Nesquik

Saving Damien for last bc I need to work myself up to tackle. that

Axel - Strong play for a finalist. I know a lot of people were rooting for her in s2, and I don't blame them. She's got the strength and determination that a lot of past finalists (Bowie, Priya, Julia) have had, and after the first two seasons she'll be able to work from her mistakes and use them to her benefit. Better balance of physical and social game, y'know?

Emma - NOBODY UNDERSTANDS HER LIKE I DO 💔💔 She would make SUCH a great protagonist & winner for s3. Why? Because she's practically a blank slate in terms of character growth. She got done dirty in s1 and barely got to do anything in s2. She has so much room to grow really well as a character (SEPARATE FROM CHASE) in ways that not many other characters have remaining capability for. Like, what're they gonna do with Priya after such heavy focus on her in both seasons? What'll they do with Julia? With Bowie or Wayne? Emma has the most potential for amazing writing if the writers actually take her seriously this time around. She's bright but vengeful. Friendly but blinded by emotion. She has the same sort of balance of positive attributes and flaws that made Priya such a compelling character in s1, and she could be something beautiful if done right.

Nichelle - A lot of similar reasoning as Axel. She came into the first season with great social game, but her physical game became her downfall. She built up her physical game for the second season, but (in a sense) a lapse in her mental game got her out. Now she's ready for the third season with all three categories honed to be winner material. If she doesn't make it far, I'm sure most of the fandom will riot

Chase - NOBODY UNDERSTANDS HIM LIKE I DO 💔💔 Gosh, he's awful, he's egotistical, he's utter garbage, and he's absolutely perfect villain material. Just think, a villain who's absolutely horrible to people yet holds no actual malice nor awareness of his own actions. It would be so different from every deliberate, calculating villain we've had throughout the seasons. It would take really careful writing, but with a good balance of showing him getting better at the game from the past seasons + still keeping the appeal to his character (comedic-focused narcissist with no self-awareness), he would work really well. I have more to say on him but this post is gonna be long enough as is

Lauren - Not much to say on her, since it's probably obvious. She vowed to take revenge on the cast, and being the main villain of s3 would work well with that. Also, being a finalist would provide the time and opportunity for her to develop more depth in character.

MK - Honestly I'm not as into the idea of her as a villain as the other two, but she could work really well in the role, especially if Julia gets out early and she has to work on her own/gain new allies. It would be neat to see her be forced to adapt to the situation, especially since her tactic of "lying low" wouldn't work too well after the cheating stunt she pulled in s2. Yeah I don't have much to say on her, I probably should've made a slightly lower tier just for her but I'm too lazy to change it now

Zee & Ripper - The category name says it all. I could see either of them in there as a Wayne sort of situation where they're the clear outlier between two serious competitors, but I wouldn't want either of them to win like Wayne did. Maybe Ripper could be developed to be a more serious competitor worthy of winning? But Zee certainly couldn't.

Raj: Listen. Bowie's been a finalist. Wayne's won. I know he's a separate character from both of them, but he's still so heavily connected to them that having him in the next final 3 would feel like a repeat of sorts. It just wouldn't be as fulfilling as other options.

Millie: This is probably bias but honestly,,, wouldn't mind Millie being in final 3 again, especially if she gets second/wins this time around. She was a beautifully written character in season 1, and I would love to see how she would do in another full-season run as separate from Priya. I wanna see her form new bonds, use new strategies, and show she's a far better competitor than she was the past two seasons. But I don't want her to be perfect. I want her to still be deeply flawed, because it's her flaws that make her writing amazing. I want her to take on a role as an imperfect leader of sorts, for her to make her own decisions and form her own method of competing outside of what Priya's taught her. I also wanna see her explored more since she already has great depth of character that could be expanded on

Bowie, Caleb, Julia, Priya, Wayne - Self-explanatory. Keep them out of the s3 finale

Damien - H'oh boy. I have some really complicated feelings about how he would do as a finalist. Subjectively, I love him and want him to win. But objectively, it almost feels... too late? Season 2 wasted the idea of him getting an arc of building up his confidence, which was the most fitting arc for him to undergo. Not only did he lose with his dignity shattered, but he also never made any solid relationships the whole show. The arc of him gaining confidence was reduced to nothing and ended in a wholly unsatisfying way. But still, what is there to do now with him in s3? Is he gonna retain his character growth? If that's the case, how is he gonna grow now? Or will he have lost all his confidence after his embarrassing loss and need to regain it? I'm not sure if I would want to watch a rehash of that. I feel like options for giving him a fulfilling & satisfying plotline in s3 are limited. He's built to be a support character, and while I love the idea of him breaking out of that, I'm still not too sure on the how. Maybe he could aim to not only be more confident, but to also take full control of his own game and be proactive in relationships instead of just supporting people? But he's too forgiving. Too loyal. I don't know if he'd have it in him.