|
Beach Battles and Survivor Strife with Ben Browning of Survivor: Samoa
by Troy Rogers
The latest season of Survivor in Samoa has so
far been all about the Foa Foa tribe and the command
Texas oil company owner, Russell Hantz, has over
his tribe mates. Interestingly, Foa Foa also saw
the rise of strong willed, outspoken and opinionated
L.A. bartender Ben Browning who stepped from the
Survivor shadows in Samoa to assert himself as
a Survivor power player.
Although Ben had his Survivor: Samoa tribe mates onside early in the game, a series of unfortunate Survivor events caused Ben to voice his opinion on a wide range of Survivor tribal gameplay issues, which rubbed many of his Samoa tribe mates the wrong way, including a heated altercation with Galu tribe member Yasmin and his own Foa Foa Survivor, Jaison.
When Jaison made a forceful move with Foa Foa to oust Ben from the game, Russell was forced to change his mind and Ben Browning became the third person voted out of Survivor: Samoa. Although Survivor time was up for the bartender, Ben Browning didn't leave the game without a few choices words for Jaison in defence of his tribal Survivor actions.
When we caught up with Ben the next day for a Survivor: Samoa follow up, Browning filled us in on his tribal alliances, his relationships with Russell and Jaison, and the heated dynamics of his beach altercation with Yasmin.
THE DEADBOLT: How blindsided did you feel last night?
 BEN
BROWNING: Not at all. I pretty much knew
I was going.
THE DEADBOLT: Really, how so?
BEN: Just the conversation that I had with Mick and Russell before Tribal Council. I pretty much knew that I was going.
THE DEADBOLT: It also seemed like you wanted to be this season's bad guy. Did Russell steal your thunder?
BEN: Not at all. Russell was my buddy out there and we had a good time.
THE DEADBOLT: Do you still keep in contact with him?
BEN: I do.
THE DEADBOLT: Were you also surprised that he let Jaison in on the fact that he had the hidden immunity idol and didn't tell you?
 BEN:
Well, that's where you guys are mislead, because
I knew about it right after he found it [laughs].
They just didn't show it on TV.
THE DEADBOLT: Can you explain where everything went with Jaison in terms of what we didn't see?
BEN: Well, what you didn't see was me
asking Jaison the question, "If somebody is
from the ghetto and they have poor grammar and
they're white and I call them ghetto trash,
does that make me a racist?"
THE DEADBOLT: Did Jeff Probst hate you?
BEN: No, Jeff Probst did not hate me. I actually like Jeff Probst. He'd be somebody I'd definitely want to go have a beer with. He's a direct guy. He calls on their bullsh*t a lot like I do, so I've got lots of respect for Probst. He did kind of single me out in that challenge. But you know what? It made Survivor history. So I have no problem with Jeff Probst, he's a cool cat.
THE DEADBOLT: Who else did you have an alliance with aside from the guys? Were you aligned with any of the women?
 BEN:
I was. I had a little alliance with Natalie.
I had one with Ashley. But Ashley stabbed me
in the back and her and Natalie were pretty
tight. I mean, any of those, I didn't really
trust any alliances I had with anybody there
because I didn't trust anybody, which you shouldn't,
because it's not a game of trust. It's a game
of stab people in the back.
THE DEADBOLT: With the beach confrontation and Yasmin, do you think you're still justified?
BEN: Completely. How would you feel if somebody came into your house and started screaming at you and yelling at you? Would you just sit back and say, "I'm just going to let this person try to verbally abuse me," or would you stand up for yourself?
THE DEADBOLT: Good question. I don't know. I probably would've just turned the other cheek and walked away.
 BEN:
Really, in your own house?
THE DEADBOLT: I don't know, it depends. I mean, she was just freaking out. I would've just let her vent and then walked away.
BEN: [laughs] Well, easier said than
done my friend.
THE DEADBOLT: What did those lizards taste like?
BEN: [laughs] They taste like white fish.
THE DEADBOLT: And how many did you eat?
BEN: I ate probably, I don't know, half a dozen lizards.
|
