Talk:I'll Punch You, You Give Me a Hug/@comment-26485526-20180225142613

Great episode! OMG! I loved this so much (save for the elimination itself, but still).

Without a doubt, this is a top 3 episode of the season, and the reason for that is that it had an entirely different focus. Most of your episodes are quite strategy based, whereas this one had very little strategy, especially on day 34. It just had an entirely different focus, which I think is needed when the options of who to get rid of become obvious, and dare I say, get quite repetitive. Like, how many times did we need to hear that Adrian is the most well rounded threat? Or about how good Oswald is in challenges? Or about how good Will is strategically and how forceful he is? All of that is well established at this point, and you did a great job of adding a new layer on top of everything with the Adrian/Jacob scenes on day 34, which were very touching and well written. We could feel the turmoil between Adrian and Jacob as they struggled to balance what they felt was in their best interest (voting for one another), but also the guilt of voting for someone that they shared such a close, personal bond with, especially after the events of day 34. I also love how they ended up voting for each other, and how they affirmed their friendship with each other at the very end.

I feel as though the right decision was made by the majority at the end of the day. Yes, Oswald and Jacob may have a bit of a tougher time getting to the end, but I’d be hard-pressed to believe that Jacob in particular would’ve stood any chance against Adrian in the end, and Oswald probably loses to him as well, although I think his chances would’ve been slightly better. At this point, you can’t just think about getting to the end, but you also have to think about getting to the end with people you can beat, and especially for Oswald, who would’ve only had a needle-in-a-haystack chance of getting to the end with Adrian if he stuck around anyway since the two of them are not only the biggest threats to win, but also the biggest challenge threats.

At this point, either Oswald or Jacob are winning, I’m sure of it. I just don’t see in a final three of Will, Phyllis, and Veronica happening, although I guess it is possible. In which case, Will would have a 70/30 chance of winning due to Veronica’s goat status, and Phyllis’ flipping and sociopathic tendencies. Phyllis only wins if the jury is too put off by Will’s blunt and aggressive demeanour.

Between Jacob and Oswald, I think Jacob is a more likely winner due to Oswald now being out the second he loses a challenge. If Oswald does win both of the next two immunities though, Oswald wins.

If Oswald and Jacob are both in the final three (which is even less likely than a Will/Phyllis/Veronica F3), Oswald probably wins due to Jacob not making any sort of splash strategically until day 33 and following Oswald’s lead ever since the final 12.

Can’t wait to see how it all turns out!