Francois,
I dispute that we know with certainty that the editors will impose a certain visibility threshold on the winner for every single episode. Yes, they'll
make sure the winner's story is told (in most cases), and they will as a result show important decisions and foreshadowing events for the winner along the
way. However, the show is edited with the casual viewer in mind, and there have been numerous episodes where the winner skirts the edge and would not have
stood out to the casual viewer, and in fact, probably only stood out to us because we were examining their edits in the first place. While it sounds good that
the editors would include the winner in every episode, it isn't really absolutely necessary for the editors to accomplish the goals they set out, and where
winners have been arguably INV, the distinction is insufficient to show clear editing intent otherwise. The Yul example comes to mind most readily - the scene
was really about Ozzy, not Yul, and if we weren't already looking at Yul as a potential winner, I'm sure we would not have recalled it. The same goes
for some of Parvati's episodes post-switch where she did little but narrate. (If I remember correctly, there was one episode where she avoided INV because
she was shown to have a fat lip among other players' listed injuries.) Editorially, I don't see these edits as significantly different from many
others that have been labeled as INV because they involved players we had already eliminated.
Again, if you set strict standards for INV, we will either run into the problem of winners falling into the definition, invalidating it, or of the standard
being set so high that the rating is inconsequential. (I'd argue it already is such given that almost all recipients are otherwise able to be eliminated.)
People like to argue about Rafe "proving" that INV works, but that was a debated INV based upon challenge footage where Rafe's fall during a net
climbing challenge and difficulty climbing out of the water was presented as a major reason for his tribe's loss. Given what you indicate about challenge
footage, he would not have received an INV from you, and the supposed best case for keeping the guideline goes away.
Regarding story themes, the editors are never that detailed, mainly because reality rarely fits that neatly. Instead, themes are loosely applied so that the rough edges of reality will still fit. If the theme is good v. evil with temptation a major subtheme, the editors hardly need to line up the seven deadly sins. That said, association with the seven deadly sins is one of the surest ways of establishing some tone. The editors definitely do manipulate tone so the "evil" players' vices are played up in the editing, whichever sin it happens to involve.
I think the most likely F3 is Ken, Crystal, and Sugar with the second most likely being Crystal, Sugar, and Susie. Ken wins in the first instance, and Crystal wins in the second. If I'm wrong and Matty makes the finals, then he wins. (I cannot see both Matty and Ken in the finals so he would probably end up there in his place with Crystal and Sugar.) Bob will not make the finals since he would win, and that wouldn't fit Edgic at all.
