10 Thoughts On… Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs Favorites 2 – Episode 5 Review

10 Thoughts, Features, Reviews, Top Story

1. I am still determining how I feel about Brandon Hantz’s meltdown. Sure, the comparisons and similarities to Willie Hantz letting loose before being expelled out of the Big Brother house will be made many times and by many people, but I do believe that the two situations exist outside of each other. The key difference is that when Willie headbutted Joe, he knew that it was only a matter of time before the other houseguests would evict him. I do not feel like Brandon’s position was nearly as precarious. While he was definitely on the outside of Phillip’s ‘Stealth R Us’ alliance, he had passed his danger point in the game and the twist was likely (in fact, it is scheduled for this week) so if he wanted to flip to the Fans, he easily could have. It was clearly a ploy and cry for attention. The only part about it that I didn’t like was that he told the fans to vote out the favorites which was completely unnecessary and came off as juvenile and petty. There is a marked difference between the chaos that Russell creates and the ones that the other Hantz’s attempt to emulate and that is that when Russell does something off the beaten patch, there is always a method behind the madness and a reason for why he is doing what he is doing. In Brandon’s case, there was none.

2. I am hopeful that tonight’s episode marks the real start of the season. After the season premiere, the boredom has been almost unbearable since both majority alliances were so clear. I will be interested to see how strategies change. Will Corinne realize her opportunity to take some of her bigger favorite threats out is now? Will Andrea cozy up to Reynold or Eddie? Will Brenda finally turn into the dominant force that we are all waiting to see? I will say that tonight’s episode finally has a little intrigue behind it. Something has been severely lacking this season.

3. Malcolm got a lot of face time last season and it’s interesting to see how he is just being kept in the background this season. His portrayal actually makes for a fascinating case study. Are we not seeing him because he is on the periphery of the decision-makers this time around, or is he being hidden because he does well? I am interested to see how he gets along with his fellow Idol boy, Reynold.

4. I completely disagree with Brandon when he said that the tribe hated their nicknames. I think they love them.

5. One of the Sprint questions should be who was more invisible in the episode, Erik or Julie?

6. I think the person that is hurt the most by being on a Fans vs. Favorites season is Reynold. I think on a normal season, he would have been the standout star, and instead, he has just been riddled with a bad tribe. It’s very similar to Vanuatu where we didn’t get to see what Brady and Brook could really do because the older guys snuffed them out quickly.

7. Can we please get rid of the hidden immunity idols? I honestly hate them. Anyone else? Actually, now that I think about it… maybe in a reinvention of the game, even the audience wouldn’t be told who has one. Then when they blindside their tribesmates by playing it, the audience will be just as shocked. Hmm…

8. What was up with that shoulder rub that Jeff gave to Brandon?

9. It’s getting harder and harder to write this column each week, because this season doesn’t really offer much in terms of analysis. I am hoping that will change tonight, starting with the twist.

10. Will Sherri stay loyal to the fans or jump to the favorites? What she decides might very well determine whether she is a Cirie-like virtuoso in the game, or an afterthought. I am actually quite interested to see what she decides to do especially since most of her confessionals have been centered around loyalty over strength. One thing’s for sure though. She’s DEFINITELY Dawn’s new BFF.

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.