Russell owned the game, and ultimately, it was Russell who assumed the jury would go by the banner and vote for whomever outplayed, outlasted and outwitted them, and they instead chose to give it to the person who pretended to care about them.
The rules of Survivor's final vote are: Whatever you decide to base your vote on, that's what you do, and you make your vote based upon your personal choice. The game's rigged in some ways, but in that, whatever two or three outlasted you, those are your choice, and the jury went with who they thought should get the money.
A bitter jury, blindsided over and over again, every one of them sitting there because Russell took advantage of the situation, or created the situation, where they would be voted out. Who knows what is going to happen in Heroes vs Villains, as I think it was filmed before this series was even shown, but I hope Russell will be even better in that one, learning from his minor mistakes in this game to pull down the victory in season 20.
Either way, I don't feel sorry for Russell. In addition to the hundred grand he won from the people's choice, he also won at least $100,000 for his appearance, plus whatever place he earned in Heroes vs Villains, and absolutely will have tremendous notoriety which he will hopefully be able to cash in on on the corporate speaking circuit. Not a bad payoff, all things considered, and hopefully, he'll use his second chance to bring home the million dollar prize next time.
“.......as I think it was filmed before this series was even shown, but I hope Russell will be even better in that one, learning from his minor mistakes in this game to pull down the victory in season 20.”
I don’t think Russell learned simply because the jury votes had not been read yet. At Final TC he said he had a 55% chance of winning. And then a couple of weeks later S20 was filmed.
I think he thought that was good enough.
Last night as the votes were read Russell got POed and his eyes were red for the next couple of segmemts. I think right there he had a flash that “I just lost S20 also this same dang way.”
I said, from the first week on, that Russell was the best Survivor contestant ever, but when a bitter jury is involved, all bets are off.
Did they just choose to not show Natalie for some reason, I didn't even know who she was until the final few weeks, before that she was just another survivor blond. She did seem like a nice, Christian girl in the end, and if Russell didn't win, I was glad it was her. I would, however, have liked to know her other than Russells "dumb blond".