I am absolutely dumbfounded by how he is allowed to control the game when he should have been voted off by now! Does he hypnotize them? How?

On the other hand, he's the ideal person to take with you to the F2/3.

Marisa, Betsy, Elizabeth, Laura, Kelly, Brett, Monica, Erik, Russell Swan, Boston Rob, Tyson, Courtney, Sandra, Randy, Coach and Jerri weren't drawn to him at all so I think your premise is off.

Natalie and Parvati saw through him fairly early so he isn't able to hide his abilities to everyone.

Mick and Jaison took their time to get to know him.

The only players that have been drawn to him immediately have been Ben, Shambo, John, Ashley and now JT. The first 3 are easily classified among the dumbest ever.

Russell plays a very aggressive game that is high risk-high reward. It has worked both times for him but it doesn't always. Those moves are common in on-line game but have rarely been seen in real life. Without the sabotage, Todd and Rafe played very aggressive games also and both drew people to them. These aggressive players impress the ones that are too dumb to see the danger and interest the smart ones who see their own profit.

Players like Gabe or Flicka would be the total opposite of Russell. Gabe would have been a great friend but, if I'm planning on winning the million, Gabe won't scheme so he can't really help me.

I am not a Russell fan, but if you let the premises lead to you to a conclusion instead of establishing a conclusion and then searching for premises to explain it, the evidence makes it pretty clear.

Russell is charming, especially to attractive women. Attractive women are not used to men looking them confidently in the eye. Russell has unfailing confidence and a very earnest manner. Whoever he is with, he does his best to make them think they are the most important person to him. Plus, in a chaotic game like Survivor, full of uncertainty from the moment you reach the beach, a man as self-assured as Russell makes a very attractive alliance-mate.

Russell is extremely observant and socially intelligent. He rarely misses any opportunity to improve his position or to cultivate a strategy. He has already made several moves in the game that we have never seen before. Love him or hate him, the guy is an amazing player. He always seems to know who to seduce and who to go after. He understands people.

Russell is a successful businessman. That means his charm, self-confidence, and intelligence should be no surprise. Or do people think making a successful business takes luck?

Russell's weaknesses, which we've all seen before in other good players, is his ego and his lack of empathy. His ego turns to paranoia when he is threatened, and it also gets him in trouble when he is second-guessed. His lack of empathy gives him some difficulty in winning a vote. He needs a thinking jury to win. A jury that votes with its heart will not give him a million.

>

Nice analysis, Iltarion.

I just have a problem with one sentence. You wrote: "He understands people" but I think he misreads many. He understands threats and he acts quickly on them. Often too quickly causing him to eliminate those he would have beaten in front of a jury and keeping those he couldn't. He needs to control people so he mistakes calmness for obediance. And that's because his "unfailing confidence" is mostly a defense mechanism for his inadequacies. A very efficient one but a defense mechanism nonetheless.

LAST EDITED ON 04-16-10 AT 08:48 PM (EST)

If you'd said strategically intelligent and not socially intelligent, then I'd be inclined to agree with you, Ilatrion. RussHell is very intelligent when it comes to strategy. We all see that -- including me, and I call him RussHell even now! He may have some social intelligence back home, but I suspect his ego overwhelms it too often there. It certainly overwhelms whatever social intelligence he has in Survivor, as we've seen time and again.

Natalie isn't as strategic as RussHell, I'll give you that. But she understood the nature of the jury she'd be facing -- and she understood RussHell. A socially intelligent player understands people like RussHell and is able to use them to their advantage in this game. Unfortunately (for this game), I'm not the most socially intelligent person out there. I'm competent but I'm hardly adept in social intelligence.

"Ben, Shambo, John, Ashley and now JT"

These players were drawn to Russell immediately?? I don't get that list at all.
Ben fine.
Shambo was ignored by her own tribe. When she first visited FU FU, which planted the seed to her flop, Russell didn't like her and didn't appreciate her being chummy with his tribe.
John's battle was always about Laura and the dreaded all-women alliance. Russell just used that paranoia to his advantage. John is one of the smarter guys to ever play Survivor, so by stupid, I'm assuming you mean game-wise.
Ashley fine, but then Natalie should be on the list as well if not foremost. Natalie was the "dumber" blonde in the "dumb blonde" alliance. That's why Ashley was the first to go.
JT is not drawn to Russell at all. Put another man in his spot and JT's actions would have been the same.
Parvati and Danielle would also be foremost on the list. They both gushed about Russell after one day with him. If that isn't being drawn to a guy, I don't know what is.
Parvati and Natalie saw through his game? Hahaha.... I think Natalie is still wondering what happened out there, and Parvati just said she trusts Russell. The difference with Parvati isn't that she sees through him. The difference is that she is playing her own game and not just praying Russell gets them to the end like Natalie did.
>

>"Ben, Shambo, John, Ashley and now
>JT"
>
>These players were drawn to Russell
>immediately?? I don't get that
>list at all.

> Shambo was ignored by her
>own tribe. When she first
>visited FU FU, which planted
>the seed to her flop,
>Russell didn't like her
>John's battle was always about Laura
>and the dreaded all-women alliance.

As soon as Russell started talking game with them, they played along, losing all chances to win the game. That's what I meant by immediately.

>Ashley fine, but then Natalie should
>be on the list as
>well if not foremost. Natalie
>was the "dumber" blonde in
>the "dumb blonde" alliance. That's
>why Ashley was the first
>to go.

Natalie said she knew Russell was rubbing people the wrong way so that was why she stayed with him. Ashley still thought Russell would save her when he was gunning for her so I took that to mean she had fallen for his crap.

>JT is not drawn to Russell
>at all. Put another man
>in his spot and JT's
>actions would have been the
>same.

Maybe, but Russell acted like he was in trouble and he eliminated Coach to make it look better. Another man may have kept Coach, changing JT's plans.

>Parvati and Danielle would also be
>foremost on the list. They
>both gushed about Russell after
>one day with him. If
>that isn't being drawn to
>a guy, I don't know
>what is.

Parvati mentioned that he was the devil so that isn't being drawn, that is understanding who she is dealing with. Note that I haven't put Danielle anywhere on my lists because I don't have sufficient data on her.

>Parvati and Natalie saw through his
>game? Hahaha....

Natalie saw she could beat him in front of a jury and Parvati must think the same. Hahaha all you want but one's a millionaire.

Yeah, Natalie realized she could beat Russell right after the last vote for her was read.

Of course, she would never say that in any of her interviews afterwards. Everyone has foresight in hindsight.

Her and Vecepia should start a bowling team together.

Natalie isn't a millionaire unless she Hatched on her taxes.

Russell is a millionaire, and he got it the same way he plays the game, the hard way.

>

I thought we were both on the same side here, saying that there were reasons why Russsell got people on his side!

But since you insists, I'll ask: Do you know why communism doesn't work while capitalism does? You can be as dumb as nails and still make a buck.

Did you notice last night that Parvati read JT's note? A few of us in the East Coast Spoiler Thread wondered if Russell can read. It wouldn't surprise me if he can't. Even if he can read, all I want to say is that making money doesn't impress me.

PS: Vecepia played an impressive game so I don't understand how she got messed up in this. The theme of Marquesas was: "Blend in, don't stand out" and sometimes that is a smart way to play this game.

Communism doesn't work for a lot of reasons, though I get the point.

I know something about business, and yes, to me, being a successful businessman implies intelligence. Even more so than an education does. Like anything else, that isn't always the case, but if you make that assumption, you'll be right more often than not.
Anyway, I think by now Russell has proven his intelligence. One of my truisms is- "Smart people do and say stupid things." So, yeah, not everything Russell has said or done has been brilliant, but the preponderance of evidence is convincing enough.

>

I would not even
>look twice (except to make
>sure my purse was close
>to my body).

Classic line. Love it!

My personal theory...

If it looks like an ape, walks like an ape, acts like an ape, people tend to think it's an ape.

"If all machines were to be annihilated at one moment, so that not a knife nor lever nor rag of clothing nor anything whatsoever were left to man but his bare body alone that he was born with, and if all knowledge of mechanical laws were taken from him so that he could make no more machines, and all machine-made food destroyed so that the race of man should be left as it were naked upon a desert island, we should become extinct in six weeks." (Samuel Butler, "Erewhon")

1. He's different and I've loved watching him from the beginning.
2. He reads situations and finds a way to use them to his advantage, according to the editing.
3. He's a step ahead of most of his competition, according to the editing.
4. He's consistent. A consistent, conniving, self-serving, snake, but he owns it and makes no excuses for his behavior.
5. He's not Coach.

Others talk a lot of trash about the troll but the smart ones will use him well.

agman makes me hot