Back at camp, the F3 get to enjoy the winners' breakfast. Mick takes a bite out of sausage which I thought was raw but I guess it wasn't. That or Mick is really hungry. Russell is talking crap not only to the camera but also to Mick and Natalie. He veils it like he is trying to help prep Nat for her speech since they will say she just rode his coattails. Nat tries to turn it on Mick for just being "the nice guy" but Russell promptly shuts her down. Mick says he and Russell ended up in the same place just by different paths. Russ heckles Nat and she gets annoyed but knows it is probably him just trying to mentally break her. Russ thinks Shambo, Spacey, MFBB, John, and Erik will all vote for him and he is "another millionaire. Congratulations" as he reclines in the hammock. Someone had a little too much to drink.
They burn down their shelter which I always thinks endangers the rest of the forest surrounding them but I'll assume production assistants are standing off to the side with extinguishers. Russ is saying he accomplished the impossible all by himself and brought along a couple of losers. He feels strong, good, knows he will make a great speech and take it in the end. Wow, he is humble.
TC: The real stars of the show enter: THE JURY! Oh I am so excited. Will we get another snake/rat speech? Who will cry? Who will play the victim? Who will ask the traditional "why don't the other people deserve the money?" question. Let's hope no one asks the "What will you do with the money" because everyone lies and says charities when you know they are buying a Benz and new mansion complete with a heated pool and butler. I. am. so. excited.
Jeff points out that Mick, Nat, and Russ played a part in voting out each and every single person so no one can feign innocence.
Opening statements: Mick goes first. He claims he played a "moral" game and didn't promise too much, or stomp on anyone a whole lot and didn't treat the others like pawns. Jaison and Shambo are shaking their heads. I see what you tried to do by being anti-Russell but... you still voted all of them off and did some lying and conniving (especially with Jaison) so probably not the best approach.
Natalie says a lot of people doubted her being able to do this and she knew she would regret it if she didn't take the chance. She says it is the hardest thing she has ever experienced. She thanks the jury since if it weren't for them she wouldn't be sitting here right now. Sort of a backhanded compliment but nonetheless compliments and gratitude are always nice.
Russell says he came here to play and win the game. He lists his strategic moves: Ousting Marisa and Betsy for doubting him. He took the shots once they merged with Galu while Mick and Natalie cowered behind him. He aligned with Shambo to oust Kelly (Not really. Unless you found out they were voting for you through Shambo and that's why you played the idol. If you were playing the idol regardless then this isn't really thanks to Sham). Aligning with John to vote out Laura and lying saying he would vote out a FF next. And then he beat MFBB for final immunity. He says if Mick or Nat outwitted or outplayed him, by all means vote for them but he doesn't think that is the case. Oh you cocky little bastard.
And now time for questions: Jaison is up first. He is simmering. He challenges them to tell the jury who they really are. Natalie says she was in pharmaceutical sales and gave up her job to play the game. Russ opened a business several years ago and just saw profits a year or two ago. Mick is in debt from medical school ($320,000. yikes). Jaison says no one lied but Natalie made some good money at her job, Russell made seven figures, and Mick is has a fellowship at a prestigious hospital. Therefore no one is broke so they shouldn't vote based on who "needs" the money. Listen, until this game is filled with homeless people or people who have suffered through natural disasters and lost everything, I think voting for whoever "needs" the money is crap. I know there was that lunch lady or something a few years ago but that's the exception. We've got a rocket scientist, a doctor, an entrepreneur, several law students, and a handful of other occupations. I think everyone is doing just fine.
Shambo looking as ridiculous as ever in a camo-halter top, a bandana, ill-fitting jeans and white sneakers steps up to bat. She apologizes to America for dismantling Galu and she is regretting the decision (even though in other interviews she blames everyone else since they turned on Erik first). She asks Mick if his game play was "feckless". I'm not gonna lie,I was an english major, I read a lot and even I don't know what that words means (incompetent. Thanks Dictionary. com) and Mick says he's not sure and would have to look it up. Shambo thinks that is a good idea, says she is done with him and moves on to Natalie. She says a word is resonating in her mind and it begins with a "c" and asks Natalie to finish. Nat declines and Shambo blurts out coattails. Natalie says she realized the more aggressive female players were voted out first and she chose to hang back and keep her mouth shut. Shambo says and I quote "I'm calling just major b.s. on the sentence that you just hit me. I'm cracking up inside like you have no idea. The jig is up." The jig is also up on you being able to form complete sentences. Seriously, woman! I mean don't throw around words like feckless if you repeatedly fail to make sense grammatically. She says Russell has her vote. Well color me shocked. But you'll change your tune after you see he only USED YOU THE ENTIRE TIME!
MFBB asks Mick what they would do on a "bro-date", "nothing sexual, just a little guy time". Haha. Mick turns it all gay. Mick then mumbles some stuff about checking out the news (wha?), grabbing some eats, talking about chicks and sports. We get it, you're not really gay. MFBB says he just wanted to see how much Mick invested in getting to know him and that's why he asked. Read: I was trying to give you a chance for me to vote for you and not for Natalie but way to blow it.
Kelly is clearly our crier. Kelly says to Nat they were both underestimated but Kelly worked on her own and Natalie never even got on the field to play and was always calling for help. You relied on yourself? Uhhh what about your nice Galu alliance, and your even smaller Monica/Laura/Kelly alliance, huh? Lies! Natalie says she improved throughout the game and believed in herself. Kelly turns to Russell and says he lied, stole, and cheated and asks if he is like that in his personal life. Russell denies this and says he doesn't want his kids to think this is the real him. At Kelly's request Russell says honor, integrity, and loyalty are three words he would use to describe himself. Kelly calls BS. A) Kelly, the back of your head is
ridiculous. B) He didn't steal in this game nor did he really cheat. Blindsiding you doesn't count. and C) IT'S A GAME. I'm sorry he didn't lay down and die and let your tribe annihilate him. Get over being completely blindsided. No one even knew who you were until the episode you got voted off. NEXT!
Monica. Oh great. She says Nat and Mick played a pretty honest game but wants them to "passionately" answer as to why the two people beside her do not deserve the money. Mick says Natalie doesn't deserve it since she did nothing but align with Russell. He says Russell had an ego, pitted people against each other, and was dishonest. Russell says Mick did the exact same thing and congratulated Russell whenever he made a big move and picked off another Galu member. He says "neither minded following the snake right along behind [him]". Point to Russell.
Dave asks what everyone thinks their chances are. Mick: 25% Natalie: 30-40%. He is clearly in love with Nat and congratulates her on a good game. I think he may call her mama. I'm not sure. Russell: 55% even though he came into this with a much larger number in mind. "It might happen, might not happen." Kind of like when you have a baby and you wouldn't be surprised if it was a girl, but you wouldn't be surprised if it was a boy either. (haha) Maybe because there are only two options!!! I might win, I might lose. What a dumb question. Or better yet, say 33.33% percent since you have a 1/3 shot. Bam! I should be on Survivor.
Laura asks Russell what he learned about her that enabled him to beat her. Russell strokes her ego saying she was the biggest threat in Galu and had she not been voted out at the very TC, she would be sitting in his spot.
John asks Mick for the hard sell as to why he should vote for him. Mick says he is a solid good guy, he didn't treat people like pawns, and is a standup dude. John says he values Natalie making it to the end, tucked under Russell's wing. Natalie repeats her "aggressive women were voted out first", and points out that she killed a rat. John says "Yeah there's the spark" and sits down. At least I think that's what he said. He mumbled a lot.
And lastly Erik. Oh I was wrong, here is our crier. Erik says he will keep it short (which means he won't) he doesn't need anything from them (which means he does). He says Mick was FF's leader and he still doesn't understand how Mick deserved that title: he didn't lead, he didn't encourage, and his team had no guts and he was responsible for that. He says to Russell they had nothing in common and he played an unethical game, he got to the right place by the wrong way and he is proud of it. He tells Natalie that people will say she is "weak and undeserving but how are those characteristics any less admirable then lying, cheating, and stealing? Why do those get a free pass but Natalie's wrong way of playing is admonished". He says that he learned perception is not reality (literally points to the jury) and that reality is reality and she is sitting in the final three. He calls Russell arrogant and says Mick has a sense of delusional entitlement (Mick gives a WTF face) and maybe Natalie is really the most deserving and not the least and she has his vote. Natalie cries and we have dramatic music. Dang.
Voting time! Erik votes for "Ratalie". ha. Shambo votes for Russel. Boo. And that's it. Jeff says we will reveal the votes back in the states and he is off into the jungle. Remember that ridiculous montage of him hanging out of the side of a helicopter and on a jetski and paddling down the Amazon, crocodiles snapping at the canoe, and soaring through the air with flying monkys that one time? Yeah, we're in a recession so guess CBS can't shell out the big bucks for another one of those masterpieces. Just submit that montage for the emmy (and still lose to The Amazing Race for best reality series).
Everyone is showered and clean and wearing nice clothes and got their hair did. Russell has packed on the pounds, Natalie is looking healthy, and Mick is looking debonair. First vote, Ratalie. 2nd vote, Russell. Natalie, Russell, Natalie, Natalie, and the winner is Natalie! Wow so Mick got a big fat goose egg huh?
Watching this a second time, I think Russell knew in advance. Perhaps the producers told him ahead of time so he didn't pull out a machete and hack the jury to pieces. Or maybe he could just tell it by the jury's reaction but man the guy wasn't even excited when he got two votes. Supposedly he got four and Natalie only won by one BUT I just don't think the producers would have eliminated that element of suspense. So I'm going with 7-2 in favor of Natalie.
I'll do the reunion show later.... maybe.... but here are my thoughts on Natalie's win. This has been a highly debated topic. Some saying it is another Amber win, others saying she deserved it and Russell (and Mick consequently) must have been a real ass to everyone else on the jury. I unfortunately watched it with my sister AE who was a huge Russell fan and my mom who was pulling for Russell at the end. So they were booing and sulking that Russell lost and I didn't enjoy the Natalie win as much.
I think Russell played an arrogant, cocky, game. I think the jury was bitter. Yes I do think some votes were more so against Russell as opposed to for Natalie. But at the end of the day, the one way you are crowned "sole survivor" is by your peers, the people you voted off. Plenty of other winners played just as aggressive of a game as Russell (see: JT last season) but they didn't do it in such a condescending way. They didn't say "hey I'm awesome, you lost. get over it and vote for me!" And at least even if they did take that approach they at least backed it up by winning more than one immunity! Sure he had idols but that's a whole different ballgame.
Sure he was a huge jerk to the camera but how bad was he around camp? Clearly he never did any work. He never aided his tribe in any wins. He was never encouraging. Sure, he voted off Marisa, Betsy, Ashley, and Liz but that was just because FF was going to tribal every three days and everyone was happy to vote anyone off in order to save their own butt. He didn't always get his way, there were numerous times where he wanted someone to go (ie Ashley) but everyone else wanted a more threatening player gone (ie Ben) and sure enough everyone else's plan got the go-ahead.
Jeff gave all the credit to Natalie for the Galu take down by throwing the wrench in the well-oiled machine by offing Erik. Let's also remember Russell played the HII at this TC and didn't receive a single vote. That right there shows how Russell sucked at reading people since they weren't voting for him since he told every single person he had the idol! The only reason he became a threat is because the producers kept throwing the idol back in and Russell kept finding them. Sure everyone says "Why didn't anyone think of that before?" I already admitted I didn't watch the seasons why HII and Exile Island were introduced, but previously weren't the HII actually, well, HIDDEN? Like they were 18 paces from a random tree and then buried eight feet deep down in the sand? Or they were at Exile Island, a factor absent in this game. Let's remember, Erik also found an HII (I can't remember if it was with or without a clue) and he didn't play it to his advantage either (much like Russell, the first time). So I'm just saying, sure he found two without any help, played one successfully (probably thanks to Shambo telling him that he was on the chopping block), and found one after watching a video clue on a cell phone. At the time, impressive and even I was cheering for the little guy, but once he found that 3rd idol, his ego was huge and it was hard to root for the guy that was no longer the underdog.
Also, it's not like Russell made all of this decisions on his own. It seemed like he wanted to vote off whoever was onto him (like John when he accidentally told him about the HII) and there was no real strategy involved. Plus it seemed like he heavily discussed the decisions with Natalie and Jaison and Mick. So. Yeah.
Maybe it's true and the cast we never met did offer very little to the camera. Especially when you have a character like Russell who is purposely trying to be evil. The producers made this The Russell Show and I think bent and twisted everything to make it look like Russell was running this when he never really was. Maybe it was due to a lack of material or maybe it was another crush of the producers (See: James, Rupert). We never even saw Galu until like day 12 or something since FF continued to suck. I know they "plan the seasons ahead of time" but maybe in this instance you should mix things up so that we actually get to know the players who make it to the end of the game (see MFBB) even though they had very little camera time.
I think Russell's biggest issue was his mouth. He bragged about how much money he made, how awesome he was, how he was gonna win it all way before he should have. And I think that turned a lot of people off. Some people think the rest of FF thought Russell was their ticket to the million and that's why no one ever tried to vote him off before reaching the end. But I brought this up to my sisters and they shot me down saying someone would have said that in an interview or at the final TC. Maybe, maybe not.
All in all, sure maybe Natalie didn't win every challenge or find any HIIs but she did play the social game and won over the jury (especially if no one wanted to vote for Russ, still no one voted for Mick either who seemed like a well-liked guy). Russell thought of everyone as being pawns (like Shambo and she is an idiot for voting for him) or as obstacles merely in his way to the end (like MFBB or even Jaison). But when they did the montage of Natalie she did have some impressive moves: the whole Erik blindside, befriending women on Galu who probably voted for her in the end, killing the rat, hanging on by her legs to lead her team to her first reward challenge, and hauling butt in other challenges where she actually had some meat on her bones and wasn't about to break in half. Sure, she aligned with Russell but didn't he do the same thing with every single other person on his tribe? She basically aligned with Mick, Russell, and Jaison too and the four acted together, tried to make it to the final four and almost did minus powerhouse MFBB. Also if people are sick of these "riding the coattails" people winning, then it should be a rule you aren't allowed to make alliances and you simply go to tribal and vote for whoever you want gone whether it be the physically weakest person or the biggest strategic threat. I'm sick of people saying they don't like the winner for flying under the radar. It's a legit strategy. So I say no alliances so people will SHUT UP!
So I say congrats Natalie and good luck Russell since it has pretty much been confirmed he is a part of the next all-star season. Like Probst could simply quit Russell without giving him another chance at the million. Oh and Russell did win the viewer's choice so yay for $100,000 dollars!
And I won't lie, I almost felt bad for Russell but after trying to pay Nat for the title of sole survivor and throwing Jaison's socks in the fire again, he really needs to grow up.
