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For all of his talk about loving the game, the level of Russell's naivete is astounding. No doubt about the fact that Russell played a great strategic game, in terms of playing strategic aspect. He was in no way strategic, though, about the endgame. He said he played a good social game because he had people following him. But, he burned so many bridges, including those of the ones that followed him. Lying, I believe, is completely understandable in this game (and I hate when people bitch about it), but I think Russell lied unnecessarily and overplayed so many hands. Why tell Brett he may vote for him and cause a tie and then not do it? Yes, I understand that if Brett's in the final 3, he wins. But there's no reason to tell him things changed and then say I might do that anyway. If Brett brought it up, that might be one thing. Telling both Jaison and Mick the other was going was obviously going to piss someone off. Natalie wasn't going to waiver, neither was the other of Mick/Jaison. Being so blatant about lying is unnecessary. Though I totally agree there is a difference between the game and real life, Jaison brought up an interesting point with his office analogy. Russell is like that guy that will step on anyone to get to the top and brag about it. All of a sudden, to get that last promotion, he needs references from those people he stepped on. The game is not all about strategy. Russell completely forgot to include the human aspect. He honestly thought that he can act that way and win. You have to play a great game AND you have to have people want to vote for you. Russell probably lost some votes not because people wanted to vote for Natalie, but wanted to vote against him. That's his fault.

I'm not saying Natalie played this great game, but I do agree with Erik that what she did was completely a valid strategy. In her situation, what else is she supposed to do? If she's seen as a strong woman, she's gone early. The only time she was targeted after the merge was because she was seen as the least threatening (when she and Laura tied; they all figured she wouldn't have the idol). Pair up with the loud guy that's going to be targeted. So long as he's there, she's probably going to be safe. I wish she had articulated the fact that you can play under the radar effectively (I don't think she sat around and did nothing), but not everyone can be the leader, the one up in front.