'Survivor': Is Russell Hantz already worse than Johnny Fairplay?

As "Survivor" entered its astounding 19th season on the island of Samoa last week, the show's marketing campaign centered around a 5-foot tall, potbellied dude named Russell Hantz, who is being billed as the most evil villain in the series' history.

Far be it from me to trust the advertising push. Let's not forget Coach, the wacky but overly hyped villain from last season in Tocantins who never quite lived up to his full potential, serving more as dumb fodder than true TV entertainment.

But then Russell H. -- whose gelatinous belly hangs over his already-worn-through boxer-briefs -- told his fellow Foa Foa tribe members one of the biggest whoppers in "Survivor" history during their first week at camp. As the group was falling asleep, Russell H. spun a sob story about trying to save his dog Rocky from the muddy waters of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, where he served as a heroic firefighter. His real career? He makes millions as the owner of an oil company in Dayton, Texas, where he's a married father of four and without the aforementioned adorable German shepherd.

And on last night's episode, Russell H. proved he's capable of playing more than mind games. He was the first player to take the initiative to find the hidden immunity idol without being given a clue to its location first. (Why the producers chose such an unoriginal location, however -- inside the only tree with a gaping hole? really? -- was beyond me.) Now that Russell H. has secured the idol and an alliance with hunky law student Jaison Robinson, he seems like a shoo-in to make it past the merge. How well he'd fare against a jury of former tribe members who may come to realize his true colors, though, remains to be seen.

The majority of reality shows that open with large contestant pools are typically slow as you await the weeks when the cast members have actually begun to connect with one another. Not so "Survivor." There's something about being thrown into such a foreign world -- instantly building shelter, cooking food and competing together -- that ratchets everything up a couple of notches.

The environment already seems to be getting to the volatile Ben Browning, a scruffy bar manager and former country boy raised in rural Missouri. At the immunity challenge, Jeff Probst -- hot off his Sunday Emmy win for best reality show host -- told the tribes to jump in a messy pit, where they'd try to wrestle a ball from one another and score baskets. With coveted fishing gear up for grabs, things immediately got ugly.

"Watch the choking," cautioned Probst as the contestants head-butted, choked and slapped one another. But Ben didn't heed the warning, taking things too far and booting the dreadlocked Russell Swan in the leg. He was kicked out of the game, leading the Galu tribe to its second immunity challenge win. In a new twist, Probst told Galu leader Russell S. he could select a member of his tribe to send back to Foa Foa's camp, where they would be able to observe the inner workings of their rivals. Yasmin Giles, a hairdresser from Detroit, was the chosen one.

Turns out Ben had hurt someone else besides Russell S. during the challenge.

"You tackled me like a dude!" Yasmin screamed at him. 

Ben, who is clearly not able to remain calm when confronted, retorted by calling Yasmin "grammar school." Still not sure exactly what that one means, though I assume he was trying to imply she had poor grammar. Good one...?

Oh, and the insults didn't stop there. In fact, they became racist. Ben told Yasmin, whom he deemed "ghetto trash," that she should go back to eating "ketchup sandwiches and drinking Kool Aid." She was a piece of work, he said, one with a big mouth who smells bad and has really poor grammar.

"She's pretty close to being a hooker," he surmised, shrugging.

Oy, this guy is a real class act.

Despite the obnoxious comments and the fact that he decided to take a machete to a pile of wood in the middle of the night, Ben somehow avoided being voted off this week as Foa Foa instead sent one of the older contestants, police officer Betsy Bolan, packing.

It wasn't a good week for the older players. Mike Borassi, a 62-year-old private chef, nearly suffered a heart attack after being run into at full speed by some of his younger counterparts during the challenge. With his blood pressure low -- and the impeccable-looking doctor Mick Trimming standing by -- Mike was sent home early. Kinda sad? Eh, let's weed out the weak ones now.

I mean, health problems already? But there's still plenty of rice, beans and lizard to go around! I can't wait until the ribs start showing and the teeth really come out.

-- Amy Kaufman

Photo: Jaison Robinson, Natalie White and Russel Hantz in the second episode of "Survivor: Samoa." Credit: CBS

Comments

[Ed]

This is why I have stopped watching "Survivor". The show purposely puts on "characters" instead of real people, with many people lying before the game starts simply so they can be the worst villain on television, let alone the show. If Russell H. does manage to win, I would expect and hope to see letters and emails to the show and the network with outrage over them allowing someone to lie and basically belittle the suffering from Hurricane Katrina as well as the bravery and heroism of firefighters everywhere. There is no reason for Russell H. to do these things other than get himself more screen time. What is worse is that CBS not only gives him the access but actively promotes it.

[Tudaan]

Russell is an awesome character. He is a survivor GOD. He got the idol with no clues. He manipulates people. He is a helluva competitior. Go Russell!

[bikerval]

Yasmin IS a piece of work. She waltzed into the other tribe's camp and immediately, loudly, and repeatedly insulted them. She looked like an actress doing an impersonation of a stereotypically self-centered, pushy, opinionated, loud-mouthed, aggressive, in-your-face ghetto diva. Race has nothing to do with it. She was overtly rude.

On the other hand, implying that her less than stellar grammer is a part of her rude trashy behavior is not logical. Grammer has absolutely nothing to do with manners. There are plenty of intelligent, soft-spoken, polite folks who use poor grammer.

[MLA17]

Russel H. is definitely playing the Survivor game as it should be played. He's using smart strategy but I'm sure when people find out his true colors, things will change. I'm curious to see next week's episode to see if hottie Jaison, can get other Foa Foa members to side with him.

Ben is a such jerk and I was really hoping he would be voted out but I understand the reasoning to remove the weakest links first.

[SRCH4ME]

Russell, the scoundrel and human equivalent of "Golem" from the Lord of the Rings - friendly, scary smile on the outside and creepy hard center, doesn't bother me too much - he's playing the game in a way no one else has. He’s lowered the bar of acceptable behavior but then so has Survivor with this continuing emphasis on “Lord of the Fly” - anything goes challenges. It's downright not nice but he's out witting and out playing for sure. I really expected Russell to "accidently" drop a team mate during the first week's challenge on the A Frame. Since he didn't and he didn't do a "Ben" (he only smiled at the remarks) I hope we don’t see that next. And he orchestrated the votes against those that were on to him (BTW - Proud of you Betsy and I'll bet your colleagues are too!)

It's Ben that bothers me - racism is like pornography, you can't always describe it, but you know it when you see it. He was disgusting – if his tribe mates heard what he said and didn’t vote him off - shame on them. He’s not going to do them any good in the long run anyway. He is unable to feel remorse and he’ll turn on them too. Before he really goes off the deep end I’d advise his tribe to “Hide the machete - NOW!”

[Vic]

The show puts on "characters" instead of real people? Um... what show doesn't do that? Let's get real, they put shows on the air so that people will tune in and bring ad dollars to the network's coffers. "Characters" will get the job done better than "Bill" sitting next to you in your cube. Are you telling me Richard Hatch in Survivor 1 wasn't a character?

Survivor is not without it's flaws: they keep casting folks who are almost guaranteed to have to abandon the game early on (is that 3 or 4 seasons in a row now?). But I applaud Mark Burnett for being able to innovate every season with twists, new challenges, and yes, new "characters" that have kept the show popular for 19 seasons.

[BG]

Russell seems to be the first contestant to have really studied the other 19 seasons, drawn up a game plan and then taken the initiative from the 1st minute. Past players have shown dexterity at repeating well worn strategies of social bonding, or superb skill at using what tools the game gave them.

Russell is different; he is aggressively ripping through the game as if he has all the cheat codes. He is also boorish, paranoid, and destructive to everyone around him. The game is called "Survivor" and not "Savior", and the motto is Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. He could wind up doing well.

Compare that to Yasmin, who seems surprised that she is being asked to rough it in the jungle! Has she ever seen the show?! Me thinks she should have tried camping out a night or two before signing up for a month of survivor! I prefer Russell boorish behavior to Yasmin's clueless nonsense.

[Andy Bales]

It appears that Survivor is more scripted than ever, and that the show will keep Russell on for ratings. I am not sure why Jeff Probst received an Emmy? Was it for interfering and influencing the results more and more with what he shares at Tribal Council? I am almost ready to stop watching Survivor, one of my favorites on Thursday evening.

[Michael]

I have been a fan of survivor for a while, but I must agree with some comments here regarding how "real" it is - especially this season. I await Amazing Race - my favorite reality show which does seem real to me at least. I am playing the survivor game on this site this year: http://www.guesswhowins.com/Survivor In 4th place so far.

[Dr Dre]

I see russell almost like the Joker in batman, he doesn't care about winning he just wants to see the world burn.

[J]

I would like to know where Russell is from? Not his hometown now which is Dayton ,
Texas, His roots. We can hear the Louisiana accient in his voice. My not be New Orleans, but I would be it is maybe sotuhwest Louisiana?Love him. He will keep some action in the show.

[momlcpa]

Jaison may live in Chicago now, but he grew up in Long Beach, CA and went to Wilson High School. A definite hunk, but not much warmth in that person. Don't be surprised that he voted with Russell and even Ben, if he thought it would further his chances. He loves to win.

[Anth]

Fairplay was fun to watch. Russell is just irritating and gets way too much airtime.

[Jade]

He's definitely from Louisiana, I'm from Lafayette, and you can hear the Cajun in his voice. That's not a Texas accent, and it's not a New Orleans accent.

I've read some posts about his misdeeds in Lafayette, I bet he's from that area.

[seriously?]

please you guys are so funny. you say you will not watch as if that will make cbs to end survivor or for the ratings to go down. it is still the number one show. russell is playing the game the way it was meant to be played. remember the guy that said that his grandmother had died just to get pity. that is survivor. the show is not about a popularity contest or who will be miss congeniality if you want that watch the miss america contest, little house on the prairie, seventh heaven, bugs bunny, sponge bob. you guys should stop compaining and behaving immature. i live in nj and we love him. i haven't watched survivor in years but thanks to him my faith is renewed. would you play monopoly with the rules of scrabble. NO!! survivor (see the name?) is being played well by russell. if you have a problem with that talk to the creator to change the game that he created to a softer version and call it "nice people are the best show".

[Devon]

Russell Hantz can only be described through one word: AMAZING! He is the most brilliant person I have ever seen on Survivor. I would definitely buy his book "How to Win Survivor". Bravo Russell, keep up the good work. (And you can not compare Russell to Fairplay because Fairplay was just a skinny little cockroach. Russell has street smarts and he plays the game like it should be played. He is the only person I can think of who doesn't complain about all the backstabbing. THAT is what the game is all about.)

[Russell Fan]

Russell is a HUGE role model for my 11 year old daughter. She was entirely engrossed this season. I am an avid Survivor fan, but my kids hem and haw and complain incessantly when I'm trying to watch the show every season. The reason Russell caught my daughter's attention - he is totally someone she can relate to! There are NO role models like this in the "Hollywood World." Russell is a REAL person with wit and smarts, some devious tendencies all in the name of an end result. This is a SHOW - a GAME - with MONEY at stake - he played true, focused, and REAL! This is what my daughter can relate to - the outright HONESTY of his human nature. Finally, someone that is capable, smart, intuitive, and actually playing the symbolic game of life. Honestly, I am not as bright as my daughter, so I cannot articulate as well as she can what it meant for Russell to emerge on the television screen to her - amidst all the pop regalia - for a child who is very bright, real, caring, passionate, following her heart and her mind in a world with a predetermined, easily influenced "americanized" view imposed on her non-conforming self, Russell was a breath of fresh air. I am speaking for her, but these are things she has related to me herself. Thank you, Russell, for putting yourself out there for all the World to see and for giving my 11 year old daughter HOPE and INSPIRATION to continue being her brilliant, independent self!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3
P.S. My daughter plays the tuba in her 6th grade band, volunteers with special needs children, has a 19 year old very out and open gay brother that she loves and supports implicitly, and has been through the ups and downs of a very treacherous 8 year long custody dispute with a father who ultimately landed in a mental institution after a public breakdown. I'm not talking about a typical child - I'm talking about a child who has had to be creative in survival in very closed-minded communities who has come out with pride and triumph never losing sight of her individuality. Russell is something of a hero to her - I can't express enough how important it was to see someone like that - I hope my statement here gives some decently expressed insight into what others may not be able to state - as to the virtual heroism of RUSSELL HANTZ
PPS - WE - (my daughter and myself) completely and totally disrespect what Eric had to say at the finale! What a dork who clearly illustrated his lack of intelligence and his inability to relate to the game with respect to reality! Russell - a striving, self-made millionaire and family man vs. the bartender. BAH! There is no contest. Eric's argument would appeal to superficiality and the very same minds that were so easily manipulated by Russell throughout the entirety of the game where not a single person questioned him (without getting voted off, of course - haha) and showed very clearly an inability to think for themselves. Thus, Natalie, of course was the winner. Russell was right - he underestimated the ability of everyone else to realize - and respect - the reality of "the game."
I wish, wish, wish, I could somehow personally thank Russell for the cool and awesome moments I got to share with my daughter this season as she struggled to make a choice in band that effectively put a target on her back, the discussions that were inspired by his winsome approach to "the game" that created symbolism for real life that enabled my daughter to latch onto some insight that inspired her to hold her ground. I really hope Russell Hantz gets to see this message and many others like it and that he will see - he didn't win a million dollars, but he accomplished something during his display on this televised game that is undeniably worth so much more!!!!!!!!!! XO, RUSSELL! (From, the mom of an 11 year old brilliant and defiant non-conformist!)

[wejomerv]

You really think Russell is a role model for your 11 year old daughter? Why? Because of the sexist things he said on his confessionals that served no strategic purpose? Or because he was super proud to say he was a Katrina victim? Or because he said he values honor and integrity and then tried to buy the Sole Survivor title on national television and didn't see anything wrong with doing that? Or was it because he was an abrasive egomaniac that couldn't stop talking about how great he is and couldn't ever see that he would need jury votes at the end?