There is an old saying in professional wrestling: “To Be The Man, You Gotta Beat The Man.” It’s a simple premise, overall. To prove you are the best, you have to win against the best.
In the end, The Prodigy beat The Best Player in Big Brother and proved this to be true once more. Tonight, Ian became the Man by beating Dan, the Man 6 – 1.
After both threw the first part of the HOH competition to Dan, Danielle and Ian competed in the second of the three part final Head of Household Competition tonight. Ian won, making it an Ian/Dan head-to-head competition live Wednesday, for a guaranteed spot in the Final Two and the choice of who will sit next to them.
Ian, thinking he’s guaranteed to be in the finals because of his ‘Renegade Alliance’ with Dan, was put under fire immediately after his win. A planned attack by Dan and Danielle that Dan hopes will help his chances of convincing Ian to throw the final part of the HOH to him. Dan put his plan in to motion, making an intentional slip to ‘reveal’ his alliance with Ian to Danielle.
“You gotta admit, I played this stinkin’ city like a harp from Hell!”
– Penguin (Danny DeVito), “Batman Returns”
The best villains in classic literature often tend to be those who don’t reveal their true ambition to the hero until the final act. If one were to look at this season as literature or a story written out, then Dan has proved to be the season’s Iago. Seen as an ally to the “heroic” couple of Danielle and Shane, Dan fully revealed his true intentions to the heroine in the final act. With his move to get removed from nomination and then to eliminate the one remaining power couple in the house, Dan has paved his way to victory by placing himself in a safe position to make the Final Two. His diabolical plan to subvert his main ally is complete, and his move seals his fate as one of the biggest villains in BB History.
At least, that’s what you’ll learn if you ask Danielle tonight.
Danielle, after winning her second HOH of the season, followed it up with a second Veto win. Keeping all the power in her hands, she can now decide whether to keep her nominations of former coach Dan and resident genius Ian the same. With Shane the only person safe at the moment, using it is unlikely. However with Dan still in the house, it is entirely possible that he can talk his way off the block.
Having previously had a plan together to take out Shane before the final three, Dan could use that to sway Danielle. It could already be the plan. Even so, Danielle is known for being emotional, and her attachment to Shane could override her day-one alliance with Dan.
Shane chose to use the Veto today, taking himself off the Block and securing his place in the final four. With the Quack Pack back together, Ian chose Danielle as the replacement nominee, keeping his ‘Final Two’ partner Dan safe. With Danielle on the Block next to Jenn and only Shane and Dan voting this week, it’s probably the safest she’s felt while sitting in the hot seat so far this summer.
After promising Jenn that she would never vote her out, Dani’s in a good position with her as a Jury Vote because she won’t have to go back on her word. Yet Jenn is not giving up (though she should), vowing to campaign to stay and feeling like she has a lot of game left in her. Of course, if she has actually played the game during the first two thirds, that argument would be worth a lot more.
With Big Brother winding down, the final five played for Veto. Ian having nominated Shane and Jenn, the worst case scenario for the Quack Pack was Jenn winning, forcing one of their numbers to leave. That didn’t come about when Shane took the win in what sounds like a physical puzzle challenge. Lucky for him, as Dan and Danielle have been considering taking him out before Final Four. Assuming he won’t pull a Marcellas and not use the Veto on himself (though overestimating Shane is easy to do) Ian will have to choose either Danielle or Dan to take his place.
Ian has put his faith in to the Quack Pack, most specifically Dan, who he has made a Final Two deal with, breaking out the old alliance ‘the Renegades’ which got Dan to the Final Two before. Being included in the alliance (complete with the fist-bump pistol shoot ‘secret’ handshake) is a thrill for the young man, so it is unlikely he will choose Dan as the replacement nominee, leaving Danielle as the only option.
With Ian finally upstairs in HOH, his second time around again proved his loyalty to the crashed, burned Quack Pack he somehow resuscitated and recovered. By nominating Frank and Jenn, he kept Dan off the block and went so far as solidifying a final two deal with the former winner after Dan won the much anticipated OTEV Veto Competition today. His first win of the season, on his birthday, no less.
Dan now having the power to save either Frank or Jenn from the block, who he formed an alliance with last week that kept both him and Danielle in the game, means we will see which side he thinks will get him farthest in the game. So far it looks as though his loyalty to the QP will last at least another week, as Ian his HOH.
During the last 24 hours what may be the best game play in Big Brother History has gone down. At the center of it all? Dan, winner of Big Brother 10, author of How to Get On Reality TV, and Big Brother strategy mastermind. It all began with 24 hours in solitary confinement. Although he was subjected to strobe lights and really annoying party ‘music’ (CBS sure didn’t break the bank on that one), Dan had one thing that nobody in the BB house gets – time to think and time to plan.
Dan went in to Solitary confinement after the Veto Competition on Saturday afternoon, and a few hours in to the confinement he stopped talking to everybody, having already played it cool with Danielle, not talking to her since Veto. Of course, Danielle took that personally. Whining to Britney that Dan was mad at her, and wondering why. Britney, thinking that Danielle was reading too much into it and playing emotionally, assured Danielle that he wasn’t mad and was just sleeping, or couldn’t hear them. Dan came out of solitary confinement in the Have Not Room, he appeared pale and shaky. Having been subjected to constant strobe lights and music made it impossible for him to actually rest, and he looked exhausted. However, at the sink he stood and gave the camera a quick wink. There was nothing wrong with Dan.
After the epic Double Eviction episode on Thursday night that sent Boogie home and Ashley to Jury, Frank won yet another HOH competition and moved his stuff back upstairs. It’s been an extra fun HOH for him since he opened Pandora’s Box and was locked in while the rest of the house searched for quarters in balls so they could play the claw game in the Arcade Room. The Golden Ball was the goal and the winner, Ian, now has the new Golden Ball Veto.
In making his nominations the next day, Frank didn’t hesitate to nominate his main target Dan along with Danielle, Dan’s closest ally in the house.
Few players in this game have been as polarizing as Janelle Pierzina. After two seasons, viewers had come to either love or hate her- rarely were people inbetween. What was never in doubt before this summer was that she was one of the hardest players in the game. Janelle combined this with a game play that had strong social overtones thanks to friendships with Howie and Kaysar, and the result was a player who has been widely regarded as one of the best never to win the game.
When viewers watched Janelle this season on the feeds, it was clear something was different. Perhaps too much time had passed since her last season. Perhaps her changed perspective on life (following marriage and motherhood) had turned this once-monster player into less of a force to be reckoned with. Janelle’s investment in this season seemed weaker than in past seasons, and her game play was off all season.