It was down to five as Survivor: Samoa came to an end on Sunday night, following Shannon “Shambo” Water’s elimination last Thursday. It would seem like an easy vote. Four old Foa Foa members versus a lone Galu member remaining. But after Brett, the last Galu, won the final five immunity challenge and saved himself for the third time in a row, Jaison was the first casualty from Foa Foa since Liz’s elimination before the merge.

But the real question was – could Brett win a fourth immunity challenge and simultaneously win the game with all his former tribemates on the jury?

Well, nope. Russell took him down in a nailbiting finish and won the final immunity challenge. In an obvious vote, the last Galu member was voted out in fourth place, leaving Russell, Natalie and Mick as the final three.

Now let me say this – Russell did not play the best game. Yes, he might have played the best game to certain people (like Shambo and John who ultimately voted for him) but part of the game is knowing who is on the jury and knowing how to win them over. Russell’s strategy might have worked well with other juries that pride strategic gameplay over likability, but Samoa’s jury was just the opposite. They saw Russell as the snake in the grass and didn’t think he deserved to win the prize. So they didn’t vote for him. Natalie won the game in a 7-2-0 vote.

Russell was crushed.

The guy had come home from Samoa thinking he had 100% won the game. Not only did he control all the moves until the very end, but he brought along Natalie and Mick because he knew he could beat them in the final jury vote. No way would the jury be stupid enough to award one of his “followers” the title of Sole Survivor, right? Wrong. He didn’t realize the jury wouldn’t respect his gameplay and instead would vote for Natalie. Still, only getting two votes out of nine was a pretty cruel fate for Russell. If I was him, I would be pretty visibly upset as well. Putting your heart and soul into something, doing everything right and putting all the blame on yourself, and then having one of your “dumbass girls” that you alligned with beat you? That’s just cruel.

The reunion was just awkward to watch. Russell clearly was upset and knew he deserved to win and some agreed with him. Others agreed that since Natalie got the most jury votes, she deserved to win. Russell went even as far to offer Natalie $10,000 (which Probst mistakenly heard $100,000) if she would give up the title of Sole Survivor and give it to him instead. Natalie of course refused this offer. She rightfully won the title and I’m glad she didn’t take his money. Heck, she now has $1,000,000 reasons not to take his money!

Natalie’s not one of the best winners the show has ever had, but definitely not one of the worst. The real excitement of the night was the preview for the next installment of the show, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Although the show didn’t reveal the cast, the speculated cast list (which is most likely 99% correct) is as follows -

Heroes:

• Stephanie (Palau/Guatemala)
• Candice (Cook Islands)
• Amanda (China/FvF)
• Cirie (Panama/FvF)
• Sugar (Gabon)
• Tom (Palau)
• Colby (Australia/All-Stars)
• JT (Tocantins)
• Rupert (Pearl Islands/All-Stars)
• James (China/FvF)

Villains:

• Sandra (Pearl Islands)
• Jerri (Australia/All-Stars)
• Danielle (Panama)
• Parvati (Cook Islands/FvF)
• Courtney (China)
• Coach (Tocantins)
• Tyson (Tocantins)
• Russell (Samoa)
• Randy (Gabon)
• Boston Rob (Marquesas/All-Stars)

It should be quite an interesting season! I’m definitely rooting for the villains simply because of Sandra and Courtney, two of my favorite survivors ever and in my opinion the most humorous survivors ever! Hopefully they’ll do well. There are many spoilers around the web that tell each position the castaways get, so make sure you stay away from those to make the season as great as possible! I personally have stayed away from them and hopefully that will continue until the finale in May!

Until I blog again in February for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, have a great holiday season!