Need to say @Oracle - Sorry for being so down on your FTC, lol. I'm really glad nobody else had the same impression I did! I think I just don't like reading much :P
i did feel the same way on the wordiness (and some of the performance) but also I thought he got better as it went on. Like specifically, he dropped off insisting that doing a bad job with people before they were sent to the jury in PMs that nobody could see was actually a good part of his strategy, and he focused more heavily on his evolution of not doing that anymore, growing and learning etc. I think that probably won it for him
Absolutely, I read the room and figured out "okay this is the story they might vote for over Richie."