That goes back to the whole "assuming" thing. Show me where Courtney and Lindsay interacted positively and I'll consider it.

Like I said, talk is cheap. Courtney can talk or threaten all she wants; ultimately that used as a scare tactic. Courtney was willing to play rough to get the case. And, consdiering the morality of the TV show, where Chris makes them race blindfolded on a track loaded with explosives, it's the extreme factor.

It doesn't matter how far away the building is: they can still reach it. Further, Courtney leaving everyone in the building is not morally sound because, and we go back to, the fact that Courtney didn't believe they were at risk.

Okay, so let's assume that Courtney's threat was a scare tactic. But again, she also offered to pulled the others up to safety. How do we know that that's not just a ploy to get them to give her the case, only for her to let them drop afterwards?

Okay, so if Courtney didn't believe Chris was serious about blowing up the building. So here's a scenario of what would have happened: The countdown has alreday started and the players are left with 28 seconds to spare, fine. Since Courtney believes that Chris is trying to punk them, she wastes about twenty seconds trying to conince the others that she would only save them if she got something in exchange. Finally, with ten seconds to spare, Courtney decides that she will only save them in exchange for some of the prize money. This time, the competitors refuse and with only five seconds to spare, Courtney says something like "suit yourself", grabs Harold's belt and makes a run for it. And since there are six players, minus Courtney, they would not be given enough time to escape the building.

It does matter how far away the building is. Since you said that they would have a slower method to reaching the other side. And again, if everybody were to go individually, 30 seconds plus six players equals not enough time to escape. And also considering how far the two buildings were, about half the players would get fried. The method would also not work group wise considering that there would be nothing stirdy enough to secure everybody on the same line.

Because she drove them into trees to shake them off. That would prevent a death from falling.

Because she would need to pull them up to give her the case. It's difficult to hand over such an item when one is hanging from a balloon.

Using the method you had described, Courtney would not be able to escape the building in time. You need a running start to slide on Harold's belt.

Thirty seconds is actually a decent amount of time, particularly when you've got the adrenaline pumping when you're escaping for your life. Further, the explosives were at the bottom of the building, granting extra time as the explosion reached the wire. Further, even if the building exploded, depending on it's structural integrity, the zipline could still be secured.

Not necessarily. It depends on your position. Courtney could have grabbed them or taken them under her control and grab the case, before letting them drop. Seeing that Owen had some sort of pipe secured to him prevents him from falling.

A running start is not necessary. She could have done the same thing escaping the building alone as when they were working together.

That's true. However, fear and adrenaline works in both ways. It could either get you out of situations or keep you into them. While it helps you in life threatening situations, it could also backfire. Like for example, fear could prevent you from thinking straight especially in this instance. Escpaing from a building in tact, takes quick but calm measures. You must stay calm under pressure, otherwise you are unable to think straight. There were many explosives lying at the bottom. They could have all exploded at the same time. The structure of the building may not always be stirdy enough. Even if the building could have remained in tact, the explosives could have gotten to the other players-- especially if they're dangling, just like they were dangling from Courtney-- while holding onto the zipline.

Just a couple quick questions: Do you consider Heather to be the villain of the first season and, if so, what makes Courtney less of a villain at this point? The way I see it, Courtney's playing the game about the same way that Heather did (manipulation, treachery, etc.) except she's more than willing to physically (and unnecesarily) harm her fellow competitors.

I do consider Heather to be the villain of the first season, and I do consider her to be more of a villain then Courtney. The reason being is that Courtney is only about the competition, while Heather set out deliberately to make others suffer. Heather's goals when she read Gwen's diary and kissed Trent were to make Gwen suffer. It had nothing to do with the main reason the competitors were there: To win the prize.

Courtney also doesn't use treachery to advance herself. We see Heather stab Lindsay in the back, but never has Courtney broken a promise. She formed an unlikely alliance with Harold that she, thus far, has stuck with. Her strategy was tailored towards Justin, but she never promised to bring him along in an alliance, neither did she agree not to vote him off. Heather, by contrast, promised to take Lindsay and Beth with her and dumped them the second it was inconvienent. The only personal conflict we ever see Courtney get into is with Lindsay, who was never that nice to her to begin with.

You misundestand. This had nothing to do with why Justin is a villain. I had stated that Justin is still attempting to manipulate Lindsay and Beth, thus, Courtney should not take him at his word that he would give up immunity for her.