I really enjoyed your take, FP. Of course, if you read my post in Aruba's list then you'll know I disagree about Lauren, Jessica and even a bit about Ryan. Lauren had a simple opening with Mike: He, Ben and she are about the same age, Cole and Jessica are two love birds that are always going to be tighter with each other than with him and the Healers, being 6 strong still, will certainly attract attention soon. Mike needed a cross-tribal alliance and all she had to do was befriend him. Instead she chose a complicated route, never figuring out that Mike knew about the advantage. She pushed Mike back into the Healers' fold so, for me, Lauren failed.
Ryan had all this fall on his lap and, while he's a smart player, it didn't take a genius to figure out the gift production had given him with that advantage. Not since Tocantins had a cross-tribal alliance been set up so nicely by production. Will this one fare better? Probably but it's still irritating to see production's interference in the game.
Jessica isn't a strong player by any means but it's interesting that we keep seeing her trying to figure out this game. It's as if we're being shown someone becoming a better player in each episode. The improvement is slow but how good will she be if she makes it to episode 14?!