Big Brother 11: The Finale Recap
What’s a girl to do with all that money?
By Eric Hughes
September 17, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
How Well Do You Know: Big Brother 11
Jordan won Big Brother 11. Thank god, I can sleep again.
Okay, I may not be that obsessed with the summer reality show, but it sure felt awesome to see one of the nicest contestants to play the game come out on top and claim the $500,000 prize.
And as she said in her closing speech to the Jury on why she should win over Natalie, Jordan did it all on her own. Well, at least when it mattered.
Without Jeff by her side to help coast her further into the game, Jordan actually battled Natalie and Kevin all by herself – and won. First she claimed the season's final Head of Household crown and ousted Kevin on the spot. Then, she convinced four out of six Jury members that she played a better game than Natalie did. Securing a vote from America to officially seal the deal, Jordan eliminated Natalie by a 5-2 vote.
The studio audience, as expected, went nuts.
Her plans with the prize money, which she spelled out with her delightful Southern accent, include putting a down payment on a home, sending some cash to a relative with college-bound kids and perhaps purchasing a new car. Oh, Jordan!
Team Jordan/Jeff actually took home a total of $525,000 on finale night, as Jeff was awarded $25,000 for being America's Favorite HouseGuest. With a sly smile, host Julie said of America's vote: "It wasn't even close."
Can anybody page the boy who cried wolf?
Like every season of Big Brother, there was a ton of lyin' going on this summer. It continued to the bitter end. Having final two deals with both Kevin and Natalie, Jordan was forced to kick one of them to the side when it came time for her to cast the season's final eviction.
But she wasn't the only one playing both sides. Kevin told Natalie incessantly that he would take her with him to the final two when it reality he discussed in the Diary Room that said scenario would prove to be suicide because Natalie had too many friends in the Jury House.
What Natalie planned to do was never a source of contention because she lost her crack at securing a spot in the final two in a previous episode. The only trick she had left in her sleeve was to talk Kevin or Jordan into taking her to the final two.
Last stop at the Jury House
Being the finale, of course our time inside the Jury House tragically ends here. (Spin off... spin off...). This week's peek inside framed the space like a dream world: HouseGuests soaking up sun, Jeff putting his differences with Russell aside – Jeff did evict him, of course – and tossing the football around with the big man in the pool. Smiles and all. The whole thing seemed so peaceful, and rather unlike anything the HouseGuests experienced weeks earlier within the Big Brother house.
When they finally got down to business, the recently evicted HouseGuests discussed who they expected to see come trample through the door. A majority thought Kevin would get the boot next, but were taken aback when Michele greeted them inside.
Once settled in, Michele stomped on Natalie's already tarnished image by detailing new lies she spread in the house – including Natalie's cover for what she was up to while her boyfriend, of all things, proposed to her. Then the roomies watched video of Michele's final week in the house, and poked fun at Natalie's ridiculous Flavor Flav-inspired garb that she wore during the nominations ceremony.
Said Jeff: "Looking at her makes me sick."
Say hello to this season's losers
Back on stage, the final two, the Jury and Julie were joined by the four players – Braden, Laura, Casey and Ronnie – who were the first to be evicted from the house. All of them looked great, showered and well dressed. Save for Ronnie, who looked exactly the same. He also must have missed the memo on dressing up for the occasion since he wore a T-shirt with "square root of all evil" on the front. (There's a reason he told the show his job title is a professional video gamer).
As the only people who have seen the game from the comfort of their living rooms – even the videos shown to Jury members are truncated versions of original episodes – the four quickly made Jordan and the Jury realize that Natalie is not 18, but 24, and that Natalie is the least trustworthy HouseGuest of the entire cast and probably played the dirtiest game. (Perhaps this confession played into Jordan's 5-2 win).
Among the highlights of bringing back the first four evictees was watching Braden struggle to make a lick of sense. Honestly, the man was probably high. He couldn't open his eyes the whole way, and all he could muster when put on the spot was talk about how great Jessie is. Feelings for Jessie, and really any Jury member at this point, are totally irrelevant since none of them can win the game.
Let's just say Julie did her best to move the discussion onto someone else's shoulders.
Look at the waaaaaaaaayyy... we've gotta hide what we're doin'
The final topic to discuss would be Jordan and Jeff. They, of course, would be this season's Ross and Rachel – playing the infamous "will they or won't they?" game.
The finale's tangible way of deciding things was in Jeff's trip to Hawaii, which he won from a contest earlier in the summer. With his one allotted guest still at large, Julie asked the one question romantics everywhere wanted the answer to: Who the eff is he taking?!
Asked if it would be Jordan, Jeff joked: "We'll see if she wins or not." Jeff then clarified that she was on his short list – basically the kindest way he could say no to her and still come off looking pretty good live on national television.
Poor Jordan. The look on her face was painful. Yet being handed a check for $500,000 by the end of the night probably made up for it.
Final thoughts
So that'll do it for BOP's Big Brother coverage this summer. I've had a good time watching the HouseGuests make buffoons of themselves and then recapping their shenanigans in this space. Here's hoping you had some fun here too. See you again next summer!
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