Talk:Russell Hantz/@comment-24163808-20131113093944

There’s so much Russell hate in these comments. I do understand not liking the guy, he’s an asshole, although personally I found his antics and intrigues very entertaining. What I don’t understand is the people claiming he didn’t understand how to play the game.

He was a force of nature in season 19 and totally controlled his own fate in the game. Not many people get the chance, or even have the slightest idea how to do that. Then he came back in season 20, against probably the toughest line-up in the game's history, and did it again!

Are you really going to claim that Natalie is better at the game of survivor than Russell is? The fact that Natalie won season 19 does not prove she is the better player. I think people who claim this are taking a really simplistic approach. Natalie needed Russell, but Russell didn’t need Natalie. He could have done the same thing with a bunch of other people in that game. How well do you think Natalie would have done in Heroes vs Villains? I don’t think she would have gotten near the jury.

Getting in front of the final jury really is the hardest part of this game. So many smart, athletic, well-liked, well intentioned contestants flew under the radar and fell short of the finals because they couldn’t take matters into their own hands like Russell did. Being liked is really the easy part: keep your head down, do work, be nice to people, and they’ll like you. But for 90% of contestants that’s not going to get you to the end.

I’m not going to claim that Russell should have won either of those seasons, because that’s not the game. He made mistakes in his social game that cost him the money. But let’s not overlook what he did do right.