Samoa's Unstoppable Leprechaun

You either love Russell Hantz or hate him. When Survivor Samoa debuted its first episode, I emphatically hated him. Privy to Russell's dark side the first week, we saw him burning one of his tribe mate's socks by moonlight, emptying his entire tribe's water canteens, and lying to them about his background. I almost boycotted watching this season--my ONLY reality show obsession--because of his meanness and unrepentant impish behavior.



Russell's sabotaging strategy knew no bounds. In his delusion of grandeur, we saw him cut his female tribe mates down (figuratively, of course, though you wondered if he would just as happily do it for real) in his tenacious quest for the million dollar prize. He seemed to disdain women in general, considering them stupid and weak. And if they had the nerve to cross him or call him on anything, he turned on them and threw them out of the game. Yes, he seemed to have that power for awhile.

But something happened on the way to episode ten. Russell SEEMS to have softened his stance on women as the enemy, working with them, not against them. And even if you blanch at his tactics, you have to admire his willingness to get in there, and without complaining, get dirty, work his butt off, and stay focused with optimism no matter what is thrown at him or the tribe.


What won me over is when he says he's going to do something, he actually does it. No, really, it appears as if even God doesn't stand in his way. He singlehandedly uncovered three coveted immunity idols, which represent life in the game, finding two of them with no clues whatsoever. He announced he was going to do it, and then he made good on his word, and bear in mind no one found idols like this before in Survivor history. As if that wasn't jaw-dropping enough, he found the third one with two of his worst-enemy tribe mates dogging him. One was literally on his heels. How he lost him is beyond me, because Russell isn't the lightest feather in the flock. And then to prove he was no one's fool, he actually played two of the idols at Tribal Council, and effectively saved his butt for one more round in the game each time, unlike his Survivor predecessor's who got booted out while cluelessly holding onto their idols.

You know when Russell says he's going to do something, he does it. This blows my mind. Can someone believe in themselves so thoroughly that they can make things happen, just like that? It's not that it's effortless of course, he works for it, he makes the effort, and he stays positive (by seeing what's really there and focusing on the target, not by spouting platitudes). But nothing seems to stop him. Maybe that's what totally amazes me about this guy. And although I am rooting for rocket scientist John to win the game, I would gladly vote for Russell if he makes it to the end (assuming his teammates don't catch him releasing the chickens into the night on next week's episode and vote him off, by blindsiding him).


So though I started out hating this guy, I have grown to admire and grudgingly like him.I can't get over how the universe just seems to support him in whatever he sets out to do. And I kinda secretly hope he wins Survivor Samoa, if the rocket scientist cutie doesn't.

Now, just for pure fun, read Tallula Morehead's take on last week's episode. I haven't laughed so hard in all my 47 years:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tallulah-morehead/isurvivor-samoai-lord-of_b_364950.html