3/13 Survivor 26 Show Discussion **West Coast Spoilers**

[kev89]

Wow, this had to be one of the most depressing episodes of Survivor ever. That must have been an extremely scary situation for everyone on the Favorites camp and the production crew. Why am I not surprised that Uncle Russell is proud of the way Brandon acted? I wonder how his father felt, I think I remember seeing Brandon's dad in the family visit episode his first season berating Brandon's game the same way Russell did at the finale. I wasn't a fan of the Hantz family before, but now I really hope we never see any of them again. Brandon never should have been on this show once, let alone twice. Between Brandon and Shamar (of course Shamar never came close to snapping the way Brandon did), it seems to me that casting might want to rethink the way they evaluate potential contestants before allowing them to play the game. I will say that Probst did a great job handling the situation and controling Brandon.

I think this is the first time in Survivor history I actually think it was a good idea for a tribe to throw a challenge. Still though, looking at what happened to tribes that did that, it would have been interesting to see whether the Favorites would have been able to recover from this episode or if this would have been the boost the fans needed. But it looks like we'll be having a tribal shift next week (I think it's too early for a merge), so I guess we'll never know.

[Fanny Mare]

Yeah, I'm no fan of Reynolds, but I'll cut him a break on the smile and the asking for the traditional comment thing. He's very competitive, and that scene can only be good for him (and his team) in that it keeps them out of TC yet again--always risky for him. He doesn't know these other people hardly at all, except through their TV personnas. It might have been politic to LOOK solemn, but I really can't criticize him for being happy....if you're happy and you know it, clap your hands! or at least grin....

I agree, he is there for one million dollars, they all are. If someone( not his teammate) lost his cool- its hardly Reynolds fault .They were likely going to go to TC again, this gave them a reprieve.

[spockwhat]

And I'll say Reynold should have contained his glee. The people you are annoying are people you are going to merge with later. He could have expressed all the glee he wanted on the way back to camp. Grow up, right? All the people on his tribe managed to keep it together, though I'm sure they were delighted for their own games... and they're all playing for the million. I guess that's just maturity or something. Which makes me laugh, I guess Eddie is even more mature. Or maybe he didn't have a clue what was going on and didn't know how to react, I'm sure Reynold explained it to him later.

[PWS]

Well, I did say it might have been politic to have LOOKED solemn...so I don't think we disagree.

[judibug]

Have we all forgotten about EDITING? Who knows what Reynold was grinning at? In the middle of that mess someone may have said something funny.

[Fanny Mare]

Have we all forgotten about EDITING? Who knows what Reynold was grinning at? In the middle of that mess someone may have said something funny.

I agree, I never forget about the editing either.

[Brooks]

That's why I asked if anyone knew how long the meltdown lasted, because I suspected there wasn't nearly as much material to edit. Apparently much shorter than the usual tribal councils.

[Marlena_M]

Have we all forgotten about EDITING? Who knows what Reynold was grinning at? In the middle of that mess someone may have said something funny.

Unless both/all of the people are in the same shot, I never trust whatever reaction is edited in after a statement is made. You're 100% right that we have no idea what Reynold was grinning at. 90% of the reactions at TC are edited and usually the video tape editors on this show do such a good job they actually get me to kinda sorta maybe perhaps believe that's how it actually went down ...except I'm too old/experienced to be that naive.

[Fanny Mare]

That's why I asked if anyone knew how long the meltdown lasted, because I suspected there wasn't nearly as much material to edit. Apparently much shorter than the usual tribal councils.

I think in one interview, someone said about 30 minutes. That's when Brandon( who was separated) rejoined his team

TC is hours, cant remember how many offhand

[mesachick]

I just read a Jeff Probst interview. He said that TC lasts from 45 to 90 minutes, depending upon the situation. Another interesting tidbit, the contestants don't walk to the challenges or to TC like it appears on TV. In Gabon, they were driven in vehicles with black plastic covering the windows. That prevents contestants from seeing where they are, and from seeing parts of the production such as base camp. After arriving, they're kept in a waiting area until Jeff Probst calls them in to the challenge, which is what we see on TV. They are not allowed to talk to one another until cameras are rolling either at the challenges or back at camp, ensuring that viewers won't ever miss a critical moment.

Interesting stuff