episode         | 1  | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | total 
Domenick N/N/N  | 3$ | 3 | 3 | 3 | * | 2 | 3 | 17
Michael  M/M/M  | 2$ | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14
Chris    N/N/W  | 1  | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10
Donathan M/N/N  | 2  | 1$| 1 | 1 | 2 | * | 3 | 10
Kellyn   N/M/M  | 2  | * | 2 | 2 | * | 2 | 1$| 9
Desiree  N/M/M  | 1  | * | * | * | 1 | 3 | 1 | 9
Bradley  N/M/N  | *  | * | * | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8X
Angela   N/N/M  | *  | * | 4 | 1 | * | 1 | * | 6
Wendell  N/N/W  | 2  | * | 1 | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | 6
Libby    M/N/N  | *  | * | 4 | * | * | * | 2 | 6
Jenna    M/M/W  | 1  | 1 | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | * | 5
SebastianN/M/W  | 1  | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | * | 5
Laurel   M/N/W  | *  | 1 | * | 1 | * | 2 | * | 4
Chelsea  N/M/N  | *  | * | * | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | 3
F20 GonzalesMal | 2  | 2X
F19 Jacob   Mal | 3  | 4 | 7X
F18 Morgan  N/N | *  | 1 | 4 | 5X
F17 Brendan M/M | 1  | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5X
F16 StephanieM/M| 1  | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10X
F15 James M/N/M | 1  | 1 | 2 | * | 1 | 2 | 7X
F14 BradleyN/M/N| *  | * | * | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8X
$=Winning Quote

Before starting I think it's a good time to reflect on the confessionals. At this point in the show, we can see that Domenick started out with a bang, perhaps playing too hard too fast? The conflict between him and Chris started out from day 1. Interesting to see that Chris only has 1 confessional this week, seemingly settling down, while Dom has a spike. (His tribe did go to TC, however). Chris is also a strong character that has gotten a lot of air time due to being an alpha leader, gone to GI, and in a rivalry with Dom for dominance.

We can also see that Michael has been a very strong character throughout the pre-merge. After all, his tribe went to the large majority of TC's, and in that time he's found 2 idols, so he warrants the focus.

Donathan is next, and he's received a lot of time as well. At first being an underdog out of his element from Kentucky. He's also served as a narrator as.

Kellyn has been up and down, here and there, much like her "wishy washy" ways, as michel notes. She seems to get along well with everyone, but she's callous and insensitive and not very diplomatic, and we see how she agonizes over decisions which was her greatest fear coming in, and now we see her tip toe through each episode trying to listen to her gut. So far, so good.

Angela is also up and down. She was Naviti strong, got blindsided by her own "family", reunited with Chris, then on her own again. Seems like she is making the "wrong decisions". We did see her, however, burn the flag and help reverse that curse.

Desiree: Seems like Kellyn's sidekick at this point. More vocal, not good in challenges, negative, but did suggest burning the malolo banner.

Wendell: He doesn't seem to have too many confessionals, but when he does, they are LONG. He appeared as a laid back partner with Domenick, and told Sebastian he liked Dom. Seems like everyone likes him, and is willing to go to bat for him. Great social skills, and has something that others want....furniture.

Libby has only been heard of twice in the season, gathering all of her confessionals in 2 episodes. First was when she befriended Morgan than betrayed them all. Next, was this week when she was a boot decoy. Question comes down to did Dom & Chelsea make the right decision to keep her over Bradley?Libby is very reactionary and I don't see much game plan/strategy within her.

Jenna + Sebastian each have 5 confessionals, never more than 1 in an episode. The most interesting confessional I think SeaBass had was when he observed that they wanted to take a big man out, which caught his attention because he was a big man. Hmmm?

Laurel: low key for development later?
Chelsea: Narrates.

Now, on with the show....

Domenick and Donathan rise in confessionals and each have 3.

Donathan starts at the second confessional of the show after the RC win. He complains that it was the highlight of his survivor life and Bradley constantly barked orders at him throughout, made the fire rage in him, going to let him do his thing and build his own grave out there.

Next, comes at camp after returning from the RC with the winnings, steak, kabobs, etc. He's so high from winning, the ultimate in his Survivor life so far and wants to talk about it and process it...during Donathan's confessional we see it interrupted by Donathan and the others reveling in their win, while Bradley starts barking orders at them all, clear the coffee table, pointedly at Donathan who has his hands full with the grill, meanwhile Chelsea is there not holding anything. Clearly looks like he's picking on Donathan to me. "Donathan, can you help me move this please, blah blah..." See Libby look at Bradley like, WHAT??? Then, we hear Chelsea say she will do it.

The last confessional spells it out...There are three original Naviti, Chelsea, Bradley, and Domenick and then you got 2 original Malolo’s, me and Libby. If those 3 Naviti’s stick together, me and her are on the bottom. I feel like we are kind of on the same page about Bradley, see them sitting in a group, then see Bradley at the coffee bar by himself. So, if we lose the next immunity challenge, I am hoping that Bradley is the next target.

Domenick has 3 confessionals and it's all about the decision that is looming. He sees both sides and he weighs them throughout the show. The question for him, as for all of them is, will it be the right decision.

First: Bradley is getting snappy and people around me are noticing that as well, see Chelsea, so I can work with them and get rid of Bradley, but I just don’t know if it is worth it to do that right now because I want to stick with Naviti.

Second: OMG, do I keep this guy around? Bradley constantly talks down to me as if he’s above me and above everyone else in this game ...he’s a pain in the a$$ to be around but from what it appears he is at least willing to work with me to the end, so I have to decide what makes sense for my game...

Third confessional is the last of the show before TC: Here’s my dilemma. I have the choice of taking out Libby or Bradley. Libby may be a better choice because she’s very charming and I fell for that once already, where I gave her a little bit of rope and she hung me with it, when my girl morgan was voted out, so I certainly don’t trust LIbby but Bradley, with his short temper and his bad attitude could be disastrous for me. So, I don’t know what to do at this point so I have to determine if taking this risk before the merge is going to pay off in the end. Cuts as we see them walk off to TC down the beach at Sunset.

I think Domenick has evolved a bit in this season. He was first playing like gang-busters and trying, seemingly, to dictate the action....with the loss of Morgan, it seemed it wasn't working. Luckily for him they won challenges, Then, with being separated from Chris, I think his social game has stepped up. He doesn't seem so frantic anymore. He's connecting with the majority of people he's with now, and I do believe it will pay off for him, somehow. I have to admit, I was surprised he turned on Bradley and if I were him, I don't know if I would have made the same decision. Bradley was not liked, but he was a number, a shield so to speak. We'll see.

Michael, Libby, and Bradley all had 2. Bradley talks about himself: In my normal life, I just have no patience, so today it was like, OMG, like let’s eat! He continues: for me, the hardest test out here is to not be a total d!ck, because historically in my personal life that is what derails it all and I won’t be able to get back on the track... Chelsea seen asking Bradley for advice on the spices, he says do it on both sides, micromanaging her....Let’s go!

His second: Tonights choice is which original Malolo the Naviti three want to pick off, should it be Libby or should it be Donathan. Donathan is just here for a beach vacation where Libby, she’s incredibly attractive and she smiles and you are compelled to buy what she is selling, and that’s so dangerous in Survivor. See a snake.
Continues: I feel like it’s incredibly straight forward, every one is voting for Libby tonight.....then finally, It’s been great talking to Libby, but now, see ya!

Nicely positioned for a blindside.

Michael got the first confessional of the show which was not upon return from TC at night, it was the next morning at sunrise as most of the Malolo tribe is still asleep. We see Michael rise up early with a mission...TC was utterly depressiong tbh, I had to turn on James, but I gotta do what I gotta do to stay alive.....see him getting up early and gets out of the shelter. I am definitely worried that I could be next because the past 3 players have been Malolo players. So, finding an idol for me is the most impt thing in my game right now. See him searching everywhere, the girls get up and notice that he is gone, probably looking for an idol

At this point I am not too worried about getting caught, I am going to go out there and tear this island apart, see him searching, if I have to. So, I am checking around tree mail, I’m digging around with a stick, you know little by little, chip away and search each piece of this island to find something.

This is interrupted by the girls waking up and knowing that he's gone off to find the idol, we hear Desiree say, "He’s paranoid, and I can see he’s paranoid because he’s running through the jungle trying to find an idol. It’s three against one, easy pickings."
Hmmm? Then we see him find the idol.

Next, he reads the note with the idol and states: It’s like I literally reached into my tv screen and just grabbed this from Ozzy’s hands. And, I am ready to do some damage with this guy.

Michael's second is after the burned the banner: Obviously we have been on a big losing streak. That’s hard, each time you just get beat back down but if I have faith through all the hard times hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel. See Des and angela high five each other. des: Yay.

Libby had 2 confessionals after being under the radar for the past 3 episodes. She was the boot decoy this week. Losing was really tough but Bradley has been disrespecting everybody in our tribe. Somebody like that doesn’t deserve an alliance, so I want him voted out....

Her second: Chelsea and Dom tell me to vote Bradley out but my fear is that I get voted out. Donathan and I are on the bottom so you can’t help but feel nervous about it. I want to stay in this game so badly, this is a critical tribal.

Chris, Kellyn, Desiree, Wendell, and Chelsea all had one confessional. Chris gave a nod after the RC, they like to win, but getting something to fill your stomach is huge, and he's a big boy like me and have to eat. I love to eat!

Kellyn had a very long dissertation from GI. Whoa is me, I've been here before, I listened to my gut, so I will listen to it again, and Yay, I get an advantage. I get to steal a vote and now this will turn me from the sweet girl that every one likes to the girl that is smart enough and tough enough to make it all the way to the end and win this game. *Winning quote

Desiree is miss negative. Her confessional went like this: Malolo is cursed, we are starving, we haven’t won a reward yet and we are losing each and every challenge. It doesn’t matter who is on this tribe, even if there is a switch or a swap, we lose. This might be the most losing tribe in Survivor history....I don’t want any remnants of Malolo near me at all, it’s bad juju, I don’t want it.

Wendell had one, but again, it was very long. It started out as missing Nicole, the birthday girlfriend, but then ended up with him finding the HII. the only thing I think about every single day is my gf, Nicole. You know she is the greatest person in the world. See them all singing happy birthday.
Continues: Today is Nicole’s birthday today, right now and I am out here, it’s very difficult, but it gave me some kind of grit to find something that could really further my game. See SeaBass and Jenna lying down in the beach sand, And, I know that food is going to make a lot of people tired. See Laurel with her head down. see Chris lying down to sleep. So, when they are going to sleep that is my opportunity to go right there to sneak off, “look for firewood”, but really look for the idol.

See him with dead tree branches in the woods, starting to look...From the first time I stepped on this gigantic island, I tried to be very attentive to every detail, landmarks, you know things that might be hiding spots for idols or the little clue, see him searching....there is a lot of driftwood and trees that are dead, but I see a tree that I’d seen before, like a regular tree but then it is wrapped in smoother mesh-type tree bark situation. I look at this tree and say if this isn’t a landmark than nothing else on this island is...He bends down and finds the clue in a loose piece of bark...Oh my goodness!

I found a little scroll and some green wrapping, I’m so excited, I open it and it’s a clue to an idol. A very basic map....and it’s a clue to an idol....”Oh my goodness!” I’m excited aobut the clue and now I gotta find the idol...So, we got a pair of trees, right here, and a mountain right there, and the water, so dig at the roots of a crazy tree. So, it’s got to be this tree....idols are what you want in this game, I need this thing, now is when I need to get this....see him digging....it can get me to the end! Finds it, OMG, oh my goodness! I pull out this big green package, and I am like this is it, this is the idol, OMG! And, this beautiful thing is what I find....OMG! This single necklace could be the single most iconic relic in the history of Survivor...

He reads: The authentic IN that Eric gave away to Natalie in Survivors 16th season....see Erik....Erik had made it to the final 5 and had won immunity necklace which guaranteed him a spot in the F4.

See Cirie say to Natalie....do you think you could talk him into giving you the necklace? But the 4 remaining women bamboozled him into giving them the necklace at TC...Erik: I want to give individual immunity to Natalie...and then promptly voted him out.

But, there is a secret nobody knows....this necklace has been living on GI for a decade and it has matured into a HII with the same powers as any other HII.

He continues: this is now not erik’s necklace, this is a HII. When I saw season 16 I thought Erik made the most boneheaded move, and now it’s like I have that man’s idol around my neck, I might be in that position at some point. I will never do what he did. I’m not going to make that mistake, I am super excited to have this, I”m proud and I worked hard for it and the curse will be reversed and I can’t wait to use it.

Chelsea: Libby thinks that we are going with Bradley tonight. But, we got a little bit of a decision here because we are getting close to a merge. You have to consider how you are going to survive to get to the end of this game and voting out Bradley, that’s betraying the original Naviti...and that is huge.

Angela, Jenna, SeaBass, and Laurel fly under the radar.

This week the biggest change moving up is Libby. Going from 0 for the past 3 weeks to 2 confessionals. Is she beginning another arc? She made it through this week, but she did throw one over on the Naviti's and got Morgan booted, and I don't know if they will forget that. I also wonder where she will fall in the Chris vs. Dom feud. This could be her final arc.

As I noted above, Dom moves up one in confessionals, Chris moves down one. The preview promo touts this as the war that is raging...

Let's face it, we all want this resolved, one way or the other.

Donathan took a narrational role with 3 confessionals, and we all know how narrators fare at the merge....is Donathan starting a new arc or is this a swan song?

Michael found an idol in this episode, but he's had a confessional in each episode and he will be on the radar moving forward, I am sure.

Safe for episode 8: Domenick(he has an advantage and an idol to play if he needs to...), Wendell, Michael, Kellyn, Desiree, Angela, Laurel, Sebastian, Jenna

Slight risk: Donathan, 0 to 3 is a leap. Chelsea ~ a confessional for 2 weeks in a row, an arc?

High risk: Chris ~ the war is on, he has no advantages or idols to play. Libby: She really has no story other than we all know not to trust the blonde girl.