Gary, it isn't what we think that matters, it's what the players think. Russell saw Natalie as a weak woman who couldn't do anything. Even when she assured him she had flipped Galu into voting Erik, he was convinced they had played tricks on her weak mind so he wasted an idol. Russell called Jaison whiny, weak and lazy. Everyone saw how weak a leader Mick had been. Feckless Shambutch called him and that was the one time I agreed with her.

Look at who Russell eliminated, Marisa, the one he called the strongest, Betsy, the dangerous one and Elizabeth, the one that proved she was strong. While others wanted to eliminate Ashley because she was weak in challenges, Russell first went after her when she targeted Ben, showing she had a mind of her own. He'd have done the same to Jaison but he needed him...until F5 when Jaison paid for his crime of lèse-majesté.

Note also that, at first, he hated Shambutch and tried to align with Laura but when he saw how strong-minded Laura was, he didn't want anything to do with her. Dumb soldier Shambutch was much more used to following orders.

In the Villains' tribe, Russell didn't have it so easy because of Rob's presence but he certainly didn't see much strength in Sandra and he perceived her threat-level as negligeable.

Your second paragraph is a tribute to the power of editing. If you look beyond the edit, you would have realized that Russell was seen as a clown by almost everyone in Samoa while Na'Onka was liked by some. I enjoyed Russell's antics during Samoa but would never have voted for him as best player or even simply as my favorite. Then his behavior during the reunion show really bothered me. It was so horrible that I cannot believe anyone still liked him during HvV.

But seeing how Na'Onka's weekly edit made her jump in some rankings amused me.