“Survivor” isn’t pulling the ratings it once was. But what show is in their 26th season? As a fan for all 26 of those rice eating, torch-snuffing installments, I know that the seasons fluctuate in entertainment value. The latest, “Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites” falls on the plus side for me so far. But it’s clear from the generally negative commenters on the show’s facebook and other sites, that some people aren’t digging the tribe of misfits billed as favorites.
Well last night we had a season defining moment when Brandon Hantz got so worked up he dumped out his tribe’s rice and beans while launching a verbal assault aimed at fellow crazy person, Phillip Sheppard. Basically he was annoyed that Phillip considered himself the leader and wanted everyone to fall in line. But that’s part of “Survivor.” Let the delusional people think what they want. But Brandon couldn’t take it. It was a very real moment to see how the tribe interacted as the two loudest competed to be the most annoying player of the season. Well maybe second after epically useless Shamar who went home last week.
But as this whole episode played out, I couldn’t help but realize that I was on Brandon’s side. The guy clearly has some kind of personality disorder. But he had a point about Phillip treating the others like children. So when the tribes showed up for what looked like an exciting immunity challenge, good ol’ Jeff Probst had to go prying and ask why the favorites looked so miserable. What followed was more shouting and Probst calming Brandon by very creepily rubbing his shoulders for five awkward minutes. Without further ado, the favorites voted Brandon out in an impromptu tribal council after forfeiting the challenge.
History tells us that the following weeks don’t go well when a team forfeits immunity. That would make sense since the show has been heavily pushing how badly the fans are getting beaten week after week. But beyond that, I think the excitement level has definitely spiked. Brandon called out Phillip for both tribes to hear in addition to exposing those who had been working on team Hantz (Dawn, Andrea, Erik). That could mean nothing or everything depending on how the favorites recover next week. I’ll leave you with some glaring questions. Will Phillip change his approach after being embarrassed? Can the fans recover enough to survive until the merge? Most importantly, why was Jeff massaging Brandon for so long?
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