Online Q&A Session with Season 65's 10 Kill Winner - Karen Ruiz

Today, we bring you a special interview with Karen Ruiz, top killer and co-winner of Season 65 of SOTF-TV. The questions contained herein were submitted by many of our fans and readers. In cases where a question was submitted multiple times, we have given credit to the first person to suggest it. Questions were edited for flow, content, and length, to best facilitate a productive dialogue.

This interview was conducted through email.

HugzTwe1ve: How did you feel when you realized that Zach was dead, meaning that you had gotten your tenth kill and were going home?

K: I was very relieved. I thought that would be the end of things. I had no idea Jhamel would attack me anyways. For just a few moments after I heard it, I thought that everything would just instantly be okay.

TintiddleBambino: Why did you never play the team game and try to join up with the other members of Purple Team?

K: Teamwork was a very risky thing, and didn't hold much use for me. I didn't need the other members of Purple Team, and their presence would have complicated my own movements and actions. I was also pretty sure they could not be trusted in the long run.

AndreaP.Jackson: You said the teams were fake at one point. What did you mean by that?

K: I was pretty sure that, if multiple people on one team survived until the end, the producers would still only let one survive. It's more dramatic that way, and that matters a lot to them. In a situation like the island, taking anything for granted is very dangerous, and it seemed like the others just accepted that the teams were legitimate. That seemed like a very dangerous choice to me.

Istingvert: On a related note, why did you attack your own teammates? Did you know they were on Purple Team before you opened fire?

K: I did. I wasn't planning on going for the ten-kill deal at the start. Initially, I just wanted people to know I wasn't an easy target, and I figured that killing my assigned teammates would probably be easier, since they wouldn't be expecting me to attack and might hesitate to fight back. I also wanted to deal with them quickly, to avoid any chance of them trying to betray me later on.

Rainbow73: How did you feel upon getting your first kill?

K: I was scared, but also a little relieved. As soon as it happened, I had cleared one of the biggest hurdles involved in being on the island. I wasn't particularly happy to have killed a boy in front of all his friends, but I didn't get very much time to think about it.

MMendez: Which kill was the hardest for you?

K: The last. I didn't have as much of an advantage when confronting Zach as I did at most other times, and he had experience of his own, so he was not an easy target. He wasn't a very good shot, but he was more focused on killing me than he was on surviving our fight, which made him very dangerous.

tmlxfly: At what point in the game where you most scared that you wouldn't make it out alive?

K: Before I opened my pack. Until I knew I could take care of myself, I was pretty sure I was going to die. Other times were scary, but I always had options. I could always at least do something.

TheThingInYellow: Why do you think you actually did survive?

K: I survived because I wanted to and because I didn't lose focus. My whole time on the island, I was always concentrating on getting off it, which kept me safe most of the time. I didn't let other things take priority, and I always kept my guard up. I was also very lucky.

WayIce: Why did you decide to go for the ten kills instead of playing it safer?

K: You assume that going for ten wasn't the safe choice. Given what happened at the end, I would disagree. Ten was something I could attain at any time, and it didn't preclude making it out the more conventional way. When it was down to the finalists, though, they were all forced to fight in one small area, with everyone prepared and fighting. I would have been their first target, and having to fight every surviving person would not have been easy, even if everything went perfectly.

Taktical: You threw away weapons at several points. How come?

K: I had more than I needed, and was fairly certain I wouldn't need to come back for them later. Whenever I had to abandon equipment, I tried to make sure nobody else could recover it to use against me later.

TargetLady: What did you think about endgame?

K: I only watched it a day or two ago. I don't really understand why they did what they did. It's not how I would have approached things. I've never watched much SOTF-TV, and honestly I really have a hard time understanding most of what the others did on the island. How Shawn and Mason decided on who would live, I would never have agreed to that. Life is too valuable to leave to chance.

NickSheely99: How do you feel about Mason Ross winning the game alongside you? Do you have any resentment towards him?

K: I don't resent Mason making it out. Two people surviving is better than one. I'm surprised he was the one, but not unpleasantly so.

AnitaP: Who do you think should have won?

K: Should have won? Nobody "should have" won in any way that means anything. The island isn't about morality, or trickery, or skill, or anything like that. It's about staying alive, and Mason stayed alive better than everyone else. That's really all there is to say.

Tickopleb: Was there anyone on the island you wish you could have saved?

K: There are people I wish were not on the island in the first place. Myself, Kathy, Brenda, Alicia, Brennan. Once we were there, though, that was that. If I'd really wanted to save people, then I would have tried to do it.

Animediac: Was there anyone on the island you wish you could have killed yourself?

K: No. Killing was never personal for me. That's the reason I didn't get in trouble when I was doing it. Four or five people made it personal when they came after me, and it messed them up. It got them killed, or hurt, or at best did nothing for them.

Fenrir: You and Vincent Sullivan had a couple of run-ins during the game. How do you feel about the way he eventually died?

K: I feel bad for Vincent. I don't know how much you hear about what we were like back in Detroit, but Vincent was a rough boy. He made me nervous. On the island, though, he got caught up in everything. He wanted to stay alive, but he was also acting. I think he was trying to be a character, to be entertaining or mimic what he'd seen before. I think a lot of people did that. I don't understand why they did it, but it got them killed. Nobody in the movies takes time to treat their wounds, so why would he think to do it?

Sullifan: Vincent proposed a fight once, and expressed a desire to clash with you at several points, yet you always avoided that conflict. Why did you do that?

K: I wasn't sure I could kill him, especially without getting hurt, so I didn't try. There was nothing to be gained by fighting him, since I was pretty sure I could avoid him. He wasn't someone who would ambush people, so even if he had caught up with me, he would probably have given me enough warning to put up a fight. Basically, there were easier targets and he wasn't an immediate threat.

LCGinsberg: Do you wish you'd killed Jhamel?

K: Yes. He ended up dead anyways, so it wouldn't have been any worse for him in the end. If I'd had any idea what he would do, I would have shot him and spared myself a headache.

Prexylien: Which of the previous winners/survivors do you most want to meet?

K: I'm not familiar with any of them. I've met Jared, and a few people have mentioned some others, Dylan and Kieran, I think. Those are the only names I know. I've seen a few others on the news, but I can't remember who.

Pall-MallMongo96: Do you think you would have been able to make it to the end if you hadn't earned release under the ten-kill rule?

K: That depends. If the ten-kill rule hadn't existed in the first place, I think I'd have had a decent chance. I would probably have stopped actively targeting people after the third, and would have found a quiet place to wait things out. My plan, if I made it to the finals, was to lay low and let everyone else deal with each other, and take out anyone who came looking for me. With a lower profile, I think that would have been possible.

If they'd just left me after I hit ten, then I'm not so sure. I think I could probably have handled Jhamel if I hadn't dropped my guard. I don't think he knew how to use his gun very well. It would have been pretty demoralizing to be abandoned, though, and I was enough of a target by that point that I would probably have had to fight anyone I met. I wasn't feeling very good—a lot of people hurt me, and I was very tired. It would have been very hard and with everyone targeting me I really think the only thing that could have pulled me through would have been luck.

SportyAnarchy: A lot of the contestants gave us quite a show with their alternate costumes. Why didn't you ever try on yours? Were you camera-shy?

K: Other people were playing games and acting for the cameras. I was trying to stay alive. Playing dress-up for sex appeal is one of the least worthwhile things I could imagine doing, as well as being degrading.

KaptainBugs: Would you consider doing endorsements for the Glock 17 you used during the game?

K: Glock has contacted me about this, and I'm going to be voicing a couple advertisements for them. It's a good gun. It was easy to handle and it held up well. It was the best of the guns I came across, and I was very lucky to be assigned it.

ShawnxMae: Have you talked to Mason since the island?

K: Not really. I've seen him at a few functions, but we haven't interacted much.

AnnSlayr: Have you spoken to your family since the show?

K: I have not.

DeathByMushrooms: Who would you have teamed up with given a choice?

K: I had a choice. Going for ten, the teams didn't matter to me, so I could have worked with anyone. I didn't, because teaming up wasn't a good way to stay alive.

JeremiadOeuvre55: What do you think of Jared?

K: Jared's a good man. He's been very kind to me since I got back from the island. I think he did his best to look out for everyone on his team, and not just because he was getting paid.

Gat: What kind of career do you want, now that you have your whole life ahead of you?

K: I don't know. It's a lot to think about. For now, I'm going to be very busy doing advertisements.

BlueTactic: When did you first think you could make ten kills?

K: The first time I actually thought it was within reach was after I shot Kathy. Until then, I kept telling myself that it was too much, but after Kathy I realized that I was more than two thirds of the way there already.

Lilly.Williams: What would you have done if your tenth kill hadn't bled out when he did?

K: I would have tried to kill Jhamel, probably, since I don't think he would have let it end any other way. If I'd gotten him, that would have made ten too. If he had been willing to avoid a fight, I would have searched out someone else, an easy target, and killed them instead. I wanted to get to ten as quickly and safely as I could, so I would have pursued that.

KennyFan8937: What do you plan to do with your rather extensive collection of bandannas?

K: I'm going to hang onto them. I think people would be disappointed at photo shoots if I didn't bring them along.

BonesBuddy: Why did you collect the bandannas in the first place?

K: Initially, I thought they would keep me safer. A lot of the other people on the island took the teams seriously, and displaying several bandannas at once could buy me a few seconds if someone thought I might be on their team. It was also to ward off aggressive students, who I hoped would realize I was not an easy target.

Singrow: What advice would you give to people in future seasons?

K: As soon as you find out you've been picked, you have to take a moment to really think and make some decisions. The most important thing to do is to decide what the one thing you want more than anything else is. For me, that was to stay alive. I think, for some other people, it was to get famous, or to keep other people alive, or to be moral people, or to make their families proud. It doesn't really matter.

Once you know what you want, you do whatever you have to in order to get it. You don't worry about anything else; just go for what you want with all the effort you can muster. If it's what's really important to you, then it will be worth it. You need to be honest with yourself, though. If you're honest with yourself, and if you go after the single most important thing, then you'll be able to live with whatever you have to do to get it.