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Finally watched the episode and I loved it. I don't really know why, but it just clicked with me. As always, a few notes before I go into my preliminary ratings:

1) Wow, I will be crushed if Stephen backstabs JT or vice versa. They totally have each other's backs and it feels like a real friendship. Survivor editors, don't play with my emotions! Maybe Stephen's personal growth story coincides with a slight gameplay change. I'm going to go out on a limb and be one of the few who think a Stephen/JT F2 could be a distinct reality.
2) That reward was amazing. WHY ISN'T DEBBIE GETTING MORE AIRTIME? Her personality seems absolutely infectious everytime she speaks.
3) This episode definitely cleared up any confusions I had coming out of last episode. Coach is definitely not "new Coach" and JT is definitely not aligning with the devil.

Forza

Brendan - CPP4: Had his "Sugar" moment where he talks about how much JT deserves to win. Was shown being honest and truly trying to pull something together to get a JT win. CP because of all his definite strategy talk and discussion of how the end game needs to play out.

Taj - UTR2: Barely there.

Coach - OTTN5: Ridiculous dragonslaying, paratrooping, river-rafting, magic man stories make him an easy OTT. Being an idiot gives him an N.

Tyson - MORN2: Honestly, this rating could be wrong. I don't remember him at all from the episode besides his ridiculous Sierra comment. Seemed to be more present than say, Taj, from his presence in the IC and pre-TC discussion but not terribly complex.

Debbie - UTR1: Poor Debbie, at least she got a confessional.

Erinn - MOR2: Erinn is definitely one of my favorites this season. She seems to really have a hold on her surroundings, even if she fails completely at the social game. She has a pulse that's barely registering though. Her lack of presence in any boot discussion makes her a clear MOR. That scene with JT didn't give us any more than we already knew, Erinn outlasts Tyson/Coach.

Sierra - UTR1: Yawn.

Stephen - CP3: Got ridiculous character development this episode. I'm not sure if he should get a "P" or not for the fire scene. I'm going to lean to neutral, but I could see the argument the other way. This was the perfect episode for a possible winner.

JT - CPP4: The "P" is a given. His position in the game was clearly defined this game, which I think warrants a CP. We know where he stands with Sierra, Brendan, Coach, Tyson, and Erinn from this episode. Once again, he was shown weighing his options and had his discussion with Stephen about which way to go. The crazy amount of positive SPV he got this episode is a little alarming, but I'm going to go with the "If you have a winner this good, run with it" theory. JT seems to embody all the right themes and has all the right confessionals. The fact that everybody else loves him is just icing in the editor's cake.

Winner's:
JT - He has an incredibly full story. He will be linked to everybody on the jury besides Deb (but no one is really linked to Deb at this point) and his win would be satisfying. They emphasized JT being down in numbers for three straight episodes now at some point during the episode or recap. He still has a couple hurdles to jump (Taj practically called JT the obvious boot at TC) and many more that could be created by the editors. JT's episode one caught my eye and since then, he's never really been underedited.

Stephen - A close #2. If I was a completely logical, rational human being, I would probably pick Stephen as my Edgic choice. He's so perfect and so well-hidden that it's hard to deny his edit. Nonetheless, I'm banking on his fire scene being equivalent to S12 Cirie's fire scene or S17 Kenny's provider scene. Big strategic characters who have great story arcs but seem to always fall just a little short.

Eliminated:
Coach/Tyson/Debbie/Sierra/Taj/Erinn

cindidindi76 wrote:

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Was I the only one wishing we had seen some talk between JT/Stephen about who they were going to go with? I would think JT would want to go with the guy who wants him to win, and that anyone else with any sense would want to make sure that guy left. Wish we could have seen some of that discussion.

We did get the scene where JT goes to Stephen and tells him about Brendan wanting to take JT to the end. It wasn't a huge scene or anything, but it was definitely memorable and they discussed having two options. We heard them both be a little weary of Brendan because of his seemingly ridiculous statement. In the end, I think everything else was left out to create suspense going into tribal.