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Russell Swan pushed himself too hard and had a close call. (CBS Images)

Last night's episode of Survivor: Samoa was probably one of the most dramatic episodes ever. Russell Swan, the leader of Galu, worked through the five days of heavy rain. While everyone on his tribe was taking shelter, Russell was busy keeping the fire alive and working in the cold and wet.

Other teammates expressed their concern about Russell pushing himself too hard – almost an ominous foreshadowing of what was to come. During the challenge, tribe members were blindfolded. A tribe member without a blindfold was put inside a giant sphere and had to guide the rest of the blindfolded tribe mates, who were to navigate the ball through the maze. Russell was one of the blindfolded participants – and during the challenge, he started to warble. Host Jeff Probst didn't pay too much attention to Russell's strange behavior, as he was blindfolded, so his staggering around wasn't unusual. However, he then rested his head on the wooden maze and became unresponsive. Probst called for the medics, who immediately rushed in. Russell tried to say, "I’m good," but Jeff told medical, “he was definitely out."

Russell was laid down on the ground, blindfold off muttering, “I’m good, let’s go, let’s go.” Jeff told Russell to relax, and instructed everyone else to remove their blindfolds. The tribes were told to go back to camp, that no one would win the pizza party prize and that both tribes would be at tribal council voting someone out.

The scariest moment came when Russell tried to sit back up. He said he was a little lightheaded but then his eyes glazed over and he fell back to the ground. This time, his eyes were wide open and he was  completely unresponsive. After he came to, a woman from the medical team said, "I don’t feel comfortable keeping him in with what his heart is doing."

Host Jeff Probst blogged about what cameras didn't catch.

"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."

Probst then wrote, "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.

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."

Probst also said that he thinks Russell was unaware of the gravity of the situation and that when he watches the episode, he'll know that the right call was made. What did you think? Did you think Jeff made the right choice pulling him from the game? With good Russell gone, will "evil" Russell prevail? Get all your reality TV odds in the Bodog Sportsbook now.