Big Brother: Dan Wins HoH. Or Did He?
Spoiler Free Commentary by Mike Shields
August 25, 2008
When last we left our rain soaked houseguests, they were in the middle
of an HoH competition. As it was an endurance challenge, it was no
surprise when Jerry bailed first. Keesha started developing leg cramps,
and was the next to go. Before that, she found that the slamming wall
had water balloons attached, and for those that were skilled enough,
additional ammo to use to get others to fall off. Of course, all this
really did was make the recipients of the additional drenching mad.
Michelle took the brunt of this added torture.
Which may or may not be why she fell next. This left us with Ollie vs.
The Renegades, and Ollie's need to avenge April's eviction. This may be
why Ollie was able to outlast Memphis, as he was the next to drop. It
should be noted at this point, that everyone that fell off after Jerry
needed help to leave the mat. This may explain why Memphis went inside,
and came back wrapped in towels.
So, we're left with Dan and Ollie. And a few slams into the wall later,
Dan starts offering deals. It's always been my contention that the
person that starts offering deals like this, is about to leave the
competition involuntarily. Dan first asked if Ollie wanted to keep
himself safe, and Ollie declined. After awhile longer, Dan said, “This
is ridiculous.” Ollie replied, “Yeah.”
The dealmaking continues; Ollie continues to decline. Keesha and Renny
on the sidelines start commenting about a possible deal, but they can't
overhear the conversation. They're both convinced that the dealmaking
has commenced, however, they're frustrated that they don't know what
deal was made....
An interesting thing happens at this point, and it may show a flaw in
Dan's game-play. But first, a word from the diary room, from Dan
himself; “I need to show that I'm still weak, while at the same time,
win the HoH.” He's doing it for Monica, his girlfriend, and he wants to
'see' her. Before Ollie started to flex his right hand, as if it were
tiring out, they talk about wanting to see their 'people.' Dan says, “I
wanna see Monica.” Ollie shoots back, “I've got people too.”
It's at this point that Dan's dealmaking escalates. He gives up the
opportunity to nominate one person, and Ollie gets to keep himself and
someone else save. As if this weren't enough, Dan also gives the call of
the replacement nominee if the POV is used to Ollie as well. There's
some fuzzy logic going on here though. Dan may believe that he stated
that he gets to make that decision on his own. Ollie falls moments
later, with an apparent deal in place. Dan is basically HoH in name only
at this point. Ollie may believe he has all the power this week.
He flexes this muscle by asking Dan to put up Memphis. Wow. Let me say
that backwards. Wow. If Dan complies, he effectively breaks his alliance
with Memphis. If he doesn't, he's broken his word to Ollie. Sounds like
the classic, No Win Scenario. Of course, I believe that when given two
unenviable choices, you should always take the third one. After
nominating Jerry, Dan complies with Ollie's request, while at the same
time mentioning that he wanted to see if the nominees were “Renegades.”
A secret signal to Memphis to be sure, and we'll have to see how this
shakes out if the POV is used.
With seven people left in the house, the analysis gets easier, however,
with alliances seemingly changing at an instant, as can be seen by the
above. At one point before the nominations, Dan, Keesha and Renny may
have made an agreement to be the final three. Of course, this goes
against Dan and Memphis as the final two. Especially if Memphis gets
evicted. Dan made this nomination fully believing that he had Keesha and
Renny's votes to keep Memphis in the house. But as previously discussed,
Renny is a wild card, and may still pull a fast one. It really comes
down to who wins the veto, if it's used, and if Dan keeps true to his
word with Ollie. What the contestants don't know, is that they're doing
the whole week in a day thing which airs this Thursday. I'll leave it
here for now, and see how things shakeout Tuesday.
Stay Tuned. I know I will....
Disclaimer: Mike's views don't necessarily reflect anyone else's that you know, and sometimes,
not even his own. If you'd like to discuss your necessarily opposing view, feel free to contact him.
All articles are the intellectual property of and copyrighted by the individual authors.
By submitting an article to Reality TV Calendar you are granting Reality TV Calendar
permission to display the article in perpetuity.
