Interview with So

EW: It’s got to be hard because Jeff Probst is always saying how you have to play big to win this game, but a lot of times when you do that you get voted out early as well.
SO KIM: That’s true. And what you can’t expect is the people that you are playing with, and I had some of the savviest players that have probably ever been cast, so that’s what I was up against. So I tried to play big, and unfortunately it just didn’t work out in my case.
Let’s go back to that fateful moment where you and Joaquin had this choice to either be honest and bring back a big back of beans to your tribe, or to deceive and bring back a small bag, but get a clue to the location of the hidden immunity idol.
You’re forgetting, there was a neutral choice as well.
Ah, of course, the neutral choice! We’ll get to that in a minute, but you seemed a bit hesitant to go for the clue and that Joaquin was really pushing for it.
Absolutely. You can tell I was hesitant, but it was edited and I was actually much more hesitant. I actually tried to convince him for a little while that that wasn’t the best choice. And I hemmed and hawed. And what I didn’t realize at that moment just five minutes into the game is that Joaquin didn’t really understand the game. I knew the game much better than him and I really should have gone with my gut. That’s one of the things Jeff always says—listen to your instincts. You’ll fail when you don’t. And my instincts at that moment told me it wasn’t the right move. It was too early in the game. But you get out there and you’re so excited and want to make these big decisions and there’s an idol out there for you. My impulses took over.
Who came up with that absolute terrible lie about you all selecting a neutral option because you were worried you would be penalized for taking the honest option, which makes absolutely zero sense whatsoever?
I wish I didn’t have to own up to it, but it was me. It comes across as a pretty, pretty lame lie—I’ll own up to that fully. But you’re in that moment and have to come up with something, and the only thing we could come up with in thirty seconds was neutral. That’s all I could come up with in that moment.
Your other option would have been to agree with Joaquin to go for the clue, but then sell him out and tell everyone the truth once you got back to camp and said he insisted on it.
You’re right, I could have. What they also didn’t show was Joaquin and I talking about it many, many times. And what I realized about him was by the time we had committed to this lie, he didn’t understand the game and I knew he would be in my pocket and have my back no matter what. What they also don’t show is I also thought I had a very strong alliance with Shirin—or Shayleen, as I called her multiple times. I actually thought the three of us were going to work very well together. I actually told Shirin about the clue, so you don’t see any of that. It wasn’t like we came back and didn’t tell anyone about it and just got caught. We actually choose to tell a couple of people about it. That just didn’t get shown on the episode.
Why so aggressive about trying to get rid of Carolyn instead of seeing what the rest of the tribe was thinking?
I knew that the three girls were going to be on the outs. If we lost that first challenge, we knew that it was going to be one of the girls. And the three guys brought up that they wanted to be a in a four-person alliance with me and the three gentlemen. So Shirin seemed to be on the outs but I had promised Shirin I would work with her. I placated her a lot. I kept telling her we had her back. So it was really more of me being loyal to her for my alliance—or what I thought was my alliance with her. But after she did not do well in the challenge there was a lot of paranoia and things started to switch up after that.
Did you know Carolyn had found the idol?
I had no idea. I was completely shocked. We assumed she wasn’t looking for the idol at all so she must have found it fairly quickly and at a point when we had not looked as hard as we thought. So yes, that was a complete surprise and Tyler was the only person who knew going into Tribal.

Weekly $tats.

fantasy4reality.com Weekly Totals

How Points are Scored

How Points are Scored	Points
Contestant Survives Week 1	10
Contestant Survives Week 2	20
Contestant Survives Week 3	30
Contestant Survives Week 4	40
Contestant Survives Week 5	50
Contestant Survives Week 6	60
Contestant Survives Week 7	70
Contestant Survives Week 8	80
Contestant Survives Week 9	90
Contestant Survives Week 10	100
Contestant Survives Week 11	110
Contestant Survives Week 12	120
Contestant Survives Week 13	130
Contestant Survives Week 14	140
Contestant Survives Week 15	150
Contestant Survives Week 16	160
Contestant Finishes in Third Place	200
Contestant Finishes in Second Place	250
Contestant is Named Sole Survivor	300
Contestant Engages in a Screaming Fight With Another Contestant	10
Female Contestant Cries	10
Male Contestant Cries	20
Contestant Lies About His or Her Background (Points For Each Lie Awarded Once Per Season)	30
Contestant's Tribe Wins Reward Challenge	30
Contestant is Chosen to Share in the Reward	30
Contestant Shares or Surrenders the Reward	40
Contestant's Tribe Wins Immunity Challenge	40
Contestant Kisses Another Contestant. (A "Kiss" Means Anything Other Than a Peck on the Cheek. A Contestant Can Receive Kissing Points Once Per Setting)	50
Contestant is a Member of the Jury	50
Contestant Votes Against His or Her Alliance	50
Contestant Finds the Hidden Immunity Idol	50
Contestant Wins Individual Reward Challenge	60
Contestant is Given the Hidden Immunity Idol	70
Contestant Wins Individual Immunity Challenge	80
Contestant Successfully Plays the Hidden Immunity Idol to Survive	100
Contestant is Voted "America's Favorite Contestant"	100
Contestant Receives Medical Assistance	-20
Contestant Sits Out of a Challenge	-30
Contestant Audibly Prays	-40
Contestant Wastes a Hidden Immunity Idol	-40
Contestant Drops Out of Immunity Challenge for a Tempting Gift From Jeff	-50
Contestant Quits the Show, is Thrown Off the Show or is Forced to Leave Due to Injury or Illness	-100

Some Bests From Jeff

BEST SEASON
“It’s a toss up right now between Heroes vs. Villains and Brains, Brawn and Beauty. And I’m probably going to go with Heroes vs. Villains right now. But I like both of those and I like both Fans vs. Favorites.”

BEST WINNER “Man, that’s a tough one. If you look at our show, this is what’s fascinating: white, Asian, Hispanic, African-American, male, female, straight, gay, tall, short, fat, skinny, ugly, beautiful, smart, dumb, old, young. Everyone has won this game—from John Cochran, the least likely, to Boston Rob or Parvati, the archetypes for the manipulative types. It’s hard to pick one favorite winner but I’m going to pick Cochran, and the reason I’m picking Cochran is if I just look at the show from afar, Cochran fulfilled the poster, the premise, when we started—which was, on any given day anything can happen. You’re never out until you’re out. And Cochran is the guy who should have never been on the show. And he turned his liabilities, his social awkwardness—he turned that into asset and figured out how to win the game, and for that reason, he’s the guy you would put up there and say, ‘That should remind everybody that no matter whatever it is you do in life, it’s possible.’”

 BEST NON-WINNER
“I think I would put Spencer in that slot right now because he’s not awkward like Cochran but he is an outlier in that he’s a young brainy kid who socially wasn’t as skilled. But he really learned so fast and he was really confident and had to temper that confidence and get humbled a little bit, and then made a run even when everything was against him. I put him in there with Rob Cesternino. They’re very different types of players but I think given the chance to play again, Spencer would be a threat in the same way that I think Cesternino now that enough time has gone by—I think if Rob came back, he might have a shot. I think the last time he played in the All-Stars, everybody felt like they knew his game and his ticket was up. But we’ve had so many people play now that the two of those guys together on the same tribe would be pretty fun.”

FAVORITE CHALLENGE
“From a show standpoint, the Ba Ba Booey [in Palau], because it lasted 13 hours. So many things happened that challenge. We had no idea it would go that long. When we tested it, I think it went 45 minutes. So the sun starts to set and we have no lights. We’re out in the middle of the ocean. We have guys scurrying back in a boat to base camp to get a generator and get some lights that we can throw up. So in the meantime, we light some fires. And Tom Westman says ‘Uh-unh. I don’t want fires. The smoke is blowing in my eyes.’ And our game is built on fairness so we said ‘Okay that’s not fair. Get rid of the fire.’ “Now we’re still waiting on lamps to come and now we’re in like, hour 5, then we go to 7. Now I got to pee. I’m starving and I’m thinking, Oh My God, this is hilarious. I’m complaining about having to go to the bathroom or want some food while watching people who at that point have been living for 37 days with nothing. The irony of all of that! And then it goes and goes and goes. And then finally Ian opens the door for a life lesson from an elder who schools him, and then we have an impromptu Tribal Council on the dock as they’re getting ready to get in a boat and head to camp. We’ve never had that many elements play out in a challenge. So for that reason, that’s my number one. “But the challenge that I secretly like the best is the one where we put a railing in the water and we make them hold on to the railing and just sit there until the water. And the tide rises so high that it starts to drown them and they’re shoving their nose up through the railing, because it is such a fight or flight moment. You’re instincts are telling you, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to drown!’ But your brain is saying ‘I’m not going to drown. All I need to do is flip my head up around this iron gate and I’m fine.’ So it’s panic versus thought, and this idea that I want to win but how long can I hold my breath? Oh my God, here comes the water again! I love that torture!”

BEST TWIST
“Up through season 29, I would say my favorite twist is probably the hidden immunity idol. It’s just given us so much story that I laugh when people hit me on Twitter and say, ‘You should do a season without any idols and without any twists.’ And I say, ‘You know, if you think through that for a minute, this is why you can’t always listen to the audience because that makes no sense.’ That’s given us so much story, and when Russell started finding them without clues it evolved yet again. But I will say, in season 30, the theme excites me as much as anything we’ve ever done. Because it’s so real. It’s a real thing. People really are White, Blue, or No Collar. People are going to ask themselves, which one am I? And we do a new twist that’s taking the game to another level. It is jumping the shark, as we’ve done so may times, and pushing the envelope. And it’s interesting how it plays out. It’s very Shakespearean in how it plays out and I imagine that we’ll do it again. And I can tell you that for seasons 31 and 32 we’re contemplating doing another evolution in the game. And those are the things that are on our white board. We have this virtual white board for our creative team, and there are things that have been on there literally 13 years. And 13 years ago we were like, ‘No way, we can’t do that.’ And eight years ago you go, ‘Enh, it’s not quite right.’ And five years ago you go, ‘Maybe.’ And then suddenly you go, ‘You know what? I think it’s time.’ And that’s what fun about a show that’s been on for 30 seasons is that you ultimately get to try all the ideas.”

Jeff Breaks Down Cast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOkeynjDnwQ&feature=youtu.be

Jeff Probst

Gordon Holmes: What can we expect twist-wise for this season?
Jeff Probst: Twists this season…I think are going to surprise the players because of how simple it is. We don’t have a lot of twists planned. Our big twist out of the gate hinges on one change in the game. We’ve often done something where we say, “Pick one person to make a decision on behalf of your tribe.” That’s worked well. The nice thing about having one person is that no one knows your lie. So, what we’re saying is you have to share your lie. Two people have to decide whether or not to deceive the tribe. And now you’re linked with them. If you lie, they know your lie and you know theirs. What do you do? Do you get rid of them because they know or are you linked with them to the end? And part of the lie is a clue to an idol. Who gets it?
Holmes: In “Survivor: Cagayan” the chosen players had to decide between a bag of rice and a clue. To differentiate this twist; if you take the clue, you still get a smaller bag of rice to throw the rest of the tribe off of your scent.
(EDIT: To clarify, the way the twist works is two people from each tribe will have to make a choice between a big bag of BEANS and no immunity idol clue or a small bag of beans and an immunity idol clue.)
Probst: We’re hoping at least one tribe takes the bait. Cause when we have our switch, which we always do, people start comparing stories.  In a perfect world, the White Collar tribe lies. They live up to their name and they deceive.
Holmes: Why do you assume White Collar people will deceive?
Probst: (Laughs) They play the game the way it’s meant to be played. You make up your own rules. Given the chance to lie, and I don’t know about it? You will lie every day, all day. Maybe I’m wrong, but if I’m playing “Survivor,” that’s what I assume you’re going to be doing.
Holmes: With the economy in the state it’s been the past decade, is there any concern that the White Collars might be viewed as villains? Could this put them at an immediate disadvantage?
Probst: I don’t think any category puts you in an advantageous position. I think it’s a great crutch if you want to do that. Look at Cagayan, Morgan could have easily said, “What? Don’t just call me a pretty girl!” Instead she said, “I should be on the beauty tribe. I am hot and hot opens doors.” Anyone who doesn’t see that is being disingenuous or is blind to how the world works. In the same way, they all have things that are good qualities or bad qualities. If I was the White Collar tribe I’d say, “Damn straight I make the rules. I intend on making a few out here.  But, I have the work ethic of a Blue Collar and the ‘eff you’ of the No Collars.” If being called White Collar makes you uptight, then you probably are.
Holmes: They aren’t villains, but you’re expecting them to lie.
Probst: Lying on “Survivor” isn’t a villainous move. Lying is gameplay.
Holmes: You can get voted out for lying.
Probst: Sure! You can get voted out for lots of things. This is how I play “Survivor,” I go for the home run. I’m not interested in third or thirteenth. You’ve got to take a big swing. If I’m on a tribe and I get paired off with you and I say, “Dude, what do you think?” And you say, “Absolutely not, we’re telling the truth.” I say, “Just what I was thinking.” If you say, “I don’t know…” I say, “We’re lying, brother!”
Holmes: (Laughs)
Probst: That’s how you play! We’re giving you the opportunity for an idol! You can win the whole game based on the alliance you make with the power of an idol. Or, you can become a target. Are you going to sit in the shade or play in the sun?
Holmes: I’m not knocking lying, I’m just questioning why one group is more likely to lie.
Probst: You know what? Then I’d vote you out.
Holmes: But we had a deal!
Probst: I’d make a lie with you and then I’d get rid of you as fast as I could. Hopefully before the merge.
Holmes:  Soulless. Man without a soul.
Probst: So in a perfect world, the White Collar tribe lies, the Blue Collar tribe tells the truth, and the No Collar tribe debates it.
Holmes: Are we going to see the return of the Tyler Perry idol?
Probst: The Tyler Perry idol is not coming back this season. But, you say that with a little bit of a…did I sense something there?
Holmes: I wasn’t a fan because it reminded me of “Cook Islands” where Yul had the super powered idol.
Probst: I still submit; look at history. Look at the live show. When I said, “Would you have liked it if Spencer had found it?” And it was a standing ovation. It just fell into the wrong guy’s hands.