Brandon Hantz made it to the jury. I often wondered if he would make it that far. When he came to the Survivor game, he felt he needed to redeem his family name. His uncle, Russell, was named as one of the worst villains ever. I am not certain why Brandon felt it was up to him, and from what I gathered from the finale show, his family was not impressed with what he did on the show. It appears they would have preferred a more "Russell" type player.

 I really felt for him during the finale when he expressed the fact that his family was not happy with the way he played the game. It did not sound like he had much support. He sealed his fate in the game when he gave up his immunity necklace to his friend Albert. He felt he would not be eliminated. He lost to Ozzy at Redemption Island and went to the jury.

One thing we often hear from most who have been on any reality show is, "I was not portrayed right." Or, "It was the editing." Brandon made no such excuses. I really liked what he had so say which is,

"It's been a really great experience and CBS did a great job. Everything I dealt with is legitimate. I go through those things every day - not to that level, I don't freak out or cry. But it's real life. You're playing with real people and even though you're in a game situation, it gets emotional sometimes. I know a lot of the cast would agree with me. It gets emotional, but I think they showcased me really well and I'm appreciative of that."

No excuses here, just owning who he is. From that perspective, perhaps he is more of a man than his uncle.

 With regard to not having support from his family when he returned he said:

 "I don't want to call my parents out. When you have an experience like that, it's mentally and spiritually just draining and when you get back home, you don't want to be told you did bad or anything negative about how you played. People don't understand unless they played it."

 SereneLdy feels that is so true. If you were not there, you don't really know. There is so much more going on than we are ever privy to. Growing up as a child he never really did enough to make his family proud. And he has talked about poor choices growing up, and having God now in life, he has turned it around. He went on to say:

"I realized through this whole thing that it really doesn't matter. I'm responsible for me and my family now. It shouldn't matter how my family views me or what they think because in the end, I have to be happy with what I did myself."

 Yes, that is true, but an occasional we love you, or "atta a boy", does not hurt either. If we look at Russell's behavior during his Survivor journey, it's not difficult to see where this attitude comes from

 People did get heated at times, especially when they found out others lied. I really liked what Edna said about by agreeing to come to "Survivor" you agree to be lied to. Amen!

Brandon had this to say: "I gotta remember this myself - it's just a game. People change in the game and your words are something but they're not everything. It's all about what you do. I don't take offense to anyone personally or anything like that. They made strategic moves and I appreciate that. Some things went a little too far in my opinion but it's just my beliefs. I'm not going to make my tribemates believe what I do, I'll share mine and they can do what they want to do. I don't hate anyone personally."

Everyone has wondered what his relationships with Russell has really been like. Brandon shared the following:

 "We had a lot in common, we were like the black sheep in the family. We were a little crazier than the rest of them. I loved hanging out with Russell. We spent a lot of time together and I lived with him. We had a good relationship and it's a shame how things turned out. He let Survivor get to his head and it's all he thinks about. He still hasn't left it at the door... he's still kind of in the game mode. It's unfortunate but that's how it is."

Brendon also said that Russell and his family did not like his crying. Brandon does not apologize. When asked if he would play again, there was no hesitation. "Yes." One thing Brendon feels sad about it that he did not really get to appreciate the island as Ozzy did, to see what God created. He was too busy doing other things. If he returns, he would take more time to do that. We shall see if he gets the chance. I have to be honest, I did not like Brendon in the beginning, but he grew on me. He is still naive about some things, but he is learning, and "Survivor", I feel, really opened his eyes.

Would you like to see him return?