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aboutbreakingrules wrote:

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In fact, he committed an extreme blunder that threatened the fortunes of his entire alliance, through no fault of their own. If it hadn't been for their quick thinking at damage control, he'd be an early juror and they wouldn't be too far behind. Bottom line, he had everything to do with getting them into the mess and nothing to do with getting them out. Bravo, Natalie, for that bailout.

Um, what!?

Think about it some more. You give the Foa Foa 3 credit for "controlling" the "damage" that Russell had supposedly done. Now ask yourself: What if Russell had caused no damage?

What if Russell had come over at the merge and done just like the other 3 Foa Foans: play nice and schmooze up the Galu 8? What do you think would have happened? There would have been no damage done, sure. But what exactly do you think would have gotten done?

Would Laura and Monica have found out about Russell's idol? No.

Would Laura have told Erik about Russell's idol? No.

Would Erik have devised a plan to deal with the knowledge of Russell's idol? No.

Would Erik have devised a plan that involved setting up a Jaison blindside while also setting up Monica for an idol bounce? No.

Would Erik have had any reason to go over to Foa Foa to try to sell them on the idea of voting for Monica while keeping Russell in the dark? No.

Would Erik have gone over to Foa Foa to sell this and condescend to them in the process? No.

Would Jaison have gotten pissed at Erik's condescension and decided to target Erik? No.

Would Natalie have any reason to go over to Laura and the girls to tell them about Erik's Monica plan? No.

Would Erik have been voted off as a result? Hell no.

So with no "damage" for Natalie/Mick/Jaison to "control," and with Russell sitting on his butt and kissing Galu ass just like them, what would have happened? Somebody on Foa Foa would have gone home, and given that Russell wasn't perceived as the biggest physical threat, it most likely would have been Jaison or Mick, with Russell's undisclosed idol essentially useless to protect Foa Foa. That's what would have happened without the so-called damage Russell caused.

While deriding this "damage," you're conveniently forgetting that Foa Foa came into the merge down 4 to 8, and with absolutely nothing to stand in the way of an orderly pagonging. All they had was the fact that Shambo liked them, and even then Shambo's primary loyalty was to Erik. Shambo even told Foa Foa flat out that Laura was the only Galu name she'd write down. And Laura had immunity. The Foa Foa 4 had absolutely nothing else to stand in the way of their pagonging....

Oh, wait they did have something else. What's that, you ask? Russell, his idol and his hustle. To cause damage. To bring on chaos. And to create opportunity for Foa Foa.

aboutbreakingrules wrote:

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Irrelevant.

Irrelevant to what?

Before you have to worry about jury votes, you have to get there.

And without Russell's hustle, someone from Foa Foa would have gone home at the merge, thus making it less likely for all 4 members of Foa Foa to make it all the way to facing the jury.

Russell's move may have cost him, but it ultimately benefited his alliance, you know, the people whose support he needs to get to the end game. If someone on Foa Foa other than Russell winds up winning, that person will still have benefited from Russell's hustle at the merge.

Recognize!

cindidindi76 wrote:

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If (when) someone from FF wins, that person will have benefitted from the stuff the other FF did at the merge, and from Galu's idiocy.

Recognize!

I do.

I give Natalie full credit for what she accomplished.

I'm only responding to those folks who only saw Russell's play in the merge episode as one massive FAIL.

Natalie would not have been in a position to save Foa Foa's bacon without Russell's work that episode.

And sure, everything could have been different if things had happened differently before the merge. But given the situation Foa Foa were in at the merge, I think Russell deserves credit for his contributions to the positive outcome for Foa Foa, just as Natalie deserves credit for hers. Without both of their contributions, Foa Foa would have not have come out of that episode still four strong, even if Russell was the least likely of the four to get the boot.

mecansodemactors wrote:

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I disagree with the bolded part. You have to worry about jury votes as you're voting the other contestants out. It's one of the things that makes survivor so difficult and interesting.

Of course. But that's not a luxury you usually have when you're down 4 to 8, and you're fighting for your life in the game, unless of course you happen to have an ally who will do the necessary dirty work.

Shion is Queen wrote:

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Russel's play wasn't a fail, it just has yet to come to fruition.

Huh? So Galu comes in 8 to 4 and are still down 2 people without Russell's play coming to some sort of fruition? Does not compute.

To say Natalie couldn't have pulled her plan off without him is just speculation.

I didn't say she couldn't have pulled it off. I was arguing that she wouldn't have had the opportunity to pull it off without the set of circumstances Russell's play created. I'd be curious to hear your speculation of how she could have gotten someone voted off Galu, starting from the merge feast, using what you know of the players, their personalities and their game priorities, and assuming that Russell did no more than any other member of Foa Foa. Go.