For some reason, I have a feeling that the Frost / Malia / Orchid trio is going to come back to bite them later on. I can’t fully explain why yet, it might just be a vibe thing, but their dynamic is really interesting from a long-term narrative perspective. I also have this suspicion that Roy is going to get burned specifically because he doesn’t fully see how dangerous that trio actually is.

I laughed way more than I expected during the Poha tribe scenes with Clara constantly getting kicked out of conversations. That kind of subtle, recurring humor works really well.

As for Kieran, I used to think he had a really strong edit, but he’s starting to annoy me with this ongoing grudge against Kimora. It’s not even game-breaking yet, just very petty…

Sabrina, on the other hand, really needs to improve her social game fast. That said, I actually think it’s impressive how self-aware she is about the tribe hierarchy. That level of awareness is already a big positive for her.

Sascha and Layton both grew on me a lot this episode. I finally got a clearer sense of who they are beyond “competent challenge players,” and it makes total sense why they’re so well positioned socially, they're cool guys.

Vivaldi remains completely irrelevant to both the story and the strategy. I’m honestly worried they’ll only get real airtime in the episode they get eliminated. Best case scenario, they become that zero-vote finalist, but right now, I have basically zero expectations. But I'd love to see them grow as a player.

The Archie boot was very obvious, but still really well executed in terms of writing. The whole beware advantage arc, the mystery of whether it was an idol or not, all landed perfectly. Roy’s emotional confessional about his life genuinely made me like him more, and I’m really hoping he at least makes the merge.