dino88

She's that chick on Survivor who has a restraining order against Arpeggi.

Josh-da-man

Yeah, that was really impressive. I think Jeff kept touching him to try to calm him. You have a guy seething with blind rage and a hair trigger. Probably not the best idea to isolate him.

I'm really surprised they let it get that far. Willie Hantz (Brandon's uncle, and Russell's brother) had a similar outburst on Big Brother last year and got his ass tossed out immediately. There was not vote, he was sent to the diary room and wasn't seen again. And he wasn't at the finale reunion, either.

calbearz

The way they allowed Brandon to leave just reinforced to him that his actions were ok. Jeff allowed him to have the stage, told him he loved him, and did not impart any wisdom on him. As we've seen in the past, Jeff does not shy away from adding in his 2 cents, except in this instance.
Allowing this sick bastard to even return for another season is reprehensible.

Josh-da-man

Under the circumstances, I think Jeff did the best he could. It would be a mistake for him to get in Brandon's face about his behavior while everyone was standing there watching and the cameras were rolling. That would be adding fuel to the fire. He nearly went apeshit when Phillip mentioned his kids, so having Jeff joining in would not have helped one bit.

I do agree that it was a mistake putting Brandon on the show (both times). He lacks impulse and emotional maturity and has no business being put in a high stress situation like Survivor.

And he probably should have been removed immediately after his outburst at the camp. I don't know... for all we know, I guess they could have taken him out of the camp until the competition and set the whole forfeit and impromptu tribal council up in advance.

Shannon Nutt

This just in: Robert De Niro will be playing Brandon in the upcoming movie "FEAR ISLAND: THE BRANDON HANTZ STORY"

Shinobi

I'm sure Brandon will apologize to everyone at the Reunion Show, and then break down and cry.

And then two minutes later, I'm sure he'll become enraged, call Phillip a bitch, and then storm off the stage.

Cardsfan111

When Brandon was screaming at Phillip on the beach, did you detect the background music playing that had a "Cape Fear" sound to it? I don't think it was my imagination.

From what we know, the Hantz family is obviously screwed up. It's amazing that his loved ones would allow this to happen. This behavior can't be much different than what they see day-to-day back at home.

Cardsfan111

The Survivor folks had to have been caught off guard by Brandon's antics. After all, he had went so far as to say he wasn't going to be emotionally reactive.

I think the mistake they made was apparently doing this psych evaluation on one of his good days.

zuffy

Wow, what a fucking nutjob! Probst handled the situation very well IMO. As some others stated, I feel sorry for his kids and wife.

Double_Oh_7

I think it was irresponsible for Jeff Probst and the producers to bring back someone they know has issues and is clearly a loose cannon.

grenier

He took it a little farther, he headbutted another person. That whole family has anger issues.

Cellar Door

Yeah, I think Probst did the right thing by being non-antagonistic. Everybody from Brandon's tribe was (rightfully) against him, so Jeff gave him a "safe" place where he wouldn't feel cornered and surrounded by his detractors. Without that, things could have gotten uglier.

Also, Jeff may have been somewhat concerned about his own safety if he didn't handle Brandon with kid gloves.

Finisher

It was definitely a riff on the Cape Fear theme.

All Jeff and the producers were thinking about was how to diffuse that lunatic get him away as quickly as possible.

Also, other than Philip, pretty much everyone was going out of their way to coddle Brandon. Even Philip never really went off on Brandon, and was trying to include him for the most part. Imagine if players were doing their normal cutthroat antics .. Brandon would've killed someone.

Winky

Here is a pre-season interview:
http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/29/su...brandon-hantz/


Jeff Probst says Brandon Hantz is psychologically stable enough to play again

In light of the almost daily emotional breakdowns Brandon Hantz suffered while playing Survivor: South Pacific — including his odd obsession with female contestant Mikayla, popping off for no reason at Tribal Council, teary confessionals, and then being manipulated into giving away his immunity before being voted off — many wondered if he could really handle such an experience all over again, especially when you consider the stress that comes with trying to outwit strangers while starving out in the elements. Those questions popped up again after my bizarre interview with Brandon that took place just days before filming on Survivor: Caramoan — Fans vs. Favorites (which premieres Feb. 13 on CBS) began. So I asked host Jeff Probst recently if they had any concerns about putting Brandon back on the show, and if Russell’s nephew was truly equipped to handle being put through the emotional wringer again.

Probst says that Brandon was indeed vetted by the show’s psychologist before returning to play. “When Brandon played the first time, what was most noticeable was that he wore his emotions on his sleeve and he was so combustible,” says Probst. “You rooted for him in the sense that he was so earnest in his pain. So when he was first finished, we all kind of thought, hmmm, not sure we should ever bring him back. And then a little time went by, and he talked to us, and we talked to him, and our psychologist talked to him, and he sounded like he was going to be okay. So we brought him back for what is going to prove to be, once again, a really tough emotional adventure for him.”
Of course, emotional instability is at the core of much of Survivor’s drama. The question becomes: When does that instability become a danger to that person or to others? It seems the Survivor psychologist and producers here felt that Brandon posed no such risk by returning to play.

TomOpus

EW: How worried were you about
things turning physical at that
confrontation at the challenge? And
what is the show’s policy on how to
intervene? Meaning, had Brandon
charged Phillip, would it have just
been up to you and the contestants to
break it up, or would members of the
off-screen crew had jumped in to
separate them? Did you all have any
plan in place or were you just ready to
tackle him if he bolted?

PROBST: There were a couple of moments
when I was concerned. I was concerned
early on when he first separated from his
tribe and addressed the fans. It was clear
that he was very upset. That’s why I
asked him to come to me, so I could
separate him from the rest of the
contestants. Then later when I saw him
getting more agitated I put my hands on
his shoulders in an attempt to help him
relax. It was probably also a bit of a head
start on controlling him if a physical
confrontation were to ensue. Because
something like this had never happened
before there was no plan in place. I was
assessing moment to moment, making
decisions based on what was playing out
in front of me. I can share with you that I
was whispering instructions into my
microphone (which is fed to our audio
department) for our safety and security
guys to be ready to assist if necessary. I
was also asking for our show psychologist
to be put on a boat and brought over
immediately so she could counsel
Brandon after the incident was over.
I had decided pretty early on that we
were going to have an impromptu Tribal
Council. It was clear that Brandon wanted
out of the game, it had been stated that
the Favorites were going to forfeit the
challenge and there was nothing good to
be had from letting Brandon go back to
camp. It was important to me that
Brandon felt heard and knew that I was
not taking sides, I was just asking
questions and trying to calm the water. I
was very proud of Brandon for making the
choice to stay next to me and not turn
this into a physical altercation. I was
equally proud of Philip and the other
contestants for their restraint. It was
obviously a historic moment from a show
point of view, but the overriding concern
was the mental and physical health of the
contestants.

Noonan

Sounds like I picked the wrong season to skip. I'll have to check out this episode on demand just to see what went down.

brainee

Despite me looking forward to this, the actual viewing wasn't very pleasant (and I hope its something that doesn't happen again). Regular "crazy" players can be fun. But I don't get any enjoyment from people who are legit psychologically disturbed.

Now that they got their big episode, I hope Survivor producers step up and make sure Brandon gets help. Otherwise, it seems like a matter of time before he hurts himself and/or others. And there's nothing positive for anyone from that happening.

Howie2000

The best thing they could have done is you know follow their own rulebook and kick him out of the game immediately the second he flipped out and threatened violence. He should have been removed from the cast for their own physical and mental safety instead of milking it for all the drama(aka exploiting Brandon as well as the other people who were clearly uncomfortable having to be around his meltdown) way before they got anywhere near that challenge.

Howie2000

Really?

They have a ton of people on staff if they were wanted to get him away as quickly as possible they could have pulled him out a helluva lot quicker. They were trying to milk the situation for "good tv".

Joeboo835

Am I the only one that thought this thing was completely staged by Brandon and the show (or maybe just Brandon)?

Finisher

If they really wanted to milk it, they would've sent Brandon back with his tribe and then brought them back for a regular tribal. Almost no doubt things would've gotten physical if they did that. So, yeah, they could've pulled him sooner but they also could've milked it way more if they wanted.

I think Brandon just realized he came across as a total bitch his first season and was intent on doing anything to change the perception. His tribe wasn't even that bad towards him other than Philip being his typical weirdo self.

grenier

Please let this be the end of the Hantz family on tv.

Navinabob

Personally, I think Brandon is lucky to be alive at this point. Philip is a street fighter. After all those basketball games where he brings NBA skills to the street, people get pretty testy being schooled. Fights break out and Philip sometimes has to put down 7 or 8 thugs at a time.

What they didn't show was while Brandon was on the beach calling out Philip, Philip had climbed into a tree and was ready to drop down like a puma once Brandon walked under him.

madcougar

Jeff handled it masterfully. I thought Brandon was just moments away from losing it the entire time.

I'm not sure if there was anything to gain at that immediate moment by putting Brandon in his place. The guy was obviously coming unhinged.

With all that said... Most of the stuff Brandon said was right on. I've never been a fan, but felt genuiniely sorry for him after last night. The guy has obviously taken a lot of shit from his first appearance on the show. At the end of the day, he's an adult and the decision to return is on him. But still, the guy needs help.

Oh, and it's "auh-thor" not "ar-thor" Brandon.

Double_Oh_7

No happy ending for Brandon after Jeff's massage?