Published: October 23, 2009 11:57 am      

Survivor Samoa Episode 6

Survivor Samoa

Episode 6



The Shivers Shake Up Survivors! Before anyone calls Chief Russell a wimp, let me assure everyone that the suffering “is the real deal”.

There is nothing funny about living in downpours of cold rain, day after day. I’d rather run a 100 marathons than bear the unbearable exhaustion of shivering til’ your teeth rattle, day after day after day.

Chief Russell used up every ounce of energy “shivering”. He might have left the game feeling “ashamed and angry”, but he wisely understands that his most important job is to stay alive and healthy for his wife and child.



Hopefully Russell will step past the “ashamed” thing. The only real thing about which to feel “shame” is to compromise our own integrity. When we’ve done something that we ourselves don’t approve of, something that goes against our own idea of who we are, we feel shame. That kind of shame is a wake up call after a long, confused night of bad behavior. We cannot move on and start feeling and acting the way we would like to be while we’re feeling unworthy and ashamed.



Sometimes we screw up. We’re only human. Fix it the best we can and move on. There is no need to try to cover up our blundering and stumbling. We all fall down. The key is to fall down, get up. Fall down. Get up. Fall down. Get up. Never, never, never fall down and not get up.



Russell knew that the “Chief Thing” had “balanced out to the negative.” I personally don’t believe he could have “invested enough” to compensate for the “withdrawal” that Mother Nature told out of his body and soul. I believe that his intuition told him to sit out the challenge. However, as we all know, intuition is a very small voice in comparison to the booming inner crowd thundering about “stupidity and responsibility”. Russell knew to sit out the challenge, but he ignored his own inner voice. Forgive your mistake, Russell, and then do the real work: BOUNCE BACK!



Russell has been a great character who had the ability to feel different, be different, and stay that way. In so doing he has found power in his inner weirdness, rather than see it as something to hide, cure, or grow out of. I’ll miss him in the game.



I’ve personally never been a very careful person and I’ve taken lots of amazing risks (Survivor being one of them). It’s no exaggeration to say that I’m lucky to be alive. However, I believe you can come back from almost anywhere. We haven’t made a fatal mistake until we’re dead. The mistakes that don’t kill us teach us unforgettable lessons.

Russell packed in a few tonight.



Shambo dodged the bullet tonight, thanks to fate. Erik, John, Dave, and Brett finally got some good airtime. I’m liking John and his rocket scientist mind. How can one person have all those looks and brains too! As much as I’d like to see John be Chief next, it will probably be Dave or Erik. John is right about keeping Sham in the game. It’s obvious that she doesn’t have a connection with the other women, but the combo of Laura and Monica is dangerous. Galu will do well to get rid of Monica as soon as possible.



I loved hearing Erik pray and praise the sun and the rainbow. I imagine that 22 hours in the bottom of a tree actually did feel “like solitary confinement for a crime he didn’t commit”.



Foa Foa Russell (AKA Terrible Tex) actually got a smile and a thumbs up from me tonight. I love him laughing at the rain and keeping a positive attitude through Hell. Tonight he stayed on his horse and rode through rain and sleet. I can see that there is a small little corner of him to like.



Tonight we got to see what Jeff Probst looks like when he thinks that someone has finally died on the show. Let’s remember that 3 people died of dehydration and over heating in a Sedona sweat lodge, so it’s very conceivable that someone could die of over-exertion and dehydration in the game of Survivor. Russell came as close as we ever want to see. It created a couple of 1st: First tribal with both tribes present, and the first challenge to go uncompleted.



It looks like adversity has sparked new life into both tribes. Terrible Tex is right. I believe the “tables are about to turn”. Even tho’ Russell is out of the game, his spirit is running rampant in Galu and Foa Foa is stoned on their “moral victory”. Sometimes procrastination promotes efficiency. It’s time for Foa Foa to “get in the game”.