all the right moves

CBS did their retrospective show, so I'll do my retrospective blog entry.  I'll say first that the show was just a little too staged and saccharine sweet for my tastes.  But they did hit the highlights of the season.  The puppet show, Keesha's birthday, Ollie and the birds, swim club, and Renny's impersonations.  They continue to give Jerry a far kinder edit than he deserves.  I really think the PTB want Jer-bear to get the jury prize.  And if the TVOVs have enough influence (or if it's all a farce) he just might get it.  But enough about the show...back to the game.

I've already gone through my jury analysis, and whatever the outcome, I say Dan should win.  To me he played the better game.  Week 1 when Brian walked out and said he thought Memphis had this game wrapped, I was skeptical.  But as I watched over the early weeks, I started to agree.  He was in pretty good with almost everyone.  But then, right after Nomination Roulette, I started to think Dan could actually win this game.

In looking back, I think Dan made all the right moves.  First, the Brian alliance.  Had it worked out, they would have been great together.  They both know their big mistake there was bringing in (or trying to bring in) Ollie.  Second, when the house turned on Brian, Dan stayed loyal.  This might seem like a bad move, but what it did was convince the rest of them that he was true to his word, and maybe not so bright.  His week 2 play of "I'm so weak" worked out perfectly.   And then with Jessie-gate...it wasn't really his move, but he played his part well.  He was the decider, and would have voted as he did even if he hadn't been the Tool that week.  He stayed out of The Fight for the most part, just letting Jerry call him Judas...and again looking like a bit of a doormat.  This all set him up nicely for his big week.  He'd made himself look like a slightly stupid player, and a bit of a pushover, which was part of the reason Ollie would believe he would actually go along with the Dumbest Deal Ever.  And then by sticking to the early parts of the deal, Dan cemented Ollie's trust, convinced people he wasn't with Memphis, and won a bit of Keesha's trust.  His reasoning behind nominating Michelle as opposed to Ollie when it came time to betray actually made sense (though I'm not sure any of them followed it).  He won comps when he needed to, threw them when he needed to, and got most people out with little blood on his own hands.  He made the best choice with the luxury comp. win, and revealed his choice in just the right way.

Don't get me wrong, Memphis played a great game.  And if he walks away with the big prize, I won't call it a total scandal.  Memphis turned down the Brian deal, which worked out great.  It set Brian on him, which the rest of the house then flipped, keeping Memphis off the radar for weeks.  When he finally was nominated, again, the others saved him--keeping him in the game but not making him the bad guy.  He made alliances with everyone and was true to the ones that served him best.  He won the key vetoes, and though some were thrown to him, that's not a huge strike against him. When one wins a thrown comp. it shows that the others trust him enough to throw it to him, and at least he can "catch" it.  Sure, he never won an HOH, but he never needed to.

Whoever wins, we don't need to feel bad for either of these guys.  Memphis got the car (and when has the one who won the car in week 1 on any show ever made it to the end before?), and Dan got his $20K for Tooling (we're assuming). 

As I always say....we'll know when we know...and no one deserves to win a reality show. 

P.S. Even BB has clearly given up on the livefeeds...Dan hasn't been wearing his microphone for at least 30 minutes, and they've yet to yell at him.  He also mentioned the name of one of his football players, which should have been fishied out.  But, he's not wearing his microphone, so who cares?  On the other hand, when Memphis started talking about Keesha's mystery celebrity hook-up (apparently it was Cuba Gooding, Jr.), we did get fishies...so BB is awake, just can't be bothered to tell Dan to please put on his microphone.  So, I say again, if you want good drama, check out the refeeds.  And, in other news, there is a strong possibility of another Winter BB.  BB11 is listed as a midseason replacement on CBS' schedule.  This could just be a reprint from last year, or it could mean something....we'll know when we know.

P.P.S.  Turns out I was wrong--Dan did have his mic on.  It just really wasn't working.  It got fixed after quite a few hours, but just in time for ShowtimeTime.  That's alright--the, oh say, 3 of us actually watching the feeds know where we stand....