Survivor Roundtable Part I
By BOP Staff
April 17, 2013
Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains is the high water mark of the 26 seasons. It was a prototypical demonstration that truth is stranger than fiction. It was also an engrossing sociological experiment. The people presumed (or at least arbitrarily defined) to be good guys turned upon one another while the bad guys largely hunted as a pack. Hantz the usurper was jealous of Rob's popularity (there was an immunity challenge Rob won where Parvati looked at him afterward with the type of hunger that could have led to carnal knowledge right there on the beach in front of everyone). In addition to being jealous of Rob's status as Island King, Hantz wanted Parvati as well so the desire to back-stab was intense. Rob of course saw this play almost before Hantz called it, but the mathematical failings and sheer stupidity of Tyson still set everyone. In the process, Hantz became a bona fide villain as well as a great television character, if only for a moment.
If Survivor had stopped there, everything would be great. Alas, this dynamic duel of egos between a superior man and the inferior competition driven crazy with jealousy was considered imitable. Common sense should have dictated otherwise yet here we are. The end result is that genuinely terrible players such as Coach and (*gulp*) Brandon Hantz have wound up earning additional appearances in order to give them this sort of name recognition cachet. The problem is that not only are none of them in possession of even an ounce of Rob's charisma, people such as Phillip, Coach, Cochran and (*gulp again*) Brandon have been given in-season focus that their personalities do not deserve. This production decision has reduced the screen time available to other potentially worthier new players.
Worst of all, these suckers such as Phillip, Coach and Cochran have begun to believe their own hype. Watching Phillip recite the specifics of Survivor: Redemption Island (I -believe- it was season 22, right Phillip?) was a brutal experience. The way he clings to it as something worthy he has done in life breaks my heart. Cochran is the same way. His pleasure at winning an immunity challenge was like a small child running the bases at a baseball game. Grown-ups shouldn't attain that sort of satisfaction from achieving victory once in about 15 tries. These Survivor characters being cast for "redemptive story arcs" are emotionally crippled, and I don't want to visit their particular psych ward.
Frankly, I have no idea what the source of Probst's obsession with the Hantz family is. They're immature jerks who are chaos incarnate to the point that the more emotionally evolved of them (seriously) leaked contest results for the competition. The fact that Probst keeps bringing them back makes me wonder if his favorite movie sex scene occurred in Deliverance.
How does this effect the season and its casting? Look at how much I discussed Heroes vs. Villains above. Compare that to Caramoan. I would be hard-pressed to name five moments from the first nine episodes that I enjoyed. I certainly would not include Lil Hantz's meltdown in that group for the reason mentioned above. I had huge concerns about this season before it began, and they weren't helped any when Probst did an interview where he was quoted as saying, "the returning Favorites aren't as awful players as it seems." Maybe our favorite reality host shouldn't be placed in charge of the promotional department.
Survivor's 26th season has been catastrophic thus far. A decent ending would only save it from being the worst season ever. Even then, it's still likely to finish in the bottom five if we vote next month. I would strongly suggest that Survivor producers shave with Occam's Razor next time. If you are naming a season "Fans vs. Favorites", pick some Favorites. With Cochran, Phillip, Corinne and Hantz, this fight was lost before anyone ever set foot on the island.
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