Survivor Winner , Survivor Samoa:

Natalie White is Survivor Samoa winner 2009! This season was practically narrated by one man, and the story he told was that of a true winner—only he didn’t make it.


Once again, a contestant who played a safe, passive game has come out on top. The unpredictable nature of Survivor has once again reared its head. A game that many people felt Russell had wrapped up suddenly went in Natalie’s favor.

I’m just proud I made it through a season of looking at Shambo’s greasy, out-of-control power-mullet.

Sigh. It was clear all along whom the better player was, but of course they had to face a jury of their peers, one that was made up of a group of people they slighted to get there. It all came down to one question: ‘Will the jury operate under logic or emotion?’

It sounds like they went with emotion, because a player who really didn’t achieve many victories throughout the game went home with all of the glory. Granted, I do think Natalie White does deserve the title ‘Survivor Samoa winner 2009’ in many ways. I’ll never forget how she rattled Russell a few weeks ago—like no one else in the game had.

It’s ironic, of course, that Russell chose to drag Natalie along with him, even admitting that he was doing it because she would be easy to defeat in the end. It appears that concept came back to burn him when he, Natalie, and Mick faced the jury.

Many of the members of the jury felt the need to grand stand rather than actually ask meaningful questions. Particulary Shambo, whose bizarre rant could be described as ‘nutty,’ and Eric, whose bitterness bit harder than a mouthful of nutmeg.

What I think really steered things in Natalie’s direction, though, was the jury’s distaste of Russell’s tactics, and their lack of sympathy for a man who openly boasted of being a millionaire.