The Omnibus

Issue date: 2/17/10 Section: In the Spotlight

"This time I slay everyone and trust no one… it's my chance for redemption," said Benjamin "Coach" Wade to begin episode one of "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains." After last week's Omnibus article "Coach gets a second chance," many readers wondered how Wade could possibly improve his reputation since he was already labeled a villain.

RECAP: The 20 castaways arrive via helicopter to Samoa. On one end of the moral scale is Rupert Boneham with the heroes, who donated some of his $1 million prize money for a charity to mentor troubled teens. Russell Hantz, who finished second on "Survivor: Samoa," summed up the villain mentality.
"I think villains are smarter than heroes because they don't mind stabbing somebody in the back to get where they want to get," said Hantz.
Once the castaways reach the beach Probst explains the sand-digging reward challenge for flint. Two contestants from each tribe must race down the beach to dig up a medium-sized sandbag. The contestant that takes the bag and brings it home to his own team mat scores a point. The challenge quickly turned to a rugby match as people tackled, bit, and even dislocated each other's shoulders to grab the bag and take it home for their team. Wade played by a different strategy-he let everyone else dig for the bags and then pounced on Colby Donaldson. Instead of grabbing the bag, Coach owned Donaldson in the challenge by frog-marching him across the beach to the villains mat. However, the villains lost and went home without fire.
"Personally I made a statement but the tribe lost," said Wade.
The villains' camp was rife with drama and romance. Drama on Hantz's part, who went up to multiple female contestants and told them all he wanted to take them with him down to the final two. Wade and Jerri Manthey kindle some romance through flirting and form an alliance to have each other's back.
"One thing that appeals to me about Jerri is that she's a different kind of girl, and that interests me because I'm a different kind of guy," said Wade.
The villains also make their own fire without flint thanks to Boston Rob. Through rubbing two sharpened sticks together, they start a fire and prevent misery in the camp.
As the tribes prepare for the immunity challenge, in which the winning team does not have to vote a member off, Coach takes a leadership position and pumps up the tribe.
"Hopefully we will not only defeat them, but we will beat them as well mentally and turn things around for the better," said Wade.

Continued...

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