Survivor Caramoan - Episode 5 Discussion Thread - NO SPOILERS PLEASE

[dr.strangelove]

OH MY GOSH!!!! Can you say GREATEST EPISODE EVER! Wow, this thing was amazing television. While I normally dislike the Hantz family, I have to thank Brandon for giving me the most entertaining and shocking survivor moment. It was simply awesome.

The episode started with the usual return from Tribal. They are all glad they voted the way they did, but for maybe Sharri. Reynold claims that he feels good he got rid of the Hidden Immunity Idol, yeah right. But otherwise it was as expected.

At Favorites, Brandon misses his family and then volunteers to go home at the next Tribal Council. Then he has second thoughts and decides to play it out for his wife and kids. He seems excited to play hard. He clearly has multiple personality issue.

Great new take on the strongest man RC. Bad choice by the fans to have Eddie sit out holding the rope. He may have tipped the scale. I get Reynold since he is such a good shot, but Eddie should have taken a seat. Matt just did not seem all that strong. Phillip was his crazy old self. While he is clearly batshit crazy, that man is good at challenges. He rocked this one. Brandon was targeted first, which let Phillip save his strength a bit.

so we go back to FanLand and Sherri is still pissed about losing Laura for muscle and the muscle lost again. Not that it had anything to do with her poor basketball skills. The next morning, the search is on for the idol. Reynold trips over a turtle and falls onto the idol, or something like this. The point is that he finds it again, in a fairly easy place to find. But he tells Eddie about the idol, mistake I think.

Then the rain hits. Crazy rain. Torrential rain. The stuff of Noah and the arc. This of course drives everyone crazy, but BRandon a little more than the others. Phillip makes the mistake of telling Andrea that he is thinking of throwing the challenge in order to vote off Brandon. Andrea tells Brandon to calm down because he is annoying people including Phillip. Brandon then goes NUTS. He throws the rice on the floor, making everyone mad. He dumps the beans on the floor. He is absolutely crazy.

The Immunity Challenge looks cool, but we never get to see it because Brandon tells the Fans he is giving them an opportunity. Corrine says they are forfeiting the Immunity Challenge and taking care of their issues. Jeff seeing how bad this can get, pulls Brandon over to him. Brandon threatens to kill Phillip if he talks about his family. Phillip is dismissive, it gets very messy and angry, so an impromptu tribal is held and Brandon leaves.

WOW, this was awesome TV. If you have not seen it, you must watch it. He was at another level of crazy.

[OKNancy]

1. Jeff's shoulder rub on Brandon was creepy

[Demit]

3. Yeah it was a little. I think he was a little nervous.

I myself would've called for the medical team & ask them to bring a straitjacket, but I thought in the end Jeff's constant physical contact probably helped keep Brandon in check.

[lpbk2713]

2. Jeff handled the meltdown well.

And I would say it's a safe bet that no one from the Hantz blood line will ever appear on Survivor again. I can think of no player who has even come close to the nuttiness displayed by the Hantz crew. Maybe now that Brandon and Shamar are gone they can get back to focus on how the game should be played. I get the feeling Secret Agent Philip will be booted real soon. At this point I don't have a good guess who might be among the final three or four.

[OKNancy]

4. who is getting the good edit... that's how you can tell

perhaps when they merge it will be clearer.

[MuseRider]

5. Now THAT was something.

On the one hand I was happy to see him show himself and get booted, even if they had to do it the way they did. On the other hand I have to say, that is one very ill young man. I hope his wife is a strong woman. To think this loose cannon is raising kids. Man oh man.

I have to agree that was awesome TV even if it did mean watching someone fracture. I am betting Brandon is missing from the reunion show.....never mind I forgot, he is a MAN and he is going to make his own destiny (or some such crap like that). He sure made it a point that he is a man over and over. This poor MAN is really sick.

[truebrit71]

6. That was something to behold...

...I have said since the first time he showed up on Survivor that he has serious issues. I am not sure if it is a lack of education (i have no knowledge what that is, but he doesn't carry himself as one with a degree would) or crappy upbringing, but he is not right in the head.

There is a very fine line between something being 'good television' (hey everyone come and watch the lions eat the christians!!) and having some serious legal repurcussions from other players if a Brandon-type person goes off his rocker and starts assaulting his tribemates..i think Brandon was right at that point...

For now, he, and hopefully that entire family is done with Survivor...I know for an absolute certainty that if I ever got picked for that show, and he was on it as well, he would be the first one to go. PERIOD.

*takes off self-righteous hat - replaces it with 'Survivor is my one guilty pleasure and I absolutely love it' hat*

HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME!!! I have NEVER seen anything like that before...This entire season, even though it has a format I don't particularly like (i wish it was 30 noobs rather than half a bunch of re-treads) has been excellent to watch...every episode has had some sort of twist or awesome drama, and the TC's have been incredible to watch..

No idea if this is the break the Fans needed, and not sure how the Favourites re-group, but hey, that's why we watch the show, right??

GAME ON PEOPLE!!

[swimboy]

7. Earnest question here

What does "no spoilers please" mean in this context? I thought it meant you could read this without finding out how it ended. I enjoyed the OP and the thread on this crazy, crazy episode but before I read it I was going to suggest that there be a thread WITH spoilers that people could avoid if they didn't want to learn what happened.

It's a show that would be all but impossible to discuss without including the outcome of events.

Thanks for the episode recaps!

[dr.strangelove]

8. A "spoiler" is something that has not aired yet.

Many TV shows, including Survivor, have information about the show leak after production but before filming.

Survivor's history in the development of spoilers is especially interesting if anyone wants to talk about it.

But for the purposes of discussing television shows, it is releasing information that has not aired. For example, I understand the final 4 and the winner of last season and this season were leaked. I avoided it last season, and have been successful thus far this season. If someone knows who will win, I do not want it discussed in this thread. Heck, if someone knows who will get evicted this coming week, I do not want to know about it. This thread is only for discussing the episode. Obviously it already aired, so if someone does not want to know what happened in an episode, do not click on a thread titled the discussion of the episode. Even the ads aired to promo next week are fair game, but not any other information you may have. Thanks for asking a really good question and I appreciate your thanks for the recaps. I had done them for years and fell out of the practice due to a busy life, but I really enjoy doing them again. I enjoy this show so very much, and this makes me think through a lot of the editing and strategy. I actually take notes all episode while discussing it with my wife.