Who is Aruba? If s/he likes Debbie, that must be a really big deal. In terms of a winner's edit, likeability and especially comparisons to Shirin don't seem compelling -- but I understand what you're saying that Survivor has evolved to the point where a quirky older female can hopefully win. And I definitely think Debbie will be asked back. (Anna and some of the other women will probably get a second chance too.)

My concerns for Debbie are that despite a very good edit, she is beginning to show warning signs of arrogance. And there are signs of her initial goofiness and lack of self awareness returning (swinging on the tree, funny music, even the in-jokes about her being a model and all her various job titles). Believe me, I hope I'm wrong and I would love nothing more than for her to go all the way and pull out the speech that I had hoped crazy Phil would have had at FTC, laying out her genius stealth plan. But right now I feel nervous for her that she's setting herself up for a fall and is overplaying her hand vs. the more UTR approach she took earlier on.

Re Julie and Michele: Agree it was partly circumstantial, but how many times have we seen others in the same predicament given far less strategic insight. At this point I feel like Aubry, Cydney, Michele, Julie, Tai and to a lesser extent Debbie are showing the emotional intelligence and more subtle vs. arrogant approach that's needed for this season's winner. Neal is still an enigma to me so hard to say. Jason feels like an end-gamer but too arrogant to win.

I like that it's not so obvious this season and there are different evolving takes on the edit. Can't wait for the merge episode.