# Survivor 3/13/13 Persona non Grata **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2013, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817 "2013-03-13T14:08:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/41 "2013-03-14T23:03:01Z")
Yeah, I was wondering about Brenda’s limp as well. > [@randwill](#): > > On another subject, does anyone know if there are specific rules about the Hidden Immunity Idol? This time it was hidden again immediately after it was used but other times, in the past, it seems like once it was used, we never heard anything about it again. No, in the past, every time it was played it was put back in the game immediately. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/42 "2013-03-14T23:05:52Z")
At this point I might actually start watching the show again, rather than just fast-forwarding to the challenges. My hatred for all things Hantz kept me from giving a shit so far this season. The whole family could be eaten by rabid wolverines and I think I would actually cheer a little. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/43 "2013-03-14T23:10:39Z")
Man, the crazy was on full display in his preseason [interview with Dalton Ross](http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/23/survivor-caramoan-brandon-hantz-ussell/). ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/44 "2013-03-15T00:03:49Z")
Brenda has been incredibly absent from any camera time all season. I think the only thing she said last night was “Brandon” at the vote. I wonder if she is going to quit later and is getting the “silent edit” like that purple chick did several seasons ago. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/45 "2013-03-15T00:21:27Z")
Re:Brenda. Sometimes early-mid jury boots who go out quietly get the “who ?” edit too. It doesn’t help that she is sane, doesn’t shout or hit anyone, and apparently isn’t in danger of being voted out really soon by her own tribe. You’d think they would want to show her more just for the eye candy though. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/46 "2013-03-15T02:45:57Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Man, the crazy was on full display in his preseason [interview with Dalton Ross](http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/23/survivor-caramoan-brandon-hantz-ussell/). From that article, I found [another article](http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/22/survivor-caramoan-jeff-probst-malcolm-freberg/) about what TPTB told the favorites about Malcolm > [@](#): > > “We treated him the same way we treated Russell,” says Survivor host Jeff Probst. “Like in Heroes vs. Villains what we said about Russell was ‘Here’s a guy you don’t know, and he’s on the Villains tribe along with four of the other most notorious male villains, so read into that whatever you want.’ **And so we bring Malcolm back as a Favorite, clearly we think he’s a favorite, so read into that whatever you want.** And everybody gets it. They know. Just looking at him, they quickly assume, okay he’s gonna be like Ozzy, probably. Pretty gifted in challenges, and he’s a bit of a beach boy so he can probably climb up a tree. And hopefully his social game will suck just as much.” Emphasis Mine: So they tell the others that Malcolm is FAVORITE because he is on the FAVORITES tribe. They are calling Brandon Frick’n Hanst and Ted ‘Special Agent’ Shepard as a FAVORITE. Clearly CBS’s definition of _ **FAVORITE** _ is different than most people’s definition. Their definition includes “annoying, delusional and crazy”. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/47 "2013-03-15T03:13:45Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Brenda has been incredibly absent from any camera time all season. I think the only thing she said last night was “Brandon” at the vote. Shame; she’s the main reason I’m still watching 😃 Also, what happened to Cochran? He was pretty prominent in his last season, but we barely hear from him anymore ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/48 "2013-03-15T04:11:50Z")
> [@jacobsta811](#): > > Re:Brenda. Sometimes early-mid jury boots who go out quietly get the “who ?” edit too. It doesn’t help that she is sane, doesn’t shout or hit anyone, and apparently isn’t in danger of being voted out really soon by her own tribe. You’d think they would want to show her more just for the eye candy though. Yeah, I’m worried that the extreme lack of time spent on her means she’ll be out of the game around the start of the jury. (I don’t think anyone else this season has gotten less time, except maybe the remaining brunette on the Fans tribe who isn’t Sandra Bullock - Julia or something?) Which is disappointing because she was my favorite Favorite going into this season. And man, Brandon. I really think he’s bipolar. Just constantly swinging between “I’m crazy, I’m not gonna take this shit, I’ll fight Phillip and pee in the rice!” and “I apologize as a man, I’m gonna play this game for my kids”. Psych profiles or not, the producers knew from his first season that he wasn’t mentally equipped to handle this game (or life in general, likely) and they obviously went for the ratings grab. As long as nothing actually results in a lawsuit (as you can see Probst was afraid of given how much he was keeping his hands on Brandon) they’re happy. It takes a pretty crazy guy to make Phillip Shepard seem reasonable. Also, it was really disappointing to hear that Brandon has a wife and two kids (and apparently a third on the way). I won’t be surprised in the least when a few years from now we get the “Brandon Hantz, most famous for his two appearances on the reality show _Survivor_, was arrested yesterday on suspicion of murdering his wife and children” story. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/49 "2013-03-15T07:12:59Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > I won’t be surprised in the least when a few years from now we get the “Brandon Hantz, most famous for his two appearances on the reality show _Survivor_, was arrested yesterday on suspicion of murdering his wife and children” story. Count me as another one who was thinking this. And really, he was much more untethered this time around than on his previous stint, where he was all Jesus-this and The Lord-that. You wonder if he’s developed a change of values due to the backlash he went through when he was on previously. Or maybe he just didn’t have a father figure like Coach to keep him reeled in. Either way, clearly carrying a lot of anger inside… and then sometimes not so much carrying it on the inside. 😃 What I find both odd and interesting on this season is that the Favorites are such a weak-minded group. Seriously, Phillip is your _de facto_ leader? Not an alpha male (or female) in the bunch (Corinne possibly excepted, but not exactly a leader). Whereas on the Fans’ side, you could make a case for three of them: Reynold, Michael (gay guy) & Sandra Bollocks. Oh, Sandra Bollocks! Dislike her more with each passing episode. She goes on a rant about how getting rid of the weak was a stupid because they still lost the challenge. Umm, I seem to recall Jeff proclaiming that a certain someone was “totally useless” during the challenge and it really gave Phillip enough extended life to outlast Michael. And that was you. So, really, they still need to vote off one more weak person. Bitch. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/50 "2013-03-15T13:50:04Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Also, what happened to Cochran? He was pretty prominent in his last season, but we barely hear from him anymore This is the first episode this season where we haven’t had a fairly long and interesting confessional from Cochrane. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/51 "2013-03-15T13:55:02Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > Also, it was really disappointing to hear that Brandon has a wife and two kids (and apparently a third on the way). I won’t be surprised in the least when a few years from now we get the “Brandon Hantz, most famous for his two appearances on the reality show _Survivor_, was arrested yesterday on suspicion of murdering his wife and children” story. You are going to bring his KIDS INTO THIS? Say ANOTHER WORD and Brandon will come out of your computer and KNOCK YOUR TEETH OUT! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/52 "2013-03-15T14:11:07Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > At this point I might actually start watching the show again, rather than just fast-forwarding to the challenges. My hatred for all things Hantz kept me from giving a shit so far this season. The whole family could be eaten by rabid wolverines and I think I would actually cheer a little. Out of morbid curiosity I tuned in late on Wed and caught the last half of the train wreck. Now that he’s out of the game, I may consider watching the rest of the season. But I’m not decided yet. They might as well have Maury Povich replace Jeff Probst with the direction they’ve taken the show. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/53 "2013-03-15T14:13:22Z")
> [@phungi](#): > > You are going to bring his KIDS INTO THIS? Say ANOTHER WORD and Brandon will come out of your computer and KNOCK YOUR TEETH OUT! You know, during that “Tribal Council,” I was wondering if Phillip was deliberately provoking Brandon. It almost seemed like he was looking for a place to bring up his kids, and he knew Brandon’s kids were a trigger. Not that he wanted to get into a fight, but once he saw that Jeff Probst wasn’t going to let a fight occur, the more he could get Brandon looking like a raving lunatic (which wasn’t that hard to do), the better the chances of Brandon’s immediate elimination. Pretty devious. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/54 "2013-03-15T14:59:41Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > You know, during that “Tribal Council,” I was wondering if Phillip was deliberately provoking Brandon. > > Maybe I’m reading too much into it. No, he was deliberately baiting him. He baited the hooks, and then just trolled along waiting for a bite. He was pretty good at it. ---
**Author:** ![FlightlessBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@FlightlessBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlightlessBird)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/55 "2013-03-15T15:21:30Z")
My respect for Phillip went up a notch after that ‘tribal’. It’s still below that of pond scum, but I found him very restrained during the first part and then when he did speak, he just let Brandon do all the work. I especially like the blatant lying about his ‘organization’ (“I don’t know what he’s talking about”) because Brandon can’t prove what people say, unless he’s got corroboration and Phillip knew (bet?) that no one would help him out. From Russell’s 2 times getting to the finals, I’ve learned this: You can’t win with that type of game. And while Phillip is trying to channel Boston Rob, he’s no Boston Rob. If Phillip makes it to the end I think he would be the only one surprised to find out that he didn’t get a single vote. Just like Russell (who did get votes in his first runner-up season) (Heh someone was screwing with Wikipedia changing it to say that Russell won both seasons:) I still want Phillip out next time the Fave’s go to tribal, but I think the correct strategy is to keep him around until the merge. Even if it’s just for challenges where he is doing really well. (though Brandon’s right, Phillip only stayed alive so long because Brandon took the early onslaught) ---
**Author:** ![Kepler1571](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/db5fbb/32.png) [@Kepler1571](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kepler1571)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/56 "2013-03-15T17:24:49Z")
IANAD, but to me Brandon looked like the classic example of a guy who had gone off his meds. How many days in were we? Peachy was apparently whispering into his mic to have security on stand-by. Granted the clips are heavily edited in post-prod, but I thought he handled it amazingly well. We need to send Peachy to the Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![Kepler1571](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/db5fbb/32.png) [@Kepler1571](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kepler1571)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/57 "2013-03-15T17:27:46Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > This is the first episode this season where we haven’t had a fairly long and interesting confessional from Cochrane. Also, Cochrane’s body language when Brandon threatened to burn down the camp was one of the most honest things I’ve ever seen. It went from “wait? Did I really just hear that?” to “OK, I’m just going to act casual here, not make eye contact, and hope for the best.” Brandon is the first contestant on \*any \*reality TV show that I worry might try to hunt down somebody in real life after the show. ---
**Author:** ![Kepler1571](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/db5fbb/32.png) [@Kepler1571](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kepler1571)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/58 "2013-03-15T17:29:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > No, he was deliberately baiting him. He baited the hooks, and then just trolled along waiting for a bite. He was pretty good at it. If so, that was brilliant. But I don’t think so. Philip has acted like that in the past with no apparent master plan. He just seems to be That Guy. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/59 "2013-03-15T17:36:45Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > This is the first episode this season where we haven’t had a fairly long and interesting confessional from Cochrane. Even still, it seems we’re seeing far less of him than before ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817/60 "2013-03-15T17:41:21Z")
True, but we haven’t seen nearly of much of the Favorites around camp as we have of the Fans, just because the Fans keep going to tribal, so they’ve got a lot more drama going on. Up till now, the Favs coverage has been focussed on Philip, and then Philip & Brandon. Now that that particular plot is done, I bet we see more Cochrane. But what we’ve seen could hardly be described as “barely hear from him” - he’s probably 3rd or 4th total in screen time for the Favs, after Philip, Brandon, & maybe Andrea. Besides, we saw more than I wanted to see of him in the 1st or 2nd episode, when he got that horrible sunburn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-3-13-13-persona-non-grata/652817.md?page=4)