There are no words to describe last night’s episode of
Survivor. Out of all the years of Survivor, I don't think there has ever been a
contestant who completely broke down in such a way that Brandon Hantz did. I
really hate to say it, but from the clips I saw, I honestly believed that
Brandon had some very serious psychological issues during his second time on
the show. Of course, I realize that the clips shown on Survivor are edited in
order to cast a contestant in a certain light. And since I was not on location
with Brandon, I do not have the full details and knowledge of his actions.
However, I have a feeling that he suffered a full meltdown on the show.
Whether it was because of the elements, lack of sleep or food, frustrations
with the other contestants (mainly Phillip), mental instability, or a
combination of all five, I cannot say why Brandon behaved in this manner. I
personally would not be able to handle a personality like Phillip, so I can
understand Brandon's frustrations with this man. However, the way in which he
conducted himself, especially in regards to the other contestants, was inexcusable.
I would have physically knocked him to the ground when he tried to destroy the
limited supply of food. This behavior makes me wonder if there needs to be more
efficient psychological background checks when picking contestants for the
show. I almost feel sorry for Brandon, because his meltdown will now be
displayed in front of millions of people. I feel that he should not have been
allowed on the show in the first place. I really hope that after he was voted
off the show, he was given some form of help. I do have to say that I was very
impressed with how the host of Survivor Jeff Probst handled Brandon. Without aggressively
pulling Brandon out of the show, he de-escalated his behavior by talking with
Brandon and even giving him a massage to try to calm him down. Probst showed
that he was a host that could handle a very unexpected and potentially violent
situation. I really hate to say such negative things about an individual, but I
really was blown away by Brandon's actions and I sincerely hope he can get some
type of help. Or, if the show somehow misrepresented him, that he can find a
way to speak the truth about his situation.
What did he do?
ReplyDeleteAfter having a verbal argument with Phillip, Brandon stormed into camp, picked up the pots containing the rice and beans and dumped them onto the ground saying "Phil here’s a reason to vote me out". He then knocked down some of the chairs. At an immunity challenge, Brandon started ranting to the other tribe, talking about how they needed to take Phillip out of the game. When his own tribe volunteered to go to tribal council instead of compete in the challenge, Brandon went into a full blown rant about Phillip. There was even an instant when Brandon was about to walk over and attack Phillip after he mentioned Brandon's kids. If Probst had not physically held him back, I truly think Brandon would have punched Phillip. If you want to see the whole meltdown this video shows the entire incident.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LBbSU5r5gA