(S19E01) CBS just came off the highest-rated season ever of Big Brother. Will they be able to repeat the deed with Survivor: Samoa? You know, it's very possible that they just might do it. That is, if the season premiere is any indication.
Right off the bat, they gave me a reason to watch (other than I write about the show). I want to see Evil Russell knocked down by a woman. He's not to be confused with Good Russell, nor Russell on Big Brother. Nor even my brother, Russ. He's nasty, I tell you!
You'll have to bear with me on the names until I get to know this cast o' plenty. I think they must have a few double tribal councils set for the season, as there are 20 castaways. If memory serves, that's either the most in the cast or perhaps tied with the season in which they brought two back in from a previous season.
Although not incredibly different, I enjoyed the way they started out tonight by picking tribe leaders without really knowing anyone. I don't think it's all that great for the two chosen -- Good Russell and Mick. I guess they'll have to deal with it. At this time in the show, the targets are usually on the weaker players until the merge.
The reward challenge weighed heavy on first impressions, as well. I really don't know why Shambo with the mullet was thrown in with the "smart" group, but you never know. She could be a rocket scientist. Oh no, the rocket scientist is John, the guy who all but passed out after swimming in the challenge.
It's obvious that the focus will be on Evil Russell this season, much as it was on Ben "Coach" Wade last year. As evil, nasty, and downright despicable as Russell is, I think I'd rather watch him than Coach. No, I don't like him, per se. But Coach was just an egomaniacal whacked-out character. Evil Russell is different -- he's going into the season with a plan. He doesn't care about winning. He wants to wreak havoc on the show. Now, that could be a bit intriguing.
What really gets me is that, while some have voiced that they don't trust him, they still did his will at tribal council by voting out Marisa. What's up with that? Are the sheep so easily led to the abbatoir by the hungry wolf? Heck, if they fall for his wily ways, they deserve to be kicked off the island. Alas, Marisa's crime was that she told him she was a bit worried about him. Off with her head! Er, off the island!
So far I'm liking Jaison, Shambo, Betsy, and Jeff Probst. Well, I always like Jeff Probst. A lot of the men are nice eye candy for me. Oh, I'm not talking Evil Russell -- he's built like a shrunken Sumo wrestler. I think we could have some season ahead of us.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-18-2009 @ 6:53AM
Gene said...
Last year 'Coach' this year "Evil" BoneHead.
I do want to see him hang around but then hope he gets blindsided real good. I mean really good. He is too much for words.
Really nice HD landscapes. Good location so far anyway.
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9-18-2009 @ 7:02AM
greg said...
Am I the only one who would rather see a cast of nice people, who are good and are torn that they will have to lie, and not a cast of mean spirited people who lie so easily lie evil russell? The country boy seems like a jerk too by the way.
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9-18-2009 @ 10:44AM
mdisloki said...
My guess is in real life "Country Boy" is more of a jerk than Russell, who I believe is putting a little extra for the cameras.
9-18-2009 @ 8:09AM
laura said...
When Russevil was dumping out the canteens didnt anyone hear him unscrewing them one after the other and pouring them out? or see him put the sock in the fire? or was everyone just passed out, because I thought I saw them moving in the background.
So far, after this one episode my favorites are the cop lady who had to hold her tongue and not say "I dont trust russevil because i am a cop" and instead say "its womens intuition"
and I like the guy on the Galu tribe who was chosen as strongest, He really put his all into that..plus he is hot.
I dont like Shambo, her staying on the shore while everyone took a dip was isolating herself and thats not good plus the reminiscing about the marines is going to get old.
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9-19-2009 @ 9:38PM
GL said...
I really can't believe nobody knew what he was doing. I swear someone in the background actually looked up in his direction.
9-18-2009 @ 9:14AM
misguided said...
Bring on the bad! I'm tired of whiny castaways.
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9-18-2009 @ 10:38AM
Kristi said...
AND it's back with a BANG! Now I was thinking about dropping this season of Survivor in my quest to forgo reality TV this fall, BUT honestly when you put a sweet morsel like 'Puppet Master' Russell in front of my eyes, I can't stay away.
http://www.orble.com/teevee-survivor-samoa-ep-1/
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9-18-2009 @ 11:02AM
McMary said...
okay, while some seem to like him, I am already ready to turn OFF "Survivor," just for the annoying factor.
And is it really fair to the OTHER cast-away-mates, to have him intentionally sabotaging THEIR game, destroying their stuff, etc?
No, I think this will be a season I fast forward through ALOT, just to not have to watch/listen to "pseudo-evil-russell" .. if I watch at all.
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9-18-2009 @ 11:43AM
Jessica said...
I didn't look at it that way - Russell is not just sabotaging his tribe mates, but sabotaging the whole tribe with their ability to win challenges. I hope he gets busted by his tribe mates doing the stuff he did last night. While it was funny sort of, seeing that crap week after week will get as old as listening to Coach tell one of his cockamamy stories or doing his morning Thai Chi Cha Cha - or whatever it was called.
9-18-2009 @ 12:26PM
jaggok said...
I love Evil Russell. Not because he is evil but because of all he does and they believe him and won't cross him. He won't win this game but will get far. I wonder who crosses him next week. I hope it's not the cop cause I think she's the one who can take him down. It's going to be a great season.
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9-18-2009 @ 4:27PM
Owloo said...
I loved it, Russell burns Jaison's socks LOL dumps out all his fellow tribe's water and the next morning he sits back while they were bickering at each other at the campfire seems he ain't much of a target to others when others are bickering at each other over when to go get there canteens refilled
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9-18-2009 @ 6:37PM
Moe said...
Evil Russell will make it more interesting, but as commented before, please get him out of the undies! It seems to me that they should get some kind of "dress code" clothes for the season so we don't have to look at this kind of thing. And I was shocked also that everyone went along with his wishes while saying that they didn't trust him. What he said about her not trusting him & making such a big deal out of it & all of them agreeing...were we not able to see the whole footage on this???
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9-19-2009 @ 7:04AM
Andrew said...
I love the villainous characters in Survivor like Coach last season and Russell. They make me laugh, and they give me a reason to watch. It's quite obvious that the villains are hamming it up for the camera, though. They're playing a "bad guy" role, much like professional wrestling.
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9-19-2009 @ 11:49AM
carole said...
I can't stand Russell. He made my blood pressure sky rocket when I watched. I won't be able to watch until he is gone.
9-19-2009 @ 9:47PM
GL said...
Unfortunately, those wrestlers are professional entertainers. Russ is just a bloated a-hole.
9-19-2009 @ 6:04PM
Sassy said...
I disliked Russell for a number of reasons already stated here and for the story of his fake experience with Katrina and his beloved dog. There are some things you just don't lie about and this is one of them, in my opinion. I don't like liars and I don't like mean manipulators. He is both and can go hang out with Natalie from BB ... they deserve each other.
Jackie, it's good to see you back giving us the story as you see it. I enjoy your viewpoint and your wit!
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9-19-2009 @ 9:46PM
GL said...
Evil Russ is a joke. His antics with the water and the sock are just the kind of thing that backfires on a person, as is the ridiculously hard game play this early on. He isn't enough of a player to pull this off as evidenced by his snap judgments about people based on such little observation.
I think everyone "went along" with his decision because, at the first ouster, everyone just wants to make sure they aren't booted. By the next one, they should have had opportunity to bond, make impressions, etc and be falling into more distinct alliances.
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9-22-2009 @ 11:09PM
Eric said...
I really liked Marisa and was sad to see her go, the sad thing is that on the other tribe she should have been able to last a long time. I really wish Survivor would do a second chance version of the show, made up of people that were voted off with-in the first three eliminations of their season.
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