Survivor: Caramoan - Episode 5 - Recap Video and Review - Persona Non Grata
Recap Video and Review of Survivor: Caramoan - Episode 5 - Persona Non Grata:
Has there ever been a more disturbing contestant on this show than Brandon Hantz? I mean that as a relatively serious question, because while the promos for this week's episode prepared us for a meltdown, I don't think they prepared us for the full-scale nuclear event that transpired in "Persona Non Grata," the most explosive episode of Survivor: Caramoan's brief season so far. From his first season, in Survivor: South Pacific, it was evident that the guy didn't really have it all together, from his warped sexual politics to his increasingly child-like dependence on his alliance to validate him as a human being. Granted, it's not like other past players, such as Shane Powers and even Phillip Sheppard, didn't display their own brand of unhinged psychology. But I don't think any past player crossed the line into being actively dangerous the way Brandon Hantz has, and tonight's episode showed just how necessary his ouster was, to say nothing of how absolutely necessary it is to never cast someone of such suspect psychological composure again.
Credit: CBS
The big dust-up started after the fans won a reward challenge, winning steaks, veggies and other amenities for a big barbecue back at camp. While grilling, Brandon gets tired of listening to Phillip take credit for winning the challenge, which involved suspending baskets in the air via rope while members of the opposing tribe sink coconuts into the baskets in an attempt to add weight until the person holding the rope can't keep the basket suspended any longer. Phillip was able to hold out until the Favorites were able to secure the win, proving to be the only rope-holder in either tribe to be able to do so. So, in a realistic sense, one might see where Phillip could get the idea that he was the one who won the challenge for the tribe. Yet one could also see where Brandon is coming from, as it very much was a group effort. Brandon had been one of the rope-holders, and he held out until he looked about ready to bust a vein -- that's a contribution that shouldn't be minimized. When Phillip gives Brenda a hard time about asking him to expend valuable energy reinforcing the shelter against the rain, Brandon sticks up for her by saying, in a relatively calm voice, "She was only making a suggestion." Phillip gets annoyed, and has a disagreement with Brandon, but it doesn't escalate. The next day, Brandon even apologizes to Phillip, who assures Brandon that he's still a part of the alliance. However, Phillip spends the entire time talking down to Brandon, telling him not to bite the hand that's feeding him. This eats away at Brandon, and the scab becomes an open wound once Andrea relays to Brandon that, despite having shook hands, Phillip is still planning on voting him out. Worse, he's considering throwing a challenge just to do so.
Credit: CBS
Brandon confronts Phillip, and they get into a huge argument in which Brandon, surprisingly, makes several very valid points. Phillip did get carried by Boston Rob. He was pretty much a joke in his season. And it's true that his tribemates this season don't really like him at all, at worst; at best, they're only just barely putting up with him. Most incisively of all, he's right in how the whole "Stealth R Us" business actually is pretty childish, and borderline demeaning. It's also true that Phillip was the one pretending to be cool, only to then go off and sulk on his own, working himself up until Brandon's relatively simple admonition became, instead, an AFFRONT to his manhood and authority that he simply couldn't abide. But all of those interesting points fall by the wayside, not simply because of Brandon's attitude, but because most of those same points could be applied to Brandon himself. Brandon was carried by Coach every bit as much as Phillip was carried by Boston Rob, and he was no less a joke in Survivor: South Pacific than Phillip was in Survivor: Redemption Island. Worse still, his attitude was as childish and demeaning as Phillip's. This then begs the question of why CBS would cast these two in the same season, much less put them in the same tribe.
Credit: CBS
The argument builds to the point where Brandon finally has a complete meltdown, charging into camp and dumping out all of the rice, along with the veggies and other goods they won at the reward challenge, as his tribemates try desperately to stop him, and Andrea breaks into tears. He shouts out to Phillip on the beach, solemnly walking away from the scene of the crime, roaring on about being "the author of my own fate!" Punctuating it with a "Vote me out now, bitch!" It's staggeringly uncomfortable, but not nearly as uncomfortable as it would become. The tribe decides they're going to forfeit immunity so they can vote off Brandon. At the challenge, Corinne announces the tribe's intention to forfeit, and Brandon decides he's had enough. He pleads with the fans to not allow Phillip to get to the end, and adds that he'll be rooting for them since he's an underdog just like they are. He then joins Probst on the opposite end, facing the tribes, as both Brandon and the Favorites discuss their grievances. What follows is one of the more unsettling moments in the history of the show, as Brandon gets visibly worked up, shouting at Phillip about how he doesn't get to choose what happens to him in this game, and that he's just an old man who can't hack it.
Credit: CBS
Phillip counters by talking about how disrespectful Brandon is to his elders, and that he probably spoke this way to Russell, who took him in briefly, or to the aunt who is currently watching his children. At the mention of his kids, Brandon flies off the handle, threatening to kick Phillip's ass right then and there, while Probst must restrain Brandon, and attempt to calm him down by rubbing his shoulders. (Earlier in the episode, Brandon had considered quitting to be with his family, but decided to stay -- presumably because winning the game would do more for them than his presence would.) Throughout all of this, Reynold has a look on his face like a kid in a candy store. Probst has seen enough and calls for an immediate tribal council, right there on the spot. Each member of the Favorites tribe votes for Brandon, with Dawn and Andrea being particularly distraught, as they'd grown somewhat close with Brandon. Brandon casts his vote for Phillip, but it's no use. Brandon is taken out of the game, and he seems absolutely cool with it. He exits past the set of the uncontested immunity challenge, and shouts out one last insult to Phillip as he leaves, calling him a "bitch." And that's that.
Credit: CBS
It really has to be seen to be believed (the impromptu tribal council is among the videos embedded below). In fact, this entire episode needs to be seen to be believed. Brandon's meltdown anchors the episode, for better or worse, but there's plenty of other drama to keep things moving before that happens. Sherri is miffed at having to lose two key alliance members back-to-back in Shamar and Laura. The latter elimination is particularly troubling to her, as Laura reminded Sherri of her own daughter. She never wanted to vote Laura out, but had no choice because she was outnumbered, and the men in the alliance were big on pushing the need to keep the tribe strong. Of course, when the reward challenge rolled around, this didn't actually pay off, since they still lost. The Fan tribe's poor challenge performances and the gradual disintegration of the majority alliance leaves everyone feeling paranoid. It's an all-out scramble in the woods to find the reburied hidden immunity idol, with Sherri feeling more vulnerable than ever. There are a few teases in the editing that suggest she's about to be the one to find it, but in a somewhat surprising turnaround, it's Reynold who finds the idol, for the second time in a row. I'm completely over the ease with which people find idols on this show, but at least it's throwing a bit of a rogue element into the proceedings. And Reynold is kind of growing on me. But seriously, have we ever gotten a "Hunt for the Idol" segment on this show without someone finding it before the two-minute segment is over?
"Persona Non Grata" is one of the most explosive episodes in Survivor history, and it's easy to see why. With Brandon Hantz's near-catastrophic meltdown, there really needs to be some changes made in the CBS casting department. Because if he passed all his psych exams before coming out, then there has to be some sort of flaw within that system, because that entire mess could have easily turned violent. I'm just glad it didn't, and that the integrity of the game was relatively preserved. But I don't think I need to see anything that crazy/scary in the game again.
