By Dan Roeder
Round Table reporter
On last week’s “Survivor: Redemption Island,” history was made when Russell Hantz, who had previously attended final Tribal Council for two seasons within a three year period, was voted out of his tribe.
In “Survivor,” contestants are brought to an exotic, un-civilized location and are divided into two teams. They are given a fixed quantity of food, minimal supplies and are forced to live in the wilderness. The two teams face each other in challenges, and the losing team is forced to attend Tribal Council, where they vote out one of their players.
Eventually, the two teams merge into one. Once there, players battle each other in challenges to earn “immunity” from being voted out at tribal council. After each challenge, players vote for the contestant they think should be eliminated from the game. At the end, the formerly eliminated contestants vote for which of the final three “survivors” they think deserves the one million dollar prize.
In this season, the players who get voted off their tribe are sent to live on Redemption Island as opposed to being immediately eliminated. They must duel other eliminated contestants in order to remain in the game, and at some point in the game, the contestant on Redemption Island will be able to re-enter the game.
Although it’s unusual for contestants to play multiple seasons, Hantz gained notoriety through competing in “Survivor: Samoa” and then was subsequently brought back for season 20, “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.” In both seasons, he earned a place as one of three finalists for the final prize of one million dollars, but did not earn the majority of the final vote. He did, however, win the Sprint “Player of the Game” award.
Russell’s strategy has been defined by his ability to find hidden immunity idols without the help of clues, orchestrate elaborate blindsides and forge strong alliances with attractive, young female contestants. Since the advent of Russell, the strategy of players within the game has become more and more radical and devious.
In “Redemption Island,” Hantz was brought back for the third time to compete with fellow veteran player Rob Mariano and 16 new contestants for the one million dollars. On the March 2 episode, Russell’s team grew tired of his lack of progress around camp and decided to purposely lose a challenge in order to get the opportunity to vote him out.
Russell was allied with contestants Stephanie and Krista against the other six members of their tribe. The other six decided to divide their votes between Russell and Stephanie to ensure that one of them would be eliminated. Although Russell and Stephanie tried to convince another contestant, Julie, to help them vote for someone else, their plan ultimately failed, and Russell was sent to Redemption Island.
Though it is yet to be seen whether Russell will be permanently eliminated, voting Russell Hantz out of Survivor is no small matter.
