To truly realize the full persona of Kimmi, we need to go back to 2001. This was a time where Survivor was still in its larval stage. After the tremendous success of Borneo, Survivor needed dynamic people to live the legacy on.
Enter Kimmi Kappenberg, the first vegetarian the show has ever seen. On Day 1, she alienated herself from the tribe by screeching about her desire to masturbate. Yes, this is the same Kimmi from Cambodia. She would disgust her tribe with her lack of hygiene, and her insanely loud mouth. She was such a mess, she told Tina that Varner received a vote at the first tribal council. This would later lead to his elimination, but that's another story. Anyways, her mission of not being treated like a jack-off was a failure, and she was unanimously voted off Kucha.
Fourteen years later, CBS decided to bring twenty past castaways back for a second chance. The pool of thirty-six people had some predictable choices, like Spencer Bledsoe, Joe Anglim, and Kass MacQuillen. However, there were some unusual and unpredictable choices... Including Kimmi Kappenberg. Her storyline? She's now a mother of two who's had time to mature. She campaigned her ass off through campaigns like \#Gays4Kimmi and \#GimmeKimmi. Because she was such a neat lady, Kimmi received a spot on the cast of Season 31.
Before the game, each person sat down and played a game called 'Align or Malign', where everyone only gets to 'align' with eight people. Guess who came in last place. It wasn't Kass, Abi-Maria, Shirin, or Keith. Nope, it was Kimmi. With low expectations, she had to knock this out of the park. On Day 1, she showed us that she's changed. How? She was quiet and focused on building social connections. Her strongest were with Stephen, Jeremy, and Monica.
After a tribe switch, Bayon lost their first challenge, sending them to Tribal Council. This was Kimmi's first chance to show everyone that she's here to play. After being annoyed and cautious with Monica, she decided to organize a Monica blindside instead of voting off the obvious Kelly/Spencer (as they just joined the tribe). Stephen/Jeremy/Kimmi seemed solid, and they were ready to dominate the game.
At the merge, it was Jeremy/Spencer/Tasha/Keith/Kimmi/Stephen/Savage/Joe/Kelly vs. Kelley/Abi/Ciera/Kass. After a failed attempt to get rid of the 'Witches Coven', she followed the old saying: "If you can't beat them, join them." At the Final Eight, Kimmi decided that flipping to Abi/Kelley would benefit her game.
Let's jump to Kimmi's final stand- Final Six. After Abi's boot, Kimmi comes to the realization that Jeremy/Spencer/Tasha are going to take each other. Kimmi knows that she's on the bottom of the foursome. She's waited fourteen long years to get her second chance.. She's not going to sit there and gently take 4th. So Kimmi organized a master blindside for Jeremy, and everything would've worked out... Except that Kelley and Jeremy had idols. After two idols, two votes, two discussions, and technically a rock draw, Kimmi makes her tearful exit.
Now, her strategic game was impressive, but her social game was incredible. When everyone gets eliminated, Gordon Holmes sits them down, and they play a game of Word Association. Out of the final six, Kimmi is the only person to get completely positive words from the jurors. This isn't hard to believe when she's shown comforting Tasha after her incident in the water.
Her legacy as a Survivor player is extraordinary. She started as an annoyance to her tribe, but she evolved into a fierce strategist and a social threat. The Kucha Kween Kimmi Kappenberg has made a gigantic impact on Survivor: Cambodia, regardless of what her edit says.
