie, may be right at the top of the six strong alliance, but we were not led to believe that. Drama at tribal council is essential for the success of the show and so far Survivor is 3 for 3 in delivering us that. Stephanie is the perfect mate for Russell. She might be even more conniving than he is. She even has equally as lame catch phrases. “Storm’s a coming.” Her and what army precisely?
The other big thing we discovered tonight was just how Redemption Island works. Mind you, the producers can change how they do things at any moment, and I hope they do. It should be noted that, a few people get to go to Redemption Island to see the duel. I have polarizing views on this. On the one hand, I wish it was a complete secret to the opponents so they have zero idea what to expect. This would give the inhabitant of Redemption Island an upper hand. On the other hand, I always like when the game splits players away from the camp. It forces people to talk and can cause some tense situations on camp. After having seen Redemption Island, I don’t think the spectators really have any advantage over the others who didn’t go. The only thing, maybe, could be the type of challenge. The girls could make up some story how mentally challenging it all is so sending them to Redemption Island isn’t an automatic out. They have a chance. Conversely the guys could say it was a physical challenge and that Matt won easily. And that advantage is slight at best. The first duel is not physically demanding. I wonder if the producers will change up the type of challenge based on who is on the island. I want to see some fierce gladiator type wars with a few spectators. Really get down to the animal side of these players. Can you imagine Russell and Phillip squaring off in a brutal fight in the mud with 1 million dollars on the line?! It would be a sight to see!
I have one worry about the drama of this season. It seems like both tribes have a strong alliance present that has numbers. It would seem to me that the next few votes would be fairly easy to make. On Zapatera, Stephanie is an obvious next choice and on Ometepe, Kristina is back on the chopping block. I still think that someone in Ometepe will wake up and think, “we need to get rid of Rob.” Make no mistake, Rob is still very dangerous. He’s a strong inner core of four people. He needs everyone of those to make it to the merge with him so nothing would make me happier than to see Boston Rob with the Hidden Immunity Idol. We’ve seen him be so cunning with next to nothing as far as assets goes, I’m just so curious as to the types of moves he can make with it. Think Paravti with two hidden immunity idols. I think we’d all love to see something that awesome again.
This season of Survivor is still going strong. Here’s hoping Russell can find a way to win a few duels at Redemption Island so the producers can consider releasing him back into the game. I still think there’s a chance that more than one person can get released back into the game at separate times. I’m excited to see how the next few episodes unfold. But until then, “Keep Hope Alive.”
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