Survivor Retrospective: Samoa

Rating: 5.5/10

Samoa's legacy as one of the more memorable Survivor seasons is entirely due to its introduction of legendary villain Russell Hantz. From the opening stanza of the season, when the oil tycoon immediately pioneered a new level of depravity by pouring out the water of his tribe's canteens, Russell dominated the game. He established franchise benchmarks for screen time, idols found (all three without a clue!) and played and tribal councils survived. He controlled the game's strategy like few players ever have. He reveled in the season's brutally rainy conditions, celebrating the adversity he was best equipped to handle. He won the final immunity challenge over a must-defeat foe. Yet Russell's most memorable moment came at the Reunion when he received just two of nine jury votes.

Russell quickly sought to forge allegedly longterm alliances with everyone on his tribe. Those who agreed latched onto his flowing coattails. Those who astutely recognized him as a charlatan were immediately sent packing for their suspicions. Russell ran an authoritarian regime from the first vote. Any dissent was immediately crushed.

Dissent dissipated as Russell's Foa Foa tribe kept losing challenges to Galu. By the time the tribes merged, Russell's loyalists had been condensed to Bible-beating bimbo Natalie, affable doctor Mick(Dreamy) and law student Jaison. Galu's numbers doubled Foa Foa's at the mergepoint, but unconventional ex-marine Shambo had long detached from Galu and fell under Russell's wing. Natalie pulled an ace out of her sleeve to sow seeds of doubt surrounding Galu's Erik. Whether it was deft social play from Natalie, the opposite from Erik, or other unexplained motivations, Galu ripped the heart out of one of their own - while an idol languished in his pocket - and the lid off Pandora's Box.

Russell ironically wasted his first idol on that 10-2 vote, but immediately made up for it. He found a second idol the next day and hid its identity from Galu. He successfully played the idol at the next Tribal to save himself and dust Galu's Kelly. Just like that, the factions had drawn even at 5-5. Russell next bamboozled cocksure rocket scientist John, getting him to break a 5-5 headed-to-rocks tie on a revote under the guise of a faux secret power pact. Betrayed by John, the remaining Galu were happy to take Russell's suggestion and vote him out at the next Tribal. The Foa Foa four executed one Galu after another. Lightly-featured nice guy Brett provided some late game intrigue by winning three straight immunities - forcing Foa Foa to turn on Jaison - but Russell beat him in the climactic final immunity. 

Russell's resumé - hand-picked eliminations of most of the season's players, three immunity idols found without any clues, one of them successfully played to save himself and defeat an entire tribe, another so unnecessary it was taken home as a souvenir, a final immunity defeat of a sure-fire winner - was objectively impressive, staggering even. Russell was convinced of his own merits, repeatedly telling the cameras he was taking Natalie because there was no way she could beat him in votes and proclaiming himself the victor after defeating Brett. Even in the Reunion, when he could have been chastened by the 7-2 margin, Russell affirmed he'd played the greatest strategic game in Survivor history. But Survivor's merits aren't objective. The defining accolade of the game lies in the eyes of the beholders - the Jury culled from fallen competitors.

In this instance the Jury heftily repudiated Russell's tactics. It was shocking at the time, even disenchanting. Russell had been the star of the season since its opening moments. He impeccably accomplished every objective he'd delightfully articulated from the season's opening moments. Indeed, he was the season's narrator - more so than Jeff Probst, despite the latter's unnecessary, patronizing previously-ons. Russell's narration stood alongside that of Survivor's premier tour guides - Richard Hatch, Rob Cesternino and Rob Mariano. He was the season's most interesting, exciting and charismatic player - and certainly edited as such. Natalie once killed a rat and ate it.

But if you examined the proclivities of each jury member, Natalie's landslide wasn't a surprise. Brett bonded with her over the Bible. Jaison said in his exit interview that Russell's unnecessary blindside of him was a deal-breaking betrayal. Monica and Laura despised him. Kelly was repulsed by Russell's hypocritical Final Tribal claim that honor, integrity and loyalty were his most important values outside the game. Erik used his Final Tribal platform to lambast Russell and Mick before singing Natalie's praises. Most jurors valued Natalie's qualities more than Russell's. She played this particular iteration of Survivor better than Russell - even if his skills were more likely to translate to other versions.

Survivor Retrospective: Tocantins

 

Rating: 7/10

Despite one of the most predictable endgames in franchise history, Tocantins was a terrific season thanks to its extraordinary cast. While early seasons appeared to strive for a representative cross-section of Americans, Tocantins clearly delved its cast from a stocked pond. Former pop star Taj was discovered through a recruitment of NFL players' wives. Tyson was immediately savage and hilarious. Coach was so far over the top he'd revolved to the bottom. Tocantins featured not one but two leggy blonde models, a Johnny Drama lookalike and a prototypically bright, handsome young entrepreneur Alpha. But a hillbilly whose charisma tested the boundaries of credulity casually overcame them all.

Pre-merge, the game's most compelling storyline was a secret cross-tribal alliance creatively engineered by Brendan the entrepreneur. Forced to choose a companion from the other tribe for an overnight stay on Exile Island, Brendan selected Taj for reasons never explained on camera. Together they engineered a stealth alliance of four, with Taj bringing in cerebral tribemate Stephen and Brendan allying with kind-hearted free agent Sierra. The plan was to keep the alliance under wraps until the merge, then dismantle their tribemates before they knew what was happening. But Brendan didn't solidify his relationships strongly enough. Taj and Stephen rolled with foundational ally J.T. instead, betraying Brendan in the Coach-approved "Dragonslaying" shortly after the merge.

J.T. and Stephen formed one of the tightest bonds ever developed on Survivor, steadfastly controlling their tribe's votes from beginning to end. They handled the dirty work equally, but J.T. managed to oust his adversaries with a smile and a bow of respect. Taj operated as the alliance's third wheel, coordinating an awesome blindside of Tyson and Coach's demise before the duo viciously blindsided her with four left. Taj's painful exit was softened by a particularly poignant preceding family visit with her famous, immensely likable husband Eddie George. That one wasn't, but many of the episodes were overproduced - a problem exacerbated by Coach's ludicrous theatrics.

Though he helped dig the grave for Coach, J.T. managed to maintain his promise of not writing his name down. Stephen sensed the jury might have a preference for his compatriot, but we never found out the climactic question of whether Stephen would slit J.T.'s throat for the million. The southerner won the final two immunity challenges. J.T. never received a vote at Tribal Council until the Final one when he received them all. He added the additional $100k as the season's fan favorite. He lost a tooth during a challenge and immediately returned. Seemingly all of his adversaries sung his praises all season. One of them fell for him so hard he vowed he'd sacrifice his game for J.T.'s - moments before the southerner sent him packing. Before his reputation was tarnished in return seasons, J.T. established himself as one of the game's most popular and dominant players.