Corvis, I very much agree about Steve. His big spike speaks for him to be going soon. The only other fate I could see for him is that he is one to make it awhile on RI. You may well be right about Stephanie, but I have not felt the Stephanie love, so for me it's wait and see. I think she's toast.
As to Matt, I think he has story.
>>> I was waiting for him to say, "Now that I have this Bible, I feel I can go all the way." Instead, he focused on how much he appreciated getting the Bible from Krista. Now, maybe he didn't say that so it wasn't there to use. But don't you think someone would have asked him "So with the Bible to inspire you, do you think you can make it to the end?" And what else would he say? "Nah, it doesn't mean anything to me..."
Well, perhaps they don't want to make him all about succeeding with God.
There was an important confessional from Krista. She said, it was God's will that she went and Matt stayed. For what purpose? To fall to a feisty big-mouthed waitress?
As you know, there are all sorts of Christian faiths. It may be that Matt is more involved in Fellowship than a Bible reader. He talks about a direct connection and he missed having a faith community. He never said that he wished he had a Bible, nor was it his luxury item. Clearly he valued the Bible, but he also valued the gift from another believer, perhaps more.
I think that Matt has already internalized what he needs for his faith. The book is just icing on the cake. They've shown plenty of Matt talking about winning through faith, and we'll probably see it again before the duel. I think the story for Matt will be, how does this strong faith help him when he gets back in with the backstabbing environment of Survivor? It's easy to play a pure game at RI.
I could see Matt being in the F3. I could see Grant there. I could see Rob. Maybe Andrea. I could even see Ashley or Philip brought there as goats. I don't see Stephanie there. No way she is going to beat Mike, Steve, Ralph, Grant, or some combination of the biggest challenge threats. She would have to win too many to get back in.
I do think that someone returned from RI will make F3, that will make Jeff oh so happy with the twist. It could be either the first returnee or the second.
We don't know when the second returnee comes back. IIRC from the call sheets, we know there is a duel at F5. We know the schedule for Day 35. I would imagine that they only have time for one duel in the Finale, and that the returnee will re-enter with 5 in the game.
That would leave two IC's, plus a duel, for the Finale. I don't think the returnee needs to win, but needs to have an impact on the end alliance structure, such that the vote goes differently.