Richie Glanzer will be writing a blog all season long for Rob Has a Website as we continue to cover “Survivor: One World” from every conceivable angle. Click Here to Read more About Rich
“A vote for Bart is a vote for anarchy.”
When Bart Simpson ran against school nerd Martin, both brought in signs in an attempt to persuade their classmates to vote for them by saying, “A vote for Bart is a vote for anarchy.”
Kim is one of the most overrated players ever to play Survivor. Kim is one of the most underrated players ever to play Survivor.
So before I make the case for Kim being over and underrated, let’s set a few truths here.
• Kim’s peak is she’s one of the best first-time players.
• Kim’s floor is she’s a very good player.
• There’s obviously a case for her to fall in the middle.
Kim is Overrated:
As with most successful Survivors, good luck comes into play. I’ll give Kim credit for being in an alliance of five; she did that on her own. But when the tribes merged, she couldn’t have gotten any luckier. She had the top three athletic men in her tribe and three of her four alliance members were also in her tribe. The other tribe was incredibly weak physically and emotionally and Kim had an easy route to the final five.
Once the evil genius Colton left because of a medical condition there was no man who could lead the others. The men’s tribe was the dumbest tribe ever to play Survivor and once they merged, outside of Troyzan, the men had zero pride. You couldn’t give an easier layup for Kat, Sabrina, Chelsea and Kim to make the final five. The only thing that could curtail them reaching the finals is themselves. And Kim has twice made a mistake that could put her in jeopardy.
• I know the Universe thinks getting rid of Michael was a great play, but the Universe is wrong, and I’m right. Now, I’m not on Kim’s Island, (and yes Troyzan, this is her Island, not yours) but she knew she went too soon going after Michael. Kim may not be the one to spill the beans to her enemies, but Chelsea telling Jay he may not “necessarily be next” to go home and Sabrina telling Christina they are going to give a couple of votes her way opened their eyes. And Kim should have had more control of her alliance members if she is going to be considered the best of the best. Had Jay and Troyzan not been so stupid, they would have gotten Christina and blindsided Kim. Kim would be the first person to tell you it was a mistake at the time, as she frantically said, “Lets vote out Christina” to Jay and Mike. This move obviously worked out, but it shouldn’t have.
• In last week’s comment section I said, the only thing that can screw up Kim’s game is a where-do-you-stand challenge. Kim should have prepared for that challenge, and made sure her alliance was on the same page, and have who goes to the reward planned out so there were no hurt feelings. Even if she couldn’t have guessed the challenge, she needed to know that you almost always get to pick two people. Her mistake caused Kat to open her eyes and we will see if she jumps ship.
• You never lie to someone when you don’t have to. At Final Tribal, Kim can defend all her strategic lies, but to blatantly lie to Kat, not only caused her to open her eyes, but if she later votes out Kat, Kat will have a legitimate excuse not to vote for Kim. Worse, after all the strategic lies Kim has told, she can be viewed as a chronic liar with no soul.
Kim is Underrated:
Count Survivor South Pacific Winner Sophie Clarke as someone who is on Team Kim. Sophie says, “If Kim wins, she should go down as one of the best players in Survivor history. She is, hands down, the most aggressive, dominant, and controlling female contestant ever. I don’t think she has made a single mistake yet. I hope she wins.” Marty Piombo also is a fan, “From the beginning of the season she was an early favorite of mine. I think she’s playing a pretty damn good, strategic, subtle game.” Pretty high praise from two pretty good Survivors. But there’s a subtly that I feel Kim is not being recognized for, which only enhances her greatness. And that’s dealing with her mistakes.
Kim is the most aggressive, dominant and controlling female player ever. And that’s exciting because so few females before have so outwardly made all the decisions. And since all of them have seem to work, its easy to get caught up in Kim’s dominance.
But its her quick thinking coolness under pressure that makes me think she might be the best of the best. Kim will be the first person to tell you that going after Michael may have been too soon, and it probably would have been if she didn’t run to Jay and not let him speak to Michael one on one. And then she hurriedly said, “Let’s get rid of Christina.” We don’t know what happened to put Michael on the chopping block, but I do think her offering up Christina at that exact moment was an amazing play. It calmed down a potentially volatile situation, and she was later on able to get Jay to do exactly what she wanted to do, while still duping Michael and not pissing off Christina.
During this week’s reward challenge, she knew she messed up. It was obvious that she was tortured by the fact that she not only won, but didn’t take Kat. Kat was also mentally tortured as she didn’t want to leave her alliance and join Troyzan, but she doesn’t want to be considered a weak player. We have to see how this plays out, but I’m predicting Kim shows Kat enough love that Kat makes a mistake, and stays loyal.
Another quality that I think is great, that isn’t being mentioned, is her awareness of the other players’ feelings. OK, so it was pretty easy to see that Kat is pissed, but it’s more than that. She knew Michael was oblivious and Jay wasn’t. She knew Troyzan could be easily duped, and then noticed when Troyzan could no longer be easily duped (though that again was pretty easy since Jay told her). But, the point is, more than any other player, she knows what the other players are thinking.
Lastly, she’s gracious, at least on the outside. When Troyzan won immunity last week, she never once yelled at him. She was honest with Troyzan when she realized there was no reason to lie, and though Troyzan wants Kat to make a move, you can tell he respects Kim’s game. Kim is clearly thinking ahead, and pandering to the jury, although maybe a little too much.
Richie’s View:
While I do think Kim is both overrated and underrated, I feel she is playing an excellent game. I wouldn’t say it’s the best game ever played by a rookie, but if she wins, I will agree with Sophie that it’s the best game a woman has ever played, and probably in the top five of all first-time winners. I am hoping someone votes her out, because it will make amazing TV, but if she makes it to the finals and doesn’t get rewarded, it’s a travesty.
Now, the awards.
Richie’s Hero:
Just a reminder, the hero is someone who improved the most from one week to the next. Kat is clearly that person. Her eyes are wide open now, and she made it publicly known she doesn’t want to be viewed as a weak player. Troyzan pulled a move right out of the Godfather on his way out and implored her to, “Do it!” If she can somehow align herself with Christina, Tarzan and Sabrina, she would probably be rewarded for the move, and would win Survivor. Now she just has to, “Do it!” My prediction is she won’t, but I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that she will make a big play and I do think she’s severely underrated.
Richie’s Heel:
I was going to put Kim, because I feel Kim made a huge mistake in winning the reward challenge, and not taking Kat. But at the end of the day, she’s too smart to not recognize if there is a blindside coming her way, so I don’t think her mistake will be fatal. Plus, I seriously doubt both Kat, and Sabrina will agree to blindside Kim.
Which brings me to my heel.
Sab, you are one of the best soldiers to ever play this game. You are smart, athletic, and likable. But with three people making it to the finals, and not two, the soldier will not get any votes. You are the caddie, and Kim is the golfer so everyone who votes for who played the best game, will vote for Kim. And though you are likable, Chelsea is probably more likable, and will get the anti-Kim votes. You wanna win? You gotta be the one to take out Kim. And it’s got to be known it was you. Right now, I’m not sure you have it in you, though I hope I’m wrong.
Richie’s Thoughts:
When Tarzan said whatever crazy thing he said at one of the challenges and Probst said, “I was just about to say that,” I busted out laughing. If I handed out buffs via Twitter, you would get one.
Can these challenges suck any more than they do? Yes, however they would call it Big Brother. But Jesus, what happened to physical challenges??? I actually am a fan of the reward challenge, but Immunity should always be a tough physical challenge. Always.
Speaking of that horrid challenge, every girl that jumped in the air are non-competitive dolts. OK, that’s too harsh, but I love that a girl couldn’t get out Troyzan. Yeah, the girls kicked the guys’ asses mentally, but were terrified of them physically. It drives me nuts when people are so uncompetitive. They should have wanted to take out Troyzan themselves.
Up to now, Christina has not played a great game, but for people to be saying all the mean things about her pisses me off for several reasons.
• Mean people really do suck
• She’s been behind the 8-ball all game. She’s always been near the bottom of every totem pole, and yet she’s still made it pretty far. I was glad she showed she has balls by voting Chelsea’s name and though she should have went with Troyzan the week before, we may not realize the reason she didn’t.
