Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Episode 8 Thoughts

Welcome to the Russell show.

Just in case you were under any illusion as to who the star of this show is, this episode should have waylayed any doubt in your mind. Every episode from here until he's voted out is going to revolve around Russell. Quite honestly, I don't blame the producers in the slightest; they realize they have TV Gold on their hands and they will ride it into the ground. When you throw in how well he has played the game, you get a complete package for CBS and Mark Burnett.

Unfortunately, that means we get very little of the Heroes tribe. This is too bad because the heroes are starting to get interesting. JT finding the Idol and letting everybody know he has it was a bold move that he was forced into once Amanda found him with the idol. But Candice gets the gold star for being the only one to notice that JT is running the show. Will she turn on him? I'm guessing not, as the merge should be coming in next week's episode. It's less likey that she will be able to flip to the Villains tribe, so instead she will stay with what she knows (a theme for this season - knowledge is power.)

One thing that will probably never play out - why did Russell vote for Courtney, while Double D voted for Coach? Is Russell trying to portray hmself as a player of honour (which coincidentally intersects perfectly with his desired gameplay?) Did Russell know that the jury was going to start to be populated with this vote, so he cynically voted for Coach? Is this an elaborate attempt to lay the seeds even further for an all-girl alliance story?

Sadly, I don't think we will get the answer to that question. It will be forgotten at the reunion once Russell refers to himself in the third person for the 35th time.