When people think about paranoid Survivor players, it’s almost always positioned as a negative. That’s not an adjective you would want your game described as, but the truth is there have been some extremely good Survivor players who could definitely be described as very paranoid. In fact, the legendary dragonslayer Coach Wade recently called one of the most famous castaways in the game’s history the most paranoid he’s ever played against.
Ahead of Survivor 50, Coach was on a Zoom call with Gold Derby alongside fellow returnees Colby Donaldson and Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick when the subject of returnees from seasons that haven’t aired yet came up. That obviously led to a conversation about legendary villain Russell Hantz. Colby asked Coach if Russell was the most paranoid person he’s ever played the game with. He said yes and gave a really interesting answer…
You would have a conversation about ice cream 50 yards away, he would see it and then he would start almost running toward you and then as soon as he sat down, he’d say, ‘What are you talking about? ‘Oh nothing, we’re just talking about ice cream.’ ‘No, you’re not. What are you really talking about?’ ‘No, we’re just sitting here.’ He’d say, ‘I know you were talking about me. You’re trying to vote me off. It’s the last thing you want to do out here.’ People would just be shellshocked and then he’d look for someone else having a conversation. He was like a heat-seeking missile.
This sounds like terrible gameplay on the face of it, but it worked great for Russell until his reputation made it impossible. Sure, players would rather form alliances with stable and reliable partners, but more than anything else, what they want is to be part of the dominant alliance. If you’re the most aggressive about forming that dominant alliance early on, many castaways will just go along with it. It’s just not worth the risk of being voted out, and Russell is fantastic at exploiting that fear.
Russell’s main issue is that he’s played so hard during his appearances that he’s rubbed other castaways, many of whom he lied to, the wrong way. He’s made it to Final Tribal Council twice, but he’s never gotten more than two votes from the jury. He’s also earned the reputation from former players as being difficult to play alongside. In Coach’s opinion, he’s a really good player but has that limitation…
He’s good and terrible, right? He’s actually a really good player… There’s a way he could have and should have won Heroes vs Villains and maybe could’ve and should’ve won the season before that, but that’s all speculation.
There were a lot of people cut from Survivor 50 that I wasn’t particularly happy about. Jerri and Abi-Maria both particularly stand out for me and a lot of others, but amongst the men, there’s no one I was more disappointed wasn’t there than Russell. He’s one of the most memorable players in the history of the show. He’s arguably the main character in Heroes vs Villains, which is probably the best season in the show’s history, and it would have felt right to have him there. We also know he wanted to come back.
That being said, I’m still fired up for Survivor 50. Coach, Colby and Stephenie are part of one of the greatest casts the show has ever assembled, and the early buzz from the players is that it is fantastic. There are already some wild stories going around, and that's just from the pregame. The real thing hits the TV schedule next Wednesday, and I cannot wait.
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