Big Brother 14 -2012 Day 58-59

Sunday, September 09, 2012
'Big Brother 14' Recap: Dan Does Damage Control

John Kubicek
Senior Writer, BuddyTV

The first live double eviction of Big Brother 14 was full of yelling and screaming. The second double eviction was less volatile, but a LOT more intense. In this episode we get to see all of the rapid-fire game decisions and strategy sessions that went down, all of which left Dan in a very vulnerable position. But we all know that Dan the Man can talk his way out of anything.

During the Double Eviction

It turns out Dan's actual target during the double eviction was Ian, his pawn, and he made sure that Jenn, Danielle and Shane were all on board with voting Ian out against Joe.

But when Ian won the Power of Veto, Dan had to shift gears. He told Jenn that he was going to try and get Shane out, but Danielle wasn't going for it. So Dan had to quickly switch gears AGAIN because he knew if he put Shane up as the replacement, Shane probably would've stayed 2-1. You don't nominate someone like that unless you can get him out.

Damage Control

With Dan wasting his HoH getting rid of Joe, he now has to cover his bases. Jenn is angry at him for not nominating Shane like he said he would. Ian is angry at him for not nominating Jenn and getting her out since she's a stronger player than Joe (barely). And Danielle is angry at him for putting her life in the game on the line.

That's not a very successful HoH reign for Dan, making a bunch of enemies and getting out an utterly useless floater who never won anything. He also has to worry because if anyone rats out his big attempted game moves, Dan is screwed because Ian and Shane will figure out that Dan was actually targeting both of them.

But Dan is so good that he enlists Danielle to help him control all the fallout from his short HoH reign. Danielle talks to Shane and says that Dan originally wanted him up as a pawn (which is only half true, because he actually wanted him up as the target), but Danielle saved him. So that protects Dan and her. Meanwhile, Dan makes sure Ian is still on board with their Renegades 2.0 alliance, even though Dan does not want Ian to be there at the end because he knows Ian would beat him.

The HoH Competition

The HGs are each given a Memory Lane where they must drop a ball into the right day that an event happened. So it's half-knowledge, half-luck and skill.

Danielle and Jenn each have one terrible round that kills them. At the end of regulation, Shane and Ian are tied, which is kind of amazing given the fact that one has a photographic memory and the other is decidedly less intelligent.

They both know the correct answer to the tiebreaker question, but Ian drops his ball one spot closer and Ian wins HoH for the third time this season. So Ian is guaranteed a spot in the final 4 and he is now just a few competitions away from winning this entire game. And everyone else knows it. At this point I think Ian could even beat Dan.

Pandora's Box

Ian gets a second Pandora's Box and it's a message from someone who loves him. Unfortunately that video message is from Big Brother 13 winner Rachel Reilly (now Rachel Villegas, because she got married to Brendon this weekend). Rachel laughs, is totally annoying and her advice for how to win is to think about "BRENDON!" and to "straddle-gize," which is talking game while straddling someone.

While Ian tries his hardest not to vomit, the four other HGs get video messages from their actual loved ones, including Jenn's mom, Shane and Danielle's sisters, and Dan's wife. Dan cries, and in the diary room he's actually somewhat upset with himself for daring to show emotion. Man, Dan is REALLY committed to winning this game. He's lucky he found a woman who is willing to share him with Big Brother, because I suspect he loves this game almost as much as he loves her.

The Nominations

Ian originally considers putting Dan up as his pawn to cover up the Renegades 2.0 alliance. Obviously Dan doesn't want this, because while he's OK nominating his own alliance members as pawns, he doesn't want them to do the same. It's hypocritical, but very smart.

Dan busts out the MIST, his special power to talk anyone into doing anything. He makes a compelling case for putting up Shane as a safer bet and his rationale can be that Shane is a tough competitor.

As always, Dan wins and Ian nominates Jenn and Shane. Even when Dan totally screws up during a live double eviction, he still walks away smelling like a rose. That's just more proof that he's the best to ever play the game.

The problem is that, while Dan might want to get rid of Shane this week, Danielle is STILL not sure about doing it. It's a good thing Dan latched onto Ian, because Danielle is not strong enough, mentally, to do what needs to be done.

See Who Won the Power of Veto>>

On Wednesday we'll see the Power of Veto competition AND the eviction. Then Thursday will be ANOTHER eviction, getting us down to the final 3.



Saturday, September 08, 2012
'Big Brother 14' Spoilers: Who Won the Final 5 Power of Veto?
John Kubicek


The Power of Veto is more important than ever on Big Brother 14. In 11 seasons, the Power of Veto has been used eight times at this point. Will this mark the ninth, or will the nominations stands?

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains Big Brother 14 spoilers.

Ian Is the HoH and he nominated Jenn and Shane.

Shane won the Power of Veto!

That seals Jenn's fate. Shane will most likely save himself, Danielle will probably be the replacement nominee and Jenn will be evicted 2-0. I suppose there's a very, very small chance Shane pulls a Marcellas, doesn't use it, then gets evicted for his stupidity (though even then he'd probably stay). A huge move would be to nominate Dan and convince Shane or Danielle to vote him out, but that won't happen because Ian is completely devoted to his Renegades 2.0 final two deal with Dan.

It sounds like the competition was similar to one from season 10 with Planet Veto where the HGs were harnessed on zip lines and went back and forth across two platforms to collect puzzle pieces and put it together.

The victory puts Shane at six competition wins overall, tying with Frank and Rachel Reilly for third overall (behind Janelle's nine and Daniele Donato's seven). He also ties James Rhine from season 6 with four Power of Veto wins, one behind the record of five set by Janelle and Daniele Donato. In fact, this is the first time since season 8 that someone has won four PoVs in a single season.

Since Shane is eligible for two more HoHs and one more PoV, he could theoretically tie Janelle's all-time record of nine wins.

This also keeps the trend of male domination alive and well. Thus far this season men have won 20 of the HoH and PoV competitions while women have only won three.

Even worse, Ian, Frank and Shane have a completely stranglehold over competitions. Of the 23 competitions played so far, those three have won 17 of them. Nearly 74 percent of all comps have been won by just three people.

The live feeds for the next week and a half promise to be rather dull. Dan, Danielle and Shane have started playing lots and lots of rummy, which is as uninteresting to watch as you think it is. The highlight of Saturday is that, during Big Brother: After Dark, Dan is planning to give Ian the Pepsi Challenge, where he blindfolds Ian and sees if he can tell Diet Pepsi from Diet Coke. Other great moments in recent live feed history include Shane building a five-story house of cards and lots of conversations about cereal.

How do you feel about the almost-guaranteed Quack Pack final four? And do Danielle or Shane have any chance of actually winning the game, or are they both simply playing for second?