I'm not sure how it happened, but I went from being ticked off at Burnett for casting someone as over the top as Russell to being in love with the guy. I think it was the episode with the torrential rain, and Russell seemed to be enjoying himself. He plays the game with a glint in his eye and the other night, when he found the idol once again, I began to wonder if it was all set up by production.

He may be the smartest player ever, shown by the fact that as obnoxious as we see him, he is still there and not receiving votes.

• RE: I love Russell!,krismiss2us, 04:45 PM, 11-22-09
• I Do Not love Russell.,michel, 06:29 PM, 11-22-09
  • RE: I Do Not love Russell.,CTgirl, 11:42 PM, 11-22-09
    • RE: I love Russell.,krismiss2us, 03:19 AM, 11-23-09
      • Why the love?,michel, 10:38 AM, 11-23-09
        • RE: Why the love?,Colonel Zoidberg, 07:22 PM, 11-23-09
• RE: I love Russell!,grit, 10:33 AM, 11-23-09
  • RE: I love Russell!,michel, 10:56 AM, 11-23-09
    • RE: I love Russell!,Tublecane, 07:51 PM, 11-23-09
    • RE: I love Russell!,Tublecane, 07:53 PM, 11-23-09
      • RE: I love Russell!,michel, 09:28 PM, 11-23-09
        • RE: I love Russell!,Tublecane, 11:35 PM, 11-23-09
          • RE: I love Russell!,michel, 00:07 AM, 11-24-09
• RE: I love Russell!,KuwabaraTheMan, 06:03 PM, 11-23-09
  • RE: I love Russell!,krismiss2us, 10:17 PM, 11-23-09
    • RE: I love Russell!,JessicaRN, 11:23 AM, 11-24-09
      • RE: I love Russell!,Max Headroom, 03:30 PM, 11-24-09
• RE: I love Russell!,performanz, 10:16 PM, 12-03-09
  • RE: I love Russell!,jbug, 10:04 AM, 12-04-09
    • RE: I love Russell!,KuwabaraTheMan, 08:12 PM, 12-04-09
• RE: I love Russell!,survivorlane, 09:45 AM, 12-05-09
  • RE: I love Russell!,PsychoKitty, 08:33 PM, 12-06-09
  • RE: I love Russell!,dabo, 11:22 PM, 12-06-09

I totally agree! I abhorred him at the beginning. His antics and arrogance were an immediate put off. But now, I am totally wanting him to continue to find the HIIs and be smart enough to know when to play them. If he could win an II and use the HII to protect someone he wants, he could go all the way!!!!

As a person, Russell is as despicable as he ever was. The only reason the perception has changed is due to editing.

Kelly, Brett and Laura were good enough players to establish a solid alliance that put them in a position to win. Because that isn't the way the game turned out, the audience wasn't shown any of their thoughts. Worse, we only saw Laura's bad side so we'd want to see her voted out. We didn't see Kelly and Brett's personality in case we'd like them. Instead we received an over-dose of Russell and Shambo until we had to think that Russell was the only one playing the game and Shambo was unjustly picked on.

Russell deserves credit for playing the game like no one else but he certainly doesn't deserve love.

I agree (and I don't think as many people will love him next week when he's back to his old antics, in this case letting the chicken go!)

I disagree. His antics are pretty strategic. You may be correct that those antics could get him evicted. And the person who commented above you, are also correct in that the editing has a lot to do with perception. But I still like russell. He is the type of person everyone has had to deal with in real life. The reason he has gotten as far as he has (whether in this game or life in general, though I don't know how "successful" he is) is because of his "antics" or maybe a better word is underhandedness. But that's just my humble opinion.

"He is the type of person everyone has had to deal with in real life. The reason he has gotten as far as he has is because of his "antics" or maybe a better word is underhandedness."

In real life we call those people a-holes or crooks. I avoid them. Russell's game is good, Russell's personality is detestable.

Yes, in real life, Russell would be an a-hole. But a crook? Not quite. Everything he's doing is within the rules. The only violations he's committed are possible ethical ones, i.e. destroying property or sabotaging the food. (Honestly, not sure why destroying other people's stuff doesn't warrant and automatic heave-ho, but I guess it doesn't, so as slimy as the move was, it's within the rules.)

Unethical bastard? Sure. Evil villain? Never said he wasn't. Endlessly entertaining? One hundred percent.

Maybe not worthy of love. Survivor love? Perhaps. We watch Survivor to be entertained. And Russell is insanely good at that.

It does raise the point of how no one else is getting any play because of Russell and, to a lesser extent, Laura and Shambo. But if you want screen time, earn it. Russell did. Brett obviously hasn't, or we wouldn't be unsure if there's a Brett on this season.

I have to admit to having Russell love from the very beginning. Yeah, he's obnoxious. Yeah, some of his antics seem stupid. But he's said in confessional over and over again that he's there to win a million dollars. He's not there to make friends. He's not there for the rewards or the kumbaya.

I think that's why I like him so much. In too many seasons, I've seen too many contestants get caught up in the human aspect of the game and forget that they're suffering through all this cr@p for a million dollars.

>I think that's why I like
>him so much. In
>too many seasons, I've seen
>too many contestants get caught
>up in the human aspect
>of the game and forget
>that they're suffering through all
>this cr@p for a million
>dollars.

But Survivor wouldn't be the same without the human conflict that is at the very heart of the game. It needs the wolves AND the sheeps. It's even better when the wolves have a little bit of sheep in them or when a sheep turns out to be a wolf.

Stephen from last season was a very strategic player and he wrote that you can't help the human aspect taking over. You don't want to make friends but after depending on the others for weeks, having to cuddle every night just to survive the cold, human nature takes over.

I could understand giving Russell credit for not being affected by any of that and giving him credit for staying focused on the goal but Love?

I've played a few on-line games. Some of those players think that they'd be good in the real game because they were good strategic players on-line. Some can, like Rafe, most don't know what they're talking about. On-line, everyone can play like Russell and it gets ugly at times. That wouldn't make good TV.

PS: Don't they say you have to give love to get love? When has Russell given any love?

"Stephen from last season was a very strategic player and he wrote that you can't help the human aspect taking over. You don't want to make friends but after depending on the others for weeks, having to cuddle every night just to survive the cold, human nature takes over."

Stephen exaggerates. I'm not saying he didn't have doubts and didn't get wrapped up in emotions. But it didn't affect gameplay too much. He broke Taj's neck at the right time and would have ousted JT had JT not won immunity.

Sure, he got stumbled over himself in front of the jury. But that's not necessarily because he was emotionally conflicted (though that may have been a little part of it). That's because JT was really, really good at juries and Stephen didn't prepare well.

"Don't they say you have to give love to get love? When has Russell given any love?"

Russell loves the game and some of us love seeing someone love the game.

Even then, I think that Russell is playing for the love of money, not the game. Avarice isn't a lovable quality.

LAST EDITED ON 11-23-09 AT 11:37 PM (EST)

"I think that Russell is playing for the love of money, not the game"

I think he's demonstrated that he enjoys voting people off and finding idols in and of themselves. However, it's impossible to to ignore there are selfish motives behind this joy: 1) it proves he's oh-so clever, and 2) it gets him closer to a million dollars. So there's more to it than "love of the game," or is there?

Who isn't there for the money? Money is the point of playing. Fame, too, but for Russell I'd say it's money and--what's essentially the same thing--the fame of having won money. Perhaps in Season One people did it for the experience or to prove they can survive in the wild. Not anymore. Oftentimes during the game people will lose sight of the money, but that only makes Russell more interesting, since he NEVER loses sight.

"Who isn't there for the money?"

But that's never the reason the audience falls in love with them.

"that only makes Russell more interesting."

I find Russell interesting. There's a difference between interest and love.
Then again, I never love or hate these DAWS. It could explain my difficulty in understanding RussHell-love.

Although I would never want to deal with him in real life, I think he's been a tremendously entertaining player. He's playing the game with a lot of intelligence, and it's just enjoyable to watch him work.

While you may call him an a-hole or not want to deal with him in real life, i still respect the man. As pointed out, he's there to win the money, not make friends. And if at any point he said that to any tribemates, they too would respect that and understand, or even know, where they (as an individual) stand with Russell insofar as the game is concerned. I said it before: You have to deal with people like this in the real world. They may be a-holes or looking out for number one, or in it just for the money, but you always know where you stand with them. And if you're stupid enough to think you can change them, then shame on you for being that dumb.

I have to say that when I started this conversation about Russell, and I titled it "I love Russell," it was really about his game playing and how entertaining he is. I found myself not wanting him to be kicked off the last few weeks, because he makes for such good TV watching. And even though he acts like a jerk in some of his confessionals, he must be likable or he would have gone very early on. It also seems like he has a twinkle in his eye when he says some of the outlandish things that he does.

So it's not that I love him so much that I want a close, intimate relationship with him, although he is losing his belly! If I had the chance to ride off into the oil fields with him, I would run the other way, but if I had the chance to watch him until the end of the season and have lunch with him, I would "love" to!

I think you've captured the essence of it. I definitely don't love Russell, but I do love watching him play the game of Survivor. I hope he makes it to the finals, just so I can watch him play his game in front of the jury at the end.

agman's helping me survive