Survivor - Redemption Island

I find it difficult to believe that Phillip was using a strategy all along. I think it's much more likely that he's crazy. I do give him credit for realizing everybody saw him as an idiot and finding a way to use that to his advantage. That being said, I do not want him to win.

 

Natalie's has seemed pretty smart up to this point so I'm not sure she'll turn against Rob. I think the fact that Rob went after Grant instead of knocking her out will help his cause. But they could be a pretty dangerous pair. Rob's got that idol though if he senses a play being made against him.

 

I think he's eccentric and he was smart enough to realize after a few days that he wasn't going to become best friends with anybody there. Due to his age and his quirky personality. So he wisely shifted his strategy and played off of what he had going for him.

 

Agreed, although I think he has too much belief in his ability to be persuasive before the jury. He has created a situation where people start rolling their eyes the moment he begins speaking. At best he could make it to the final two and lose unless he is able to stand before the jury and immediately come off as a different person. I'm talking about something akin to Verbal transforming into Keyser Soze at the end of "The Usual Suspects". He can't reference his grandfather, being a federal agent or any ancient Bushido code in any way other than as a joke. I think that's the only way that he has a chance to win.

 

Honestly I think this is Rob's biggest mistake to this point. He should have gone after Natalie. Grant was going to be loyal completely, but I see signs of Natalie beginning to shift. IF the RI person comes back before they cut anyone and sides with the girls...Rob's screwed idol or not.

This game will be VERY interesting if Ashley wins the next immunity.

And yes Philip is over playing the crazy and I believe he's done that since day 1.

 

There is zero chance Natalie was going to knock Mike or Matt out of redemption island. If one of them comes back and makes the final three Rob is toast anyway. I think his best shot is Grant coming back from RI. If this was regular Survivor Natalie was definitely the one he should have voted out.

 

I believe Natalie will stay loyal to Rob. If the RI person wins immunity he'll convince her that they need him to have a chance they don't win the NEXT immunity. His reason being is I believe he will convince them that he is a better person to take to the end than someone from RI who's already made jury vote relationships on RI. If Grant comes back then who knows but all power to him I like Grant and wouldn't mind if he won. He still has the idol so even if EVERYTHING backfires on him, he just has to win that final immunity challenge. I wouldn't bet against him.

 

8 out of 9 jury votes. Best player ever. Period.

 

AND fan favorite LMAO

 

This show may have officially jumped the shark now. It is mind boggling to me that people did not target Rob from day 1. How on Earth did he even make it to the merge? This collection of ****ing dimwits did not even attempt to make any sort of move the entire game. Even Andrea, who really didn't contemplate a move until AFTER she was blindsided.

Of course Rob played a great game, but really i dont think its all that impressive after seeing how that tribe had no backbone at all. It almost seems like the whole season was setup for Rob to win. I feel so bad for Russel. He pointed out some great questions at the reunion and stupid *** Probst just blew them off. I hope he gets one more chance some day with people who actually try to win.


So any guesses as to who the 2 previous contestants will be next season?

 

I felt the same way you did above. It was almost like the people had never seen the show before.

I hope the returning players are Coach and Phillip. That would be comedy gold.

 

I agree with Probst that Rob played the best game of Survivor ever. The reason it was the best though was illustrated by Andrea. She explained how Rob was constantly talking to everybody. How every person felt they had a connection with him. Rob's comment about Phillip showed how great Rob was at reading people. He listened to Phillip and realized that as one of twelve kids it was likely that Phillip had spent his whole life craving attention. He knew that if he were the one to give him that attention, that Phillip would follow him forever. That's why Rob played a great game. He was able to figure out what people needed and give it to them. People don't understand why Rob was never targeted b/c they're only looking at the game superficially. Underneath it all, the game is about building relationships. Rob did that better than anybody ever has. On various, individual levels he made them all feel secure with him. And further, he always made it seem that the alternative of being with Rob was less secure. Those people may have been idiots, but really no more idiotic than most of society.

As for Russell, he has almost no chance to ever win. He is an angry guy that only builds one type of relationship. He can impress the (generally) young, but that's it. Anybody who isn't ready to kiss his feet becomes an opponent. He can intimidate, but like every dictator in history, as soon as the people you're intimidating have any power they will take you out. I thought that Zapatera was stupid to throw a challenge, but Russell created that situation himself. He is such a jerk and so antagonistic that he makes himself a target. Probst didn't blow off Russell b/c it was a good question. He blew him off b/c the answer was obvious. They threw the challenge b/c Russell was such a **** to have a round that getting rid of him made their life better even if it was only temporarily so. I don't know that Rob would have won if he had been on Zapatera, but he would have had a better chance. Rob would have brought in the same two young girls Ruseell did, but he also may have brought in Steve, David and Mike. Heck, he might have even figured out what Ralph needed and won him over too.

Phillip is the most unaware person on that cast. I swear he must only hear what he wants to hear. He speaks and people laugh at him yet he doesn't realize it. He probably doesn't hear the laughter and only hears the one or two people who told him he was brilliant (probably his mom, LOL). And Phillip's only chance was to argue that he played the obnoxious guy out of necessity and that he was sorry for that, but that he was proud that unlike Rob, he never backstabbed anybody. But Phillip wasn't smart enough or secure enough to do that. Instead he took every slight personally and responded like a scorned child.

Grant is being naive. In Survivor, you only make it to the end by voting out the best players. You only do that by getting those players out yourself or by riding the coat tails of another person who does that. He blind sided people too, but acted butt-hurt when Rob did it to him.

 

We're going to have to disagree about Russell. Rob is a hard worker, built their shelter, and is a leader/badass in challenges. Russell lays around camp or is looking for the idol. Rob makes personal relationships with his tribe mates while Russell hides your socks and machete. If Rob was on Zapatera I'm sure he doesn't win it all, but they would have not lost to Ometepe in overall challenges, and with him being such a social guy and hard worker, I doubt that throw that challenge to get off the "cancer".

Remember Rob won 4 individual immunities (5 if you include the idol) and Russell is just not that good. Rob is superior to Russell at every single thing as far as Survivor except finding Immunity Idols, and he's not even that much better at that obviously. Russell has been in two FTC's getting 2 votes out of the possible 18 jury votes he could've gotten. Rob received 11 out of 16 total jury votes he could have gotten. Best player ever.

 

Without Rob, Ometepe probably doesn't come to the merge with numbers. They all knew he was a leader, a good guy and would help bring them to the end which he did. He didn't blindside anyone until every single person on the other tribe was gone and I think they appreciated his loyalty. He also had immunity for 5 out of the last 7 tribals including the last two.

 

Dude, he blindsided Matty......





TWICE!!!!!!

 

Ometepe was so worthless as a tribe, they only had 1 player other than Rob who actually thought of strategy. That person was Christina.

Just think of how different this season would have turned out had Phillip not flipped out in the very first tribal council. Rob could have been taken out, and was pretty much only saved by Probst digging for info that set off Phil, Christina, and Francesca. This is why I am starting to lose interest in the show as it seems they set this up for Rob to
dominate. That vote would have been entirely different had Probst not dug for info that the rest of the tribe didn't even realize what was going on.

 

The first time he couldn't go after Kristina because she had an idol. Matt was getting to close to Andrea. AND he went over and shook the other teams hands after they had just beaten them twice in row. Matt had to go and it's his own fault.

The second time Matt was even conspiring to take out Rob and then even admitted it. One of the worst moves in survivor history IMO. The first was a blindside (if you can consider the 2nd person voted out a blindside) but the 2nd was just getting rid of the wishy washy RI returnee who could possibly make a big move the longer he's in the game. Also the entire Ometepe tribe voted him out too so it wasn't just Rob.

 

Rob's 6 was splitting the vote 3 - 3. If those three stayed together it would've been a tie and Kristina (having not played the idol) would probably be going home. Not too much changes other than Phillip becoming a Rob vote for most of the game afterwards.

 

Of course it changes. Without Probst asking the questions the way he did, the Phil doesn't flip out and the tribe never even realizes that Christina HAS the idol. So much changed on that very first night.

 

Rob's an excellent player and a smart guy but seriously. Let's stop pretending he's the only Survivor player that has ever known how to deal with people. Any idiot could tell Phillip wanted respect and attention. You don't have to be Dr. Phil to get a handle on what most people respond to. Especially a guy like Phillip. Not to mention the three previous seasons of practice. I would have to assume all of the contestants were at least vaguely familiar with the game of survivor and at least had heard of Boston Rob. You don't go to a game like that to be nurtured by a veteran player. Mastering those guys, while still somewhat impressive, was like watching a Pro Bowl QB shred a practice squad defense. Rob was thrown on a tribe full of weak minded people. Not one person on that tribe has any characteristics of a real leader. Phillip is actually the closest but is too strange to connect with other people. They were a tribe of Natalies. Just happy to make it to the final three. No real aspirations of winning. Because if you really want to win you sure as hell don't let a guy like Rob make it to the final three. And does anybody here truly believe the Zap guys were going to tolerate a blindside like Matt's in their tribe that early in the game? They were just going to fall in ranks behind Rob? I'm not so sure about that and even Rob admitted to the jury it could have went down differently had he started in that tribe. Was he lobbying for votes? Sure. But that doesn't mean he doesn't believe that. I'm not saying he wouldn't have outlasted Russell on that tribe but he would have worked a lot harder. And Russell won the last immunity challenge in heroes vs. villains so to imply he doesn't work hard at challenges is false. Yes he plays differently but in the end they both screw people and brag to the cameras.

I think both Rob and Russell should have held out and come back for another All-Star season instead of this one. Russell got a raw deal for sure and Rob's victory is tainted by the incredibly weak competition of this season. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if the show producers purposely did their best to put Rob in a better situation. Russell bested Rob last time so they want to reverse it for this season. I don't know how else to explain how uneven the tribes were from a personality standpoint.

Julie had a lot of nerve lecturing poor Natalie. I wonder what Julie's children think of her throwing challenges. She lost a lot of my respect from that. On a personal level I wanted Mike to win. I'm an Iraq war veteran as well and I was really pulling for the guy. Sorry Rob but I'm not buying your 'provide for the kids' sob story. Your wife already won a cool million. He picked his final two perfectly though. Kudos for that.

Redemption Island was a total failure. I hope they don't bring it back.

 

The thing is Rob already knew Kristina was already looking for the idol. Before tribal he predicted it and had his votes split 3 to Franchesca and 3 to Kristina. The only thing that could've happened was a tie. The 6 Ometepes never changed their voting strategy so IMO it wouldn't have gotten Rob out either way.

 

Russell wouldn't have figured it out. Russell would have just called him an idiot and let him go. In fact, I doubt most people would have. Most people would have just reacted like everybody else there did. Let's stop pretending that everybody there was some abnormally stupid subsection of society.

 

Yeah Rob definitely isn't the only Survivor player that can deal with people. He IS the only player to play the closest thing to a perfect game in Survivor history. No amount of anything can take that away. Rob in his two final tribal councils has earned 11 out of the 16 total votes. Russell earned 2 out of the total 18 votes he could have received. Rob is a completely superior player in every way possible. In HvV Parvati won more individual immunities than Russell and IMO she controlled the game just as much if not more than he did. Russell is more like Phillip where people want to take him to the end because they know he won't beat him. The only real difference between Phillip and Russell is Phil actually works around camp and won't steal your ****. Russell taking Sandra to the very end is also a terrible move even though it wouldn't have made a difference in him game as far as winning. Yes Russell and Rob screw people and talk crap to the camera. Thing is Russell will also talk crap to your face AND vote off his own tribe before the rest of his tribe was gone. Maybe if Russell didn't run off to find 2 girls to "take to the end" and do absolutely nothing around camp they wouldn't have considered him such a cancer. Rob was able to adjust his game and fix his faults while Russell played the same exact game.

Oh, and in Heroes vs Villians nobody had ever seen Russell play before (back to back seasons shot relatively close together) which is a HUGE advantage. If those All Stars had the chance to see what he did in his previous season do you think he does all that he did that season? I don't and IMO it's a MUCH bigger advantage than any excuse against Rob winning.

Watching Andrea beat Mike during that final duel did bring the lulz that's for sure.

 

They were not a group of troglodytes or anything. However they were terrible players and it seems like they're getting off the hook for the sake of pumping up Rob's victory. We can say Rob pitched a perfect game. I agree. The thing is he was pitching against minor leaguers. That's actually an insult to AAA players, I'm talking more like A ball here. It's crazy that you can predict what Russell would have done. Prior seasons have proven that Russell knew the value of friction in the camp. So based off of actual evidence there is reason to believe he would have kept Phillip around as well.

 

Here's a hypothetical situation

During All Stars Chapera (Rob's tribe) was stomping on Mogo Mogo in challenges. They decided to do a complete tribal swap where the tribes stayed exactly the same except they switched tribes (which was BS because Rob built them an amazing camp) other than Amber going to the other side. Rob made a deal with Lex to save Amber which he did. Rob staying true to his tribe and original alliance took out the other players out 1 by 1 just like he did this season with the exception of Shi Ann winning the final 6 immunity which sent Alisha home one tribal early. This backstab made Lex REALLY bitter and he gave Amber his vote to win the game. Rob ended up losing the vote to Amber 4-3. If that tribal switch never happens then he never has to betray Lex to save Amber, Lex is still Rob's friend and Rob probably ends up winning the whole thing.

It's not hard to do what if's. You play the hand you're dealt and Rob took out the best players as soon as he could. Completely dominant and near perfect game play.

 

Parvati is a great example of how Russell played with real players and not frightened sheep. Thanks for bringing that up.

I don't have a problem with Rob and I think he's a great player, just to be clear. The main reason I defend Russell is because I am a southerner myself and I know what kind of biases you're subjected to from people from the rest of the country when you talk with a drawl. Yes Russell is an ***. So is Rob. Rob does it behind your back which technically is supposed to be even worse. But Rob is from Boston and Russell is from Texas. You talk with a Boston accent and you're basically Joe Cool. You talk like a southerner and you're an inbred idiot. That's just how it is. I'm not saying that's the reason you personally like Rob more as a player but if you think that there aren't a substantial number of people favoring Rob for that very reason you're kidding yourself. Russell could be the exact same person and from the northeast and he'd be more popular. Call me a crazy Phillip if you want. The other reason is I legitimately do think some of you here are taking away TOO much credit from Russell's performances and his game. Points I've mostly already made.

 

Yeah Ralph doesn't help the cause.... Phile... seriously. And I remember when he voted for Russell he wrote Rassel or something like that.

 

Yes and they had never seen him play unlike the other 19 people on the show. That may be the biggest advantage in Survivor history and he still got 0 votes from the jury. Rob also won them a ton of challenges early and once he was voted off they never won another.

My dad is from the south and lives in Georgia and has a southern accent. I look southern. That argument may be valid but not towards me anyways.

Russell has great strategy, a terrible social game, and is average at challenges. Rob has great strategy, a great social game, the leader in team challenges, and the person who wins the most individual immunities after the merge.

Rob's gotten to the end before and only missed winning it by one vote. That alone is better than anything Russell has done and that was 8 years ago.

 

I run a Survivor remember? I could win my game every time I played if I wasn't running it :P Survivor is a big part of my football offseason.

 

Here's something I can't say enough.

Rob builds you your damn house. Russell lays around and eats your food while he steals your **** to make everyone on edge.