evil russell-related stories
Posted Mar 12th 2010 2:28AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S20E05) In the image above, it looks like James is surrounded by a bunch of schoolyard bullies on
'Survivor.' Well, he is surrounded, but things aren't always as they appear to be. The same can be said for the strategies of some of these all-so-great returning players, too. While some strategies remain consistent (a snake oil salesman isn't going to turn into the Avon lady), others are baffling me this season.
Continue reading 'Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains' - 'Knights of the Round Table' Recap
Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:02AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S20E04) No, no, no. Coach, you have it all wrong! It's not a conspiracy against you, trust me. It's you. I made a mistake last week when I commented how much less a wuss Coach was being this season on
'Survivor.' I spoke too soon. Tonight we (and Boston Rob and Tyson) had to witness his latest "I'm sensitive, the world is against me, woe is me" escapade. The man makes a mockery of himself, then goes all emotional when he gets mocked. He's a legend in his own mind, a special snowflake to the rest of us.
Continue reading 'Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains' - 'Tonight, We Make Our Move' Recap
Posted Feb 26th 2010 12:40AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S20E03) How's that for a look of determination on Colby? Last week we saw the
'Survivor' heroes down two challenges. We also have seen some non-heroic behavior in their camp while Boston Rob has been quite heroic in the villains' camp. This season, although it's definitely grabbing my attention, has gone beyond the realm of heroes and villains. It's more like a bunch of power-players, wheeler dealers, schemers, lunatics, and a few decent folks gone a tad off their rockers thrown into the mix. It's All-Stars on energy drinks. It's brutal. But it's entertaining. That's all I need.
Continue reading 'Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains' - 'That Girl Is Like a Virus' Recap
Posted Feb 19th 2010 12:02AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Recaps
(S20E02) Well, well, well. It seems that Black Widow Jerri Manthey actually does have a tender side on tonight's
'Survivor.' No, she isn't coming on to Boston Rob. Nor has she murdered him, if that might be your concern. As seen on the promos all week, Rob had a bit of a rough time, thus giving the episode its title for the week. And, might I add, so dramatically said that one might think he'll be up for an acting Emmy. Was it an act? Is he still there or gone? Read on.
Continue reading 'Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains' - 'It's Getting the Best of Me' Recap
Posted Feb 12th 2010 12:32AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S20E01) We've already had epic hype for an epic season of
'Survivor.' More intense than a typical 'All-Stars' version, this season pits the (supposedly) best of good and evil in a battle to be the sole survivor. It's kind of like the Stephen King novel, 'The Stand.' Forces for good and evil, perhaps with a few shades of gray in-between, ready to duke it out for the win. Well, I could see Evil Russell being Randall Flagg, can't you? The casting is right for both sides. I would have liked to see Richard Hatch and Yau-Man Chan in there, but it wasn't my decision to make. I'm just a witness to the chaos.
Continue reading 'Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains' - 'Stay Everyone, Trust No One' Recap (Season Premiere)
Posted Dec 21st 2009 2:02AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E14) I suppose it's only fitting and par for Sunday evening programming that the big three-hour
Survivor season finale and live reunion show was delayed by football here in the NYC viewing area. No, I won't dwell on it. But, really. CBS, can't you get this scheduling thing down?
What I should dwell on are these skinny legs in the image above. It's a wonder the three guys were able to walk out of there at all. Tonight we went down from five to four to three and then onto the sole survivor in the live voting reveal. Am I pleased about it all? Read on.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - The Game Ain't Over (season finale)
Posted Dec 18th 2009 1:38AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E13) Mark your calendars now, folks. The big three-hour finale night for
Survivor is this Sunday, December 20, starting at 8 PM ET. The night will start off with the two-hour finale followed by the reunion hour. But we still have a few bodies to cast off the island before they face the jury. Will the original Foa Foa Four make it intact to the final four? Will Russell manage to sell his snake oil all the way to the jury and win the million?
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - Two Brains Are Better Than One
Posted Nov 27th 2009 2:02AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E11) Oh my. Evil Russell from
Survivor looks like some sort of deranged Buddha gone bad in this screen capture from tonight's episode. Tonight, like every Thanksgiving episode, was the clips show boasting previously unseen footage. It's not surprising that they do this each year. With the format of the show, they can't run a real repeat. And, if they were to air a new episode on the holiday, many folks would end up missing it. I'm usually disappointed with the footage shown, but tonight we did have a few surprises and interesting bits -- nothing earth-shattering, mind you.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - The First 27 Days
Posted Nov 20th 2009 12:30AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E10) Now, isn't this a good time to be a
Survivor fan? Part of the problem with long-running reality shows is that they've run out of ideas and it's hard to keep things fresh and new. They end up depending on whatever outlandish and over-the-top characters they can line up for the season. Some are a dismal failure. Case in point, "Coach" Ben Wade last year. Sure, he was a nutty kind of guy. But he couldn't play the game well despite all of his bravado. This season is casting done right. And tonight's episode was just as good as last week's show.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - The Day of Reckoning
Posted Nov 13th 2009 1:02AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E09) If you haven't watched this episode of
Survivor, stop right now. Watch it. Oh, don't go by the expression on John's face. That's the face I had when the show started. Yet now I'm downright perky and alert. For me, this started off being a real iffy season. But, as folks really play the game, I'm all excited about it all over again. Some play it poorly, but there are a few movers and shakers this season.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - Tastes Like Chicken
Posted Nov 6th 2009 1:00AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E08) I know this photo might be considered sort of spoilerish for the front page. But since last week's
Survivor promo showed the merge going down, I know you all know Evil Russell will attempt to work everyone. Heck, that's what the guy does. To me, he comes off akin to a snake oil salesman. Yet he seems to get people to believe his wily ways. I bet he could have sold a lot of snake oil a century back.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - All Hell Breaks Loose
Posted Oct 30th 2009 12:50AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E07) Even though we're down a Russell this week on
Survivor, I'll continue to refer to the remaining Russell as "Evil Russell." It just somehow fits even without a confusion of Russells. However, there is just one Shambo. Although she's a good worker in camp and works hard on the challenges, that might be a good thing. One Shambo is quite enough. Perhaps she's just too nice to be on the show. Perhaps she is a bit dim. I just don't know.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - Houdini Magic
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 12:13AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E06) Well, this was the most unusual episode of
Survivor I've ever seen. Mind you, I've seen all of them since the first season. I won't get into why it was so unusual until after the jump just in case you've missed all of the hype over the injured castaway in commercials all this week. But it wasn't just the injury which made it unusual. It was all discombobulated.
Continue reading Review: Survivor Samoa - This Is the Man Test
Posted Oct 16th 2009 1:55AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E05) We're into the fifth episode of
Survivor and I'm still getting some of the cast mixed up. True, they're mostly on the larger Galu tribe -- the ones who keep winning, yet we only see a focus on a select few. We all know "Good" Russell and Shambo. Did you know that someone named Brett is on the Galu tribe? No. Really, I'm not kidding. He got some airtime tonight. At this point, they could stick in stunt doubles and we wouldn't know the difference!
Continue reading Survivor Samoa: Walking on Thin Ice
Posted Oct 8th 2009 10:53PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: OpEd, Survivor, Episode Reviews
(S19E04) So far we've had one of those lopsided seasons on
Survivor. We've seen this happen before -- one tribe keeps winning, the other keeps right on losing. The numbers on the latter are decimated going into the merge which allows the stronger tribe to keep picking them off one by one. I prefer things a bit more evenly matched. The tribal losses affect both the strong and weak players across the board. Once a tribe keeps losing every challenge, morale goes down. Then they lose some more.
Continue reading Survivor Samoa: Hungry For a Win
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