Big Brother 10, Week 5
By Eric Hughes
August 17, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The surprise victor? Not Libra (she placed second), but 75-year-old Jerry, who shoved more than 36 pounds of it into his corresponding box.
With Michelle in control as Head of Household, Libra knew she now sat in, uh, pretty bad shape. Just a week earlier, she stole Michelle's Hawaiian vacation; forced her to wear a revealing, red leotard for a full week (long story) and then voted out her BFF Jessie. Whoops.
Surveying this misfortunate track record, coupled with her fresh loss at the PoV competition, Libra had just one thing to say: "Put a fork in me. I'm done."
Like a present-day Nostradamus, Libra nailed it. The house kicked the loudmouth out of the game (finally!) in a decisive 6-0 vote.
Week 5 at a glance
Head of Household: Michelle
HouseGuests nominated for eviction (pre-veto): Keesha and Libra
Power of Veto winner: Jerry
PoV used on: No one
HouseGuests nominated for eviction (post-veto): Keesha and Libra
HouseGuest evicted live on Wednesday: Libra
Who should have been evicted: Libra
New HoH: Renny
HouseGuests remaining: 8 (April, Dan, Jerry, Keesha, Memphis, Michelle, Ollie, Renny)
"But I'd like to get to know you (Yes I would)"
It's hard to believe, but when the next eviction episode comes 'round, we'll be halfway through Big Brother 10. Though the franchise's sixth season cast still stands as the contest's best, the current HouseGuests are nothing to sneeze at either. In fact, they're the most entertaining group of folks to walk through Big Brother's doors in years.
Well, now that we're approaching the halfway mark, I thought it appropriate to discuss the current state of the house, in terms of whom I'm fond of and whom I'd like to see get the boot as soon as humanly possible.
April: Ugh, where to begin. The girl is as fake as they come, pledging allegiances to whomever is in control of the house and then likely ditching them like old firewood when necessary. I don't know, she and Ollie can go have babies and live a happy life together if that's what she wants (because she definitely wears the pants in that relationship).
Luckily, she's probably the next HouseGuest to be evicted now that Renny is in power.
Dan: Dan is a bit hard to grasp, really. He's just about impossible not to like, and has played the game with a certain respectfulness and honesty that you just don't get out from the average HouseGuest (except when he played as America's Player, of course; yet, that shouldn't be considered since he had no control over what the Big Brother audience wanted).
For me, though, too much of Dan's game is making himself look like a weak HouseGuest so that the rest of the house has sympathy for him and fails to nominate him for eviction. In fact, that's all he really does. It's a solid way to play the game, and hell, it's worked for him brilliantly up to this point. But at the same time, his honest game play makes for a boring character on national television. Get in the mix, man! Start some trouble.
Jerry: When we first met Jerry, I was a bit skeptical about Big Brother's casting decision and surmised that I'd immediately want him gone. As the show's oldest contestant ever (75!), a War vet and a probable Republican, I knew I wouldn't be inviting the old man over for dinner anytime soon.
That's when Jerry surprised me. Most importantly, he proved he had a solid heart (in more ways than one, too. I'm still shocked that April practically gave the man a lap dance hours after meeting him and Jerry showed no signs of nearing a fatal heart attack).
However, now five weeks in, it seems the game has transformed his character from the-grandpa-you-don't-mind-chilling-with to the-crotchety-old-guy-who-should-be-permanently-banned-from-Thanksgiving-dinner. He's just plain evil!
A fine example would be at the most recent PoV ceremony, where Jerry could save either Keesha or Libra from the Chopping Block by nominating a new HouseGuest for eviction. Though he ultimately decided to keep the nominations as is, the man still voiced his frustrations to Catholic school teacher Dan, who one week earlier went against his word by voting to evict Jessie instead of Memphis. (Of course, those of us at home know he was merely playing the game as America's Player).
Jerry concluded his nonsense outrage by telling Dan, in front of the rest of the house, that he "would always be Judas in (his) house." Ouch. His comments, of course, would have been warranted if he then nominated Dan for eviction. Instead, he cowardly let out a lot of hot air and then sat back in his chair, effectively doing nothing.
You, sir, need to pack your bags.
Keesha: Keesha first put a target on her back when she aligned herself with April, Libra and Ollie. Yes, that team certainly had a good run (they were responsible for evicting Angie and Jessie, you know). But then the Hooters waitress saw the light, realizing the defects of her allies and how beneficial it'd be to seek new blood.
Enter Memphis, who she got talking with this week and likely will strike up some sort of alliance with once the man understands that a partnership between himself and Dan really needs a few extra people.
Memphis and Michelle: I may as well do these two together because they not only work well as a team, but they're currently the two HouseGuests who I'd most like to see make it to the finale. And if forced to choose between the two, I'd definitely go with Memphis. Definitely.
At least for me, Memphis shined this week. First off, the man deservedly has the week's best quote. After working his ass off at the onion PoV competition and earning a Big Brother prize, Memphis learned his reward was dud-tastic: a homemade onion necklace (yes, you read correctly) that must be worn for 24 hours straight. Here's what he had to say: "Being number one on Big Brother is not always the best thing." Then, with perfect dryness, "Obviously, I'm wearing a necklace made of onions."
But what I really liked was the way the man stood up for poor Dan, who relentlessly had to bear Jerry's wrath for the majority of the week after the boy followed America's instructions. Then more HouseGuests attacked not only Dan's character, but his religion too, which didn't sit kindly with Memphis. Memphis and Dan have since struck up a mini alliance that could take the pair far into the game.
And Michelle also finds herself on my good side simply because she's everything that girls like April and (former HouseGuest) Libra aren't. Sure, she's a bit loud, but only when it's warranted. She's down to earth, feisty and a bit spunky, too. She adds a zing to the game by keeping the HouseGuests on their toes.
Ollie: Ollie who? Seriously, he's got to be one of the quietest HouseGuests EVER. Beyond his exposed relationship with April, the 27-year-old preacher's son really hasn't contributed anything to the game, save for how whipped he is, I guess.
The man has yet to earn Head of Household, win Power of Veto or be put on the Chopping Block. Yet he still manages to get by through one simple philosophy: keeping his neck out of random scuttles and long-gestated confrontations. The house blows up around him and all Ollie does is calmly sit and enjoy the fireworks.
I want to say I'm indifferent about Ollie, but his alliance/relationship with April from seemingly day one isn't good. The boy can stay in the game for a few more weeks, but there's no way I'm pushing for Ollie to bag the $500,000 prize.
Renny: Perhaps the best way to put this is that my feelings toward the 53-year-old beauty salon owner are just about opposite that of Jerry. While I basically hated the woman early on in the game (for being loud, obnoxious, a little dumb and what have you), Renny has definitely turned a corner and quietly became one of my favorites in the house. And so much so that I wouldn't mind seeing the girl win the whole thing (if I weren't so attached to Memphis and Michelle).
What I respect most about Renny is the fact that she's this maternal entity within the house for any of the HouseGuests (mostly the females, actually) who need a shoulder to cry on. And she's not just doing it to save herself from eviction, either. She truly means well.
Final thoughts
At the close of Thursday's live eviction episode, Renny earned herself the keys to the house's most powerful position: Head of Household. April is a sure bet for eviction (yay!) because Renny has wanted her out of the house since day one and practically begged Michelle all this week to put her up on the Chopping Block.
It's the woman's second nomination that I can't seem to nail down, because Renny gets along with everyone else in the house (for the most part, now that Libra and Jessie are gone). A safe bet is to assume she'll merely put up any old HouseGuest (in this game, called a pawn) and then focus her energy on getting April to pack her bags.
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