S35: Lauren Rimmer

[Star Aristille]

Hi.  I hate laziness, and I see myself as a Survivor original who's like no other past player.

It's good to see confidence, especially in a woman.  But let's hope her confidence doesn't cross the line into cockiness and/or arrogance.

[LadyChatts]

She was boring in her video, but very nice.  Something about her I like.  Hope she goes far, but I'm not sure.  I don't know if I see her fitting in.  Being in a male dominated profession and a single mom might benefit her, though.

[Silver Raven]

I like her, but I can't see her going far.

[SVNBob]

21 hours ago, Star Aristille said:

I see myself as a Survivor original who's like no other past player.

Translation: I've never seen the show, so I have no basis for comparison.

[marys1000]

She is really hard to figure.  Says she hates laziness but is most often mentioned just sitting around at pre show Ponderosa.  They are giving her that edit on the show too.  I think its because she has no idea how to act or what to do myself (see below)

Also really hard to figure why Survivor cast her.  So many people try multiple times, she shows up at a casting with friend not even planning on interviewing or trying to get on the show.  

Has nothing prepared for her interview, and yet they call her back.  And also yet, she seems very quite and shy so if she had nothing prepared for an interview she probably barely talked. 

She seems super quiet to me.  Her family has been from the same place forever, worked in the same field forever.  

I get the idea that the people she knows she has known all her life.  She works in a solitary job.  So she seems very nice, kind, sweet but doesn't talk, doesn't even know HOW to talk 

to other people.  Survivor is cruel to people like this.    

Interesting to note that Simone made it sound like Patrick sort of picks on Lauren while the show makes it look like Lauren complains about Patrick.  Simone's take is born out as Patrick is the only cast member who says he doesn't like her - pre-show Ponderosa. 
So there is some crap editing going on.  

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-season-35-player-profile-meet-lauren-rimmer-1041461

[LadyChatts]

Quote

 

Also really hard to figure why Survivor cast her.  So many people try multiple times, she shows up at a casting with friend not even planning on interviewing or trying to get on the show.  

Has nothing prepared for her interview, and yet they call her back.  And also yet, she seems very quite and shy so if she had nothing prepared for an interview she probably barely talked. 

 

If I had to take a guess, it would be this: Redmond claimed in the early days of casting they were looking to do a WA type season again, and were looking specifically for certain occupations.  He said they were having a hard time with casting.  So if they spoke to Lauren a few minutes and found out what she did, maybe they figured she'd be a fit for the theme this season.  They also never seem to know how one is going to go from audition/interview to the show, as we discussed in the media thread with some previous Survivor casting duds.  So maybe they assumed she'd take some kind of leadership role, be a camp provider, be a mom (because Survivor always has to cast a mom role).  Who knows, maybe they knew she'd be an early target and didn't care.  

[marys1000]

I was impressed and also saddened by what sounds like a really hard life.  She mentions several times physically being beaten down and the physicallity of   hauling around crab pots etc. 

all day everyday.  Sounds like her family has never had any money.  She said she is missing the most lucrative part of her season so that must be tough.  Given how hard she normally works

physically maybe she is just......resting.  Like she has hardly ever had a day off and now that she has stopped having to work just........can't move. 

[Guest]

I think maybe they cast her to check off the redneck box.  

Interesting that she may be a smoker.   Maybe that's behind all the sleeping. 

Intersting too that Devin pegged her as an outdoorswoman with possible fishing skills.   And a couple others like Alan pegged her as a cop.  

[LadyChatts]

I don't know how long Lauren will last, but I hope this breathes new life into her game.  I can't say I had much of an opinion of her before last night, but after hearing Patrick's comments, as well as the rest of her tribes attitude towards her, she became a favorite.  I really hope there's another challenge where they can knock blocks down and she's able to show off her centerfielder expertise.  Oh who am I kidding, it wouldn't be Survivor without 10 of those type challenges in one season. 

I am happy she managed to outlast Patrick at least, and am glad she didn't just give up.  Especially since, as she put it, she was getting voted off because he lost the challenge.

[JudyObscure]

I really wanted to like her and any insult she felt like flinging at Patrick was fine with me, but she didn't just insult Patrick, she was nasty to every redhead everywhere with, "I've never believed a redhead a day in my life."  Sweeping judgments like that just rub me the wrong way.  

I do hope she gets to show off her throwing arm at some point, just so Patrick can watch from home.

[Star Aristille]

Good for her for not giving up against Patrick, but the fact is that she's still very clearly toast on Yawa if there's not a tribal swap soon.  I can't see her lasting much longer if their tribe stays the same.

Edited October 15, 2017 by Star Aristille

[Guest]

I guess I don't want to dislike her but I wonder if the redhead slams were more 'game talk' then her true feelings.  Probably not.  I also don't want to dislike her for being dirt poor and yet also a smoker.  But I did it for 23 years, so who am I to throw stones.  

I kind of doubt her fishing skills would do much to help their food situation out there, unless there are crab pots and other things she's used to using.  Spear fishing is a pretty unique skill.  It probably has more to do with your ability to hold your breath for a long time and swim well than anything.  

[LadyChatts]

2 hours ago, Star Aristille said:

Good for her for not giving up against Patrick, the fact is that she's still very clearly toast on Yawa if there's not a tribal swap soon.  I can't see her lasting much longer if their tribe stays the same.

Oh, she's totally gone if they lose again and there isn't a switch up (or very early merge, as Ryan seems to think is happening).  I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt on the red head comment.  I can see where that might have been a heat of the moment type thing, especially since TC is heavily edited.  I'm hoping that one or all of Ali/Ryan/Devon get asked about voting Patrick off, because I am curious if they just considered him too much of a loose cannon to bring forward.  

In any case, I do like a good underdog, and Lauren's probably the best one this season.  If there's no switch up on the horizon, hopefully either the Hustlers win outright on their own, or the Healers tribe decide to throw the challenge and oust Joe.

[Brookside]

Is there no appropriate term for her job other then "fisherman"?  She's a woman.  Is it too much to hope for some gender specific respect?

[Nashville]

4 hours ago, Brookside said:

Is there no appropriate term for her job other then "fisherman"?  She's a woman.  Is it too much to hope for some gender specific respect?

You're about two months behind on that conversation. :)  

I was using the term "fisher" - at least, until I found Lauren referred to herself as a "fisherman".  If Lauren is ok with applying the term "fisherman" to herself, who am I to argue?  :)

[Brookside]

8 hours ago, Nashville said:

You're about two months behind on that conversation. :)  

I was using the term "fisher" - at least, until I found Lauren referred to herself as a "fisherman".  If Lauren is ok with applying the term "fisherman" to herself, who am I to argue?  :)

I didn't realize this had already been discussed.  Thanks for the response.

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, Brookside said:

I didn't realize this had already been discussed.  Thanks for the response.

Not your fault for missing the earlier discussion; it was buried in the episode threads, not in the individual contestant threads.  

Started back around here in the Ep2 discussion, and went on from that.

[Special K]

I wonder why her fish-hook necklace hasn't come up.  That is, if she is still lying about being a professional person-who-fishes.  :)  I suppose if asked, she could say that it's a hobby. 

[ProfCrash]

The fish hook is a common necklace that can be bought in many parts of the world. I did not get  a fish hook when I was in New Zealand but they were all over the place. I went with a spiral instead. It would be easy enough to say "I travelled to New Zealand and bought it there" or "I traveled to fishing area X and bought it there".

And now that I realized that her last name is Rimmer I am going to have to figure out some Red Dwarf  jokes.

[SVNBob]

16 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

And now that I realized that her last name is Rimmer I am going to have to figure out some Red Dwarf  jokes.

Well, she obviously thought Patrick was a smeghead....

And really, the red dwarf is Ryan.

[LadyChatts]

Uh, Lauren for the win please?  Pre season I never would have expected her to make it this far, let alone turn into the game player that she is.  She played everything perfectly tonight.  While getting rid of Ryan or Chrissy was likely a smarter move, I'm not sorry her alliance targeted JP.  They still got rid of someone from the other side, and someone who maybe might have turned into a physical threat.  Or not, because the men this season don't seem to compare to alpha challenge beasts of the past.  I had wondered if they were doing it on purpose to not be seen as threats, but the women are running circles around them in that regard.  And I'm so happy Lauren proved the real life Chucky doll wrong and has proven herself a physical asset.  Wonder if Patrick is thinking that maybe he should have swapped out in that challenge all that time ago, and maybe he would still be in the game.

A Lauren win would be a great outcome to what I'm considering a lackluster season.  Physically and strategically she was on tonight, and I loved how she ignored Chrissy after the JP vote.  Here's hoping her alliance can make it to the end.

[ProfCrash]

That was great game play. She has been playing under the radar but with enough ties to many players and waited until the right moment to unite them. Although, I am not convinced that she needed to make the move now. She could have easily brought her four together, finished off Mike and Joe, and then target the minority three. But she did a great job of selling it and then working with her alliance to make it work with out being a dictator.

[JudyObscure]

I'm warming to Lauren and I guess she's my favorite to win now, but I just can't love her as much as I did Sarah last year.  Sarah is my all time favorite for her observant, careful play while being underestimated by almost everyone. 

Sarah also came across to me as a very sensitive person, eager to learn more about others who were different from her so that she could know and understand them better -- like Zeke.  Lauren, on the other hand, has already made sweeping judgments about people based on superficialities -- like Patrick and all other redheads. 

In spite of that, I like the way Lauren seems to have lived her life in  the same self-sufficient way she is playing the game.

I would much rather watch Lauren, Sarah or Kim play the game than someone like  Parvati, whose flirting style always made me cringe.  To me, she's the Mike Boogie of Survivor.

[NutMeg]

11 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

That was great game play. She has been playing under the radar but with enough ties to many players and waited until the right moment to unite them. Although, I am not convinced that she needed to make the move now. She could have easily brought her four together, finished off Mike and Joe, and then target the minority three. But she did a great job of selling it and then working with her alliance to make it work with out being a dictator.

Weirdly enough, I'm thinking after reading your post that after bringing the four together she HAD to strike the iron while it was hot, and if she had waited, she might have risked that adrenaline going elsewhere. Ashley and Devon, in particular, had been dying to be back in action, they were so thrilled to be called upon, they had to be part of some game changing move right away.  

[LadyChatts]

1 hour ago, NutMeg said:

Weirdly enough, I'm thinking after reading your post that after bringing the four together she HAD to strike the iron while it was hot, and if she had waited, she might have risked that adrenaline going elsewhere. Ashley and Devon, in particular, had been dying to be back in action, they were so thrilled to be called upon, they had to be part of some game changing move right away.  

I agree.  If she had waited one more week, she would have had a very small majority, and all it would have taken would have been someone to possibly flip or let it slip to Chrissy/Ryan/JP and the plan to get rid of one of them might have been done.  I don't know if she could have picked a more perfect time.

Quote

I would much rather watch Lauren, Sarah or Kim play the game than someone like  Parvati, whose flirting style always made me cringe.  To me, she's the Mike Boogie of Survivor.

I love Parvati (I fully believe she should have been the only two time winner, not Sandra), but I totally love Lauren, Sarah, and Kim types as well.  To me, they are just down to earth and normal.  They aren't playing to the camera.  They aren't playing characters.  They aren't looking to make playing Survivor a professional career.  They have a love for the game, and are old school players in a new school environment-meaning they make moves.  Sarah took advantage of her second chance and went to win, not to play to the camera or expect an easy ride.  Lauren especially I relate to because of her background.  Small town girl that's lived in the same town her whole life, working class, single mom.  Okay, I don't have kids, but have known more than enough single parents.  There's just something genuine about her, and I love that she isn't afraid to defend herself or call people out who've tried to wrong her in the game.  Pre-show, I was expecting an early out, or someone that would just ride coattails and maybe even beg to get voted off in the first couple of episodes.  I'm happy she hung in there.  

Edited December 1, 2017 by LadyChatts

[RedheadZombie]

Can anyone tell me where Lauren is from?  She sounds somewhat southern, but she definitely pronounces her vowels in a more coastal manner.

[LadyChatts]

7 minutes ago, RedheadZombie said:

Can anyone tell me where Lauren is from?  She sounds somewhat southern, but she definitely pronounces her vowels in a more coastal manner.

She's from North Carolina.  Since she works in the fishing industry, I'm guessing she probably would live near the coast.

[RedheadZombie]

Just now, LadyChatts said:

She's from North Carolina.  Since she works in the fishing industry, I'm guessing she probably would live near the coast.

Thank you!  I'm a native Chicagoan who's lived in Northern Georgia for ten years, and have family members throughout the south.  I couldn't quite place Lauren's vowels, which are quite different than most southerners.

[GenerationX]

I liked her closing interview.  Any Survivor that recognizes their own stupid move as the reason they got the boot is OK in my book.  She had played a good game all season until the last 15 minutes of this last episode.

[LadyChatts]

I think Lauren was absolutely amazing in every sense.  She's a great model for what a Survivor player should be, and I will miss her the next two episodes.  Hope she gets some decent time at the reunion (you hear that Probst?)  I typically roll my eyes during the loved ones visit, but I loved her and her sister reuniting.  It'd be great to see them play in BvsW3 if they ever do one again.  Or heck, just bring her sister on by herself and let her play.  Let them go on TAR if it makes it to S31.  

Anyway, I fully expected Lauren to be either an early boot or someone that had no game.  I'm so happy she proved me wrong.  Also, she definitely was not petty.  I will say that so far, no one voted off post merge has been particularly spiteful in their parting words.  I expected it from Joe the most, and even he surprised me.  I will be curious to read her interviews tomorrow and see what she has to say about everyone-namely Chrissy, since she's caught vitrol from a lot of boots, and Ben after their blow up tonight.  

Edited December 7, 2017 by LadyChatts

[KimberStormer]

Lauren and sister for Blood VS Water!

I sort of feel like she might have been in a worse mood about being voted out if they'd gone to the vote like 5 minutes earlier, but the craziness and getting to sort of have it out with Ben got it out of her system kind of ?  At least that's how it would have worked for me, I think. 

[peachmangosteen]

Honestly if they don't bring her and her sister back for the inevitable next BvW then they're making a huge mistake.

[GalvDuck]

13 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Honestly if they don't bring her and her sister back for the inevitable next BvW then they're making a huge mistake.

As soon as they talked with her and her sister about how much the sister wanted to be on Survivor, that was my thought as well.  They HAVE to come back.

[LadyChatts]

Lauren's word association.  I usually hate this part of Gordon Holmes interviews, but I liked hers.  I loved what she said about Ryan and JP:

http://xfn-blogs.xfinity.com/tv/2017/12/07/survivor-castaway-lauren-didnt-just-try-grab-idol-back/

Quote

Holmes: Alright, word association time. Let’s start with Ali.
Rimmer: Very nice, but she also was playing her own game. She was gunning for me in the beginning.
Holmes: JP?
Rimmer: He’s very quiet…and he doesn’t have a personality.
Holmes: Simone?
Rimmer: This is bad, but she’s very annoying. She wasn’t a people person.
Holmes: Ben?
Rimmer: Had some good stories. You can tell he’s a good guy. He wanted it.
Holmes: Ryan?
Rimmer: God bless him, he needs to get out more.
Holmes: Ashley?
Rimmer: You could tell she’s strong. A hard worker, gets along with everybody.
Holmes: Jessica?
Rimmer: Nice girl, very naïve, has a very annoying laugh.
Holmes: Desi?
Rimmer: Very sweet…pretty much a follower. She was waiting on people to give her a direction to go.
Holmes: Patrick?
Rimmer: He was all about camera time. He’s funny, but he’s annoying at the same time.
Holmes: Joe?
Rimmer: Nobody likes Joe, but I love Joe. He never shuts up.
Holmes: Chrissy?
Rimmer: She’s going to hate me for saying this, but she worked my nerves. She was constantly trying to analyze something.
Holmes: Mike?
Rimmer: He kept us all laughing. You couldn’t trust him, but you needed him.
Holmes: Cole?
Rimmer: Cole got on my nerves, but I actually like Cole. He’s a really good guy. What he does outside of “Survivor” is awesome. He worked my nerves, I’m not going to lie. But, he’s a great person.
Holmes: Let’s finish with Devon.
Rimmer: I love Devon to death. He’s a genuinely nice guy. And he’s smart and knows how to play.
Holmes: (Laughs) If there was a theme for this, it would be: People who annoy Lauren.
Rimmer: (Laughs)

Edited December 7, 2017 by LadyChatts

[Special K]

OMG, I love her perspective on everyone,  LOL.

[ratgirlagogo]

Quote

 I have a lot of friends who are redheads. When I’m fishing, there are three or four guys who are redheads. And it’s always been a running joke, and I forgot that the world didn’t know about this running joke, that I can’t trust a redhead.

I kind of suspected as much.  And her interview also confirms my feeling that I should NEVER go on Survivor, because it's a cinch that, I would be like Lauren,  in that half the players would "work my nerves."   Too funny.

Edited December 8, 2017 by ratgirlagogo
clarification

[peachmangosteen]

15 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

I would be like Lauren,  in that half the players would "work my nerves."   Too funny.

100%. I would lose my mind. Hell, I do just watching these people!

[enoughcats]

On 12/6/2017 at 10:17 PM, RedheadZombie said:

I couldn't quite place Lauren's vowels, which are quite different than most southerners.

Coastal is the right answer.  Some of the same pronounciations you'll hear all the way up into and around the Chesapeake Bay.

Coastal people love that water and the ones I got to knew who worked on some of the Duke boats at Beaufort had that 'slightly different accent'.

[LanceM]

Another good interview with Lauren.

http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/1137309/survivor-lauren-rimmer-exclusive-interview

Thoughts on Chrissy...

 

SK: Chrissy has been a polarizing player this season. Most castaways we've interviewed didn't have very nice things to say about her. What did you experience with Chrissy?

LR: I try not to be mean, but I have a problem of speaking the truth. Chrissy is very annoying. She tried too hard to communicate with people. Sometimes she would try too hard and it turned people away. Your tone and voice has a lot to do with it, and she had a very harsh, demanding tone. Everybody saw when she was not in control, she threw a fit. You don't play like that. It's a game of everybody for themselves, but she took it to the extreme. She's not one of my favorite players, I'm sorry.

 

and on Ben....

SK: You were clearly really upset with Ben when he tried to turn the votes against you. In our interview with Joe, he called Ben a fucking asshole. What are your thoughts on Ben?

LR: I don't think Ben is a fucking asshole. I didn't think that of Chrissy, either. Nobody really liked Joe because he was very boisterous. He kind of got under everybody's skin, especially Ben's. My relationship with Ben, we started out really tight. He and I did a lot of talking at night because it was either him or myself keeping the fire all night long. We got to talk about a lot of personal things. We grew up in the same category. I respect him in the way he's playing, but he frequently went into that Marine mode. A lot of people didn't like that. He had a goal with a target. He went for that target and played very aggressively. I don't have any hard feelings toward Ben. I was mad, but of course I was upset because I just got voted out. I can't hold anything against anybody because it was a game with all of us playing for the same thing.

[LadyChatts]

Heh, she has the same problem with Chrissy’s voice and tone that I do.  

Funny, in one interview she wasn’t very complimentary towards Ben, and this one she is.  

Edited December 9, 2017 by LadyChatts

[ProfCrash]

OK so this is killing me

Holmes: You said you left the extra vote back at camp. What was the reasoning behind that?
Rimmer: It was actually in my pocket. I was trying really hard not to use it at that point. Things never work out the way you want them to. Once I went with, “I don’t have it, I’m not using it.” I kind of had to stick with that. I needed to convince them that it wasn’t in my pocket. And if they were all going to switch their votes, I had to run with it.

Holmes: Ben was very confident going into that vote last night. Were you worried he might’ve had a secret idol?
Rimmer: At the beginning it never crossed my mind. And then when all the commotion started going on and I watched his facial expressions, I knew something was up. There’s no way you could be that happy. About halfway through Tribal I knew I was going home.

If she knew that something was up and she had the advantage in her pocket, why the hell didn't she use the advantage and send two votes Chrissy or Mike or Ryan's way? This is driving me crazy. Was it a complete brain fart on her part or what the hell? If she uses the advantage and Ben doesn't have an idol, Ben still goes home. She tossed votes at someone who was in a different alliance and can say that she got paranoid during tribal and thought she might go home so she used the advantage as a safety measure. The advantage is burned, but Ben is gone and she really hasn't burnt any bridges because she tossed votes against the other alliance.

If Ben has the idol and she has played the advantage, she stays and has time to explain her actions. I got paranoid, Ben was acting too calm and confident for what he was hearing. I thought he might have an idol so I played my advantage as a safety precaution and thank god that I did.

The worst case scenario is that she doesn't burn the advantage and is voted out. The best case is that she is still in game. The mid point is that she burns the advantage when she didn't need to.

I just don't know what to make of it and it is driving me crazy.

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, ProfCrash said:

OK so this is killing me

Holmes: You said you left the extra vote back at camp. What was the reasoning behind that?
Rimmer: It was actually in my pocket. I was trying really hard not to use it at that point. Things never work out the way you want them to. Once I went with, “I don’t have it, I’m not using it.” I kind of had to stick with that. I needed to convince them that it wasn’t in my pocket. And if they were all going to switch their votes, I had to run with it.

Holmes: Ben was very confident going into that vote last night. Were you worried he might’ve had a secret idol?
Rimmer: At the beginning it never crossed my mind. And then when all the commotion started going on and I watched his facial expressions, I knew something was up. There’s no way you could be that happy. About halfway through Tribal I knew I was going home.

If she knew that something was up and she had the advantage in her pocket, why the hell didn't she use the advantage and send two votes Chrissy or Mike or Ryan's way? This is driving me crazy. Was it a complete brain fart on her part or what the hell?

Personally, I suspect Lauren might be indulging in some ex post facto revisionist recollection here.  I think Lauren was so certain Ben was a “guarantee” (there’s that word again!) for eviction, the possibility of the need for a fallback strategy never entered her head - at least, not until 0.3 seconds after Ben pulled out his real immunity necklace.

And although I doubt you’d ever get Lauren to admit it now, I’d bet at the time she thought any “happy” faces of Ben’s were purely bluff posturing - as evidenced by her total lack of any attempt to throw even a single vote someone else’s way.  It’s either that, or she had absolutely zero notion of how her advantage could be played.

[Aside: So - Lauren’s advantage had to be played during the TC vote, while HIIs [such as Ben’s] are played after the vote.  The ramifications of that particular arrangement are... kinda interesting, don’t you think?  But I digress.... ]

[ProfCrash]

Lauren had a second vote, so it would have had to been play during voting. The same way Stephen's vote cancel had to be played during the vote. Lauren knew how to play it, she had to take the blank parchment during the vote and then not vote during the revote.

I agree it is some serious ex post facto historical revision but it is still driving me a bit crazy. I would prefer her say, Ben got me and I had no clue that I should have used my advantage or have my idol to play.  Just admit it and be done with it but when you come up with this "I felt like something was up" BS then you open the "Then why didn't you play your advantage?" questions. Either she misread the situation and it feels better saying that she saw it coming but did nothing to stop it or she left the advantage at camp and couldn't play it and feels like an idiot for doing that.

[Guest]

She said she "knew" she was going but I'm guessing she felt there was still a chance she was ok in her lie.  No one likes being caught in a lie but if she 100% knew it was be caught lying or go home, I think she would've played that vote.  Or who knows.  We women especially are conditioned to be nice and honest around peers and it can be hard to recognize when it's not worth it.  But if she really knew halfway through tribal she had a LOT of time to weigh her options and realize she had to play it.  So she's either an idiot (I don't think so) or she didn't know, she suspected.  

[JudyObscure]

I think Lauren is just one of those easy going people who choose "flight," in fight or flight situations.  We saw it when Mike was pestering her about her idol -- so she just gave him half.  I'll bet her little girl has learned than Mom will buckle under the whine.

I think Lauren seems like such a nice person, I loved that she came to tribal, after her eviction, looking exactly the same as she did during the game.  No airs and graces with this woman.

[Nashville]

8 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I think Lauren is just one of those easy going people who choose "flight," in fight or flight situations.  We saw it when Mike was pestering her about her idol -- so she just gave him half.  I'll bet her little girl has learned than Mom will buckle under the whine.

I doubt working a fishing boat solo really does much to prepare one life-wise for dealing with confrontational personal encounters, either.