Hall of Shame Moment: Brandon Quinton Dooms His Team – and Himself

One aspect of the Reality TV Hall of Shame is that we not only address current goings-on in reality TV, but we look back to a time before the Hall had been established. That is the case here as we take ourselves back in time to Survivor: Africa and look at how Brandon doomed his team, and himself, by an incredibly stupid move in the game.

First, let’s set the stage, since it happened a little while back. In Africa, we had the Boran tribe and the Samburu tribe. After a few votes, the Boran tribe consisted of Lex, Tom, Ethan, Kelly, Kim J., and Clarence. The Samburu tribe consisted of Frank, Teresa, Silas, Brandon, Lindsey, and Kim P., and was definitely a split tribe after a heated battle between the older and younger tribe members.

Then, the Big Twist came – three members of each tribe were told to report to a meeting place for reasons unknown. When they got there, their tribe affiliations were reversed. Silas, Frank, and Teresa found themselves on Boran while Kelly, Tom, and Lex found themselves on Samburu. It was a whole new ballgame.

The Boran alliance still managed to rule the game, though. On Boran, they voted out Silas with the help of Frank and Teresa. On Samburu, they voted out Lindsey. Thus, they had a majority in both camps.

Once the tribes merged together, the Boran alliance held firm. All the votes went against Clarence, as was expected… except one. A vote (other than Clarence’s) was tossed at Lex, and he blew up. In fact, he said he was “furious” and “pissed off”! He said he wouldn’t live with such a snake who would do such a thing and then hide. In fact, he said he’d find them, cut their head off, slit their throat, etc.

And who did it? Well, his “gut” told him it was Kelly. And his gut is always right. Except it wasn’t – it was actually Teresa, but she sure as heck wasn’t going to speak up after all of that. However, she did know a good thing when she saw it and tried to get the Samburus – herself, Frank, Kim P., and Brandon – together to target Lex, and hopefully bring Kelly onboard as well.

After Kelly talked to Lex and he made it clear that she was on the outs, she decided her best move was indeed on the side of the Samburus. If all went as planned, the Samburus would have voted out Lex and taken control of the game. But that’s where Brandon’s Hall of Shame Moment finally came into play.

Brandon decided that he wanted to be on Lex’s team. In fact, he even helped Lex make the decision that Kelly was to blame by claiming he overheard her say she was a “free agent.” So just as Kelly became the first person in Survivor history to jump tribal alliances, so did Brandon. The vote went for Boran + Brandon, and Kelly was in the jury.

After that episode aired, there was quite a bit of debate about whether Brandon was an idiot or brilliant. Most people (myself included) came firmly down on the side of “idiot.” We predicted that his new group would not keep him around because he didn’t show any loyalty.

We were right.

The very next Tribal Council, Lex’s other Boran teammates turned against Brandon and, along with the remaining Samburus, voted him out. Although Lex kept saying he trusted Brandon, none of the others did. Ethan specifically told Lex that he just didn’t trust a guy who was willing to turn on his own teammates – his own friend, Kim P. He pointed out that there was nothing to keep him loyal to their side now. So Brandon immediately followed Kelly onto the jury.

Was this just a stupid move or something more – something that elevates to a Hall of Shame Moment? Well, since you’re reading it here, obviously it’s the latter.

Brandon gave several reasons that he jumped ship. For one, he said there was no way he could be in an alliance with Frank. That’s right, he couldn’t put aside his personal feelings in favor of a winning alliance.

But he also said that he switched sides so he could make it into the Final Four. The problem is that if he had simply stayed with the Samburus, he would indeed have made it at least to the Final Four. But by switching, he put himself out of the game. Indeed, the best he could have hoped for by switching was fifth, because there was no way the Borans were going to boot out one of their own before him.

So he managed to make one really bad move for at least two really bad reasons.

If Brandon had stayed with the Samburus + Kelly, they would have voted off Lex. Then they could have picked off the others, one at a time. Then, when the situation was ripe, he could have split off with Kelly and Kim P. (both of whom got along well when they were together on the new Samburu after the twist) to get rid of Frank and whomever else they wanted.

Sure, it was possible that after breaking the Boran alliance, Frank might have banded together with Tom, Ethan, Kim J., and Teresa, but I’d call that very unlikely. Kim J. had no love for Frank, and Frank is a man of honor who said he would not have broken a handshake deal.

But Brandon tried to blame others for his horrible strategy. In an interview with RealityNewsOnline, Brandon said he offered Lex Kelly on a platter because he saw her as his biggest threat. He was afraid, he said, that Kelly could have pulled Kim P. away from him. You know, this might almost make sense if the fact of the matter wasn’t that Brandon himself pushed Kim away, thus more quickly accomplishing what he suggested Kelly might at some later time do. Then he went on to blame Kim for not having the vision to see his master plan, when in fact he didn’t have the vision to see the obvious road laid out in front of him if he had stuck to the Samburus.

Brandon’s actions take on an even greater weight in light of the fact that three of the people he could have sent home – Lex, Tom, and Ethan – are participants in Survivor: All-Stars. If he had done the smart thing, he might have been one of those we’re watching instead of being at home like the rest of us.

Brandon had everything in place to take him at least to the Final Four. He and the other Samburus were granted a huge gift in Lex’s gut error and Kelly’s decision to be the first Survivor to ever cross tribal alliance lines. But he took that gift and returned it to Lex, ensuring that not only would he not be in the Final Four, but that he would be the very next person voted off. For such a huge error in judgment and strategy, Brandon is being recognized with this Hall of Shame Moment.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of the Reality TV Hall of Shame, and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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