Big Brother Shenanigans: BB14:The Season of the Floppers

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

BB14:The Season of the Floppers

BB14 is the season of "alliances". At this point in the game, everyone has made an F2 agreement, an F3, 4, 5 agreement with everyone in the house. In other words, it's a big, spanking mess. I would go as far as to say, they have given the term alliance a new entry in the dictionary: alliance: the pretense of being on one's side when in reality plotting each other's demise, as long as it saves oneself. Actually, here's a new BB term: fakelliance.

Is there a true alliance anywhere in that house? The motto this season, more than any other, has been shank before getting shanked. This might be the greatest source of frustration among fans of the show. Who the heck do you root for? I've talked previously about the dilemma we face as viewers, namely the ability to separate humanity from the game; but is it possible to root for someone who has no loyalty to anyone in the game? Does this season only have floppers, making it a Flop?

Here's a list of F2 deals currently talked about or active in the game:

Britney: Ian/Danielle (the latter doesn't even count as an alliance given the recent developments)
Dan: Danielle/Frank
Danielle: Britney/Dan/Jenn/Shane
Frank: Dan/Jenn/Joe/Shane
Ian: Britney

In addition to those alliances, there are larger alliances in play:

Dan, Ian, Shane, Danielle/Britney
Dan, Danielle, Frank, Jenn
Frank, Joe, Shane
Ian, Shane, Danielle

Assuming that Britney will be going Thursday, the numbers game puts Frank and Danielle at the top of alliance safety and Ian at the bottom, meaning Ian is at greatest risk. However, if we look at the history of those alliances. which are the strongest? Danielle and Dan, as well as Danielle and Shane have had the longest standing alliances, but are they true alliances given the other F2 deals in play?

Depending on who wins HoH next, the targets are as follows from most to least: Ian, Frank, Dan, Shane, Danielle, Jenn and finally Joe.
According to numbers, the level of danger is as follows, from most to least: Ian, Jenn, Joe, Dan, Shane, Danielle and Frank.
The order of top competitors this season has been, from most to least: Frank, Shane, Danielle, Ian, Jenn, Dan and Joe.

As it stands, unless Ian or Dan win the upcoming HoH/PoV competitions, they will be chopped; and since Frank has given up the ability to compete in next week's HoH, he needs to win PoVs to save himself. At any rate, the safest people in the house are Shane, Danielle, Jenn and Joe, in that order.

UPDATE:
They are already on lock down, been so since 4:30 am, PST. It's looking good for Endurance.

Best line of the Season:
7:56ish PM: Britney (about pistachios): "I like to suck on these." BB Voice: "That's what she said."

Stay tuned! :)

Big Brother Lexicon

There are certain terms that have been used in the course of this show that should be clarified. Here is a list:

Team America: Yet Another tool for production to manipulate the game. Three players will be placed in alliance by "America" and will be given tasks that apparently will change the game. So far, it didn't change Joey's game, first member of Team America slated to be evicted first.

Battle of the Block: The 2 nominees of each of the 2 HoHs will battle each other. The winner duo save themselves and dethrone the HoH who nominated them, throwing them back out of power at risk of being a renom.

AGP: Allison Grodner of Fly on the Wall Productions which is the company that has been hired by CBS to produce the show.

PoV: Power of Veto. This allows the holder to save one of the nominations for eviction. The last PoV of the game is the most powerful, as it determines who will be evicted.

HoH: Head of Household. Along with getting a primo suite, a letter from home, pictures and treats, this person decides who will be nominated and renominated should the veto be used.

Floater: This term is often misused. A "floaters" strategy is legitimate way to get through and win the game. A prime example of this is Jun Song (BB4). This strategy allows the player to switch alliances when necessary, win when necessary, but always work under the wire. It doesn't mean just going with the power in the house (let's call those floppers). It means manipulating the house, ergo having the power. In later years, the term has been misused for players who do not make any moves in the game but work for whoever has the power.

Backdoor: This strategy is used when the true target for eviction is not initially nominated, does not get a chance to play PoV, is subsequently nominated and evicted.

Blindside: When a player is evicted without even suspecting that he/she is the target.

Pawn: This is a person who is nominated but is part of the HoH's alliance and is used as a decoy, to ensure that the other person nominated gets evicted. It has often happened that the pawn has been blindsided.

America's Player: This is a player in the game, chosen by the viewing public, who is told how to act and vote in the house. They do this for a separate monetary reward.

Fast Forward: When there are two evictions in one week. Typically they tape an eviction on Tuesday followed by a quickie HoH. They have nominations later that night, followed by a PoV competition and PoV ceremony the next day. The second eviction and HoH comp for that week happens live on Thursday.

Double Eviction: On the live show on Thursday, there is an eviction (sometimes pre-taped), followed by a quick HoH comp, immediate nominations, a PoV competition, PoV Ceremony, followed by another Eviction, culminating in the second HoH comp which is usually a physical skill or Endurance.