Sometimes the key to survival is being strong in challenges. Sometimes the key to survival is being useful around camp. This year the key to survival is not crossing “Evil” Russell Hantz. New York attorney Elizabeth Kim learned this lesson last night when she was the third person to leave the game after getting on “Evil” Russell’s bad side. We spoke with Elizabeth and got her thoughts on Russell’s sexist comments, the Foa Foa blondes, and lawyer jokes.
Gordon Holmes: Hey, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth Kim: Hi, Gordon. How are you?
Gordon: Terrible.
Elizabeth: Oh, sorry to hear that.
Gordon: I’ve have had the song “Poker Face” stuck in my head for two straight days.
Elizabeth: (Laughs) Ew…that is bad.
Gordon: How are you doing?
Elizabeth: Great!
Gordon: I heard a rumor about you.
Elizabeth: What’s that?
Gordon: Some big, burly guy on this reality show said that you’re so stupid, he can’t see how you can walk without falling down.
Elizabeth: I know, but coming from a chauvinistic pig, I’m not surprised.
Gordon: How does he think you got your three degrees? Did you have to crawl up to the graduation podium to get them?
Elizabeth: I think so! He would think that. (Laughs)
Gordon: So, Russell seemed to make life difficult for your tribe with the water dumping and the sock burning. Did anyone have any idea he was up to those kinds of shenanigans?
Elizabeth: Absolutely not. Fortunately I wasn’t victimized by his pranks. But, you have to think that when someone as diabolical as that is in your tribe, who needs enemies? We don’t need Galu when we have a force to be reckoned with on our own tribe.
Gordon: I spoke with Ashley last week, and she made it sound like he was the nicest guy, sneaking them food and whatnot. Did he treat you the same way?
Elizabeth: Oh please. Russell is slimy and I never trusted him from the get go. I treated him with kid gloves. That’s why I escaped being part of his “Dumb A— Girl” alliance because he knew not to deal with me in that manner. So, there was some modicum of respect that crumbled when I called him out. It’s hard because you want to find someone you can trust, and Ashley was looking for someone she could hang her hat with, and she just chose the wrong person.
Gordon: It’s too bad he wasn’t starting a “Smart A— Girl” alliance because you could have been the charter member.
Elizabeth: Again, Russell is a male chauvinist pig. He has a very vulnerable ego and he never wanted to feel like any woman was showing him up.
Gordon: You mentioned what happened when you called him out over the hidden immunity idol. Any idea he’d blow up like that?
Elizabeth: No, and when he did, I knew he had it. He flipped out. As soon as he did, any doubt that I had that he had it went out the window.
Gordon: I feel like we saw a lot of how you were reacting to situations. What moves were you making on your own that we didn’t see?
Elizabeth: I was trying to forge a yuppie alliance with Mick and Jaison. You saw my tribe members, they’re crazy. Ben is nuts, the blondes? Forget it. Russell? No way. My last hope was Mick and Jaison. But what I didn’t know was how Russell had brought them into his corner with the idol. That just made it so much more of an uphill battle.
Gordon: I see a flaw in your logic, because how can you trust an alliance made of lawyers?
Elizabeth: (Silence) I’m a lawyer myself, so maybe I’m biased.
Gordon: Moving on…Jaison seemed to have a rough time out there. Every time they cut to him he was complaining. He even gave up during last night’s challenge. Was he really like that all the time?
Elizabeth: It was worse than you saw. Team spirit was at an all-time low at Foa Foa. And this is where I give Russell credit because he continued to plow through it. But Jaison, for as big as he is, as strong as he looks, he was the biggest complainer. It was so much. It’s not like it’s a walk in the park for me either. But constantly losing and all the rain just cracked Jaison.
Gordon: Is Mick being a leader at all, or is he downplaying it?
Elizabeth: He was not a very effective leader. We chose him, but we overestimated how he would be. He didn’t lead at all. I don’t know if that’s part of his strategy, but we could have used some motivational speaking. He didn’t do that at all.
Gordon: OK, word association time. Let’s start with Natalie.
Elizabeth: Sweet.
Gordon: Shambo?
Elizabeth: Friendly.
Gordon: Laura?
Elizabeth: Hmm…b—h.
Gordon: Whoa…Jaison?
Elizabeth: Whiner.
Gordon: Russell S.?
Elizabeth: Leader.
Gordon: Russell H.?
Elizabeth: Chauvinist.
Gordon: Ben?
Elizabeth: Racist.
Gordon: OK, so what did you take…
Elizabeth: Wait, you forgot Ashley!
Gordon: OK, Ashley?
Elizabeth: Brat.
Gordon: So what did you take from your time in Samoa?
Elizabeth: Sometimes 100% isn’t enough. You can play the best game you can possibly play, but sometimes the deck will still be stacked against you. The way the numbers play out, the environment, and it’s just hard. It’s hard when it’s going against you. And that was very hard for me. I always like to think that I have control over my destiny and can do things to change the way things are going. But this game, under those conditions, there’s very little I could do. Again, we were down to five people and I tried to sway Mick and Jaison, but I underestimated the power of the idol. I think Russell was motivated to play the game because he had the idol. And if any one of us had had the idol we would have been in his shoes.
Gordon: Five years ago, could you have ever imagined yourself seriously discussing “The Power of the Idol?”
Elizabeth: (Laughs) Absolutely not.
Gordon: Elizabeth, thank you for your time, and I want to apologize for my terrible lawyer joke earlier.
Elizabeth: (Laughs) It’s OK, I get that all of the time.