Bromance At The Ponderosa
Charlie Herschel Marcus Lehman
Our purpose here is to focus on Charlie & Marcus, the "bros" in the bromance of Survivor: Gabon. The Charlie & Marcus story began on the first episode when tribe leaders were chosen and each of them picked a tribe mate to join them. Each new member picked a tribe mate and so on until the tribes were chosen. Marcus, a first year resident doctor with a handsome face and killer bod chose Charlie, a handsome and lean guy with a sweet and broad smile. Immediately Charlie was smitten with Marcus and he felt that they made a "connection". He said so to the camera. Marcus agreed in his own camera monologue although he didn't foresee a romance even though he liked Charlie. Why? He was straight.
Charlie & Marcus bonded as friends, formed an alliance, and helped their tribe win challenges which reaped them luxury rewards and tribal immunity. On the other hand the opposing tribe was poorly chosen, they bickered and connived and would have surely gone on to diminished numbers and been wiped away if it weren't for game-changers in the form of realigning the tribe members. The first change-up Marcus & Charlie remained on the same tea,. The second they were separated and Marcus was voted off. Everyone who knew Marcus agreed he had been a great competitor and didn't deserve his fate at the hands of some of the laziest and more odious contestants. There's Crystal the professional athlete who hasn't even tried at any challenges and her co-hot, Kenny, the self-professed computer game freak (and who turned out to be a homophobe) These two will probably wind up in the finals since they successfully got Marcus voted out AND Charlie the following episode. How? No big strategy, just good old-fashioned lying.
Given that Charlie & Marcus were on winning tribes for most of their time in the game, viewers didn't see much of them (air time is usually given to the losing tribes as they plot on who to vote out). And since Charlie & Marcus were voted off and no become members of the "jury" their onscreen time is even more diminished until the final episode. However.....
This year CBS has brought back a feature only available online at CBS.com: Ponderosa. It's a look at the jury house (nicknamed Ponderosa) and the jury members in their sequestered life after being voted off. This past week we were able to see the reunion of Charlie & Marcus and find out that their friendship was not strategy, it was genuine. Charlie still has a crush on Marcus, who is still straight and has no issue with it. Plus, in a recent interview Marcus revealed that since Survivor, he and Charlie are still close friends. We won't spoil the Ponderosa video except to a it's a joy to see a straight man comfortable with his sexuality and enjoying the company of a gay man that has a crush on him, but that he considers a real friend. In the days after the passage of Proposition 8, this gives us hope--even if it is just a reality TV show.
In a way, we're happy that these two were voted off now, that they didn't have to compromise their friendship to get further in the game, or be pitted against each other in the finals. We're looking forward to more Ponderosa webisodes in inverse proportion to our desire to see the final episodes of Survivor: Gabon.
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