Last night on Survivor: Samoa, 33-year-old Liz Kim, an urban planner for the Bloomberg administration, finally ran out of luck. Foa Foa's wheeling, dealing Michael Chiklis look-alike, Russell Hantz, did not trust her to present a welcoming united front to the other tribe after she grew impatient with Galu's visiting auditor, Laura. The decision made some sense. So far Survivor: Samoa has held seven Tribal Councils. Foa Foa has attended six of them. If Galu is going to survive after next week's merge they are going to need to make fast friends and influence people.

Earlier today I had a chance to ask Liz about her contention that flying under the radar is pathetic, how she planned to beat Russell in front of the jury, whether she confessed to the tribe about her Ivy League credentials and where she felt Foa Foa went so horribly wrong. Not surprisingly she had some smart and pointed things to say.

Q: Looking back, when did Foa Foa jump the shark? What was the mistake that really led to their exceptional losing streak?

Foa Foa cursed itself when it voted out Marisa, who was a strong player. That didn't bode well and became an ominous sign that the her vote was the beginning of the end for the tribe. If I had to do it all over again, I would've kept Marisa before Mike and Betsy before Ben and Ashley. Those votes would have changed the face of the game.


Q: Did you ever tell the tribe about your Ivy League education and your work in the Bloomberg administration? If not, what did you tell them?

No, I didn't because I thought it would only hurt and not help, possibly even breed resentment. I wanted to do what I could to fit in and not be too different, so I said that I was a city worker, a lowly bureaucrat.


Q: A lot of former contestants have said that they liked and trusted Russell before they saw the series. Was your strategy to take Russell to the end? And if so, what was your gameplan to win the jury vote over him?

My strategy was definitely NOT to take Russell to the end b/c I never trusted him to watch my back to the end. I tried to tell anybody who would listen that I thought he was slippery, but nobody listened. My gameplan was to forge a yuppie alliance with Mick and Jaison and then flip at the merge because I wanted to get off the sinking ship that was Foa Foa and try to align myself with new folks.

If I found myself stuck with Russell at the end, my strategy would have been to play up my physical game, and downplay his social game because he backstabbed everyone he came into contact with.


Q: In an earlier interview you said that flying under the radar was "rather pathetic" and "not really a strategy at all." But it appeared as though you flew under the radar in the game. Did you?

Flying under the radar IS pathetic, but what you don't see is how I started the fire after Ben left, how I gave 110% in the challenges to overcompensate for the lack of female power in my tribe and how I tried to forge a yuppie alliance with Mick and Jaison. My strategy was to "talk less and listen more" because I didn't want to ruffle any feathers. I wanted my actions to speak for themselves, and they did. I was eliminated because I was a serious threat, pure and simple. I played as smart and strong a game as I could have, which saved me from getting voted off sooner despite the fact that I called Russell out on lying about the idol.


Q: In an article in the New York Daily News you commented about your experience, "In this era, it surprised me very much that people can be racists." Were you just referring to Ben, or to someone else as well? Was there more to this than what we saw on the show?

I was referring to Ben, but none of his remarks were directed at me, otherwise I really would have flipped. It's exasperating to be around that in this day and age.

 

-Interview by Henry Jenkins
(Image courtesy of CBS)