I just read about a week and a half worth of posts. Great, great comments. I wish I had more time to read and comment more!

My overall impressions without delving too deeply into exactly what was said (I’ll look forward to reading Michel’s analysis for that), is that Erinn, Stephen and Taj were the stars of this episode. It’s hard to say if Taj’s portrayal was because she makes F2 or if it was because of her wonderful personality and her famous husband! I’ve had this idea percolating in my head for a few weeks that perhaps its Erinn versus Stephen in the Final 2. They both received a negative first impression vote in the first episode and they both have come a long way since day 1!! EPMB would love for that to happen.

They were both featured prominently in the family visit and VS has taught us to look closely at how they are portrayed. We saw Steven crying and talking with his brother about missing his family (reminded me of Bob crying over his family letters). Erinn spoke about how she’s changed a lot from super girly to surviving outside. I’ve been leaning towards a Stephen win for weeks now, but because of michel, I have kept my eye on Erinn. They both were featured in different ways over the other survivors and I find that significant. I am finding the jury part of this season one of the best in a long time. JT didn’t get a lot of attention and he also didn’t get much attention during the family letters. Stephen was at exile at the time. I just don’t feel that JT will win. However, JT and Taj are immensely popular with the other survivors so whoever wins has a tough road to navigate to be the Final Survivor!

Coach also made a comment that Stephen is a deserving warrior in his mind. He pointed out at Tribal Council that Stephen has changed from reading about the adventures to living the life. Did Coach just anoint the winner?