week 6

Russell has been removed from the game and Sandy is asked to leave the pool immediately.

At Tribal Council, all thirteen remaining castaways are in attendance together for the first time in Survivor history.  Host Jeff Probst breaks the news that Russell has been pulled from the game, bringing Galu down to eight members.  “It was the scariest moment I ever had on this show.  Nineteen seasons, I have never been more afraid in my life at how bad things were.  Russell was in terrible shape,” says Probst.  Members of both Foa Foa and Galu express great compassion for Russell’s tragic exit from the game.  The tribes also vent their frustrations at having to endure the harsh weather that has plagued both camps for the last five days.  “I feel like I’ve been in solitary confinement for a crime I didn’t commit, and that is not anything that is advertised” says Erik.  Jeff Probst then reveals exciting news: nobody will be voted out.  An intertribal feud ensues when Erik threatens to defeat Foa Foa at future challenges, in honor of their fallen leader.  Mick welcomes the challenge, and Jeff Probst carries out the final order of business.  He hands over the leadership necklace to the Galu tribe, who must choose a new leader upon returning to camp.         

Sideline note from Jeff: 

For the record, I have always hated the “win or lose, you must vote someone out” twist, but it’s existence comes from necessity. Let me explain: We would prefer to start the show with only 16 contestants. It’s much easier for the audience to get to know 16 people. But it gives us no wiggle room if someone quits or has to leave the game due to medical emergency.

If we start with 18, that gives us a bit of breathing room in terms of numbers but also gives us an uneven number of men and women on each tribe.

If we start with 20, as we did this year, it gives us plenty of wiggle room for quits or medical evacuation, but because we have 4 extra people we have to get rid of them at some point. Thus the “win or lose, you’re voting somebody out” scenario. I am happy to say that we have since figured out a better way to do double eliminations. So should we ever need to vote out two people in one episode it will not be a “win or lose both tribes going to tribal council” scenario.

Jeff describes the incident with Russell:

For the next 45 minutes we monitored Russell’s vital signs. We gave him water from his canteen. We gave him oxygen. We propped him up and gave him time to try to relax and get calm.

During that time Russell and I talked about a lot of things. He was very worried that he would be pulled from the game. He was worried how he would be portrayed and what his family would think. He did not want to be seen as a quitter.

That’s why I tried to recap everything that had happened up to Russell up to this point – how dominant he had been in the game, his leadership, his physical capability. I was trying to make the point that no matter what happens, he would never been seen as someone who gave less than 100%.

I explained to him that he had already passed out two times, but his recollection at that point was so foggy he didn’t understand. He thought he was fine and was demanding to be put back into the challenge. In fact, I don’t think he even realized that everybody else had already been sent back to camp and the challenge called off.

Even with all of this going on, our doctors assured him that if his vitals came back strong they would allow him to stay in the game.

Nobody wanted Russell to go home.

When Russell passed out for the third time, I got very worried. Then his heart rate dropped 30 beats in less than a second. I was watching the heart rate monitor and when I saw it move from 97 to 68, I was honestly concerned that we were losing him. Forever.

Even writing this brings back the same emotion.

Our doctors were not exaggerating or play acting when they started pounding on Russell’s chest and repeating his name, asking him “Russell, are you with us?” It seemed to go on forever, his eyes not moving, not responding to anything.

I have never been more proud of our medical team than I was in that moment. Heroic. Incredibly calm. Well practiced. They knew exactly what they needed to do and they didn’t waste a moment.

Telling Russell he was being pulled from the game was difficult. I understood that he didn’t want to quit. He was in a great position in the game and there was such a fire in his belly. Many people have been pulled from the game that didn’t want to go, for some reason this one really got to me.

What you didn’t see was that after Russell pulled off his oxygen mask in frustration, he experienced a lot of different emotions, all of them completely understandable. He was extremely frustrated at me, at medical, and at production in general for pulling him from the game. He yelled. Then, he got quiet. Then, he cried. Finally, he prayed. It was extremely emotional and simultaneously beautiful. He was in a very vulnerable state and to be a witness as he processed the situation and made peace with it was an honor.

I’m guessing that Russell had no idea how bad it was until he saw the episode last night. I think he will be surprised at how serious it was and will realize that he is not a quitter and there was no other decision to be made other than to pull him from the game.

Galu				Foa Foa
Brandon	~	John		Brendan	~	Marisa
Cara	~	Brett		Cheryl	~	Elizabeth
Christi	~	Yasmin		Colin	~	Russell H.
Erin	~	Shannon		Dick	~	Jaison
Karen D.	~	Kelly		Eric	~	Ben
Karen R.	~	Dave		Kim	~	Mike
Linda	~	Laura		Lauren	~	Natalie
Pat	~	Erik		Maureen	~	Mick
Sandy	~	Russell S.		Nick	~	Betsy
Tonya	~	Monica		Warren	~	Ashley