Big Brother 17 - Rewriting history

"History is written by the victors."

Walter Benjamin did not have reality TV shows on his mind when he uttered that now-famous quote, but it applies just as well to that medium as it does to wars and international politics.  And nowhere is the truth behind his statement more apparent this week than in the post-Big Brother 17 interviews with winner Steve Moses.  Imagine the narrative this week had Steve lost the final HOH to Vanessa Rousso.  In that alternate timeline, Steve finishes a disappointing third while Vanessa basks in her new designation as GOAT, taking her place next to Dr.Will, Dan, and Derrick as the most manipulative player ever to control a season of Big Brother.  For the record, in every imaginable timeline, Liz Nolan is $50,000 richer, though in some she's dating Jeff Weldon and Austin Matelson is crafting voodoo dolls in their likeness.

That is not how this season played out.  But, let's go back exactly one week before the finale.  All the talk was not about whether Vanessa was playing the best game this season but whether she was playing one of the best games of all time.  She had successfully talked herself off the block weeks earlier despite the then-HOH having successfully arranged the perfect backdoor opportunity and having enough allies to - conceivably but not really - control that week's outcome.  Vanessa had targeted nearly every houseguest who had been thus far eliminated.  She had final two deals with everyone remaining in the house.  She won competitions every time she needed to and when she was in peril, made sure to have bigger targets in front of her.

She used a combination of tears, fast-talking, word-twisting, and strategic game-playing to put herself in the driver's seat throughout the season.  Her game was so solid that many in the jury did not realize until it was too late that she was the real power behind all the moves in the house.  And superfan Steve was so in awe of her game that he called her the best female player the game had ever seen and was determined not to go up against her in the end as she would clearly sweep the votes.  The coronation of Vanessa was so locked up that she would not even giveaway her strategy in her HOH blog, instead saving it for when she could serialize and monetize if after she shook the confetti out of her hair.

A funny thing happened on the way to her victory.  She made two huge mistakes.  One, she misread Steve completely and did not see that he was more savvy than loyal, more superfan than supernerd, and was dying to Neda her ass on national TV.  Two, she never was able to read Johnny Mac and so (it was not surprising) she lost the final HOH on a pretty easy question about him.  And so it was Vanessa who became the final member of the jury and Steve Moses who was crowned the winner of BB17.  And this is when the complete rewrite of the season began.

In his first sit down interview after the show, a bubbly, cute, awkward Steve told Jeff Schroder, "Vanessa played such a good game."  He told Jeff that he thought she would take him to the end and expected that he'd finish in second place.  Had Steve gone to final two against Vanessa he was prepared for his final speech.  "I maintained my integrity, I maintained my character. I didn't get mean,  I was more social with people,  I formed better personal relationships and I never talked down to people like Vanessa loved to.   It would have been the cute adorable kid I'd been playing the whole game.  Of course you want him to win."  He thought he'd have a chance to give that speech and thought it might have a chance of winning.

As it turns out, Steve would never had had the chance to give that speech had Vanessa won the HOH.  He misread her as badly as she misread him - both erroneously thought they were the other's final two, both did not know that the other was planning on cutting them and taking Liz in the end.  But her miscalculation was her downfall, his does not even register.  He admitted to Jeff that the whole season came down to one coin flip - winning part three of the HOH competition.  But having won that, it retroactively makes every move he made in the game superhuman and profoundly brilliant.

 In Steve 2.0's review of the season, it was he and not Vanessa who controlled the house and the game.  He put all the chess pieces in place to get him to the end.  He got JohnnyMac to assume they were final two but never actually said F2 to anyone but Vanessa.  He says it was he - and not Johnny Mac as he claimed before his win - who had figured out that Vanessa was another Derrick.  He now claims that Freaks and Geeks, later known as Scamper Squad, was his creation.  No mention of how it was Austwins and Vanessa's decision who to bring in to the alliance and no mention of how those three had a similar alliance with Shelli and Clay at the same time that he never figured out.

Steve said that he knew that whoever crossed Vanessa was destined for a quick exit, so his game was to let her believe she completely controlled him.  That's why he grew the beard and let her style him, so she would believe he was a loyal minion.  And then he would cut her off in the end to show how he was his own man.  His game was to "play the person who was playing everyone else."  He ignores that the very first Steve/Stefan makeover was actually a project of the whole house - Jeff, Clay, Austin, Liz, Becky.  Vanessa wasn't even in the room when Stefan was created.  And in all his talks to the live feed viewers and in the Diary Room he never mentioned this strategy of letting Vanessa think she controls him by styling him.

Steve has voiced some disappointment with how Vanessa's game was portrayed versus his game on the show.  While he admits that Vanessa "did a lot," Steve now says that the show "gave her more than what she did."   Steve never addresses his own warning throughout the game that if you have to win a comp to get to the end, you're not playing it right.  He put himself in the position where he had to win the final HOH to guarantee going to the final, that is by Steve's own definition not a great game.  He ignores that had he build a better relationship with Liz and JohnnyMac, either of them would have taken him to the end over the other.  Instead, he credits himself for throwing the final veto, which caused his closest ally - AND THE PERSON HE MAINTAINS HE COULD HAVE BEATEN AT THE END - to leave the game and by doing that, putting himself in the position where his fate was left up to chance.

In Steve's version of history, his pre-game strategy worked all the way to the end without a blip.  He hooked up with the strongest player, Vanessa, then took her out at the end.  End of story.  That is a pretty facile explanation for a nearly 100-day-long up and down that could have gone south many times (especially the first two weeks) and was one question from going south on the last day.  It ignores that until John alerted him to Vanessa's misting/manipulative ways, Steve never voiced in the DR or to feedsters any concern about Vanessa.  It ignores that he was on the outside of every other alliance in the house and that his "close allies" the Austwins were ready to cut him for Meg and James because he wasn't as fun.  He ignores that Vanessa dragged him to the end because she did not have a choice as neither JohnnyMac nor Austin were better options.

Did Steve play a great game, absolutely.  But anyone who wins retroactively and by definition played a great game.  All the winners, whether they are Dr. Will or Jordan Lloyd, by virtue of the result played a great game.  Lisa Donahue played a great game Season 3.  Drew Daniels played a great game Season 5.  Adam Jasinski played a great game Season 9.  Andy Herren played a great game Season 15.  You get the idea.

Congrats to Steve, you can laugh all the way to the bank and whether I think you're overplaying your game a little bit means absolutely nothing.  You win, so you get to write the history.

Big Brother 17 - Post-Show Bullying Kerfuffle

Yesterday Big Brother 17 winner Steve Moses went on Your Reality Recaps to talk all things Big Brother.  He revealed that his sweet and innocent image was concocted to get him on the show, that he allowed Vanessa to make him over to let her believe he was under her spell, and that he never had any alliance to anyone in the house, which may have surprised fans of what some called the Nerdmance between Steve and "rockstar dentist" Johnny Mac.  He disclosed a more mature, calculating gameplayer than the nervous, nauseated innocent we saw talking to himself and us frenetically on the live feeds.

But a thirty second long discussion regarding former Big Brother 15 houseguest and frequent lightning rod Amanda Zuckerman ended up the biggest story to come out of the interview.  After first prefacing that Amanda would love Steve whatever he said about her and that there was no need to tread lightly or be politically correct, YRR interviewer Eric Curto asked Steve a chat room fan's question: Why did you have so much dislike for Amanda.  Steven responded, forcefully, "She was a bully - who was not bullying for strategy."

Eric seemed taken aback.  He asked Steve if he was a fan of past BB winner Dan Gheesling and whether he thought Dan had done the same thing to Danielle Murphree.  Steve admitted to being a Dan fan and went on to differentiate Dan's behavior with Amanda's, telling Eric, "Based on my impression, I think what Dan did was strategy."  Steve went on to explain that he was an Amanda fan and that she did a lot of things well in the game but, "She was a bully and I don't like bullying unless it's game."

This response drew attention from the BB Twitter followers, from podcasters and fans alike.  Many were outraged that Steve drew a bright line between Amanda's behavior her season and Dan's in his.  Whether it was from Amanda fans, Dan haters, or simply those who found Steve's opinion to be hypocritical, the reaction was immediate and explosive.   The discussion that ensued even grabbed the attention of at least one entertainment gossip site (Celeb Dirty Laundry) that blew the entire matter out of proportion, calling Steve's comment an attack on the former houseguest and a sexist rant.

You can see the exchange and decide for yourself.  It starts at 1:50:20.

On the one hand, calling anyone a bully in this day and age is a dangerous trend.  The word is over-used and should be used carefully, not for any time someone uses intimidation or a forceful personality to get their way.  But it is also interesting how Steve's comments may in fact shine a light on some of the very problems that face strong forceful women, not just on reality TV shows, but in politics, in work, at home.  In fact, a cursory Google search of "Dan Gheesling bullying Danielle Murphree" turned up no examples of Dan's behavior, but instead resulted in a number of sites showing Danielle "bullying" Ian.  No such luck for Amanda - the internet was full of links to her "bullying" Elissa.

While this Twitter fight will pass away into history along with all the other silly disputes that come up after every season of Big Brother, maybe the issue of how strong women are perceived versus strong men should not fade away.  And if we can discuss it, civilly, then we're all winners.  Not just Steve.

Big Brother 17 Finale - How Vanessa Lost

Last night 22-year-old college student Steve* Moses won the top prize on the seventeenth season of Big Brother.  He beat out 23-year-old marketing specialist, part-time bikini model, full-time twin Liz Nolan by a vote of 6-to-3.  But the biggest story of the night was not how the socially awkward nerd won the game after his houseguests on Day 1 had him in their sights as a dangerous Ian-clone, the biggest story was how the multi-millionaire poker superstar, supreme game theorist, and hormonally challenged Vanessa Rousso lost the game she had controlled from the start.

One of the first times we saw Vanessa on the live feeds, she was having an emotional meltdown.   She missed her girlfriend but most of all, she said, she could not handle the way people in the house treated each other.  The bullying was weighing on her, particularly how they all treated the shy, socially inept Steve.  Those of us who knew Vanessa as a steely poker player where shocked by the flood of tears as well as her rapid-fire speech pattern.  It humanized her and made her less of a target, despite her Duke degree and 2.5 years in law school.  Being emotional worked for her, it made her seem less of a threat and more vulnerable.

But as the weeks and then months went on, the vulnerability turned into paranoia and whatever bonds she felt she had created with her allies disappeared.  She was constantly hyper-vigilant for anyone who threatened her position in the game, she dissected everyone's incentives to determine their true intentions, she questioned and berated them to prove their loyalty rather than convey a sense of mutual trust.  In a game that is built in large part on building interpersonal relationships, she failed to form real attachments or even to fake sincere connections.  She made it too apparent that everyone was a chess piece that she was moving around the board and that she had no personal connection with anyone.  She missed the basic concept of a final two deal - that each party must believe the other party intends to keep the deal.  Without that, you have no option but to win every competition at the end. 

Vanessa has created with Steve a solid alliance, the Students of Sound (SOS).  They had a common bond, both super smart, well-educated people who were drawn away from academic pursuits to do what they love, pursue music.  Steve relied on her and confided in her.  But he did not trust her and that was Vanessa's fatal flaw.  She didn't read Steve right and thought that he needed her and trusted her more than he did. She thought the socially awkward Mommy's boy would cling to her and feel beholden to her as his only true ally. She thought their Final Two SOS meant something to him and that she was his only friend in the game. She didn't realize he had a Final Two with Johnny Mac, also built on super smart, well-educated people with a strong love of music.  And she didn't realize that Steve's had waited his entire life to play this game and he was not going to make any of the mistakes he had seen over sixteen years of watching every iteration of Big Brother in an English-speaking country.

Vanessa misread that Steve was a superfan first and would do and say anything to win the game. For all his retching and crying he never lost his superfan mind. He didn't want to be Cody and he wanted to Neda her so bad her could taste it which meant he had to win part 3, win the final HOH, and put his future in his own hands.  He was naive but not stupid; he knew Vanessa would never take him to the end.  Vanessa, for all her talk about needing to understand people's incentives, some how thought that Steve would act contrary to his best interest and take her to the end.  But he was incentivized to be the one to vote Vanessa out of the game, and land the big kill everyone in the house had been gunning for.  

Had Vanessa kept Austin, with whom she also had a Final Two deal from very early in the game, he would have thrown it to her thinking she'd take him over Liz.  His incentive was to get the money and the girl and he thought the best way to do that was to let his two closest allies, Liz and Vanessa, battle it out in the end and then take him.  But Steve could not risk that and so, to use language Vanessa would understand, she put her tournament life on the line in a race.  That's not great poker strategy and it's not great Big Brother strategy.  



*Steve said he never went by Steve in his life but the producers had him change it. 

Big Brother 17 - Who Deserves to Win

Big Brother fans, it's almost that time.  On Wednesday, Derrick will (thank god almighty, Les Moonves, Julie Chen and whoever else is responsible for there being another season) be dethroned as reigning champion and a new BB winner will be crowned. It's a question we ask every year - not who do you want to win, but who deserves it.  If your answer isn't Vanessa, Steve or Liz, you're out of luck.  It's going to be either the undercover poker player, the nerdy superfan, or the recruited Miami-beach twin taking home the half million dollars and the title.  Who deserves the win and whose win will ruin Big Brother for all time?  The answer is not as clear as you think.

The common wisdom is that if you're a true Big Brother fan, you are rooting for Vanessa Rousso.  Vanessa brought her ten years experience as an elite poker pro, her faux-Ivy league degree (sorry Duke) in Game Theory, and her 2/5 years in Law School to the BB house this summer and promised to school the houseguests in how this game is played.  Along the way (nearly 100 days, the longest in BB history) Vanessa has gone from sobbing about missing her girlfriend, to yelling at her fellow houseguests for various and sundry slights, to moving the players around like a Machiavellian Garry Kasparov.   She has won enough competitions that for seven of the fifteen votes she had complete protection.  The few times she wasn't Head of Household, she controlled the target and made sure the person who left benefitted her.

Vanessa had two rock solid Final Two deals, one with Austin Matelson and one with Steve Moses.  Neither knew of the other's deal with Vanessa.  She also at various times hinted to a final deal with half of the house.  She was in multiple alliances - Freaks and Geeks (later Scamper Squad), Sixth Sense, Students of Sound, and Sleeper Cell,  Yet throughout the season, she repeated the refrain that she was "solo dolo" in the house, had no one, was all by her little lonesome, and was totally unencumbered.  She not only convinced people with whom she was not in an alliance that she was a lone wolf, she convinced Austin, Liz, Steve, Julia, Shelli and Clay - all of who had an alliance with her - that she was alone.  That is some David Copperfield sized magic.

She's been thinking and planning every minute of every day she's been in the house and is taking her stint there as a job, she's not there to make friends or for a vacay.  She approaches the game of BB like she does poker.  You are dealt a hand and you play it to the best of your ability.  Sometime you'll get lucky, sometime you'll end up in a cooler.  If you play your cards right, you'll have another chance to make up for whatever mistakes you made.  She managed to make it to the end of the game with multiple pairs (and one triple), so that at all times she would appear to be the least threatening of the remaining players.

She's played such a good game that Liz, one of only three people still in the running for the money, says she wants her to win.  She's played so well that Steve, her other contender for the money, is fearful of taking her to the end because she is a lock to win.  So is she the most deserving?

Is it possible that Liz is the most deserving of the title?  Don't scoff.  The blonde (at least for the first three weeks) bikini-wearing party girl type is not usually anyone's pick for a BB winner.  And having hooked up with the Jack Links Beef Jerky spokes-beast after having told us for weeks that the smelly Sasquatch was just a means to an end, it was unlikely that anyone would embrace her as the winner of the season.  But that would be to ignore all that Liz did do to get to the end.

She spent the first five weeks of the game switching in and out of the house with her twin sister Julia.  That takes attention to detail, smarts, good instincts, fast reflexes and someone not to look too closely at your #9.  But she managed to fool the guys who were flirting with her, if not some of the more observant non-romantically interested members of the house.  While Austin and Jeff were so keen on hooking up with the cute blonde that they didn't care that half the time she looked and acted different, she still did a good enough job carrying on the ruse that no one was sure until she finally admitted it.

And this is where her game soared.  Rather than being a liability, Liz was so fun, so likable, so non-threatening (despite doing well in challenges) that the house allowed her sister to join her.  Most everyone thought they could use this twist for their benefit, missing the point that the person who benefited the most from having her twin in the house was LIZ.  After weeks of rejecting Judas' advances, she decides that she may never be rescued from the BB house so it was imperative that she find a potential mate there in order to keep mankind going.  Jace was gone, Clay was taken, Austin got Jeff booted, Steve and Jason were not interested, James was obsessing about whether he and Audrey could hook up before turning his attention to Meg, and John was intrigued by the basic girl from Colorado.  So after weeks of pushing the Mountain aside, she finally decided to become a couple with Austin.  A couple of what, we're not sure, but it became official.  What do you think of that Johnny Mac?

 Yeah, us too.  But while being in the two most blatant final twos in the history of BB, one with your twin and one with your soulmate, Liz was never anyone's target.   She washed dishes, cleaned the house, cooked dinner, played games. and hung out week after week and it never occurred to anyone that maybe they should stop her before she gets to the end and wins the whole thing. Even when she started winning comps, she was not on anyone's radar.  If you watched the live feeds, you noticed that Liz wasn't some dumb blonde (or whatever color God intended). She's actually pretty smart: she turned out to be a quick learner who caught on to the strategy of the game pretty well.  She never betrayed an ally, she tried to work with a variety of people, and she won some comps. Where she has not done a great job is in jury management. Some of her goodbye messages would make Regina George from Mean Girls, say, whoa there.  But since she's related or connected by various bodily fluids to 2/9 of the jury, she may not feel she has to work as hard for the vote.  And, if we're being real. neither Vanessa nor Steve has had better jury management. 

Let's look at Steve's game.  Steve came into the house with an Ian Terry-sized target on him.  The quirky nerdy superfan raised red flags for all the houseguests and they immediately worried that if not stopped, this kid - and at 22 he is the youngest in the house - could take the title.   He got off on the wrong foot and his awkwardness caused a number of the houseguests to target him for ridicule or disdain.  It was Vanessa's masterstroke to support and, yes, mother the young lad while he was being picked on by Jace and marginalized by the cool crowd. But Steve upped his own game, working on his people skills, being open to change, and trying to connect.

Steve formed two solid F2 alliances just like Vanessa.  One was their SOS, the other was his Rockstars alliance with fellow music geek Johnny Mac.  And he managed to work his way into the Scamper Squad alliance by feeding info and supporting Austin/Liz/Julia and Vanessa while not betraying (until they were on the block together) John.  Steve won five competitions including two HOHs and yet was never on anyone's radar after the first week.

He used his knowledge of BB history to be the go-to person for info rather than having it be a liability.  And he continued to navigate the rough waters of Vanessa's mania and Austin's ego to stay solid in their alliance leading to the final five.  And the smartest thing Steve did was let Johnny Mac believe they were ride or die to the bitter end so that John decided to keep him over Austin.  That gave Steve two chances to save himself and get to the final three, which he did by winning the next HOH.  And then, according to Steve, he betrayed his fellow Rockstar by throwing the last POV so that John would be out before the final three.  Steve positioned himself well to guarantee that he'd be in the final HOH competition.

In truth, any of the three would be deserving of the win in their own right. And, as much as you want to root for your favorite or against who you feel is the villain, whoever manages to last to the end and gets the jury votes pretty much by definition "deserves" that win.  You can bitch and moan (as I have done since Derrick won last year) but winning the game is by definition showing us who deserves the title.  That being said, for this year, the most deserving, in my not at all humble opinion is....

SPOILER OF WHO IS IN PART 3 OF THE LAST HOH - FOR THOSE WHO DON'T WATCH THE LIVE FEEDS:  

Who actually will get to the final two depends on who wins the very last competition of the year.  This final HOH pits Vanessa against Steve.  The winner picks who will sit next to them.  Steve has told the live feed viewers that he will not be another Cody.  Unlike the handsome lunkhead underwear model from Season 16, he will not take the person who's played the best, most manipulative game to the finals.   He plans on taking Liz.   Vanessa has told Liz that despite what Steve believes she will not be taking him to the finals, giving a guy another chance to beat a woman for the title.  She plans on taking Liz.

If it is true, as Steve has oft-quoted, that if you have to win a competition you are doing something wrong, then it's pretty clear who actually has played the best game and who deserves the win.  Liz didn't win part one or part two of the HOH and won't be winning the last competition. But she is guaranteed to get to the end.

That sounds like the most deserving player this year to me.  What do you think?

Why I Hate Derrick's Big Brother Game, Part Two

Thirty-year-old Central Falls, Rhode Island, police sergeant and former undercover cop Derrick Levasseur is only days away from clinching a $550,000+ payday in Big Brother 16. He is nearly unanimously considered to have played a masterful game full of the kind of lies and manipulations to make former winners including Dan Gheesling and Evel Dick Donato take notice.  He has maneuvered his way through numerous alliances never having his integrity or honesty challenged.  He is the good guy, the husband and father, who loves the game and is playing to better the life of his family.

At least, that's the Derrick he has been in the Big Brother house. That Derrick - a mild mannered Parks and Rec coordinator - does not lie, misrepresent, bear false witness, hedge, slander, malign, break trust, or otherwise play a dirty game.  He is such a nice guy - defending the abused, speaking up for the little guy, so soft spoken and calm.  His only job in the house is to keep the peace, be your friend, and help you win the game. Frankie may be playing for kids in Africa, but Derrick is the real giver. You could not ask for a better partner. 

Just ask the remaining houseguests.  They are all so excited that the alliance they created with Derrick week one is still going strong.  Derrick has Cody Calafiore's back.  They have a final two deal to the end.  He has Frankie Grande's back.  They have a Team America/final two deal.  He has Victoria Rafaeli's back.  They have a final two deal.  Caleb Reyolds and Derrick, they'll be sitting side by side at the end.  Final two! Now, I haven't taken math for some time, but four separate final two deals would appear hard to pull off.  But not for "Dad-bot" - everyone's favorite dad.

Derrick is the perfect person to take to the end.  He hasn't won many challenges, he hasn't made any moves and he's loyal as hell. Just ask him.  He'll tell you what a poor game he's played and how he doesn't stand a chance against you in the final two.  But that's okay with Derrick. He's happy with the $50,000 second place prize money.  That'll put enough food in his daughter's mouth.  What do you mean and the $5,000 that he won in the HOH endurance comp?  Oh that.  Well the other houseguests are so much bigger and stronger and better than him, he'd say, he didn't stand a chance of winning that snowman challenge.  He had no choice but to take the money to put food in his daughter's mouth.  Now, Victoria didn't stand a chance of winning that HOH either, and she could have gone for the money.  But she wouldn't think of depriving Derrick of the prize money so he could put food in his daughter's mouth.  That wouldn't be fair.  I'm sure if she could have, she would have scooped her water into his container to help him win.

No, Derrick has played a flawless game.  He's everywhere orchestrating everything that happens in the house.  Make sure to point out how unpredictable Zach is.  Make sure to keep Cody and Victoria from checking notes.  Make sure Caleb is not alone with Frankie.  Make sure Nicole doesn't talk to anyone.  Isolate Donny, play up Hayden's threat, pull Cody away from Christine.  He is thinking 24/7 of who stands in his way and how to get them out.  It has been amazing to watch. 

So why am I now devoting another post to why Derrick's game makes me want to hurl?  Amid all the accolades and benedictions that will rain down on him after his coronation, there should be a fact checker. Someone (besides this guy's tweets) to point out that this greatest game of all time is actually the dirtiest ever played on Big Brother and to question whether winning as ugly as Derrick is about to is really worth the money.  

Derrick didn't just lie about his alliances and his final 8-7-6-5-4-3-2 deals (aka normal BB lies) he lied to us about his motivations, his strategy, his feelings.  In the Diary Room, with a straight face, he would tell us that he wants to save Donny or he wants to carry out a Team America challenge, when live feeders know both are flat out lies.  Why lie to the viewers, how does that help you win the game?  His lies go beyond the game to lies about his fellow houseguests.  Some of these lies were personal - not game - in nature, some might be considered slanderous outside of a game setting.  He also played with the emotions of some young, vulnerable people who, unlike him, are not trained and skilled in adopting a new identity, lying, infiltrating, and manipulating. He used his expertise in undercover work with surgical precision to break down houseguest after houseguest until they were not just evicted but emotionally eviscerated.  

Case in point: how Derrick helped hurt recent college grad Zach Rance's reputation in the house.  Zach had a very tight alliance with Frankie, one of the few alpha males in the house who posed a serious threat to Derrick's game plan.  A close alliance between two strong and intelligent players - one of whom he was with in Team America - could undermine Derrick's plan.  Zach also was close with houseguests outside of Derrick's main alliance (Donny Thompson, Hayden Voss, and Nicole Franzel) who he viewed as a threat.  He needed Frankie (and the rest of the larger former Bomb Squad now Detanator alliance) to turn on Zach.  Frankie and Zach were in the midst of an epic bro-showmance and could not have been closer.  How could he drive a wedge?

Make up lies about Zach.  When Zach wanted to shake up the game the week Cody was HOH, Derrick decided that Zach's unpredictability was a liability.  He had to undermine him.  So he told Cody - then one of Zach's closest friends in the house - that Zach was the saboteur and that he was getting $50,000 to f*ck with the house. (7/20 11:55)  He said Zach mistreated women in the house, jumping on a lie he heard from former Zach ally Frankie and running with it.  He spread this story around until it became gospel and Zach's "I hate Victoria" became Zach is abusive towards women. He said Zach was the saboteur again after Team America carried out the mission to hide houseguest's personal items.  He preyed on Zach's Liberal heart, telling him that his actions were literally taking food out of Derrick's daughter's mouth (8/10 3:04 am).

Derrick claimed Zach was so abusive toward Victoria that if he said the same things outside of the house he would have knocked his f*cking teeth out.  What had Zach said? That she was demanding and yelling at people to do things for her, that he didn't think Victoria really ran her own photography company and that she wasn't smart.  For the record, Derrick was the first to say that Victoria was not intelligent and he and Frankie both agreed she was demanding (8/5 4:06am).

The entire conversation about Victoria is on Camera 3 from 4:01 - 4:21 am on 8/5 and if you watch it, you'll see how Zach actually knew more about Victoria, had talked to her and paid attention to her life story, compared with her "friend" Derrick.  You'll see that his issue with her was finding her dependent and privileged.  But Derrick managed later to twist this conversation into proof that Zach was a bad guy who he would have to beat up outside the house for what he said.  As soon as Zach left, Derrick told Cody that if Victoria was his daughter, he'd "break his f*cking jaw."  Yet, after Cody said to Derrick that Victoria she wasn't that dumb, DERRICK argued with Cody saying, "she's not that bright."  So, it was okay for Derrick to call her "not that bright" and to say that he only has to put up with her for a few more weeks, but not for Zach to.  How will Victoria feel when she hears that her biggest friend, closest ally said that? 

Derrick also told Nicole that Zach treats women horribly and has disrespected her.  What had Zach done?  Teased her about being a have not, being a jerk about being able to eat regular food when she couldn't.  Juvenile, immature, but disrespectful??  Derrick was the one behind the plan to isolate Nicole after her closest ally Hayden was eliminated from the game and make sure she never spent time alone with anyone with whom she might ally.  After Nicole came back into the game, only to again find herself on the block, she was finally figuring out the truth about Derrick and his alliance with Cody and his alliance with Victoria, among other things.  On the block, on slop, in tears, Derrick came over and spoke with the vulnerable Nicolle.  He told her she was wrong to question him and would realize how wrong she was after she saw the show and would owe him an apology.  (9/3 10:43)

Nicole:  I trusted you.  I feel like everything I tell you definitely gets back to Cody ... that is why I was upset yesterday and just slept.
Derrick :  Look at me real quick.. I’m going to tell you straight up and I haven't said this all season if that is what you feel you are going to look really dumb on camera.. look at me real quick.. you are going to look really dumb on camera if you that.  If you think 90% of what you just said is true..... I expect a text message apology…

Derrick told Victoria that he was disappointed in her for not coming to him after she heard from Zach about the Bomb Squad alliance (that Derrick had kept from her).  By the end of their talk, Victoria was apologizing to him for not trusting him (even though he was lying) and taking the word of "the biggest liar in the house" (Zach, who was telling the truth about the alliance). Victoria was crying and Derrick acted hurt and betrayed, breaking her down even more. (8/9 4-5pm) 

Again, I get that lying is part of Big Brother, a big part.  But there is something more insidious about a 30-year-old father, talking to a 22-year-old girl, telling her that everything she's put together based on the facts in front of her is not true, that thinking it's true makes her look dumb, and she's going to owe him an apology.  There is something worse about him telling another 22-year-old girl that she hurt his feelings and betrayed him by questioning his veracity, when he has been lying to her from day one.  If you don't see a subtle difference between clever gamesmanship and abusive, gaslighting-style manipulation, then maybe you love Derrick's game.  I don't. 

Derrick's "anything goes" attitude makes sense for him at work where the greater good is preventing a crime, catching a perpetrator, or saving his own life.  But that type of morally-bankrupt, unethical, win-at-all-costs approach has no place on what is in the end just a silly game show. Derrick is not owed the prize money and in a civilized society, even one that gets enjoyment from reality TV shows designed to show people at their most deceitful, we should at least question whether there are or should be any limits to how far someone will lower themselves just for a big payday.

Zach Rance for America's Favorite Houseguest

VOTE HERE - ZACH FOR AFH

On Big Brother, America's Favorite Houseguest is a coveted consolation prize. Usually it goes to the person who didn't win the grand prize, but to the houseguest who won a different prize - the hearts of America. It's the first chance for the fans of the show to let the houseguests know what we really think of them. We've watched their gameplay, their Diary Room sessions, their late night chats, their unguarded moments, their social game, their highs and lows, and after all that there is one person who captured our imagination. The one player who defines that season.  The player without whom the season would have been not as watchable.  It's our first chance to let the houseguests know, after being locked away for some 90 days, who has made the greatest impact on the fans. Who is the one we love the most. Is there any question that for Big Brother 16 that person is Zach Rance?




Quick. Think of your favorite moments from the season.  Was it one of Zach's poems? Was it one of his Diary Room sessions?  His twerking? His broshowmance with Frankie? His heart-to-heart talks with other houseguests?  Was it how he was the only player to learn about his fellow houseguests, who could name all their family members her and remember every detail of their life stories? His energy, enthusiasm and love of life?  His desire to shake things up, make something happen, entertain us?  The fact that in a game full of lying and deception he turned out to be the most real person in the house.  He tried to act the bully, tried to be the bad guy, but couldn't hide the fact that he's just a sweet kid.



This season has been for the most part boring and predictable.  Unanimous votes and sheep lining up to be slaughtered as the dullest winner in Big Brother history moves his chess pieces around to guarantee his inevitable win. Without ZachAttack's volatility, unpredictability and showmanship this season would have gone down as the most tedious, uninteresting ever. But we were blessed with the most watchable houseguest the show has ever cast. Funny, lovable, roguish, outrageous, raw, and unfiltered, Zach was the real star of BB16.



We have from now until Monday, Sept 22nd at 9:59am PT.to vote, up to 20 times per day, for Zach to be this season's Favorite Houseguest and take home the $25,000 prize. He not only entertained us and always kept in mind that he was on a TV show and there to make things exciting for us, he was also used by Team America to complete three of their missions, for a tidy sum that he shared none of.   Let's send a clear message to everyone who was part of Big Brother 16. This was the season of the Zach Attack.  He won not the $500,000 but something more valuable, he learned that he could be himself in all his outrageous and compelling glory and that America would love what they saw and want to see more.

PLEASE VOTE HERE!!

Need more proof, check out these fan videos:

Is Big Brother 16's Derrick Playing a Dirty Game or Does "Anything Go?"

If you're a Reality TV fan, you remember when Johnny Fairplay's grandma died on Survivor: Pearl Islands. Or, more accurately, you recall when he used her fake death to try and engender sympathy from the tribe and buy him more days on the island. While the move failed to get Johnny to the end, it did get him hugs, a reward challenge gift, and a place atop the Pantheon of reality TV baddies.

That wasn't the first lie in a reality TV show and it certainly hasn't been the last. Some lie to create a sympathetic character.  On Big Brother 12, contestant Matt Hoffman told his fellow houseguests that his young wife had a rare bone disease that only "affects one in a million.”  Russell Hantz told Survivor: Samoa castaways that he had lived through the Katrina disaster in his native New Orleans.  Others lie about their former brushes with fame, fearing it might seem they don't need the prize money.  Child actress Lisa Whelchel joined former major leaguer Jeff Kent in hiding their past professions from their Survivor: Philippines castmates.

This past season of Survivor: Cagayan, police officer Tony Vlachos decided not to share his job with his fellow island inhabitants, including fellow officer Sarah Lacina.  He claimed he was a construction worked, even when Sarah confronted him on obviously being a cop.  This turned into a million dollar strategy when he was overwhelmingly voted the winner.  Central Falls Rhode Island police sergeant Derrick Levasseur watched Tony's successful strategy before embarking on his three month Big Brother adventure this summer.  He decided to follow a similar strategy and hide his police background - which included a three year stint as an undercover officer - from the rest of the cast. 

This year's Big Brother cast has its share of liars.  Caleb Reynolds has been so proficient in spinning stories about  himself while in the house that a compendium of his questionable assertions has been put together in this blog.  Frankie Grande lied about his age (he's 31, not 28) and omitted that he was a "social media mogul" with a famous little sister (Ariana Grande) until his game was in jeopardy.  Zach Rance lied about hating everyone and being a villain.  Victoria Rafaeli lied about playing Big Brother (couldn't resist).  But the biggest lie this year has been the true identify of that mild mannered Parks and Recs coordinator and new daddy Derrick - a police sergeant and former undercover officer.  In fact, this - that Derrick has three years experience working undercover - may be the biggest lie that anyone has told in the Big Brother house.  It certainly is the one with the most consequences.

Why does this lie stand out among the others?  Because, by the very nature of his training and experience as an undercover cop, he is uniquely suited for lying to and manipulating other people.  I wrote this more detailed discussion in how an undercover cop's skills are uniquely suited for Big Brother success HERE.  He has power over the minds and hearts of the other houseguests unlike anything I've ever seen before and, while many are blaming the gullibility on the houseguest, it's hard not to point the finger at Sgt. Levasseur.  While he was working undercover, it is conceivable that his very life depended on his ability to gain trust and confidence.  No thespian taking the stage ever has at much at stake.

Derrick is a 30-years-old father with ten years on the police force including three working undercover. The houseguests on whom he has most effectively used his skills are 22 year old girls, Nicole Franzel and Victoria.  When Nicole became suspicious of Derrick, telling him she was convinced that anything she says to him gets back to Cody (which is true), Derrick responded, "If that’s truly what you feel, you’re going to look really dumb on camera if you think that."  He then uses a typical mind control technique.  "Look at me," he tells her. Firmly.  "Look at me."  He tells her over and over that she's not only wrong, but is going to look stupid if she continues thinking he's allied with Cody.  "You'll see," he tells her, adding, that she will owe him a text apology when she sees the feeds and realizes how wrong she was.

Now, great lie. Strong, convincing, unequivocal.  Nicole believes him and crumbles into tears that she ever doubted her one true friend.  The most trustworthy person in the house.  Will I have to hand in my reality TV fan card if I tell you that this exchange made me sick to my stomach?  Watch it here and tell him if it doesn't make you question the ethics of Derrick's gameplay.

There is something about the way that Derrick plays with his fellow houseguests' weaknesses and vulnerabilities, how he convinces them he is their best friend and the only person they can trust, something about how morally outraged he becomes at any suggestion that he's not the nicest guy on the planet that rubs me raw.  It's not just how he lies so easily, but how easily he makes the other person convinced that they are the bad guys for even questioning him.

Two weeks earlier, Derrick did his mind-control misting shtick on Victoria.  When Zach told her that Derrick was in a large alliance, she was shocked and hurt to the core.  Eventually, Derrick confronted her about what she heard.  He told her it was a complete lie, that he had no alliance with anyone.  If he had an alliance with anyone it would be with her, he said.  Derrick had lied to Victoria from day one about his allegiances and yet managed to mist her into believing that he was completely honest with her.

As recently as last night, as he was convincing Victoria to pretend to hate him so the remaining houseguests would think he doesn't have her vote, Derrick reaffirmed that he has always had her back. Innocent lies/half truths, you might say.  Yes, technically, Derrick has had Victoria's back up to a point - he wanted to keep her as long as possible because he knew she would never, ever, ever vote him out.  But their alliance is all for his benefit, not hers.  He doesn't even have to give her his vote this week!  Instead, he has convinced her that voting her out is best for him and that she should support this.  And she does, to the point that she has said repeatedly that she wants Derrick to win more than she wants to win.

Again, you might argue that is good gameplay.  But then Derrick said of Victoria:  "I am one of the few people that defends that girl she was crying.. I have a daughter I’m not going to make that girl look like a fool."  And that's where he crosses the line for me.  His mind control is making Victoria look like a stupid, lovesick lemming.  A fool. And it doesn't seem to bother him at all.

Derrick has this young girl, who is clearly smitten with him (and she has mentioned repeatedly that she's attracted to older men), wrapped around his finger.  She would do anything for him.  She is his plaything, a Playdoh creation he can mold and pose in any position he chooses.  He has her wanting him to win more than she wants herself to win.  Her remaining goal is not to stay in the house, but to guarantee his win.

Play dirty, play hard, that's how you win.  I get it.  But this year, watching Derrick Gaslight these young, vulnerable girls into believing that they are wrong, crazy, uncaring, heartless, I'm not so sure I can justify winning at any cost.  I no longer feel comfortable watching someone - a father to a young girl - win by playing with these girls' emotions.  By manipulating them and then telling them you're doing it for their own good, because you're honest and trustworthy and look at them like someone's daughter,  you've crossed some imaginary line in my mind.

Derrick's infamous accusation to fellow alliance member Zach that he was "literally taking food out of [his] daughter's mouth" is the kind of amped-up manipulation that people point to as him playing a dirty game.  I disagree.  That was a low blow, but it was a smart one and fully within the bounds of good manipulative strategy.  But the way he isolates these young girls, befriends them, develops their trust, causes them to distance themselves from anyone else, manipulates their feelings, causes them to question their sanity and challenges them when they don't follow his game play makes me question whether anything goes in a reality TV game show.  That is going a little too far in my book.

Are there any boundaries; should there be any limits?  Or is all's fair in love and Big Brother?

Big Brother 16's Frankie Grande is not the Anti-Christ

It pains me to have to write a blog post that is in any way supportive of Frankie J. "Look at me, notice me" Grande.  His "I'm Ariana Grande's brother so worship me" schtick was old about thirty seconds into it and the preening 31-year-old has worn out his welcome on my and many millions of TV screens.  He's self-absorbed, narcissistic, delusional, and catty.  But he's not Satan, he's not a contender for Keith Olberman's "Worst Person Ever," and he's not deserving of the explosively negative reaction now taking over the Big Brother 16 Twitter timelines.

Here's the story.  As any fan of this season knows, Frankie is not just a dancer/former Broadway performer, YouTuber, and Famous Adjacent Dude*, he's also a philanthropist.  He is part of two different charities doing work in Africa - Broadway in South Africa and Build On.  Despite what his detractors want to think, both are legitimate charities and both have raised money to help people in disadvantaged countries.  Whether you think the money is spent wisely, or whether there are more "deserving" charities, there is no dispute that they are real, raise money, and try and do some good. 

Before one of Frankie's trips to South Africa, he apparently posted the following about his experience at the airport as he tried to catch his flight.  As anyone who has ever flown knows, getting through the airport can be frustrating to say the least.  You have to maneuver through a maze of check points, avoiding squalling children and pieces of luggage larger than a water buffalo, strip down to your undies hoping to retrieve all of the belongings you jettisoned to make it through security only to find your plane has changed gates, has mechanical problems, or was rerouted to Guam.  With that backdrop, Frankie wrote the following:

I read that as funny and relatable.  Frankie has a way of describing things that is actually pretty funny.  And the juxtaposition of going off to do charity work while simultaneously bitching about all the little people who stand between him and the plane is hysterical. In my family, we have one rule - anything for humor.  The question is not, should you say that, but was it funny.  Life is too short not to laugh, not to find the humor in every situation, whenever you can.  There is so much serious crap going on all the time (not to mention, spoiler alert, we're all going to die some day) why not take the chances to smile, chuckle or laugh out loud every chance you get.

As a formerly fat, currently Jewish person, I was not at all offended by anything he said in that post.  It was exaggeration of an experience for humorous effect - basically the very definition of humor.  What was important to me was - it was well-written and funny.  It was not mean-spirited or hateful (unlike much of the vitriol currently being hurled at Frankie).

Frankie was taking his time to go and do something to benefit someone else.  Did he do it solely for "selfless reasons?"  Of course not. No one does.  Mother Teresa and Gandhi were supremely selfish people - they served others because they wanted to, they felt compelled to and BECAUSE IT MADE THEM FEEL GOOD.  This notion that charity has to be done "unselfishly" is ridiculous.  Giving makes people feel good, helping others gives one purpose.  Anyone who gives of themselves for another is helping - and it is not for anyone else to judge whether one charity is more deserving of another or one do-gooder is superior to another.

I know that Big Brother creates heroes and villains and Frankie is this year's villain (personally, I am much more disturbed by the Gaslighting that Derrick has done to the young people in the house than anything Frankie has done). As an avowed Zach Rance fan, I hated Frankie for backstabbing Zach as much as the rest of  you.  But right now I'm much angrier at all the hatred he is getting for this funny if somewhat tasteless post and the fact that it forced me to do something I never thought I'd do.  I had to write something in support of Frankie J. Grande.  Oh, Rose!


*coined by https://twitter.com/LunaCee73 

Why Big Brother 16 Contestant Derrick May Be the Best...and Most Boring

There is no question that at about this point every year, fans of the CBS summer reality series Big Brother proclaim that this is the worst season ever.  This year is no exception.  With the eviction of fan favorites like Donny Thompson and Zach Rance, both of whom played the games with their hearts rather than their heads, there is a gaping hole in the soul of the show.  But what should save the season is the brainy play of 30-year-old police sergeant from Rhode Island, Derrick Levasseur.  Derrick has been masterminding every move made in the Big Brother house from jump street, yet his game play has not been entertaining or popular.

If the badge fits...For more on Derrick's gameplay click here.

Why is that?  Two words - jump street.  As in 21 Jump Street, the TV show (later movie franchise) about undercover cops.  Derrick is a former undercover cop and it is that skill set which has given him unprecedented power in the house and seems destined to put $500,000 worth of groceries in his young daughter's mouth.  So what is it about being an undercover cop that works so well in the Big Brother house?  And why does it not make for riveting television?

1.  The ability to blend in

The first and most important skill an undercover cop needs is the ability to blend into his or her surroundings.  Being outed as a cop can be a death sentence.  Whether it's posing as a teenager when you're years older (something fellow Houseguest Frankie Grande no doubt wishes he could do) or pretending to be a criminal or drug user, undercover cops have to be able to convince strangers of a made-up identity - a whole new persona that will seem completely real and natural.  Meryl Streep doesn't have her life on the line when she takes on a part, undercover cops very well may.

So the Derrick who walked into the Big Brother house is a creation, a manufactured persona designed to be nonthreatening.  He's a Parks and Recreations guy with a bunch of employees below him who helps paint hash-marks on the football field and keeps the red maples healthy.  He's married with a new baby (okay, that part seems to be true).  He's a nice guy.  Not good looking, like Cody Calafiore.  Not in great shape, like Caleb Reynolds and Devin Shepherd.  He's just Joe Schmoe, every man. 

He lets Caleb go on and on about his service in Iraq without ever letting Caleb or the rest of the house know that he also has dealt with dangerous, life-threatening situations including a fatal shooting. While Frankie drones on ad nauseum about his famous sister, his millions of followers, and his Broadway shows, Derrick just smiles and nods, pretending to be ol' boring daddy-o with no exciting stories to share.  He lets the other Houseguests take center stage as he fades into the background, the affable dad who likes puttering around on a lawnmower.  But because of this, he looks boring and uninteresting and his screen time lacks electricity. Zach could not strategize his way out of a paper bag, but he was watchable.  Derrick is dull as dishwater on the screen.

2.  The appearance of trustworthiness

An undercover cop is only successful if he manages to be accepted and trusted by those he's infiltrated.  Snitches get stitches, as the saying goes.  So it should come as no surprise that the word other Houseguests use most often to describe him is trustworthy.  Derrick is everyone's closest friend and confidante.  Victoria has poured her heart out to Derrick; no fewer than two other people are firmly convinced they have a final two deal with him.  He has never been on the block.  He has never been mentioned to go up on the block.

How has he managed this?  By keeping his mouth shut.  He doesn't rat out fellow Houseguests, so he can never be put in the middle of an argument.  You know the one way to look like you are never lying, never promise anything and never take responsibility for any decision.  Derrick is masterful at this.  He is constantly asking all his allies what they want and letting them know he'll go along with whatever they want.  If you promise nothing, you never have to break a promise.  If you never say what you want, you can never be called out when someone hears something contrary.

But because Derrick is considered so trustworthy, there are no fireworks when he's on the screen.  No one calls him out, no one gets mad at him.  Contrast this to the time that Zach told Derrick that Nicole told Victoria Rafaeli (phew!) about the five-person alliance that Derrick was in.  Victoria was devastated to learn that her closest ally had been lying to her all along.  Did that come back to bite him?  No.  Derrick immediately called a meeting to clear the air.  He did this to demonstrate how loyal and honest he is - he has nothing to hide. Instead, the focus was on Zach's lie, not the underlying truth (of the alliance).  So Victoria left feeling even more trusting in the man who had lied to her about his other alliance.  If she had felt betrayed and violated and had yelled at Derrick and stormed off, it would have made for good TV. But instead, she went right back to snuggling with her only true friend in the game.

3.  Make them think it was their idea

Derrick is a good listener and most people love hearing the sound of their own voice.  So they talk and he reflects back either supporting their decision or gently moving them in a different direction.  You will never hear Derrick say, let's vote out so-and-so next.  The same way an undercover cop can't be the one to suggest the illegal act, Derrick doesn't overtly make the move - he makes his allies think they are in charge of every decision.  He tells them any array of possibilities is fine with him (and sneaks in the one he really wants without letting on).  He tells them, repeatedly, that he has their back and will support whatever they want to do, and they don't even notice when his alternative suggestion (which they're free to ignore) is what he really wants.  And they don't realize later that when they take that alternative, they are doing his bidding.

To be a good undercover cop, according to Derrick in his pre-show interview with Reality Relapse, you have to learn to adapt to those around you. "Learn their likes and dislikes, their motives, their weaknesses."  Once you know this, you can more easily manipulate them.  Big Brother masterminds from the past - Dan, Dr. Will, Evel Dick - let the Houseguests as well as the home viewer know what they wanted and how they planned to get it.  This year, Derrick is as big a mystery to us as he is to the Houseguests.  Ten weeks in, do we really know who he plans to take to the final two?  Do we know what he plans to do this week or next?

Since Derrick is playing the game of making everyone around him do all the work and is not sharing with the viewers what his ultimate plan is, we are disengaged.  When other Houseguests scurry with a new plan to "shake things up," we know not to get excited or invested.  Ultimately, what will happen is whatever Derrick decides will happen.  We know that no big moves will be made unless he approves them, and nothing will keep him from running things.  The only mystery left is who will be sitting next to him in the final two and how he'll get them to think it was their idea to take him there. 

4.  Be a good liar

Lying has to come as easily as breathing to an undercover cop, or he won't be doing much of the latter for very long.  Derrick is an expert.  He weaves stories out of whole cloth, adding details, with the effortless ease of a former Enron exec.  But this is where his largest disconnect with the viewers comes in.  Derrick is not just lying to the Houseguests, he's lying to the television audience.  And that is a no no.

Once Derrick was joined with Donny and Frankie as Team America, he has not only been playing Derrick the Leslie Knope of Central Falls, RI, he's also been playing loyal TA member.  He stares right into the camera, talking directly to us, the viewers who voted him there, and lies to us.  He tells us that he wanted to carry out a Team America mission to cast a hinky vote, but Donny wouldn't go along.  He tells us that he would have tried to save Donny with the last mission, but Frankie wouldn't go along.  He tells us that he wants to keep Team America together and yet did nothing to keep Donny from being voted out.

A good liar, like Dr. Will Kirby, is entertaining when they let us the viewer in on their lies.  Dr. Will didn't lie to us by, for example, pretending to like a contestant that he knew the public liked (as Derrick did twice, after he heard the crowd roars for Zach and Donny).  Dr. Will accepted his dark side and shared his true feelings.  Derrick pretends to be the nice guy, the loyal Team America player who just wants to make America proud but is thwarted by his fellow team members.  He'll throw Donny and Frankie under the bus to the viewers, who can see what's really going on, and doesn't bat an eye.  He'll orchestrate Zach and Donny's exits, then tell US that he's sad to see them go.  That's not endearing, it's scary.  And, frankly, not fun to watch.

5.  Be smarter than the people you've infiltrated

The final reason that Derrick is the best and least interesting contestant this show has seen is that he has been given the weakest set of opponents yet.  The so-called super fans (Nicole Franzel and Christine Brecht) have zero clue what he's doing and have done very little to control their game.  When Nicole was Head of Household and could make a move, she failed by not nominating two members of the large alliance (why sacrifice Jocasta who would NEVER have voted out Nicole?).  

The Big Brother 16 Houseguests have no clue how to play the game.  All-guys' alliances are a staple of Big Brother and this year the Bomb Squad started out that way (with six of the eight men), until Devin decided to add two women to make a half-a-house alliance.  Joey Van Pelt tried to form an all-girl alliance only to have the girls immediately shut down the idea and spill it to the guys.  Had the girls gone along with the plan and kept it quiet, someone like Christine would have been in a great position, straddling two powerful groups.  Instead, she's now low man on the totem pole.

Not only are the Houseguests not smart enough to play a good game of Big Brother, they're not smart enough to pick up the many clues Derrick has dropped about his true identity.  After Frankie's big reveal about how he'd been hiding his sister's identity and his social media fame, there were of course rumblings again about whether everyone was who they claimed to be.  Derrick actually said, "most of us" are who we say we are.  No one picked that up.

No one noticed when he talked about peoples' motives and their profile, when he jokingly put a badge around his neck and said he was a cop, when he organized a neighborhood watch, when he seemed to have all the cop lingo down pat.  Nope.  They continued to be suspicious that the guy with the Duck Dynasty beard and a drawl slower than molasses in February was a college professor, but the street-sounding jamoke with confidence and a penchant for cop slang couldn't be lying about being a Parks and Rec person.  Even though he admitted to NEVER HAVING WATCHED THE SHOW OF THE SAME NAME.

[K]Nope, no red flags there. 

Before going into the Big Brother house, Derrick spoke to Reality Relapse about how his undercover past would help him in the game: "I worked in undercover for a long time where I had to not talk about things, so I'm used to being confidential. ... I've been in situations where if I make a mistake I could end up dead."  So far, he's made no apparent mistakes and is well-positioned to make the biggest score of his life.  It just may not be all that exciting for the rest of us.

***For more on Derrick's gameplay check out this blog post from Krazillia's Place.***

CBS Big Brother - Expect the Boring and Predictable

Once upon a time there was a reality TV show where strangers gathered in a house, shut off from the outside world, to compete for $500,000. That was CBS' Big Brother, the network's annual summer romp of lying, backstabbing, sunning, flirting, and strategizing for cold hard cash.  Recently, however, the show has become more about becoming a launching pad for a career (Brenchel, Jeff and Jordan, Will and Boogie) or about bringing in fans of houseguest's family members (Russell Hantz, Rachel Reilly, Ariana Grande) to boost ratings. Stunt casting as become the new normal.

This year CBS' Big Brother completely handed over the show to one houseguest - self-proclaimed social media mogul and Ariana Grande's half-sibling Frankie J. Grande. The show was immediately rewarded with higher ratings, media buzz and relevance.  Frankie was chosen to be part of Team America, carrying out the wishes of the viewers.  Frankie was entertaining and over-the-top and did his best to help make Big Brother 16 exciting.  

It only took a few weeks, however, for fans to tire of Frankie and lose interest in him as the star of the show.  Instead, social media went crazy for cute, unpredictable recent college grad Zach Rance and sweet, bearded groundskeeper Donny Thompson.  Much to the surprise of casting, no one liked Frankie nor did they hate him enough to raise him to Evel Dick status.  We were bored with him. 

In the house, the feelings of the viewers were echoed.  They grew suspicious and sick of Frankie and plotted to get him out of the house.  So how did CBS respond to the potential loss of who they picked to be the star of the show?   At every opportunity to evict Frankie, an obstacle was put in the way. Instead of throwing the BoB competition, Caleb "decided" just to sit it out.  Frankie saved himself with his BoB win then decided to release his secret weapon that would guarantee his longevity in the house: announcing to his fellow houseguests just how special and important he was.  He told them about his "social media mogul" status, his 1.5 million followers/subscribers, and finally that his sister was the one, the only, Ariana Grande.

All the houseguests suddenly "decided" that the could not get rid of Frankie.  Ever.  They couldn't say a bad word about Frankie.  Ever.  They were being watched 24/7 by the Ariana Grande Army who would strike down upon them with great vengeance and furious anger if they touched a hair on Frankie's pin-sized, peacock plumed head.  So, instead, the enemy of his enemy became their friend.  Zach now was the biggest threat and had to be evicted solely because it was what Frankie - who they tried to evict just the week before - wanted. It doesn't take a great imagination to replay the diary room conversations that convinced the houseguests that Frankie should not be touched.

Today was the latest and most blatant example of CBS having a hand in keeping their star on the show through diary room manipulations.  Last night, Caleb, Derrick and Cody decided once and for all that Frankie was the biggest threat, bigger than Nicole, and he had to be the next one evicted if their final three fantasizes were to become a reality.  They discussed this ad nauseum until each was equally convinced.  Then this morning, everything changed.

Instead of renominating Frankie and back-dooring him this week, as he planned all night, Caleb had an epiphany.  Right after leaving the diary room, Caleb "decided" not to get rid of the biggest threat to win HOH.  The only person  who poses a real challenge to the final three that Caleb wants (Cody, Derrick, Caleb) is staying another week.  Nicole, who poses less of a threat and would not target them, will be evicted instead.  Caleb put Victoria on the block next to her at the POV ceremony, thereby keeping Ariana Grande's brother safe, in the house, and on our televisions for weeks to come.  

What a shocker, right?  Not so much.  Remember when Big Brother was a reality TV show and not scripted to within an inch of its life?  Me neither. 

These days the producers of Big Brothers leave very little to chance.  They limit what the houseguest hear and see, what they let the houseguests know is as important as what they don't tell them.  Who host Julie Chen talks to, and who she ignores.  What family members are interviewed, what stories are told.  All of this takes a reality show and turns it into a comedy/drama that they meticulously produce for whatever storyline they want to sell the viewers.  This is why live feed viewers, who have mostly unlimited access, often have quite different opinions of the houseguests from viewers who only see the precisely edited version. 

But what other bullets the producers keep in their chamber is their ability to influence the houseguests during their private diary room sessions.  These are not viewable by the live feeders and only selected parts are aired on the televised show.  Anything can be discussed there, we would have no way of knowing.  Do the producers come right out and tell houseguests what to do, probably not.  But do they influence their decisions by the questions they ask, their tone of voice, the questions they don't ask - of course they do. 

How would that have worked this week?  Maybe a simple question to wannabe Country singer Caleb Reynolds about how Ariana Grande might feel about whoever back-doored her brother.  Maybe a question about what kind of relationship he'd have with Frankie out of the house if he were the one responsible for voting him out?  Perhaps a question about Frankie's social media fans and their reaction?

The fact is since not every conversation with the houseguests is broadcast and since they are repeatedly told "you are not allowed to talk about production" we will never know.  We can only deduce from circumstantial evidence.  Caleb goes into the diary room hellbent on kicking out Frankie, he walks out planning to save him. 

This was the season that was supposed to be the most twisted ever, ramping the "expect the unexpected" concept to new heights. Instead, it is dragging along to a pitifully boring end where the producers will do everything in their power to manipulate the action, keep their star on the show and have the story end the way they want it to.  This is not what we signed up back in 2000 when we started watching what promised to be a unique reality TV show/social experiment.  Which begs the question, since it's already off the rails, is it time for us to jump off the Big Brother train?  Or can this show ever get back on track?

How CBS Big Brother Buried the Lead

It must be difficult producing a show that runs in nearly real time.  You may think going in you know what the narrative will be, who will be the stars, what the fans will care about.  For Big Brother 16, Alison Grodner and the rest of the behind-the-scenes players had their story going in - pop star Ariana Grande's brother and YouTube personality Frankie  was going in cognito with his secret identity. Secondary stories were sweet Duck Dynasty-bearded groundskeeper Donny and police sergeant Derrick (going undercover as a recreations coordinator).

Let's admit it.  Casting for a reality TV show is a crap-shoot.  Someone who looks great in their interviews turns into a dud (aka PowPow who was more like meow meow). Some story lines don't pan out (Christine the super fan became Christine the literal hanger-on).  And then there's 23-year-old recent University of Florida grad Zach Rance, or ZachAttack as he's now known to Big Brother fans.  

Cast as a Dr. Will wannabe, Zach was some background noise at first.  He was given a few seconds to do his "I hate everyone" bit then was moved off screen for the main stories. And then Zach and the star of the show Frankie started Zankie and now the powers-that-be were interested in the will-they-or-won't-they showmance. That became the new lead story.  Zankie was everywhere; even Ariana tweeted about them. Julie Chen asked questions about them. Tribute videos exploded and all eyes were on the two. 

But CBS mistakenly thought all this interest was because of Frankie and missed that a new BB star was born right before their eyes. Zach is watchable.  You can't take your eyes off of him.  Cody may be the cute one, Caleb the body, but Zach is the one who captures your attention. The unpredictable outbursts, the joie de vivre, the catch phrases and poems made Zach the one you cared to see what he'd do next.  His excitability, his spontaneity, and his enthusiasm captured the fans' imaginations.  Every minute he was on the screen was electric.

Only one problem emerged.  Zach and Frankie had a falling out.  Frankie targeted Zach, then Zach targeted him, and the showmance became a flop.  How to deal with this?  CBS could air what really went down, or they could devise a poor Frankie and Derrick narrative.  Suddenly, it was the 31-year-old former dancer accusing Zach of taking money away from needy Africans and the 30-year-old former undercover cop telling Zach he was taking food out of his daughter's mouth.  If you watched the live feeds, you heard Frankie talk about euthanizing Zach, putting the baby to sleep and then stabbing it.  But that didn't make the show.  On the feeds, you saw Derrick threaten to choke Zach out and break every bone in his jaw.  But that didn't make the show. 

Nothing negative that Frankie or Derrick said was shown; instead they were painted as reluctant heroes trying to save the alliance from the volatile Zach.  The home viewers didn't see them plant seeds in Victoria and Christine's minds that Zach was a danger to them.  They didn't see how Derrick made false allegations about Zach being a threat to Frankie's safety.  The producers tried their best to make Zach the goat, solely responsible for his own downfall.  They must have hoped this would keep their Team American trio, and especially Frankie, safe for weeks to come.

What they couldn't have imagined was the groundswell of support for Zach Rance. Never before in BB history has one houseguest become the center of such a large social media movement and the recipient of so much viewer adoration.  When his fans thought Frankie had violated house rules telling Zach he was nominated, "Renom Rules" trended on Twitter.  Before the eviction vote, #SaveZach was all over Twitter, as ubiquitous as #ZachAttack.  Past houseguests from the godfather of them all Dr. Will to Dan Gheesling tweeted their appreciation and support of Zach.  Even Ariana Grande, and her mother Joan, tweeted out support for Zach and their wishes that Frankie would come to his senses before it was too late.  As Big Brother co-producer Chris Roach tweeted last week: "I get the sense a lot of people wish they had voted #BBZach to be a part of Team America."

Zach said often in the BB house that he hoped he'd have 79K Twitter followers by the time he exited the BB house; as of today he has 115K for an idle account that has just one tweet from two years ago.  His Instagram has 188K followers and is growing daily.  "Froot Loop Dingus" has entered BB parlance as a new favorite phrase.  The episode where he was evicted was the season's highest rated episode.

CBS let a star slip through their fingers and will continue to shove Frankie, and to a lesser extent eventual winner Derrick, down our throats.  But we will miss the former frat boy from South Florida with loose lips, questionable dance moves, and more personality than the rest of the house combined.  We can't wait for BBAllStars2 and the return of Zach Rance, who came into the house to be hated and to win $500K and failed on both accounts.