Survivor: Caramoan 1x5 "Persona Non Grata"

Okay, this last quickie recap for at least the next few weeks can only focus on one thing, and if you know anything about the fifth episode of this season, you already know what that is:

The Brandon Hantz meltdown.

This is something most of us saw coming.  We already had a preview of it earlier in the season, only for Cochran of all people to defuse it.  (By the way, where is he this season???)  Well, this time, only the magic hands of Jeff Probst could hope to at least contain it.  Because this rocket's fuse was lit and there was no putting it out this time.

Brandon Hantz is definitely a Hantz.  He has no clue what being around other people actually means.  That was the whole deal with his uncle Russell for three seasons.  Russell the evil genius who made it to the finals twice, whom no jury would vote for, and a tribe threw a challenge to get rid of before his poison could spread a third time, who thought messing with things around camp behind everyone's backs was perfectly acceptable behavior.  Incredibly, it's true that some fans thought Russell deserved to win.

I wonder if even those delusional idiots thought that in the reunion show for Survivor: South Pacific when Russell basically disowned Brandon for not being Hantz enough, for showing dozens of moments of vulnerability, for not being tough or mean or nasty enough, whatever it is he thinks a Hantz should be.  He probably loved the Brandon of Survivor: Caramoan, or at least approved of him a lot more.

Of course, Brandon is no longer in the game.  For the first time since Survivor: Palau, an impromptu tribal council was held to vote someone out.  This was no Tom/Ian show of mutual respect.  This was a tribe getting Brandon the hell out of the game.  Everyone knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that whatever else is going on with Brandon, he has reached the point where it's clear he shouldn't be playing Survivor anymore.  At least this time, a Hantz figured it out along with everyone else.

I like Brandon.  He's a conflicted young man who has better instincts, I should clarify human instincts, than any other Hantz I've seen on TV.  But he's working against a family tradition that is constantly working against him, and sometimes he has no clue what to make of it.  It's the Survivor: Caramoan reunion show that will prove interesting to watch this time, to see what if any progress he's made, and if Russell can back the hell off of Brandon.

That is all.