Manics said:Speaking now without spoilers, I have to say that Russell continues to have a huge advantage over everyone in the game. The remaining villains know he's running the show, but the heroes have no clue and stupidly gave away their idol. Had they actually SEEN his season before they filmed this one, they would have known his character and known that he's not a pawn that gets pushed around. JT would have never given him the idol had he seen Russell's season before entering this show.
I'm not so sure. JT would still think there is a girl alliance on the villains and he doesn't trust most of the females in his own tribe, so he probably could have sent out an olive branch to Russell regardless.
You have to remember that the paranoia is rampant in the Heroes tribe about the merge where all the past cast members are going to form an alliance. JT's been tainted by that thinking and sees himself already on "the outside".
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What would have been different was the early game of the Villains. There is no way Russell would have made it past the first few rounds. He would have been targeted right away early on and not survived.