S28: Kassandra "Kass" McQuillen: Brains

[Way Wes Jr]

Allegedly.  No Topic for her, so I'll start it.

I think she just made one of the biggest blunders possible on this show.  She was jealous of Sarah getting all of the attention, and sacrificed long term power (that she had with the rest of the original Luzon's,) just because she wasn't the one with the short term power.  Instead of being up 6-4, with the power to get rid of her nemesis whenever she wants (including the very next tribal council!,) she's now at the bottom of a different 6-4 group, with the other side feeling she's betrayed them. (And not really wanting to vote for her if she makes F3.)

You're not allowed to give yourself a nickname.  A pox on CBS for hashtagging it.

Edited April 3, 2014 by Way Wes Jr

[Turtle]

I agree completely.  What a bonehead move by her.  I really think her ego got in the way, and she just couldn't get past Sarah's gloating (which was also a totally bonehead move).  I thought Tash handled it really well, but Kass reacted horribly, throwing away a pretty solid long-term alliance because her feelings were hurt.  

 

You're not allowed to give yourself a nickname.

This is one of my favorite rules for life.  

[KimberStormer]

I have just finally seen it and I have no time to write much but I will say, Kass is in my personal list of worst Survivors ever.  I've hated her since the first episode with her asinine "I'm voting for you because of my immaculate rationality and why are you upset?" to J'Tia, and now I am looking forward, with great pleasure, to her inevitable comeuppance later on, because she just made the stupidest flip I can remember in all my Survivor watching.  Oh it is going to be wonderful.  Also it meant my sweet little Jefra was spared.

[Way Wes Jr]

Eggman (in the John Cochrane thread) said:

I think that Cochran did the right thing, not just for himself but for the game as a whole.  People who play poorly - who treat a person on the outside of their core alliance badly - should suffer the consequences.

In that regard it's possible to interpret Kass' move as being a similar one.  For whatever reason, she was feeling marginalized, and she flipped.  In survivor, when someone feels marginalized, the onus falls on both sides, regardless.

 

And the key part is "For whatever reason,"  in South Pacific the editors choose to show us how Savaii treated John C..  Here, in Cagayan, we've been led to believe that Kass and (Tasha at least, the "Brain" triumvirate at best,) were a unit.  Obviously we're at the mercy of the narrative that the producer's have chosen to give us, so, for whatever reason, we're not supposed to believe that Kass came to see herself at the bottom (though, apparently Trish was able to pick it up,) but instead that Kass is a random number generator of a player who is willing to sacrifice her potential numerical advantage for "creating chaos."

I believe that part of the reason is that the production/editorial staff is incapable of giving (older) women a complex, nuanced, game-playing edit.  Look at Natalie W. and Sophie's edits for example - completely understated.  Denise's win took a seat behind celebrity Lisa, idiot returning players, a hot-mess vs hot-mess catfight for power, and the "strength" of her own ally Malcolm.  Kim S.'s win was sabotaged to look like she was a Survivor PhD playing with third graders.

(Really, other than Parv's FvF win and both of Cirie's non-win's, have any women received a "strategist" edit?)  [Do we need to port over the Gender, Race, Age, and Class Issues thread over?]

[Padma]

Not a big Kass fan, but I have to agree that the producers, editors and Jeff all like the "young, handsome hero" narrative for guys or even "older, lovable hero" for men, but are very very hard on older women.

That said, they've succeeded in making me root against Kass. Sarah, really? And instead siding with a team where you will quickly be picked off (and as noted upthread have made many enemies to prevent a vote your way at F3).  To quote Kass, "I'd like to see the test that made them decide "Brains"."