KILBY
Kilby's got himself in the hot seat a bit on his tribe after the whole mess with the idol that he has yet to fully actually complete. Harrison has his eye on him, Jayden realizes he's able to shift the power dynamic in his relationship with Kilby, and I think we've seen a critical game error. I do think it's something Kilby will be able to recover from, but he's going to have his work cut out for him more now than he has previously in this game.

JAYDEN
Jayden remains in his solid position on the tribe. I can't envision a situation where he is targeted to leave for a while in this game (bar any major oopsie that he could make). I don't think people look at him as a threatening player in this game but also not as a weak player, and that will be optimal for maneuvering once the merge phase begins.

JACOB
I think Jacob is kind of in the mindset that he knows he's screwed right now. His saving grace would be making it to the merge and hoping something can happen there, but his tribe is really hoping he won't compete in the upcoming challenge. Maybe they're trying to throw it to get him out before then? It would be smart to get him out before merge because Vecher will be ITCHING for someone to come to their side and Jacob would be that person for them.

JENN
Jenn is in a very advantageous position in the game right now as well. I know it absolutely is not her intention because she has been going through a lot of tough times outside of the game, but I think that inadvertently led to some sympathy working in her favour from the others who don't really wanna be that guy that makes things worse. Long-term she could move herself into a winning position.

JOEY
Joey has fallen slightly to the peripheral in regards to where I'm seeing the bulk of activity on the Utren tribe right now. Maybe this is due in part to the presence of Jacob as an easy boot? He might not see any benefit in playing hard when there is no real short-term need for it. I'm hoping there's just more going on that I'm not seeing, because I think he needs to be sure to maintain his position within his group so that when they inevitably collapse, he's not the one to fall on the wrong end of things.

GIBSON
Gibson seems to have integrated himself into a somewhat okay space... for now. Uniting with the majority against Jacob and not having to go to tribal last round has bought him some time to gain some more points with the other members of Utren, and I think he could still wriggle his way in somewhere.

HARRISON
Harrison is becoming a little more central within his group which is absolutely to his advantage while Utren remains a tribe, but might produce some more problems when the merge comes, assuming he's there. I absolutely love his passion, most of the others on Utren seem to kind of be in a lull with the evident easy vote but he hasn't seemed to slow down with it at all. I hope he doesn't make the same mistakes I made come merge in season 2 by bleeding tribe colours and slacking on communication to the other tribe, because it's a slippery slope from there.

KURTIS
Kurtis once again impressed with his strategic navigation through the tribe. Dustin and Adrianne have created a loyal group with him, and then Mike is rallying for him Jay and Alex to work together. It's obvious from the outside looking in that Kurtis is a true threat to win this game, but absolutely nobody has plans on taking him out on Vecher. Absolutely impressed with him!

ALEX
This round was a round where he did have a little bit of power over the vote (alongside Kurtis). Both sides wanted him and he had a choice to make. While in reality his decision wouldn't have affected things, it's something he can concretely recognize and put on his game resume. Good on him!

ADRIANNE
Adrianne made the correct move for her game in giving immunity to Dustin. It effectively guaranteed Jay would vote out Rob or Mike, because Alex is perceived as too loyal to him to cut at this point in the game. She's got to be careful to maintain better connections to people she's not close with (i.e. Mike), because she'd be a very desirable target if she were to make merge otherwise.

JAY
I don't really understand his strong desire to take out Dustin. I think Jay is very heavily treating this as a merge game, and my fear is that this will catch up to him when the merge does come along. I think he is sort of itching for more things to put on his gameplay resume. He has built good relationships with the remaining people on the tribe so I don't think we'll be seeing him leave anytime soon, but he needs to take a breath and analyze what his best move actually is moving forward.

MIKE
Mike is working hard to not be completely on the bottom of this tribe, and it might work! I think between Adrianne and Dustin's paranoia about Jay/Alex, Jay's strong desire to take out Dustin, and Kurtis's calculated gameplay, he could survive another Vecher tribal council still! I think once the merge hits he will be right off everyone's radars as everyone goes into "get the threats from the other tribe out" mode. He just has to work his way to getting there!

DUSTIN
Dustin has come a long way since the Anders blindside, and he really hasn't been able to catch a break regarding the target on his back. I feel for him because his target was really manufactured for him and less about his actions; he got the target for being close to Anders and then when he turned the tides on those who did him dirty the round before, they channelled their anger towards him (realistically they should've been angry with Adrianne more). He's got an uphill battle still in this game if he wants to get to the end, but if he does make it he'll have a very gripping storyline.