RNO Roundtable: ‘Survivor: One World’ Pre-Show Predictions

Kat

William: I can say with a fair amount of certainty that if there’s one player who will be insistent on an all-female finale, it will be Kat. Her bio is all about her love for Xena, and the drive of being a female warrior (even though she describes Gabrielle’s character arc when gushing about Xena in her bio – yes, I’m a nerd). Still, Xena is her hero, unlike “normal” people who idolize “Abraham Lincoln and Donald Trump.” Just let the idiocy of that statement sink in. In further dumb news, she wants to be the youngest female winner ever, which is impossible, as she’s 22, and Jenna Morasca was 21 when she filmed Amazon. She had heart surgery at a young age, but won’t tell anyone, because she thinks that will make the others judge her unfairly. However, as we saw last season, Keith had a pacemaker that everyone could see, and no one held it against him. Hell, part of the reason Whitney cheated on her husband and hooked up with Keith is because she had also undergone heart surgery as a child. Methinks this means that Kat was an alternate for last season. She claims to have never taken gym class as a kid, something CBS also highlights, which means they’re trying to portray her as an underdog who will go far (as opposed to the petit thief who got arrested last year – you can find her mug shot online). I can see her being a latter day Ami Cusack. If she keeps the Xena blinders on, she’ll make the merge then get the rug pulled out from under her when some of the other girls decide they don’t want to be all gung-ho on the girl power (especially if the women are outnumbered). If she keeps an open mind (or if she can control the other girls like Parvati did in Micronesia) she can definitely make the end, and maybe even pull off the win. It all depends on what alliances she forms and what she does with them post-merge.

Sarah: If Jay's our generic guy, Kat's our generic girl: the pretty, blonde southern country girl. The only thing she's got to distinguish her is open heart surgery. She talks herself up pretty well, but in this game, she's Chelsea-lite, and is younger than most of her tribe by several years. Oh, and her hero is Xena Warrior Princess... which shows she has a geeky side, so I'll give her props for that. Still, all in all, I don't think she's going to find her place in her tribe and will last only as long as her use in challenges.

Ken: She lists “girly girls” as a pet peeve, and in a tribe of women, that can be either good or bad. She cites herself as a leader, but, for the millionth time, we all know what happens to leaders. She wants to be the youngest female to even win the game, but she’s 22 and William has already noted that Jenna Morasca was 21 when she won the Amazon. In any case, she comes across as a bit of a narcissist who may well be in for a rude awakening. Jury at best.

Chris: Strike 1: She idolizes Xena the Warrior Princess and wishes she could be “half the woman” that Xena is. Strike 2: She thinks she’s “manipulative” because she “loves(s) boys.” Strike 3: You look at her and every “dumb blonde” joke you’ve ever heard comes to mind. If Kat can use that third point to her advantage and get everyone to underestimate her, she’ll have some real potential. If she lives up to those stereotypes? Well, you know what happens with three strikes …

Jenn: Kat won’t make it past the second week of competition.

Jeffrey: Kat will live or die on her ability to charm women, not men. If she can do it, she'll make it to the merge and perhaps the finals. If she can't, well, she'll be voted out as I think she is the likely to fraternize with the enemy. On the whole, I think she's destined for an early exit.

Stinger James: Her hero is Xena, Warrior Princess. Check, please. Kat has quite the opinion of herself. I love how she boasts that she “talks her way out of tickets” (I’m sure being pretty and blonde has nothing to do with that!), which says her interpretation of herself is likely out of skew. But, there is something to be said for being young and hot on a show full of strapping young men. Hotness will get her to the jury.

David: Kat has said she plans to play without making big moves that might get her targeted but also making sure she’s not the weakest link. That sounds great in theory, but just because you don’t think you’re the weakest link doesn’t mean everybody else agrees. Kat will need to find the right allies immediately or else she’s toast.

Kim

William: A bit of “inside” information for the readers when it comes to Survivor casting. If you want to know the difference between the models and the girls who have real jobs while happening to look good, check out the bikinis they wear for pre-game interviews and photos. If the bikini doesn’t match, it’s a pretty safe bet that this is a “real” woman who doesn’t feel the need to show off her body all the time, and likely doesn’t actually own a bikini. As such, they borrow from crew members who have similar dimensions. Such is the case with Kim (and also, I’m guessing, with Alicia). The reason I went on this mini-rant is because there’s really nothing to say about Kim apart from that. She’s clearly knowledgeable when it comes to the show (comparing herself to Stephenie, Elisabeth, and Amanda), but that knowledge is misplaced. For example, she likes Amanda because she’s tall. If height is all she’s judging on, wait until she meets Leif. She thinks she’ll win because she respects people, and no one would vote off someone who respects them. Um, yeah they would, especially if they think you’ll respect them enough to vote for them from the jury, dingus! She also has the very useful skill of being able to tell what animal a person would be just by looking at them. I can do that too! Kim is a loon.

Sarah: On paper, there was nothing that really drew me to Kim: she seemed smart enough, but trying too hard. Even in her video, I was a bit confused as to why she was going to hide the fact that she was a white-water rafting guide (that falls into the category of making you sound useful but not a threat). Yet, by the end of her video, I really liked her. She just seemed like somebody I'd want to get to know. Charisma can get you a long way in Survivor, and in absence of any other obvious threat factors, it might take Kim all the way to the finals.

Ken: She thinks she’ll win because she treats everyone with respect and honor, asking, “Why would you vote off someone who respects you?” Uh, because you’re trying to win a game, and because someone who’s respectful of others might well be a threat to win it all for that very reason. Like Kat, she could be in for a rude awakening.

Chris: There’s something about Kim that I like. I’m not sure what it is … well, okay, it’s probably her looks. I admit it, okay? But her statement about not going in with a set strategy – but at the same time at least recognizing the place of strategy in the game – gives me hope for her and her flexibility within the game (and as we all know, being flexible is one of the key rules all Survivor contestants should know by now). Her physicality and outdoor skills will make her valuable early on, and I think she has the personality to play her way deeper into the game. I may be totally off-base, since this is more of a “gut” thing for me than logic, but I’m going to keep my eye on Kim (yeah, yeah, yeah …).

Jenn: Jury duty for Kim.

Jeffrey: Kim has exactly the right balance of things I'm looking for in this batch of Survivors. She's not too old or too young, and her business is dealing with high involvement decisions. She's my choice for runner up.

Stinger James: It’s time for the “you seem like a nice lady, but” portion of the program. Her pet peeves are bad bridesmaid dresses and, let me get this right, ahem, “people who honk to reprimand rather than as a warning.” As the kids like to say, stay in your lane, lady! Kim is hitting me as too girly-girl and dainty. And that’s the kind of contestant that people will feel very little guilt about voting out. They can feel like they are putting her out of her misery.

David: The main negative for Kim is that she just got divorced and is looking at Survivor at least in part as a new beginning. But on the positive end, she has outdoor skills and is athletic, which may very well help her all-woman tribe. Then, once they get to the later stages, the men will more likely stand out as bigger threats, so she still won’t have to worry about it being a negative for her. That brings us back to her looking at Survivor in terms of her life rather than in terms of a game – and that could be her downfall.

Kourtney

William: Let me just say right off the bat that I’m kind of crushing on Kourtney right now. I love down to earth girls with awesome tattoos (I’m sure there are several readers and writers on this site who remember how smitten I was with Big Brother’s Lydia a few years ago). I also love that one of her pet peeves is “people who love the smell of their own farts” (mine smell like a summer in Tuscany if I do say so myself). All that said, she’ll probably be one of the first ones gone. She’s clearly on the show for therapy, as her bio is full of remarks about some bad times in her life, and even in her video she admits that she has terrible luck. She also doesn’t want to lie or backstab, and lists people who “chew others and spit them out just because they can” as a pet peeve. Clearly, she’s not cut out for this game. She wants to be like Fabio because he was laid back and honest and still won, but you have to bear in mind that were it not for a late immunity run, he wouldn’t have even made it to the end. Kourtney herself admits she’s not the biggest physical powerhouse. She may even be a liability in challenges, despite a job (motorcycle repair) that shows she’s not afraid to get down and dirty when needed. As she puts it, if there were to be another Heroes vs. Villains season, she’d want to be a hero. However, this reveals her lack of game knowledge, as several of the “Heroes” recognized the need to backstab (Stephenie, Cirie, Amanda, and J.T. chief among them). Kourtney doesn’t recognize that need. Unless her entire tribe is worthless in challenges, and/or she somehow emerges as the best of the bunch, she’ll likely be gone very early. It’s a shame, because out of the whole cast, she’s probably the one with whom I’d most like to socialize.