It’s time for the PoV, and with Jen and Kail on the block again this week, let’s look at my Big Brother 8 weekly rankings.
11. Zach (10).
Isolationism isn’t pretty in the Big Brother game, and Zach has left himself increasingly alone. Top that with uncomfortable comments, and he stands as the universally hated male player in the BB8 house. Unless he wins PoV, he’s likely on the block to replace either Jen or Kail and is the odds-on favorite to go home this week.
10. Jen (11).
As Dustin said late Friday, Jen finally proved she wasn’t a robot when she shed tears after being nominated again. This drew sympathetic responses from both Nick and evel Dick and showed that she at least had the potential to warm up to people.
9. Kail (12).
Kail lucked out last week and has spent the first part of this week making some amends, even warming up to HoH Dustin on Friday night and Saturday morning before the PoV. In one conversation, Dustin acknowledged that if she kept a low profile this week that she would be safe. It would be easy to see her go home, but my gut tells me the sequester alliance has bigger fish to fry.
8. Nick (5).
Any relationship potential between him and Daniele is slipping daily although there is still flirting. Quite a bit of strategic talk this week has centered on Nick as a back-door replacement for either Kail or Jen. Nick’s biggest problem is that he’s on the outside looking in to the Gang of 7 sequester alliance.
7. Jameka (9).
Jameka is coming out of her shell and playing a bit more. She’s in with the big undefined alliance, but her side conversations with Amber in particular portend future trouble.
6. Jessica (8).
It must be killing Carol, but Jessica has turned into one of the more likeable players. Late Friday, dare I say I saw the AFL cheerleader flirting with Eric. She’s also the party girl in the house, a reigning quarters queen. Her game is understated, and the fact that she’s a wildcard could prove troublesome for her soon.
5. Eric (6).
Eric dodged some bullets after the 7 to 2 vote to evict Mike could have left him wide open. He’s a slick talker and a fine reasoner, but sometimes he says too much. At some point soon, I think he’ll become a volatile, polarizing player, particularly if America has him do something else crazy (like vandalizing Jen’s clothes).
4. Amber (4).
Amber has made some terrific relationships in the house, both strategically and personally, but she plays both sides of the fence. She’s a good player in terms of “workin’ it,” but she’ll need to excel at some of these competitions in order to wield some power now and again.
3. Dick (2).
Evel Dick reminds me strongly of Eddie, the one-legged winner of Season 1. His in-your-face style is off-putting, but it also allows for some serious trust to be had. If he tells you he’ll do something, then by gosh you can count on it for now. I think he’s a lock for sequester and, to me, to make it to the Final 3.
2. Daniele (1).
She’s good when it comes to competition, but the slop clearly wore her down for a couple of weeks. Daniele’s strength is still in having her father back her up; however, she’s likeable enough and strong enough relationship-wise to stick around for the foreseeable future.
1. Dustin (3).
If I were forced to pick a winner right now, I think Dustin wins this bugger going away. He’s popular, so much so that both America and the other houseguests like him. Dustin has made no mistakes so far in the house, and his style of aggressive confidence is done in a friendly style as opposed to Dick’s style. I can’t really even fathom what trouble Dustin will have until the Final 6 or so.
It’s clear that Jen, Kail, Zach and Nick face tough odds in this the first week of the second month of game play. One of them is going home this week, and unless one of them can win HoH, another one will go home next week. Kail has made the most inroads with the sequester alliance to win back some friendships.
I think the fact that she’s made it so clear how much she loves this show, how much she wants to stay that, heck, there might be a tinge of empathy for her in the house. Even Dick has backed off publicly.
While Jen could work some Janelle magic and be around late in this competition, she’s not doing nearly enough to win souls. She’s gotta take Dustin aside, Jameka aside, Jessica aside and prove to them that she’s not a total b****. Honestly, I don’t think she is, and I think she’s way smarter than she lets on, which must mean she’s not playing the game very well, and it could be her demise.
And last but not least, while I don’t think I touched on Nick’s volatility this week, several reports indicate that he’s acknowledged having psychological problems to the other houseguests, problems that center on being violent. There is speculation that he might have even lied on his application to get into the house, saying that he had never been analyzed for psychological problems.
About two weeks ago, Big Brother strongly admonished Dick for saying he’d step on Jen’s neck for something or other. Violence will not be tolerated in the house, and while Nick’s arguments have been tame relative to his brief tiffs with Zach, one loss of temper ends his run on BB8. Not saying it will happen, but any goodwill he had built over the first three weeks has been lost because of this and his relationship with Daniele.
OK, PoV is soon to be over — I think — so keep it here on big-brother-blog.com for updates and analysis.
