Survivor Samoa

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The 19th season of Survivor is Samoa.  Samoa is an island in the South Pacific that is known for its warrior culture. I've been a big fan of Survivor for years now (have watched it on television since Australia and have seen every episode), and I have been writing Survivor Samoa recaps.  Read on for more information.

View from the Samoan Island of Upolu

Episode 14 

Two Brains are Better Than One

Photo by Ros.Natalie and Brett were getting close because they shared the Christian religion, and this concerned Russell, who remarked to Shambo during the reward challenge that the duo must be broken up. During the reward challenge, the Survivor tribemates were divided up into two teams; the team with Russell, Shambo, and Jaison won, and they were taken to a dinner with locals and got to sleep on a mattress.

Despite Russell's concerns, Natalie was still loyal to him and to their alliance. In a confessional, she mentioned that "two brains are better than one" and she was helping him get to the end. After the immunity challenge, when Brett won for the second week in a row, Jaison remarked that he wanted to get rid of Shambo. One of the reasons that he gave was that Shambo performs poorly in challenges, which really didn't seem to make sense to me. If she performed poorly in challenges, then wouldn't you want to keep her around? Especially considering that the majority of the jury members saw her as a traitor and didn't like her. Nevertheless, Russell was getting tired of her haircut, her bad breath, and being around her, and he agreed that she should go next.

Russell wore the immunity necklace to the tribal council, and although this was the last episode that he could use it, he decided to keep it; he didn't need it anyway. Shambo was voted out overwhelmingly.

A more detailed review is available on Survivor Samoa Episode 14.

Episode 13 

Damage Control

CapgrosIn Survivor Samoa Episode 13, two people are voted out. David Ball is voted out first, primarily to appease Shambo. Monica is voted out second, but only after she stirs up a little dissension in the camp. She tells Mick and a couple of others that Russell was planning on taking Natalie and Shambo to the final three, while she tells Russell that Jaison had planned on voting him out once he couldn't use the idol any more, and mentions that she had been told that he was a millionaire. Russell was angry, while Jaison and Mick considered taking action against the snake which is also known as Russell. A longer recap of Survivor Samoa Episode 13 is available..

Episode 12 

Off With Their Heads

Chicken by goody2230

During Survivor Samoa Episode 12, it was auction time! Several of the Survivors purchased food; Jaison purchased an item that would help him during the immunity challenge. Jaison won immunity in part because of his advantage, which made the challenge easier for him. Shambo wanted to vote out Dave because he complained about the way that she was cooking chicken. Russell didn't like that idea because he wanted John out; John discovered that he had the immunity idol. Russell talked to Dave about voting out John, and he went for the idea. Shambo was surprised when John, and not Dave, got the boot. Read a longer review on Survivor Samoa Episode 12.

Episode 10 

The Day of Reckoning

In Survivor Samoa Episode 10, a new immunity idol is placed into circulation, and Russell immediately goes to search for it. What do you know, he actually finds it, and becomes the only person in Survivor history to have three immunity idols. Shambo was still gunning for Laura. With four former Foa Foa tribemates teaming up with one Galu defector, voting against the five united former Galu members, there was a tie. Although they claimed with bravado that they would risk the purple rocks and vote another tie, John switched his vote to break the tie. For more information, see my longer Survivor Samoa recap.

Photo by cempey.

Episode 9 

Tastes Like Chicken

In Survivor Samoa Episode 9, Russell finds a second immunity idol to replace the one he had used in the last episode. He devises a plan with Shambo to vote out Laura, but Laura ended up receiving immunity, so they choose to vote out Kelly. The old Foa Foa members figured that the old Galu members would try to vote out Russell, so he played his immunity idol, and the seven votes against him were nullified. The plan to vote out Kelly worked, and she was voted out with only three votes against her.

Click on the link for a longer recap of Survivor Samoa Episode 9.

Photo by index17

Episode 8 

All Hell Breaks Loose

The tribes merge in Survivor Samoa Episode 8. Russell scrambles to get one of Galu's members voted out. He shows his immunity idol to several members of Galu, and makes promises that he doesn't intend to keep. When he realizes that Shambo doesn't like Laura, and Laura doesn't want to play his game, Russell decides to vote Laura out; his plans are thwarted when Laura wins immunity.

Russell is not sure who is going to get voted out, and ends up using his immunity idol. Erik doesn't play his immunity idol, and ends up getting voted out. For a longer recap, please see my longer summary of Survivor Samoa Episode 8.

Photo by Ale_Paiva.

Episode 7 

Houdini Magic

In Survivor Samoa Episode 7, the sun came out, and Shambo's prospects started to look up as well. In an attempt to get Shambo on their side, she was elected tribal leader. Galu won the reward, and Shambo used her new status to send Laura over to Foa Foa. Russell took this as an opportunity to try to woo her over to his side.

Foa Foa lost the immunity challenge as well. Jaison had given up towards the end of the challenge, but in the end, Liz was voted out, primarily because Russell saw her as a threat. For more information, see my longer recap of Survivor Samoa Episode 7.

Photo by miamiamia.

Episode 6 

This is the Man Test

In Survivor Samoa Episode 6, the rain continued to pour, and Russell S. was working himself to exhaustion. During the reward challenge (both tribes were going to have to vote someone out), Russell S. collapsed. Medical was called in, and he had to be taken out of the game. Jeff ended the reward challenge with no winner. The tribemates went to tribal council, where they found out his fate. Jeff announced that nobody would be voted out that night. Find out more about what happened in Survivor Episode 6.

Photo by Edwin P.

Episode 5 

Walking on Thin Ice

The Survivors get treemail with notice that there would be a food challenge... when told they would be eating something from the sea, David innocently asks "what do you mean, like fish?" Sure. Liz started to put doubts in the Survivors heads about whether Ashley would be up for the challenge.

All of the survivors were able to eat their gross food, except Ashley, so Galu got the barbecue reward. Once again, Shambo was sent to Foa Foa, and didn't get any of the food. Russell S. said that he was punishing her for losing the chicken.

The immunity challenge was a test of strength, and although Liz was able to hang on for quite a while, it was not enough, and Foa Foa lost immunity yet again. None of the Survivors were able to talk privately about who would go out, so Liz's earlier suggestions won out, and Ashley left. Russell H. was able to see what she was doing. Not wanting anybody else to be playing mind games in the tribe, he told her that she was "walking on thin ice." For more information, visit my Survivor Samoa Episode 5 Recap.

Episode 4 

Hungry for a Win

The Survivors receive treemail, announcing that three members from each tribe would compete for the reward. Surprisingly, Jeff wasn't at the reward challenge, so the Survivors have to figure out that they have to throw balls at a flag to see who wins the prize of chickens. Galu wins, and everyone is happy for the food, until Shambo loses one of the birds.

At the immunity challenge, the tribes have to build a very tall tower of blocks. Foa Foa finally wins. Galu is trying to choose between voting out Yasmin, who is lazy at camp but good in challenges, and Monica, who works at camp, but is not as good at challenges. Russell S. wants the tribe to vote for Monica. The leadership thing has gone to his head, as he expects others to vote his way just because he is the leader. In the end, lazy Yasmin is voted out. Read more about Survivor Samoa episode 4 over at Associated Content.

Photo by Red Pill at sxc.hu.

Episode 3 

It's Called a "Russell Seed"

In episode 3, there's no love lost between Ben and Jaison. Jaison is upset about Ben's comment that Yasmin was "ghetto trash". Evidently, Ben has no clue that calling someone that can have racial overtones. And he was wondering in episode 1 why nobody voted him to the leadership position?

Shambo was sent over to Foa Foa, and she gets along with their tribe well. She is friendly, and even complains a little about her "90210 crowd" over at Galu.

Jaison bluffs, threatening to quit if Ben isn't voted out. In the end, evil turns in upon itself, and even Russell H. votes out his partner-in-crime.

Follow the link for more information on episode 3.

Photo by chesnutt.

Episode 2 

Taking Candy from a Baby

In episode 2, Survivor history is made during the reward/immunity challenge. Another snake joins Russell H., and one of the tribe members gets sick.

After the challenge, Yasmin is sent over to Foa Foa, and "sassy Yassy" starts telling them that she's going to help them, because she didn't want their tribe to dominate, because it would be like "taking candy from a baby." That went over well.

In the end, Betsy was voted out, partly because she had said that she didn't trust Russell.

To read more, visit my full recap of Survivor Samoa Episode 2.

Photo by John Hritz.

Episode 1 

The Puppetmaster

The Survivors land on the island and are immediately asked to pick a leader. The leader was then supposed to pick who he thought was the best swimmer, the strongest, the most agile, and the smartest. First impressions mattered.

As the tribemates settled into their respective tribes, Russell Hantz from the Foa Foa tribe started to show his true colors. He is turning out to be the most evil Survivor ever. Johnny Fairplay pales in comparison.

Read more about episode 1.

Photo by watchman at sxc.hu.

Brett Clouser 

Brett is a 23 year old t-shirt designer from Los Angeles. Another recruit? Who knows, but he does enjoy trail running and extreme outdoor activities.  Although he is still kicking around in the final eight, he seems to keep a low profile.

Jaison Robinson 

A 28 year old law student from Chicago, Illinois, Jaison is a former Eagle Scout, enjoys sports, and has even hiked up to the top of the highest waterfall in the world... Angel Falls, in Venezuela. He plans on playing the game with diplomacy. He could do well.

So far, Jaison has proven himself to be a likable and classy guy. I still think that his chances to go far are pretty good, but he seems pretty miserable in the cold weather. He also tends to give up during challenges.

Mick Trimming 

A 33 year old doctor from Los Angeles, he's probably another recruit. One of his biggest pet peeves is when people don't admit they are wrong... he might find a lot of that going on in Survivor. He seems to be in shape, and that might keep him around for a while, but I'm not sure how well he will actually do.

Natalie White 

Natalie is a 26 year old Pharmaceutical sales rep from Van Buren, Arkansas. She's friendly, observant, and ambitious. She has made it to the final eight.  Although she has not been making any waves, there must be something that is keeping her in the game.

Russell Hantz 

Russell H. is a 36 year old oil company owner from Texas. He has a lot of muscle, and plans on playing the game dirty, with cunning. In the first episode, he seems to push the levels of evil to a new level, making Johnny Fairplay seem like J.T. He is the latest Survivor villain. He is doing well, but if others start to see through his plot, he might end up going next.

Shannon "Shambo" Waters 

15th to go, 13th voted out.

Shannon is a 45 year old salesperson from Renton, Washington. She is also the first female Marine Sergeant to compete on Survivor. She lost 70 pounds while preparing for the game, and admits that she might have trouble staying under the radar. Although she didn't get along well with her Galu tribemates, transferring her loyalty to Foa Foa after the merge helped her make it to the final six. In the end, she overestimated her own power and her likability with her tribemates, and was voted out not because she was a threat, but because she performed poorly at challenges and because Russell and Jaison didn't really like her.

Monica Padilla 

14th to go, 12th voted out

Monica is a 25 year old law student from San Diego. She planned to play like Parvati and Amanda. She claims that she can sell ice cubes to an Eskimo. She's likely to be a recruit. For most of the game she played fairly well, although she failed to see Russell's power to overtake Galu. Before getting voted out, Monica stirred up a bit of trouble in the tribe, telling Russell that someone told her how much money he made, and telling others that Russell planned on taking Natalie and Shambo to the finals.

Dave Ball 

13th to go, 11th voted out

Dave is a 38 year old fitness instructor from Los Angeles, but he doesn't look like your typical recruit, but when treemail showed up and it said they were going to eat seafood, he asked "what do you mean, like fish?". He did fairly well, but incurred the wrath of Shambo, who wanted them out.

John Fincher 

12th to go, 10th voted out

A 25 year old rocket scientist from Los Angeles (perhaps a recruit, but at least he's not another bartender), John is a former pro soccer player and plans on being a master strategist. He believes that his good looks and charm will help him (hello, have you seen the other Survivors?), and has lived a privileged life.

John played an intelligent game for most of the time, but he made a mistake when he broke the tie, voting Laura out instead of taking a chance with the purple rocks.  His cowardice was repaid by voting him out the very next episode.

Laura Morett 

11th to go, 9th voted out

A 39 year old office manager from Salem, Oregon, Laura is a grandmother, fitness instructor, and a conservative Christian. She considers herself to be a "fit version of Sarah Palin," and says that she won't compromise her faith to win.

While in the game, Laura and Shambo didn't get along. Shambo broke her alliance with her old tribe Galu in order to team up with Russell to remove Laura from the game. Although Laura was able to get the immunity idol for two weeks in a row while Shambo was gunning for her, in the third week, she was unable to win immunity, and was voted off. It was a very close vote; only the threat of having to draw purple rocks broke the tie.

Kelly Sharbaugh 

10th to go, 8th voted out

A 25 year old hairstylist from Los Angeles, Kelly has all the makings of a recruit. She claims to be a free spirit with an edge. She had an advantage of being on Galu, but she ended up leaving the game after Russell played an immunity idol and had all his votes nullified. She was booted from the tribe with only eight votes against her.

Erik Cardona 

9th to go, 7th voted out

Erik is a 28 year old bartender from Ontario, California (another recruit, perhaps?). He likes to wake up at 10 and run on the beach, and says that he's competitive. But will the elements wear him down?

He did fine, but his social game allowed was slightly lacking. He failed to see that he was about to be blindsided, and was voted out while still holding an immunity idol.

Elizabeth "Liz" Kim 

8th to go, 6th voted out

Elizabeth is a 33 year old attorney from New York. She is opinionated, social, and doesn't intend on telling the other Survivors that she's an attorney. She recently trained for a marathon. She has a couple of Ivy League degrees, which may be why she is able to see through Russel H's game, and implanted doubts about Ashley before the immunity challenge (weather kept people from scheming afterwards). She was probably voted out because Russell H. saw her as a threat.

Russell Swan 

7th to go, medically removed

Russell S. is a 42 year old attorney from Glenside, Pennsylvania. He has been through some rough times in his life, and can't stand stereotyping. He was elected as the tribal leader in the first episode, and was known by everyone as "chief". He performed fairly well, although he did seem to overuse his power at times. He worked hard though, and eventually collapsed from overwork. Medical had to remove him.

Ashley Trainer 

6th to go, 5th voted out

Ashley is a 22 year old spa salesperson from Maple Grove, Minnesota. She is a former competitive cheerleader. She almost got voted out in episode 1. Her downfall was being too trusting, and not being able to down the Samoa Smoothie.

Yasmin Giles 

5th to go, 4th voted out, 1st out from Galu

Another hairstylist from Los Angeles (recruit?), Yasmin is 33 years old. She always speaks her mind, sometimes comes off as a know-it-all, and is always talking. Her nickname is "Sassy Yassy." I'm guessing that she'll be one of the first three voted out.

So far, Galu hasn't had to undergo a vote. The editors haven't really shown how she's getting along with her own tribe, but she did have a confrontation with the members of Foa Foa, especially Ben. She didn't make any friends when she was sent over to their camp in episode 2.

Ben Browning 

4th to go, 3rd voted out

A 28 year old mixologist from Los Angeles (bartender?), Ben Browning claims that he's never been rejected. While bartenders are known for their ability to listen, considering that he's from Los Angeles, he might be another recruited Survivor contestant, and they don't always fare well.

Ben proved himself to be somewhat disagreeable and inconsiderate of other people's feelings, calling Yasmin "ghetto trash" to her face, chopping wood loudly in the middle of the night, and talking about poop in front of his tribemates. He was friendly with Russell H., but even he turned against him. Ben's racism upset Jaison so much that he threatened to quit the game if his team didn't get rid of Ben.

Betsy Bolan 

3rd to go, 2nd voted out

Betsy was voted out 2nd, presumably because she was weaker than Ben. The question remains, was she voted out because she was weak, or was she voted out because she dared to go against Russell Hantz?

Betsy is a 48 year old cop. She just made the force last year, so despite her age, she's probably in shape. She's a former hippie, so she might be a character. The biggest question is, will her age work against her, or will she be able to overcome that and keep up with the younger contestants?

Mike Borassi 

Pulled out 2nd for Medical Reasons

A 62 year old chef from Marina del Rey, he's a big Survivor fan that has seen every single episode. He can't stand republicans (like Laura?), or people that move around his kitchen equipment. He worked out to prepare for his part on the show, but evidently, it was not enough. After the second challenge, he had trouble standing and breathing, and his blood pressure was severely low. Medical pulled him, and he was the second to leave the show.

Marisa Calihan 

Voted out First

Marisa is a 26 year old student from Cincinnati, Ohio. She has experience working in the third world. She dared to speak up against Russell Hantz, who is the self-proclaimed "puppetmaster." As a result, he wanted her out, and got his way.

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Latest Survivor Updates 

Survivor Samoa has finished filming. It looks like one of the new cast members has been spoiled already.

According to this petition that Richard Hatch sent to the United States District Court for Rhode Island, Survivor 20 (the one after Samoa) will also be filmed in Samoa. Richard Hatch requested to be let off of his confinement early in order to be allowed to participate. The response to the petition in United States of America v. Richard Hatch was to object to Hatch's request. Richard Hatch still owes the government money, and they think that if he was allowed to leave the country, he might not pay them back. So it looks like Survivor 20 will be in Samoa, and will have some sort of All-Stars component to it. Coby Archa from Pulau has stated that it would be a "Heroes vs. Villains" season.

Where is Samoa? 

A little bit more about the country

Samoa is a country in the South Pacific. It is located near other previous Survivor locations, like Fiji, the Cook Islands, and Vanuatu.

The Samoan Island chain can be divided into two parts. The western half of Samoa is an independent nation called Samoa. The eastern half is known as American Samoa. The Survivor crew is booked in Samoa, not American Samoa.

Samoa (the nation) has two major islands, and seven smaller islands. Two of these smaller islands are inhabited, so it is likely that Survivor will be filmed on some of the smaller islands in the area.

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Recent blog posts about Survivor Samoa  

'Survivor: Samoa' Episode 13 Recap: Foa Foa Final Four-a ...
Last Week: Brett won immunity, Russell lost his cool, and 'Danger' Dave and Monica received an all-expense paid trip to the jury.
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Survivor Samoa's time is running down on the island of misfit toys. A little seasonal humor for you as we look to the end of Survivor Samoa. Tonight sets the stage for the big finale on Sunday and the question on everybody's mind; ...
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Another quick update for Survivor: Samoa. We're reaching the homestretch! Two-hour finale is on Sunday. First off, Natalie is a prayer warrior during the reward challenge... and then fails. LOL Oh well.
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'Survivor: Samoa' recap: The endgame nears. Things are heading toward a close on Survivor: Samoa, and I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see how it's going to play out. We're down to the Foa Foa four, plus Shambo, ...
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