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A House, Emptied

In the end, there was little real doubt.

After a season where people’s mouths kept getting them in trouble, it was Andy’s ability to clearly get across his game moves and strategies that sealed the deal and earned him the grand prize of $500,000. After playing one of the best social games seen in Big Brother, Andy managed to win when needed once more to earn the final HoH and evict his partner in the game, Spencer. With a Day One promise to GinaMarie that she never denied, Andy also managed to prove a loyalty that showed doubters that he could be faithful to a promise.

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The Likeability Factor

Trust is a major factor in Big Brother. Previous winners have been across the spectrum when it came to trustworthiness, but the people who could not be trusted were often removed from the game before the final run of competitions. More amusing is when someone who should not be trusted becomes the more trusted person over anyone else. Normally, this happens because of factors such as social gameplay – a fact that bore out once more this week. Andy’s continued existence in the game over Elissa is a reminder that no matter who you are related to or whom you are friends with outside, in the end you have to play all aspects of the game if you want a chance to win Big Brother.

Ultimately, Elissa and Amanda’s departures this week came down to one major factor – a severe lack of likeability.

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Parting Shots

How a player chooses to leave and make their final memory known in the BB House is entirely their choice. Some choose a very classy exit, others an excited or joyful exit so as to not get upset. Others, well… Others do not take eviction or exit too well. If one does not believe this, simply look at Jessie’s second departure after the HoH/Juror Return competition ended for her.
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Ebb and Flow

In the last few weeks, the power struggle of the house has been made apparent between Helen and Amanda. The two women had different games, and had mainly avoided targeting each other until two weeks ago. The decision by Helen to finally go after Amanda was one that has had repercussions through the last three evictions, with the next Houseguest to leave making waves and in the process blowing up the game of one of these two powers.

Fittingly, it was the person whose overconfidence finally bit her where it hurt.

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Power, Consolidated

Now, this is the game we wanted.

Oftentimes in Big Brother fandom, we complain about “game moves” and how people refuse to “play the game.” We end up focusing more on our favorite players and whether or not they can win a popularity contest. Rarely does the House truly get shaken up by a game move, outside of the “twist” that is provided by Production. We as fans say that we want “real game play,” but rarely do we see the types of moves that qualify as such.

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An Honorable Man

In the history of Big Brother, players that are truly honorable and successful at the same time can be counted on one hand. Very rarely does a player make the big money while staying true to their ethics and morals completely – inevitably, a compromise is made. This isn’t a statement of judgement – it is a game for $500,000 and to win it you have to make deals that may go against any statements pre-season that you will play “truthfully and honorably.”

Many want to play this way but few do, and get to Jury. Howard spoke about playing this way and compromised early, and it cost him the prize in the end.

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The Lesser Of Two Evils

Over the years, a trend has developed among Big Brother players that can be thought of as a variation of “The Lesser of Two Evils.” When two people are on the block – one as an originally intended target, one as a pawn – the vote changes so that the person causing more problems stays inside the House so that they can be saved for a later eviction. The other person is evicted because of a myriad of reasons – they’re “too nice,” not a strong player, too strong a player, not a team player, etc.

In the case of Kaitlin’s eviction this week, it was the lesser of two evils being removed once more. This time around, however, the player who was “too much of a threat” to keep in the House barely fought to keep herself alive.

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Elissa Uses Veto – GinaMarie Nominated

Yet again, someone on the block won the Veto, guaranteeing its use yet again. This time, it was America’s MVP Nominee who won the power, Elissa. She was the surprise MVP Nom, probably being second choice, after Aaryn, who had already been placed on the block with Kaitlin by HOH Judd.

This week’s Veto was the traditional How Much Do You Want It? Challenge and Elissa has to sit out next week’s Veto Competition, Judd got Solitary Confinement for 24 hours, Helen has an 8pm curfew and McCrae obviously didn’t want it, as he now has an extra $5,000 in his pocket.  Not too shabby.

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Legends Of The Fail

In the game of Big Brother, there have been countless examples of partnerships and alliances that rose spectacularly early on only to flame out just as quickly. These alliances are legendary for their failure, rather than any success they may have had. The biggest example of an alliance collapse is the “Regulators” of Big Brother 13, a group of 4 who were assured of their ability to run the House only to be completely removed from the game by Week 5 – and whose sole enemy in the House returned to outlast their final player. Kail’s alliance of Big Brother 8 was just as unsuccessful, in the long run.

In the examination of game history, the season will have to fully play out before we can judge the uselessness of the Moving Company. However, it can definitely be viewed as a near-total failure to this point.

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Blond, Ambitionless

In the annals of Big Brother history, there have been Houseguests that have overplayed and thus shortened their stay by coming on too hard. First week evictee roles have been riddled with overconfident, overstrategizing players who led themselves out the door with their gameplay. Then, there are the folks that rub everyone else the wrong way and shuffle themselves out via their attitude. The truly unfortunate folks are the ones who are nominated for no clear reason, then break down in gameplay and social skill to the point where they have to go.

Then, there was David.

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