Last week, Tom Westman managed to escape elimination on 'Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains' by playing the hidden immunity idol he'd found, but last night, the FDNY lieutenant (and real-life hero) had his fire extinguished once and for all.

Not that the ouster came as any great shock. He'd even predicted as much when Jeff Probst asked who was going home. "It's me tonight unless a couple of good people vote for the team," he said, "and for our strength and for our unity and not for the numbers."

Bingo.

We'll soon know whether Russell Hantz's ruthless game play will make him the winner of 'Survivor: Samoa.' If he doesn't win, he certainly deserved to -- no one's played the game better this season.

Some fans are already anointing Russell as the best 'Survivor' contestant ever ... but win or lose, some of us aren't ready to go that far. How does he stack up against previous players, all of whom could give Russell and his hidden idol-finding ways a run for the million? Hopefully, some will actually do so when the series returns for a 20th edition all-star season this spring.