‘Survivor: Cagayan’ interview: Kass McQuillen on Woo’s vote, Brains blunders, and llamas

Kass McQuillen was a fascinating player going into “Survivor: Cagayan,” mostly because there haven’t been that many people like her on the show. Despite our early reservations about if she was going to be able to make it through the first few weeks, she surprised us in not only making it to the final three, but being one of the biggest personalities of the season.

What was fascinating about speaking with Kass last week is that she really knew the game well, owned her moves, and was pretty self-deprecating to boot and admitted to some of her flaws. Even when you don’t agree with everything that she did while out there, it was still easy to come away from this interview and the season as a whole with respect for how she really tried to play the game, and an appreciation for her keeping things interesting rather than just going with the natural ebb and flow.

CarterMatt – Let’s start with the whole ‘Chaos Kass’ business. Let’s be honest: Is that something you came up with before you got out there?

Kass McQuillen – No, and I’m quite embarrassed by it! To have hashtags and stuff like that going on. I mean, it’s funny, but … yeah.

Did you ever think that you were going to become such a big character on the show?

Being the type of person that I am who is low-key in life, who knew? Who knew that I had the makings of a reality TV person? I was a player. I wanted to play the game. I wasn’t trying to be a character; I was trying to further my game and win.

Before the game, I honestly wasn’t sure how you were going to do, but I thought your pre-game interviews were interesting in that you said that rather than trying to hype yourself up, you wanted to bring yourself down. How did you use that in the early going and have the target go on people like David and Garrett?

I have to credit David and Garrett for their own stupid alpha-male complex, and I credit the entire Brains tribe for thinking that they were the final six on day 1, and playing the endgame. It’s like we played the game backwards. (Laughs.)

David and Garrett took care of each other. Garrett couldn’t get the chip off of his shoulder that David had selected him, and David wanted Garrett out. I wanted J’Tia out. It made sense. I was very logical by my gameplay. I was blindsided by the David vote, and that’s when I realized that I had to play the game alone. That set the tone for the rest of the game.

When it comes to looking back at the show and at this season, was seeing J’Tia dumping out the rice and keeping her one of the craziest things you’ve ever seen [tied to the show]?

That was me doing that, and the problem was that when we hit the beach, Garrett had already been there and he was all out in his underwear glistening in the sun, and he had found this waterfall that was two miles from camp. Everybody said ‘what was the decision,’ and Garrett was like ‘what decision’ … That’s what he told us [and Jeff had already said there was a decision].

So I actually asked him point-blank after we had our stupid handshake with Spencer: ‘You need to tell me. Did you find the idol, or what was the decision,’ and he was like (using Garrett voice that cannot be duplicated here) ‘Kass I swear, I didn’t.’ Yeah, because Jeff always lets you jump on a helicopter and then go swimming in a waterfall. The problem was that I could not trust Garrett; I knew he had the idol. For a poker player, he had a terrible bluff. I decided to keep crazy over sneaky.

Did Tony have Woo brainwashed [into keeping him]? I was completely floored when he voted you out.

I think with Woo, he got to him and preyed on his loyalties. Tony played that up, just like he played up with Trish the pact that he made. Woo, I think whoever got to him last was going to swing him over. He was extremely loyal to Tony; I don’t understand why so many people were loyal to Tony, especially after he repeatedly kept them in the dark.

Did you really buy what everyone said at the finale about how they would have voted for Woo over you? With your background and your experience I would have assumed that you would have made a compelling argument in the final two.

I think I could’ve been able to beat either Woo or Tony, had I gotten there. I don’t know. If I didn’t, I just know we would’ve had a great tribal. I would have called the jury out on their bitterness. I wish the final two were me and Tony for the show, just for the fireworks.

That would’ve been so much fun.

Yeah. I even apologized in my exit interview and said that I’m so sorry that it wasn’t me and Tony, because as a fan I would’ve wanted to see these two crazy people who were playing so hard go and try to mop up the floor.

Would your jury argument have been something along the likes of ‘you may not have liked all of my moves or liked me, but I made moves. I was sometimes sneaky and under-the-radar, and I didn’t need to be bombastic in order to get things done, but when I had to I did.’

Yeah, I would’ve owned my game and pointed out what I’d done along the way. I’d also point out that Tony had a few things that I didn’t have, which were a great pre-merge were they were eating and getting along and winning every challenge so that he didn’t really have to work the first half of the game, and then he had idols and allies. If you give me a game where I don’t have to do crap for 18 days and throw three idols at me and give me two loyal minions, by god it would be the most boring season ever because I would be sitting there dominating.

You had a huge moment in the finale where you came back from a huge deficit and managed to win final four immunity? That’s always thrilling to watch, but what was going through your head during all that?

I mean honestly, the only voice I heard out there was my husband’s. And when I saw that challenge, I was afraid of heights and I think everyone in America knows that now, , and I’m not particularly fond of ocean and swimming. When I saw that challenge we laughed and he said ‘well, I guess you are not going to win this one either.’ … I wish they would’ve put the elapsed time because it was like 15 minutes while those guys were working on the puzzle that I was still up there. My rope got stuck twice … But my husband kept saying the whole time ‘all right, do this, do that.’ That was all I focused on.

Was that final three immunity between you and Woo as close as it seemed on TV?

Oh, it was a half-second. We were both cranking that thing up. In my opinion that puzzle was too easy; it needed a few more sprockets because I got up there and put it together right away.

You said earlier that you and Tony would be really entertaining [at final two], but had you won the last immunity, would you have taken Woo?

It would’ve been a tough choice. I don’t know. It was so long ago … Part of me would have loved to have taken Tony, but part of me would have loved to take Tony out and been like ‘I won two challenges, I took out the beast, and I brought his dog,’ as Spencer called [Woo]. It would’ve been a good speech.

Let’s talk you claiming to be an animal handler. This was something that was in your pre-game interviews but not hyped up on the show. Did you keep that lie going the whole game?

Yes, that’s why people spoke llama to me. I never broke form out there. It was very easy for me, since I am an animal handler and my parents are ranchers. On the Brains tribe, nobody had common sense. I was one of those people who did stuff around camp, I lived out in the country … everyone called me ‘farm fit’ and ‘farm smart’ out there because I was doing everything at the Brains camp.

It worked for my social game, because when I wasn’t doing well I said ‘I don’t interact with people. I work alone, and it’s awkward for me to be in this situation. I’m usually out on the ranch with llamas and stuff.’

Would you play the game again?

Who wouldn’t? It’s a great game.

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All in all, another great “Survivor” interview; while we don’t agree with all of Kass’ opinions (we give Tony more credit for finding his idols than she seems to), we love that she actually has them and gave them throughout here. Hopefully, we’ll see her come on a future season at some point.