Survivor Samoa: John Fincher Had Never Watched The Show

That is John Fincher, Rocket Scientist, from the recently concluded Survivor Samoa. The first few weeks of the most recent Survivor I thought John Fincher and the seldom seen, Brett Clouser, were the same person. Til John grew a beard and Brett did not. Then I realized these were two different people.

Yesterday, while bouncing around the Internet, I came upon an interview with John Fincher that I found both interesting and annoying.

I thought it odd that John called himself a Rocket Scientist. John says he is an Aerospace Engineer and knows of no one on the planet who calls himself a Rocket Scientist. It was the Survivor producers who thought it was clever to call John a Rocket Scientist.

Speaking of those Survivor producers.

John had never watched a single episode of Survivor. John did not apply to be on the show. John was recruited. Why? I don't know. After John agreed to be on the show that he'd never seen, he asked the producers for video of past shows so he could study how the game is played.

Now, this just strikes me as all kinds of wrong. You have thousands, maybe millions, of loyal Survivor fans who would love the opportunity to be on the show. There are only 16 or 18 slots and they give one to a Rocket Scientist who has never watched the show? That is just annoying.

Recruit me. I'd be good on Survivor. Though I suck at starving. I'm great at back stabbing and blindsiding.

John also said he tried to put on weight prior to being stuck on an island and gave up boozing, so as to maximize his healthiness. Boozing and a Rocket Scientist seems sort of counter-intuitive to me.

Speaking of weight, John says he weighs 180 and is 6 feet 2. He thought his size would make him a target, but turns out other guys were bigger. That explains why John looked like a small guy to me.

So, the Survivor producers also cast for giants? I wonder how big Shambo is? That annoying Eric guy must be at least 6 feet 6.

How many other Survivors has been recruited, rather than send in an application?

And now we've got the upcoming Survivor Redemption: Heroes vs. Villains, with everyone having been on at least once already.

Between Survivor All-Stars, Fans vs. Favorites, Heroes vs. Villains and John Fincher, what percentage of people, who are on Survivor, have not been recruited, in some manner, by the producers?

I guess it is their show to cast how ever they like. But it sort of ruins it for me.

I may not watch Heroes vs. Villains.

Survivor Samoa: Finale Tonight, Brett, Mick Natalie, Jaison or Russell Sole Survivor

There is Sunday Night Football on NBC, a Christmas in Washington special on TNT with the President and Mrs. Obama in attendance, but there is only one thing I'm going to watch tonight.

Survivor: Samoa
8/7c CBS

It's down to 5 Survivors, Brett, Mick, Natalie, Jaison and Russell.

If Brett continues to win the challenges he seems a shoo-in to win, what with the majority of the jury made up of his former Galu members, many of whom are bitter about being blindsided, with Brett playing no role in the blindsiding, except for going along with the blindsides, vote-wise, for the most part.

After 2 hours of Survivor tonight we won't know who won. That requires watching the start of the 1 hour Reunion show. I usually bail part way through the Reunion show. 3 hours is way too much television for me.

Survivor Samoa: Shannon Waters aka Shambo Asked to Leave

The Baby-Faced Assassin, Brett Clouser, won immunity again last night on Survivor. Russell felt safe enough that he did not bother using his Hidden Immunity Idol on his last chance to do so.

With Brett unable to be voted out it became Shambo's turn to go.

During the course of the season, it seems Shambo got more face time than everyone, with the possible exception of Russell.

Shambo did make for some good TV, at times.

Supposedly Shambo lost 4 pant sizes and 70 pounds before filming began. Ms. Waters is a former Marine. I don't know if she had the bad mullet hair do while she was a Marine. I suspect not.

I was surprised to learn Shambo currently lives in Renton, Washington. Being a Washingtonian myself, Shambo does not strike me as a native. I don't know that I've ever seen a mullet hair-do in Washington. Certainly not in this century.

The Immunity Challenge, that Brett won, was so complicated I couldn't follow it. Count a bunch of stuff, write down a number, spin a combination lock. It all made no sense to me, but apparently it did to Brett.

Brett had more screen time on last night's episode than all previous episodes combined. If I had any money to bet I'd bet it on Brett to win Survivor.

Tonight Survivor Gets Down To 5, The Mentalist Is Hit With A Baseball & Saturday Night Lives Does Christmas

Thursday night TV, with the must see for me being Survivor.

Survivor: Samoa
8/7c CBS

Tonight will the first post merge Foa Foa tribe member be asked to leave the Tribal Council area immediately? Will Russell, the Island King, get his comeuppance? Or will the Baby-Faced Assassin, Brett get sent to the jury?

The 2 hour Survivor Samoa finale is Sunday, followed by the reunion, reveal the winner show.

The Mentalist
10/9c CBS
A baseball scout is murdered, a baseball hit to the head causes flashbacks to childhood memories.

Saturday Night Live Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas
8/7c NBC
This prime time special features Christmas skits from SNL's 35 year history. You'll see classics from Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.

Survivor Samoa: Brett Wins Immunity On Way To Winning?

The promos for the next Survivor have the remaining Survivors worried about King Russell, with King Russell worried about Brett, with the narrator saying "Will this baby faced assassin surprise everyone?"

So, I think we now know why Brett Clouser has been pretty much invisible til last night. Out of nowhere, virtually unseen, he is the last Galu standing.

And now with a great storyline.

Brett spoke last night. Several times. We heard him actually plotting strategy. He was the target of the next elimination, ahead of Monica. And then he won immunity.

Monica was sent to the jury, the 7th Galu on the all Galu jury. As the tribe walked away, Brett turned and shot a sly knowing look at the jury. And that was the point where the plot became Brett solo against Foa Foa.

This has been such a great season of Survivor. No reason for that to stop now. Usually I lose interest or get annoyed at the misleading editing. Not this season. And now we've got a set up with Brett possibly winning immunity over and over again. Somehow making it to the final 2 or 3, where he wins due to his blindsided former tribemates extracting the final revenge.

Near as I can tell, we find out if Brett wins Survivor this coming Sunday in one of those way too long 3 hour finales I never make it through.

Watch the Survivor preview below focused on the Baby Faced Assassin....

Survivor Samoa: Why Is Brett Clouser Invisible?

I was several weeks into Survivor Samoa when I realized the two guys in the photo were not the same person

The guy on the left is named Brett Clouser. He makes t-shirts. The guy on the right is John Fincher. He's a rocket scientist.

It only became obvious to me that Brett and John were two different people when John started to have a beard while Brett's face remained bald.

I supposed if I watched the opening credits I would have noticed both Brett and John. Maybe.

One of the reasons it was easy not to notice Brett is that in the history of Survivor no cast member has ever been given less face time. The minimalist appearance of Brett, at the point where we are down to only 8 left on the island, has sparked all sorts of debate in various spots on the Internet.

One theory is that Brett is so boring he gives the editors no material to work with. The few times we've heard Brett speak he does sound a bit morose and monotone. I believe his longest screen time came when Shambo told him she was voting off Laura. Brett just seemed sort of resigned. Strange mournful music was the soundtrack for that scene.

Brett's facial expressions are a bit one note too. As others sit at Tribal Council all a-twitter over another blindside, Brett just sits there like a Zombie about to fall asleep.

The dumbest theory, one with an entire thread on Survivor Sucks, with the title "Brett--Gay Bashing Homophobe," has someone claiming a Survivor insider informer told them that an editor or producer or someone high up on the Survivor production chain overheard Brett making some sort of rude anti-gay remark and so edited Brett into virtual non-existence as revenge.

Like I said. Dumb.

Early on there was quite a lot of speculation that Brett wins this edition of Survivor. That would seem highly unlikely at this point in time, since we have had no Brett storyline, no Brett strategy, hardly any Brett anything. He'd be the most under the radar winner ever.

Then again, a Brett win would not be the first time Survivor didn't make a lot of sense.

Survivor Samoa: Russell Best Survivor Ever With Laura Out

The CBS promos leading up to this week's Survivor focused on Russell Hantz, saying he would either be Survivor's best ever or biggest fool ever. Or something like that.

By the end of last night's episode it was clear Russell is not a fool, which makes him, according to CBS, the best Survivor ever.

I think I would have to agree with that. He certainly has made Survivor Samoa the most entertaining Survivor season, so far, in a long long time.

And now he's found yet on more Hidden Immunity Idol, though this time he had pretty good clues via a cell phone that was part of winning a Reward Challenge that had half the Survivors flown to another island for a picnic by a waterfall.

Who would have thought that Foa Foa would manage to whittle down Galu's 8 to 4 lead, to now have a 5 to 4 lead, with Shambo switched to Foa Foa, or a 6 to 3 lead if you count John on the Foa Foa side after he voted to get rid of Laura after the 5 to 5 tie at the Tribal Council.

I don't recollect that type of tie before on Survivor. I'm sure it's happened before, but I don't remember. I do remember a tie getting decided by a purple rock or by who could start a fire faster.

Survivor Samoa: Season 19: Episode 9: Russell Hantz Hidden Immunity Idol Coup

When Russell Hantz first appeared on my Survivor screen, I thought him to be an arrogant, Texas blowhard, suffering from little man syndrome who would quickly get his comeuppance with a fast boot off the show.

I was wrong. I'm thinking that now, with the airing of Episode 8 of the 19th season of Survivor that Russell Hantz has cemented himself a spot in the Top Ten all time best on Survivor. Even if he gets kicked out next week.

Russell has altered the Survivor game. Few have managed that. From this point forward if Survivor continues with the Hidden Immunity Idol thing, everyone is going to be looking for it, clue or not.

It was surprise enough that Russell found the first Hidden Immunity Idol without a clue, but then to do it a second time and then use it to blindside the former Galu, whittling the Galu numbers down by one more. If this were scripted TV the plot would not be believable.

And now in the previews we see the Galu members chasing Russell around, afraid he'll find a third idol. I may have the numbers wrong, but I think it is now 6 Galu to 4 Foa Foa. But, Shambo has pretty much said she is with Foa Foa. That makes it even.

I'm thinking Russell is going to engineer some little coup and keep himself on the island. Or he will win Immunity. That would be entertaining.

Survivor Samoa's Erik Cardona's Possibly R-Rated Video

That is Erik Cardona, the most recent tribe evictee on Survivor, kicked out in what many think was the biggest, best, most amusing blindside in Survivor history, in the picture, with an unidentified female.

In his Survivor bio Erik brags about being a womanizer, enjoying juggling 4 or 5 women at once. His only no-no is married women. But getting a girl who has a boyfriend, that's just fun sport for Erik.

Erik's Survivor bio says he is a bartender in the Los Angeles zone. Maybe he is. But he also writes video scripts and acts in them. That is Erik starring in the 1st episode of a video called Twenty Something.

The video starts with a shot of a women in bed and Erik passed out on the floor. I did not make it all the way through the video, but I saw enough of it to see that it is sort of a documentary of Erik's womanizing.

I liked Erik while he was on Survivor. He provided some great TV. But, I really think Survivor needs to stop casting wannabe models and actors, or in Internet TV Speak, mactors.

Survivor cast with ordinary real people, like Shambo, might be surprisingly amusing. I don't think the first Survivor had any mactors. But it had great characters that made the show a hit. People like Rudy Boesch, Sue Hawk, Colleen Haskell, Greg Buis & Richard Hatch.

You can watch the YouTube version of Erik's video below. Be forewarned, if this were a rated movie the rating would likely be R, for language and maybe the flash of Erik's bare butt. Having said that, I just realized that YouTube did not make me confirm I was 18 before I was allowed to view the video, so PG-13 might be a more accurate rating....

Survivor Samoa Season 19: Episode 8: Eric Voted Out

Last night was the best episode yet of Survivor Samoa. With a real satisfying blindside of Eric Cardona.

Foa Foa plotted what to do if they merged with Galu, to try and survive while being outnumbered 2 to 1. Meanwhile over at Galu tribe members were plotting who to get rid of members of their own tribe.

Laura and Shambo got into a fight over a missing canteen. This led to the boys and Shambo deciding to get rid of Laura.

Treemail then hinted at a merge. The tribes arrive at a beach and find a treasure chest with their new buffs and instructions to head for a feast and move to the old Galu camp.

Brett suggested "Aiga" for the new tribe name, claiming this means "extended family" in Samoan. Eric said his translation of Aiga had it meaning, "Get the hell off my island." Hubris is always fun to witness.

Russell went into overdrive to get Galu members on his side, showing his hidden immunity idol over and over again, making the same promises to everyone he talked to. Russell got Shambo on his side with the promise to get rid of Laura.

Then in the whack a ball and try and have it land on the highest number to win immunity, Laura won, sending all the plans asunder. This was a double immunity deal, one each for the boys and the girls. John won the boy's immunity.

After the Immunity Challenge the tribe went into Scramble Overdrive. Back and forth it went. Plots to flush out Russell's immunity idol, plots to get rid of Jaison. Then John switches Erik to his vote out Monica plan. Erik then talks to Natalie, Mick and Jaison about the new plan to get rid of Monica, while making Russell think it was him to go, thus flushing out the idol.

And then, after Erik left them, Jaison suggested turning the tables on Eric. Natalie then tells Laura that Erik is taking out Monica, causing the Galu girls to flip to the Foa Foa side.

Russell was totally confused by it all.

At the Tribal Council Erik made one cocky comment after another. Probst says it's time to vote. They do so. Russell plays his Hidden Immunity Idol. Erik does not play his Hidden Immunity Idol. Erik is voted out 10 to 2.

The curse of the Hidden Immunity Idol continues. Has it ever been played when needed? No votes for Russell, he plays his. 10 votes for Erik, he takes his Immunity Idol home with him.

Survivor Samoa: Liz Voted Out of Foa Foa

The sun came out, finally, on this week's Survivor. But it didn't shine favorably on Liz or Foa Foa. Foa Foa lost twice, with Liz losing 3 times by being the one voted off the island.

There were a few amusing moments. Like the Galu boys plotting to bring Shambo on to their side, so they'd have a majority over the girls. So, they decided to turn Shambo into a boy by making her their new tribal leader.

Shambo is one of those harmlessly clueless sorts. Upon her surprise election Shambo gave a short speech about her devotion to her tribe, saying "I will honestly, honestly, honestly do my due diligence to not be bossy, cause you can't really be a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and not have an expectation when you say something things will happen."

That was inspiring.

The reward challenge was a Survivor staple, a version of Concentration. A tribe member lifts up a lid, sees an item, then lifts another lid, trying to find a match. Get a match, get a point. But if you would like to keep the item, if you win the challenge, you can do that, but not get a point.

The winners get taken to a big boat for a big feeding. The only item I can remember being kept is Brett opting to keep a tarp wrapped around a fire starting kit, after Laura made the match. Brett was acting as temporary tribe leader. Smart choice. His team won the challenge. And the tarp.

Shambo sent Laura over to Foa Foa saying she wanted to keep her men strong by getting them a good feeding. Once Laura was over at Foa Foa she was an easy target for the manipulation master Russell to turn into his new best friend.

Liz got mad listening to Natalie and Laura making non-stop religious chatter while she struggled to get the fire going.

Then it was on the the Immunity Challenge. Paddle out to retrieve bags of puzzle pieces using a pole and hook. Foa Foa was doing fairly well, but in the end they failed again, making them one of the worst tribes in Survivor history. Jaison pretty much gave up on putting the puzzle together while the Galu tribe worked well together.

Anyway, another slightly entertaining episode of Survivor.

Survivor Samoa: Russell Provides Jeff Probst His Scariest Moment Ever on Survivor

The Samoa Season of Survivor is being a very odd one. I think it's the most rain I've seen on Survivor. The ocean is the wildest I've seen. And the challenges have gotten way too physical.

Last night the combo Reward/Immunity Challenge had the season's second challenge victim. And no immunity.

Russell, the leader of Galu, who can't make fire, collapsed after being guided, blindfolded, by Laura in a ball being pushed by Russell and Erik. It was Liz in the ball for Foa Foa, being pushed by the other Russell and Jaison.

At the end of the ball pushing, the two in the balls had to direct the blindfolded working a ball through a table maze.

Russell was so disoriented he wanders over to the Foa Foa table. When Russell got to his table he collapses. Probst stops the challenge and calls in the medical team.

Before the challenge Probst told the tribes that they were playing for pizza, but there would be no immunity this week. Both tribes, win or lose, would go to Tribal Council, together, where each would vote out a member. This has never been done on Survivor before and I did not get the purpose.

So, after some scrambling, on both tribes, they head to Tribal Council where Jeff informs them that Russell is out of the game, and that, "It was the scariest moment I ever had on this show. 19 seasons, I have never been more afraid in my life at how bad things were."

The 13 sat there, the usual Probst questioning takes place. But he never said "It's time to vote." There was a lot of whining about the miserable weather. And then Jeff gives them some good news. Nobody would be voted out.

The 2 tribes headed back to their flooded camps, without losing a member.

Survivor Samoa: Ashley Kicked Out of the Tribe in Monsoon Downpour

One more gone on Survivor Samoa. The Foa Foa tribe lost yet again to Galu. There was no opportunity to scheme and plot who got the boot due to a monsoon rain keeping the tribe huddling under what passes for shelter for them. Somehow, in the end, it was a near unanimous decision that it was Ashley's time to go. And so she did.

The stormy weather added something more interesting than the norm this episode. The ocean grew a bit wild, causing some to wonder if a hurricane was blowing in. Being soaked and cold had the Galu girls realizing it would have been better to have chosen the practical items, like a water-proof tarp, than pillows and blankets, at a previous Reward Challenge.

Speaking of Reward Challenges. This week's was my least favorite Survivor staple, that being the eat disgusting food challenge. It is way too much like Fear Factor. In the latest version Probst spun a Roulette Wheel with disgusting food on it, which Probst blends into a Samoa Smoothie. One Survivor from each tribe goes up against one from the other tribe. If the Survivor drank the entire drink the team gets a point. First team to get 5 points gets the reward of a lot of meat products.

The 5th pairing had Ashley drinking for Foa Foa. She could not do it. She ran off and vomited. Galu was happy to get the meat and happy to send Shambo back to Foa Foa. Shambo was not happy about this, missing out on all that meat. Russell later said she lost their chicken, she deserved no meat. Or something like that.

Russell had a lot of trouble getting a fire started so the meat could be cooked. Russell got way to cranky when advice was offered by Dave. After some bickering Russell gave up and Dave started the fire quite easily.

I think I've seen the Immunity Challenge before. They all sort of blend together for me. A girl and boy from each tribe holds on to a rope that is tethered to a net. The rest of the tribe members take turns trying to throw coconuts into the net, making it heavier and heavier. The Galu team held out longer and won.

Which led to Ashley going home.

Survivor Samoa: Yasmin Leaves The Tribe While Shambo Loses A Chicken

Survivor Samoa was not in the Top 20 of the Nielsen Ratings last week. Has that happened before? Survivor was in the Top 10 the first couple weeks, if I remember right. Does this ratings drop portend the end of Survivor?

I think I know why viewers may be bailing on the show. After so many years watching evokes a been there seen that feeling in me. Retrieve puzzle pieces by crossing some obstacle. First team to correctly put the puzzle together wins whatever, immunity or reward.

Having said that, this week's OK Corral stand-off between three members of each tribe was different, facing each other from opposite sides of a big circle, waiting for Jeff Probst to show up. Then a chain reaction having a rush to a crate marked "Reward" and a Treasure Chest. The Treasure Chest had the directions to the challenge. Throw balls at a stake in the center of the. Team closest wins reward.

Galu won the chickens, With Foa Foa pouting about losing again. Shambo appointed herself chicken coop keeper and proceeded to talk chicken to the birds, then letting one loose while retrieving an egg. This led to an amusing Chicken Chase with Shambo verbalizing shock that birds can fly and Eric running and getting clotheslined by the clothesline. Despite an awful lot of effort the bird remained free.

Two Hidden Immunity Idols have now been found. Russell finding the first one seemed very hokey. I think that might have been a turn off point for a lot of viewers.

After Shambo gave up the Hidden Immunity Idol clues to Eric and John, Eric easily found it while John snoozed.

This week Foa Foa finally won an Immunity Challenge. But, unlike previous weeks, no one from the winning tribe, Foa Foa, was sent to Galu to observe the opposing tribe.

At the Tribal council we heard Galu member Brett speak for the first time. I only noticed Brett this week. I think I thought John and Brett were the same person. Then John grew a beard, while Brett's face stayed bald and I finally realized they were two different people.

In the end it was a near unanimous ouster of Yasmin. She grated on other's nerves due to their belief she did not help out around camp. Yasmin believed she needed to save her energy for challenges, where she felt she was valuable. Shambo was the only one not to vote for Yasmin. Shambo voted to oust Monica for being a slow poke getting across a rope bridge.

Survivor needs to figure out some different type locations than tropical islands. I don't, maybe the isolated state of Washington coast during summer? How about Iceland near some hot springs so you'd still get swimming suit footage and a lot of miserable cold when not in the hot springs?

And what ever happened to Exile Island?

Survivor Samoa: Betsy Kicked Out Of Her Tribe

48 year old Campton, New Hampshire Police Office, Betsy Bolan, was kicked out of her tribe tonight on Survivor Samoa.

This was a strange episode of Survivor. There was only one challenge, a combo reward/immunity challenge. The winner got immunity and some fishing gear.

The challenge was a bizarrely rough game of fighting to get balls, then throw the balls to other tribe members, who tried to throw the balls through a hoop. First team to make 3 hoops wins.

There was tackling, head butting, all sorts of rough stuff, so much so that Jeff issued a warning that anyone getting too rough would get booted. Soon, bad boy wannabe, Ben, tripped an opponent. Jeff stopped the game and kicked Ben out. A Survivor first.

Ben's tribe was then outnumbered and quickly lost. The winning tribe got to pick someone to go with the losing tribe, to observe. Why, I don't know. I guess for drama potential, which it did provide, quite amply. Yasmin was picked to go. Jeff gave her a rolled up piece of paper with instructions to read it in private later.

Of course it was directions to a hidden immunity idol, which we earlier saw my new favorite Survivor, Russell, find, without a clue and in full view of his tribemates. Found it after bragging that this was what he was going to do. Even approaching Jaison and telling him of his plan to find the hidden immunity idol, which Jaison commented that we did not even know if one existed. Short time later Russell has it in hand, showing it to Jaison.

Back at the winning tribe, Shambo took off fishing, caught none and lost some of their newly won fishing gear. Thus painting a huge target on her back, should her tribe ever lose a challenge.

Meanwhile, back at the losing camp, Yasmin was raising all sorts of aggravation, offering to coach the tribe out of their losing ways, offering to help them with strategy. Then she pulled Ben aside and proceeded to berate him for being a sissy boy in the challenge, being a dude, knocking down a little girl like her. To which Ben called her ignorant ghetto trash, among other things.

The entire Ben/Yasmin exchange made for good TV, but it was not pleasant.

I must back up. After the ridiculously brutal challenge, Old Man Mike, on the losing team, was in bad shape, bad color, woozy. The Survivor medical team was called in, conveniently arriving via a SUV. Sort of tampers with the illusion that they are roughing it in the wild. Mike's blood pressure was way too low. The medical team took Mike out of the game.

Since Mike was on the losing tribe, I figured there would be no tribal council. I was wrong. There was some discussion of getting rid of Ben, due to his contribution to them losing, due to him making noise all night long hacking on wood and due to his overall unpleasant personality. But, they all deemed Betsy the weaker link and voted her out of the tribe.

Really made no sense to me. I would have wanted to get rid of Ben.

Survivor Samoa: Russell Is A Real Bad Boy

Last Thursday came and went without me realizing the season premiere of Survivor had aired. I did not know I'd missed something til the next day when I saw a lot of buzz on the Internet about a guy on Survivor named Russell.

So, I went to the CBS Survivor website and confirmed that I had missed the first episode. Two days later I watched it via my computer. I really don't like watching TV shows on my computer, but it's better than nothing.

Russell is Russell Hantz. He owns Hantz Oil down in the Houston area. Apparently Russell is a multi-millionaire. Russell is only 5 and a half feet tall, thus he suffers from classic little man syndrome. He is quite the little macho man act.

Survivor has had many a deluded fool over the years, thinking they have the game all figured out, thinking they are smarter than everyone else. Russell immediately set out to make alliances with most of the women, whom he referred to as "Dumb Ass Girls."

It did not seem to occur to Russell that all it would take is one dumb ass girl to mention to another dumb ass girl that she had an alliance with Russell for his dumb ass game to come crashing down around him.

Another piece of Russell's brilliant strategy is to foment unrest and upset among his tribe. To that end Russell got up in the middle of the night and emptied everyone's water canteens. And he burned one of Jaison's socks, to Jaison's sore foot chagrin in the morning.

Over on Survivor Sucks there is some idiot with an online petition to CBS, insisting that Russell be punished for violating the rule about damaging other people's property. Apparently the petitioning viewer thinks Survivor is a live production, with the ability to ban someone on the fly, like Big Brother can do. This viewer must not remember Rupert stealing the other tribes shoes at the start of Survivor Pearl Islands.

One of Russell's other ploys was to get his tribe feeling sympathy for him via an elaborate story he told about losing his dog in New Orleans during Katrina where Russell waited on his roof for 2 days to be rescued. Russell gleefully tells the viewers, via many confessionals, his personal pleasure at duping all these dopes.

Marisa got a bit wary of Russell and had the nerve to question him. This made Marissa Russell's choice to be kicked out of the tribe. Russell got his way, so for now he is a successful puppetmaster. We'll see how long that lasts.

Other than Russell, the rest of the people did not stick in my mind, too much. It appears that Samoa will be providing some nice tropical South Seas scenery to this season of Survivor.

I need to remember to set my DVR to start recording Survivor. I don't want to watch it on my computer again.