Episode 11 is one before the finale. This was two days ago and I'm still obsessed with it. I have so many favorite scenes, like Sunoo reading Jay's letter out loud and Jay screaming 'SERIOUSLY, STOP IT!!', Jay and Heeseung talking and worrying about their ranking, Heeseung calling his brother, Sunoo's sister and Heeseung's brother both liking Jay. But I think the ones I love the most are just Sunghoon scenes. Sunghoon saying 'it's all fives', Sunghoon being weird, Sunghoon learning the moves, Sunghoon singing the wrong lyrics, Sunghoon trying to be cute, Sunghoon consoling Jake after he was criticized by Sungdeuk. THAT Sunghoon and Jake scene was the sweetest, heart-wrenching, please-never-separate-them-ever kind of scene. This week I'm voting for Jake. In my ideal world, it would just be the original 6 I-LANDERS + Sunoo. But the Top 6 is going to be decided by global votes instead of producers' scores, so I don't know how the outcome would be. I just need my 2002 line to make it. All three of them. PLEASE. Other scenes I enjoyed were Jungwon crying because I've never seen him being so vulnerable, I see him always being safe and a little boring / blend into the background. I think this episode is good in the sense that it gives him a little bit of a kick to do something more. Heeseung crying and hugging Jungwon after was touching, too. I don't mind Hanbin being eliminated because I don't see him align with the concept of the debut group, but seeing everyone crying so hard as they say goodbye still breaks my heart. Oh and I also love the bee scene from behind the scenes, so funny.

Next week is the finale! Live! With BTS and TXT! I'm already going insane. Looking back, my favorite scenes consist of Jay and Sunghoon, but I'm voting for Jake. There's something about him, I don't even know what. HE JUST HAS TO MAKE IT. SUNGHOON AND JAKE MUST BE TOGETHER! I think 2001, 2002 x 3, 2003, 2004 is a good main lineup. And one more member ideally either going up in age (K, 1997) or down (Niki, 2005). Jungwon as a maknae would be perfect, though. He is super adorable, capable, and good looking at the same time.

Here are my opinions on the kids:

K - Okay. K learned from Flicker team to listen to people more, and it was really good for him. He certainly is capable. He has been training for a long time, so dancing and singing skills are great. A very hardworking person. If you ask me, I like my group to be somewhat homogenous, so in that sense, K is too tall (?) and old (?) compared to everyone else. I thought he was too serious (majime) but we actually saw a lot of his playful side.
Heeseung - He's a good kid who is capable of a lot of things, and people are comfortable around him. Skill and personality-wise, no problem at all. Some things bother me about him. He really wants the idol life, he's not only dedicating years of his life training, he also got some stuff done to his face. Looking at his predebut pics, it seems like he has his nose done(?), and he got his teeth laminated - which receives criticism. IDK, that bothers me a little bit. He's a good kid, though.
Sunghoon - Is like the perfect, good-looking, cool idol. He's actually super weird and can be really cute, but in front of the camera, he's just feeling awkward. He's used to cameras and spotlight since he was a figure skating athlete since he was little. His face and height are just perfections.
Jay - Jay is crazy. We need him. We just need him.
Jake - There's something about him. He has this charm. Everyone likes him. He knows that his training period was short and he needs to work hard, so he tends to lose his confidence after receiving criticism.
Sunoo - He's very smiley and everyone says how he acts like an idol already. He talks to the camera like he's already seeing his fans behind that camera. Super cute.
Jungwon - Jungwon is so precious. He's so good looking I don't know what to say. If it's up to me, I would want him in the debut line-up.
Niki - IDK. He's a dance prodigy who is really, really talented but I still am not sure if I want him in the final line-up. And if we are taking nationality as a consideration, I feel like there's only one spot for a Japanese in the group, and K is a stronger contender for that spot. Niki is also ... only 14 and I feel like he still has time to learn and grow, compared to K, whose time is running out.
Daniel - I don't know, maybe the producers of the show don't want him in? He barely got any screentime and or praises from the judges. I thought he's popular because he ranked 2nd during the first global voting, but in the second voting result, he did not make the debut cut line. He is also very young though, which makes me think he could be debuting in BigHit's boy group planned for 2022. Or you know, any other groups. I feel like if he doesn't make it, he still has time to find his ground.

They cut our votes from being able to vote for two contestants to just one, I don't know how this would affect the dynamics of the voting numbers.