S33: Bret LaBelle

[Silver Raven]

Ugh, I couldn't stand Bret, and his departure just solidified that dislike.

[Special K]

16 hours ago, Rachel RSL said:

Yeah, I was loving how everybody lately has been a good sport and left with class and then Bret happened. 

Agree, such an asshole-lite season, except for this eye-rolling condescending bittercakes calling everyone who disagrees with him "crazies."

Although, if he is this season's "villain" it's a pretty good season!

[ByaNose]

Weird! I like Brett a lot and his friendship with Chris. I guess I'm missing something. I thought his Ponderosa video was pretty funny. He's a macho gay cop and everyone was shocked when he told them so. That said, I thought he would have done better in challenges. I guess he's such a big dude it was hard to compete with the younger guys and girls.

[ljenkins782]

18 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I didn't like Bret, didn't hate him.  His departure reminded me of the Frank Grimes character from the Simpsons, who tried for so long to get people to see Homer as being an idiot, but everyone told him what a great guy he was.  Well, Bret is Frank, and David is Homer.  I loved him getting bested by the guy he's been gunning for.  Unlike Jay, someone was a tad bitter in his exit. 

Speaking of the Simpsons, who does Bret look like?? There's a character that comes to mind when I see him, but I can't put my finger on it. It's even stronger now that he has (unwisely) shaved his beard.

I will never understand why chubby guys who can grow a nice beard don't have them, it gives the face a nice shape that it wouldn't otherwise have. He seemed so horrified by his reflection at Ponderosa, but I thought he looked way better than he did at the beginning of the game. 

Quote

Weird! I like Brett a lot and his friendship with Chris. I guess I'm missing something. I thought his Ponderosa video was pretty funny. He's a macho gay cop and everyone was shocked when he told them so. That said, I thought he would have done better in challenges. I guess he's such a big dude it was hard to compete with the younger guys and girls.

I didn't think Bret was a bad guy either. He had his gruff, dismissive moments (which frankly, wouldn't even have stood out amongst a different cast), but he also had a lot of really nice moments. 

I think he was overestimating his own efforts in the game a bit. He was essentially an extra vote for whoever needed one and basically got along to get along. I don't know if the other players were blowing smoke up his ass about his chances to win in the end, they made it sound like he had a great shot if he made F3. Maybe against Hannah and Ken, he would have. 

[Special K]

49 minutes ago, ljenkins782 said:

 

I will never understand why chubby guys who can grow a nice beard don't have them, it gives the face a nice shape that it wouldn't otherwise have. He seemed so horrified by his reflection at Ponderosa, but I thought he looked way better than he did at the beginning of the game. 

 

At least where I live, cops can't have beards.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

I thought he looked way better than he did at the beginning of the game. 

Yeah, he had a little bit of the Mike effect... Started the season pasty and doughy, ended up lean and tan and not looking too bad at all.  

[NutMeg]

21 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

Speaking of the Simpsons, who does Bret look like?? There's a character that comes to mind when I see him, but I can't put my finger on it. It's even stronger now that he has (unwisely) shaved his beard.

Mayor Quimby? 

[Rachel RSL]

Heh. My guess was going to be Reverend Lovejoy.

[Guest]

I couldn't un-see Matt Parkman from Heroes once someone posted that pic.  

[Jextella]

I wasn't a huge Bret fan but I really liked his Ponderosa video.  He's a good guy with a good heart.  I was sort of neutral on the guy but I've moved him into my "like" bucket.

[ByaNose]

I've been checking out Bret's twitter and he's in Vegas with Chris, Sunday & other cast members. I'm not sure if they are there just have fun & chill or if there was some official meet & greet. He really does seem like a fun guy & his bromance with Chris is still hot & heavy. LOL!! Too bad the Amazing Race is an afterthought for CBS. I would love to see Bret & Chris. They are the perfect male-male team. 

[Jextella]

20 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

I've been checking out Bret's twitter and he's in Vegas with Chris, Sunday & other cast members. I'm not sure if they are there just have fun & chill or if there was some official meet & greet. He really does seem like a fun guy & his bromance with Chris is still hot & heavy. LOL!! Too bad the Amazing Race is an afterthought for CBS. I would love to see Bret & Chris. They are the perfect male-male team. 

I agree.  Bret and Chris at Ponderosa were fun to watch. 

[Rachel RSL]

I think their was a lot of Bret's personality that was edited out.  At one point when they were debating voting him out, I think it was David (?) who said that Bret was the most likable person out there and Hannah immediately responded "That's true!" I might be misremembering that scene but I'm almost positive it was Bret they were talking about because I remember thinking: "Really???"

[legaleagle53]

On 12/15/2016 at 1:35 PM, ljenkins782 said:

I will never understand why chubby guys who can grow a nice beard don't have them, it gives the face a nice shape that it wouldn't otherwise have. He seemed so horrified by his reflection at Ponderosa, but I thought he looked way better than he did at the beginning of the game. 

Because it makes us look older than we want to look.  Why do you think young men are so anxious to grow facial hair?  It's because they think it makes them more mature.  Why would I, as a man of a certain age, want to grow something that would make me look even older than I already am?

[peachmangosteen]

I think that's what makes the beard work on Bret actually. He has a babyface. Probably due to the chubbiness. But I actually thought he looked good even clean shaven at Ponderosa.

[Rachel RSL]

Did we know that Bret was once a guest judge on Top Chef? (I didn't.)

Edited December 18, 2016 by Rachel RSL

[legaleagle53]

4 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I think that's what makes the beard work on Bret actually. He has a babyface. Probably due to the chubbiness. But I actually thought he looked good even clean shaven at Ponderosa.

I'll take him as a babyface.  I am surprised, though, that he doesn't have better muscle tone, considering what he does for a living.  Come on, Bret, be my workout buddy at the gym.  I really could use one, and I promise that I'll make it worth your while afterwards!  ;-)

[ByaNose]

1 hour ago, Rachel RSL said:

Did we know that Bret was once a guest judge on Top Chef? (I didn't.)

So I guess he was always looking for reality fame. LOL!!! I hadn't heard or seen anything about this. He looks good here and doesn't look that much different now. It must be pretty recent. I wonder when he goes back full time to the force, if not already. I'm gonna sis my Wednesday date with Survivor. And, we have to wait until March. That is soooooooo long. I wonder if it's still going to end in May or will it stretch until June? 

[peachmangosteen]

I always thought he looked familiar and maybe that's why!

[KimberStormer]

10 hours ago, Rachel RSL said:

Did we know that Bret was once a guest judge on Top Chef? (I didn't.)

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

I wonder if Padma made him question his sexuality, as she does to me.

[Lamb18]

I think Top Chef Boston was two years ago. Last year was the CA road trip.

[Special K]

Probably he was just a guest diner, not guest judge!
 

[Rachel RSL]

Semantics. He ate the food and commented on the food while sitting next to Padma so, whatever that's called, Bret did it.  And Lamb18 is correct, it was from episode 2 of the Boston season. I have no desire to go back and re-watch it to see if Bret was douchey or not though.

[J.D.]

On 12/15/2016 at 3:15 PM, ByaNose said:

Weird! I like Brett a lot and his friendship with Chris. I guess I'm missing something. I thought his Ponderosa video was pretty funny. He's a macho gay cop and everyone was shocked when he told them so. That said, I thought he would have done better in challenges. I guess he's such a big dude it was hard to compete with the younger guys and girls.

You're not alone.  I loved Bret and I, too, wish I could see him and Chris on the Amazing Race together.  

[ByaNose]

I just heard Bret on RHAP and he was hysterical. He gave his version of events of the season and it's up to you if you want to believe him or not. He has a great outlook on the game and in life, in general. He admitted that he did have an eye for one of the guys on his season (not Chris.....LOL!!!) but he wouldn't say who it was. He also wouldn't cop to his overall Survivor crush from every season. Personally, I'm still trying to find out what his type is. He said Chris wasn't his type. So is he not into red heads, Democrats, lawyers or guys who from Oklahoma? LOL!!! I'd like to see him play again but I would like to see him win immunity, I don't recall him ever coming close to winning indivual immunity.

[Eolivet]

3 hours ago, ByaNose said:

He admitted that he did have an eye for one of the guys on his season (not Chris.....LOL!!!) but he wouldn't say who it was.

I wonder if it was Adam -- who said he sort of flirted (without saying flirted) with Bret at pre-game Ponderosa. Adam said he just kept smiling at Bret (I think he even said when some of the contestants were in the pool), and Bret would constantly smile back.

(that is, if you believe Adam, the unreliable narrator about his own social game)

4 hours ago, ByaNose said:

He gave his version of events of the season and it's up to you if you want to believe him or not.

I'm not sure I would ever listen to a Bret podcast, but I have to admit this is very intriguing phrasing! Can you elaborate slightly?

[ByaNose]

13 minutes ago, Eolivet said:

I wonder if it was Adam -- who said he sort of flirted (without saying flirted) with Bret at pre-game Ponderosa. Adam said he just kept smiling at Bret (I think he even said when some of the contestants were in the pool), and Bret would constantly smile back.

(that is, if you believe Adam, the unreliable narrator about his own social game)

I'm not sure I would ever listen to a Bret podcast, but I have to admit this is very intriguing phrasing! Can you elaborate slightly?

Nothing bad but every contestant has their revisionist history. You will never really know if it's true or not. Overall, Bret seemed like he was telling the truth but he also thought he could win....just like everyone else. LOL!!!. He seems like the nicest guy.

[thehepburn]

I thought Bret showed that he was the same drunken boob he was portrayed on the show. He was like - I am going to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, all the other survivors before me are lying. He keeps on saying he is always right with his amazing cop skillz and great social game but he couldnt remember this or that or he didnt see this or that. STFU.

[ByaNose]

3 hours ago, thehepburn said:

I thought Bret showed that he was the same drunken boob he was portrayed on the show. He was like - I am going to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, all the other survivors before me are lying. He keeps on saying he is always right with his amazing cop skillz and great social game but he couldnt remember this or that or he didnt see this or that. STFU.

Yeah, some of the memory was a little fuzzy. He said he would have won on his social game. It's been done before but i don't think it would work a second time. He's a good but I'm not sure he's a good player. I've seen worse but I think he is building himself up more that actually exist. BTW! He looks much better with the beard and weight loss from Survivor. Now, he looks.....ordinary. LOL!!!!

Edited January 24, 2017 by ByaNose