Big Brother 10, Week 2
By Eric Hughes
July 24, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Uh, yeah!
On one side, you've got Keesha, April, Libra and Ollie. The other: Angie, Jessie, Memphis and Michelle. The remainders (or "floaters" as one HouseGuest appropriately coined) would be Dan, Jerry and Renny. Locking down at least one, if not two of these unaffiliated persons would break the four-four split among the two main factions and shift the balance the power to one side.
Another way to do it? Become the Head of Household, which none other than golden girl Keesha was able to do live on television. Look out, Jessie and company. She's undoubtedly got you on her radar next week.
Week 2 at a glance
Head of Household: Jessie
HouseGuests nominated for eviction (pre-veto): Dan and Steven
Power of Veto winner: Michelle
PoV used on: No one
HouseGuests nominated for eviction (post-veto): Dan and Steven
HouseGuest evicted live on Wednesday: Steven
Who should have been evicted: Steven
New HoH: Keesha
HouseGuests remaining: 11 (Angie, April, Dan, Jerry, Jessie, Keesha, Libra, Memphis, Michelle, Ollie, Renny)
Funny how things change
One week ago, I wanted Renny and Jessie evicted as soon as possible, and offhandedly stated that Steven's quiet approach could take him far into the game. Well, I've since warmed up to both Renny AND Jessie (mainly due to his strong alliance), and Steven of course is no longer a threat because the HouseGuests unanimously kicked him out. Bye bye, Steven.
So it goes in the Big Brother house, where attitudes, beliefs, alliances and so forth can unexpectedly change on a dime. The big stories last week were cleansing the house of Brian (and anyone that liked him) and perhaps the extended tiff between Renny and Jessie. The house has since gotten rid of the 27-year-old mastermind and Renny and Jessie, for the most part, have resolved their differences (or at the very least aren't forcing the HouseGuests – and viewers at home – to endure more contrived banter).
And now, we even have factions. As outlined above, it's Keesha, April, Libra and Ollie on one side, and Angie, Jessie, Memphis and Michelle on the other. Renny, even, has moved on from one target (Jessie) in favor of another (Libra). More on that in a second.
Steven: "I really, really don't want to go home"
So how did Renny escape the first wave of nominations on Sunday? When we left the group last week, her name was etched on everyone's hate list and her nemesis, Jessie, earned control of the house by winning the Head of Household competition. It seemed like a sure bet that in mere days, the 53-year-old beauty salon owner would land herself a seat next to Big Brother host Julie Chen, and discuss everything she did wrong.
However, Jessie decided to officially end his nothing fight with Renny by putting up two dudes on the Chopping Block: Dan and Steven. Dan made sense. He was, of course, the lone HouseGuest who voted to save Brian the week prior. But Steven? Jessie's excuse was that the gay rodeo champion showed disrespect by not joining the rest of the house in taking a peek at his new bedroom, which is pretty customary for new HoHs.
But as it turns out, HouseGuests would rather get rid of stronger players (Steven) – physically speaking – when there's a chance to evict, and save the weaker ones (Dan) for a later round.
Do you smell what the Jerry is cookin'?
One thing we learned this week is that Jerry simply won't let elephants in the room stay put. No, the war vet will take out a slugger and relentlessly beat the elephant until he's satisfied. In this case, the elephant was Libra, who in referencing the make-up of her team in the week's food competition made ugly remarks about both Jerry and the house's other "senior" HouseGuest, Renny.
Rather than allowing Libra to make behind-the-back comments without penalty, Jerry stormed into her room immediately and demanded she understand that he doesn't take kindly to people saying that he's less able than younger people to perform in competitions.
What followed was undoubtedly the series' best fight so far this season, where the pair verbally hated on each other – Jerry for being flat-out disrespected and Libra for correcting how Jerry had it wrong. Soon enough Renny, who unlike Jerry actually heard Libra's original comments, entered the fray and spoke her peace as well.
The fight caught the eyes (and ears) of practically everyone in the house. And for a while there, Steven used Libra's actions as a springboard to potentially relieve himself from the Chopping Block. Power of Veto winner Michelle, the lone HouseGuest with the power to remove his nomination, didn't end up buying Steven's case, and the 38-year-old not only remained on the Chopping Block, but also got himself evicted.
Final thoughts
Admittedly, I'm a fan of Jessie and company, so Keesha's win during Wednesday's live HoH competition doesn't sit well with me. I would have much rather seen someone like Michelle take home the power, ensuring a severe hit to Libra's side.
What could happen, though, is that Keesha may realize that Dan, who by now has earned Jessie's respect back, is now an unofficial member of Jessie's squad. With a likely five-four member advantage, coupled with Keesha's diminishing interest in the members of her own side (she even admitted on-air Wednesday that she wishes she never made an alliance with April, Ollie and Libra), is it possible the Hooters' waitress will back out of her current partnership and saddle up with the other side? If that's the case, then the factions stand at six-four, and Jessie's side – with Keesha and Dan in tow – convincingly paves its way into the final six (so long as Renny and Jerry remain floaters).
At the same time, however, it's never that easy in the Big Brother house. Perhaps by next week we'll be analyzing a completely different ball game (again).
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