User blog comment:BradP27/Why RR was the Best Season Since the Original TDI--if not better/@comment-2091662-20151013215952/@comment-24152851-20151015033624

Mike and Zoey were painfully obvious finalists. They didn't even try to hide they were so heavily favoritized, where character after character got ploughed through so Little Red Godplayer, and Villain Stu had a clear path to the finale.

Cameron I had also predicted would be the finalist, though I didn't expect Lightning. It still feels like Jo and Scott were originally planned, and Lightning was thrown in last second. The way they painted Cameron was like he was in for a lot of development, if he didn't make it to the end he would at least make it far.

I'm not entirely sure why I thought Shawn. I think the rumors he was going to be an antagonist might have helped, but over the course of the season it was obvious his gimmick was the only one where they intended to do something, rather than just an elimination device. He's essentially the only one, where his gimmick effects his gameplay and he cares about the result (losing Jasmine). By episode 5 it was pretty obvious he would make far, as he was one of the only characters with major focus who they made sympathetic.