Coach Benjamin Wade has some serious personality disorders.  He's either completely delusional, unable to separate fantasy from reality, perpetually inflating his sense of self-worth, a man lost in a web of exaggerations and outlandish claims, or he's a pathological liar.  Maybe both.  Coach's unending narcissism feeds into either possibility, allowing him to follow through with a lie so vigorously and, in a weird way, convincingly.  Last night, his insistence on making Sierra Reed look foolish bordered on sickening, though this was tempered by the fact that we're so used to Coach's absurd persona.  His soliliquous tirade at tribal council on last night's Survivor was a sight to be seen, awe-inspiring in its audacity.
I wonder what Coach thought about the episode last night while watching from home.  Does he privately admit he was wrong and that he lied?  Or, does he somehow still contend that Sierra was the impetus of it all?  Coach is one of the most fascinating individuals ever seen on Survivor.  He's hatable on the surface, so so hatable, but also kind of adorable in his earnestness.  He is a staunch supporter of the idea of the Alpha Male, of chivalry, or manliness, and wants to uphold these ideas to the greatest of his powers.  Coach, at his core, is an idealist.  A crazy, out of touch, delusional, stubborn idealist, but an idealist nonetheless.  If we are to judge Survivor contestants not based on how much we'd enjoy hanging out with them, but how they effect the viewing experience, Coach is an exceptional Survivor contestant.  Psychology students could study Survivor: Tocantins and find themselves a thoroughly interesting and complicated case study.  

Then we come to Debra Beebe.  A middle school principal, by all accounts a good person, Debbie was very disappointing last night.  You would not have pegged Debbie for an out and out liar and, yet, there she was giving Sierra the Coach treatment.  Here's the thing - I want to believe Debbie.  She claimed that she wasn't sure exactly what was said in the initial Sierra dust-up.  That's certainly possible.  Debbie is an older lady, and being sleep-deprived, food-deprived could easily make a person forget previous conversations.  However, it's hard to think that Debbie, who was clearly in favor of getting the Timbira alliance back together, would actually believe that Sierra was in the wrong.  

We also need to entertain the possibility that Sierra was far more annoying than Survivor has shown her to be.  There is a lot of circumstantial evidence to back this up.  Tyson, in last week's interview, plainly stated that no one likes Sierra, and even cited perhaps the most damning moment - in last week's Survivor, even J.T. had harsh words for Sierra, and J.T. might be the nicest human on the planet.  If Sierra really is that bad, I suppose we can forgive Debbie and Coach for sticking to their lie.  The ends could justify the means.  Regardless, Sierra's decision to call out Coach and Debbie might have sealed their eventual fates in the game.  

Moving forward, Erinn Lobdell is now the most important player in the game.  She could side with Coach and Debbie, or she could play with Jalapao.  We're set up for an exciting finish to the season. 


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of CBS)