Unexpected Winner on Survivor Samoa Season Finale

The end of Survivor Samoa is here and with that we finally got to find out if Russell could pull out the win. The season has been dominated by Russell and being down to the final five he was only two Tribal Councils away from the final three. The night began with the final five, Brett, Natalie, Mick, Jaison and Russell discussing the end game. Russell was the focus, as usual, and talked about Brett going and in the case of him winning Natalie would have to leave. His reason: She couldn't beat Brett in the final challenge.

The final five immunity featured a lot of running but it ultimately came down tot he puzzle. Russell was back to the podium with his puzzle first but Brett won with his crazy puzzle skills. That meant that a Foa Foa had to leave and it would be the first since the merge. Back at camp Russell made the decision to save Natalie and in doing so had to vote off Mick or Jaison. He told Jaison to vote Mick, and told Mick to vote Jaison. That meant that he and Natalie would then have to decide who to go and with that they headed to Tribal Council.

Tribal Council was once again all about Brett and Jeff stated the obvious, that Brett would be the one to go had he lost and it's basically time for a Foa Foa to go. Tribal Council also came down to who was better to keep to beat Brett and who was better keep to beat in the end. Jaison's lack of wanting to be there was the reason Russell and Natalie sent him home. That left Brett, Natalie, Russell and Mick in the final four and time for more strategy of course. The next morning, day 38, Russell made yet another alliance. He aligned with Brett that if Brett won they would go to final three, and if Russell win the immunity Brett would go to to the finals with him. Of course we all know that meant nothing to Russell, but it was still a power play to ensure he made the final three.

The final immunity challenge was of course endurance but it was a bit different. They had to hold a statue on a pole and every two minutes a foot of pole would be added to the bottom. Mick and Natalie dropped out around five feet while Brett and Russell came down to a bitter battle. They ended up at seven feet high and after both wobbled, Brett's statue fell making Russell the final immunity challenge winner. We all know what that meant, of course Brett was evicted but Russell, of course, made us think he would let Brett do a tie challenge. That didn't happen and we had our all Foa Foa final three.

Before the final tribal council where a winner would be crowned Russell got cocky. He stated out loud, several times, that there was no way they could beat him. They being Natalie and Mick. Mick kind of gave up even trying but Natalie said what Russell said meant nothing and she would fight to win. The jury tribal council was an interesting one with both Mick and Natalie flubbing their opening statements and Russell being very truthful on why he should win. Kelly had an interesting question and statement, that was more interesting then her entire time on the show, asking Russell if he's like he was on the show in real life. Of course he said he wasn't and most didn't buy it. Shambo of course was all for Russell winning and Jaison outed all three as having money. In the end though Erik closed it out, looking a bit tipsy, but had a great comment. He asked why Natalie's "coat riding" was seen as a negative but Russell's vicious game play was being praised. It brought tears to many people's eyes and surely made many think about their vote.

Back in LA it was time to reveal who won. You could tell Mick wouldn't get any votes, which he didn't, while Natalie and Russell were at one point tied with two each. Natalie's name then showed up and kept showing up, crowning Natalie the winner of Survivor Samoa. Does she deserve it over Russell? Maybe not but in the moment she may have. Russell screwed a lot of people and although it was amazing for us, it hurt them and those feelings most likely cost him the game. Natalie's win comes after two "nice guys" win. It seems evil is no longer praised when it comes to Survivor, that is a good thing in the world but when it comes to the show people always want the best player to win and in this case a good winner did win, just not the best.

What do you think about the Survivor Samoa outcome? We all know that next season will be another All Stars and Russell has yet another shot, so rumors say, so luckily he can have some redemption.