S45: Katurah Topps

[Whimsy]

From Entertainment Weekly: 

 

Name: Katurah Topps
Age: 35 
Hometown: St. Louis, MO 
Current Residence: Brooklyn, NY 
Occupation: Civil Rights Attorney 

3 Words to Describe You: Calculating, determined, unexpected.

Why do you want to be part of Survivor? To remind myself of the power that the brave and multidimensional woman inside of me holds. And also because I firmly believe that doing things that scare the crap outta you is truly living. 

What's one life experience you feel has prepared you for the game? Walking through the world as a Black person, a woman, a queer person, and a child of poverty. 

Which previous player do you identify with the most? Who do you think you will play most like? Natalie and Spencer, for their never-quit attitudes. I think I'll have a mixture of Natalie's determination, with a tiny bit of Rob's manipulative leadership (but not overboard). But overall, I think I'll be a new player entirely.  

What will you value in an alliance partner? Loyalty so unrelenting that it's illogical. (Think Laurel's loyalty to Wendell.) 

Favorite Hobbies: Hot yoga, eating delicious food in gorgeous locations, and countering systemic racism.  

Pet Peeves: Slow walkers, slow talkers, and people who ooze privilege.  

What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Successfully switching my life from just "surviving" to actually "thriving." 

What is something we would never know from looking at you? I speak French. Oh, and I'm almost color blind.

Who in your life is your biggest inspiration and why? Katurah, the child. That little girl faced some of the most unimaginable obstacles, yet still decided to protect herself, become a civil rights lawyer, and break generational curses, and she grew up and did exactly that! 

Why will you be the Sole Survivor: Because I've been preparing for it for life (even when I didn't realize it)!

[LadyChatts]

Didn't have an opinion on her until tonight, but she stole the show with her comments about Bruce.  I like Bruce, but good for her for not drinking the Kool-Aid, and looking at Bruce as a dad over the fun-loving uncle.  I loved her 'Does no one see this but me', and saying Bruce was being treated like a celebrity and name-dropping people from his season ('Kane, he was from Canada'). 

I'm a little nervous for her, however, if the alliance Bruce has with Brando, Jake, and Kellie actually stays together.    

[Nashville]

6 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

I'm a little nervous for [Katurah], however, if the alliance Bruce has with Brando, Jake, and Kellie actually stays together.

This was what kept striking me every time Katurah made one of her comments about Bruce:

• Were Katurah‘s comments funny?  Occasionally; seemed to me they started out humorous, but got progressively cattier over time.
• Were Katurah‘s comments perceptive?  Definitely.
• Did Katurah‘s comments portray her as being out-of-sync with the rest of her tribe?  Oh hell yeah.

Something is giving me the vibe this might be one of those situations where it’s more important to be in sync than to be right….

[LadyChatts]

I will say that, so far, we haven't seen Katurah say anything that's anti-Bruce to her other tribemates.  So at least she's being perceptive to the situation, or we're being led to believe she is based off of editing.  She may not like it, but may be resigned to knowing he isn't going anywhere and needs a Plan B.  Which is smart if she realizes she's in the minority with her opinion.  What might get her is if she's out of the loop that she no longer has Kellie as an ally, and is on the wrong side of the numbers at TC.  Based off what we saw tonight, I think Jake may be a target of Kendra's, and since he's Bruce's ally (for now) it might come down his name being thrown out, Kendra/Katurah getting their names thrown out in retaliation, and then we have Kellie and Brando in the middle like they said they felt tonight.

ETA: I will say that this whole thing with Bruce is kind of humorous to me.  Here I thought he would just blend right in and be off the radar, but so far he caught the wrath of Emily and now Katurah is over him.  This is a guy who was evacuated less then 24 hours after landing at the beach, and who spent his entire game with a head injury.  This isn't even a situation like Philippines when they brought back medevacs Skupin, Penner, and Russell.  They at least lasted a while in the game, and this was Penner's 3rd trip around the Survivor sun.  With Katurah it's probably a mix of Bruce being a returning player and just not liking the guy, but I just find it funny he's some sort of folk hero to merit this kind of attention.

Edited October 5, 2023 by LadyChatts

[JudyObscure]

Right now Kaleb is my favorite to win, but Katurah is my favorite to watch.  She doesn't seem catty to me at all, that would be whispering smack to a little group of friends.  Instead she tells no one but us about her irritation with Bruce and does a great job of pretending to like him in front of her tribe.  I also find her comments funny, she doesn't seem to hate him she just finds him super annoying and is frustrated that everyone else just adores his corny shtick.

[Nashville]

The only thing I find unsettling about Katurah is not that she has issues with Bruce – everybody’s entitled to their own feelings – but that aside from her initial THs about playing with the baby lawyer, ALL of her THs seem to be about her problems with Bruce.  I will take that with a grain of salt, however; Katurah could be talking oodles about how good the sand on the beach feels between her toes, but anything she says that isn’t Bruce-related may simply be ending up on the cutting room floor.