Big Brother Finale - My Thoughts

A friend texted this morning and asked what happened on the Big Brother finale - He heard that someone was robbed. Here is my response:

"In a nutshell, the mastermind of the season came in second, an emotionally unstable puppet won, and arguably the least likeable guy was voted fan favorite."

So let's dive in.

For me, Paul coming in second was not the visceral pain that some reality show results have caused me. Call me crazy that I can get so involved in a television show, but I was brokenhearted when Clay lost to Ruben on "American Idol," when David came in fourth on "Survivor," when James came in fourth on "American Idol." No, Paul's loss was more of a more of a frustrated, "dammit he deserved to win" reaction, like when Crystal should have won over Lee on "American Idol," or when Mondo lost to Gretchen on "Project Runway."

Bottom line, Paul played the best game this season, and arguably one of the best games the show has ever seen. He was the puppetmaster. Every ouster, every blindside, was orchestrated by him. He had alliances with nearly every contestant in the house. One by one, he systematically eliminated houseguests. And in nearly every case, he managed to get someone else to do his dirty work for him. He manipulated Josh and Christmas to do most of the butchering so his hands would stay clean. That is what a mastermind does.

So why did he lose? Three reasons, in my opinion:
1) Hubris - He knows he's a great player, and in the end that was part of his downfall
2) #Friendship - Paul ran on a campaign of friendship. He wanted everyone to like him, to follow him, to believe that he was the best friend of everyone in that house. But you can't promise the world to everyone, blindside them, and then expect them to vote for you to win. Paul can believe that he was about friendship, but in reality, he was about winning at all costs. He was about redemption for his second place finish to Nicole.
3) Bitter jurors - Ultimately, Paul lost because of too many angry, resentful jurors who could not see through their hurt to reward his outstanding game play. So they gave 500,000 to a guy who spent the season alternately fighting with houseguests, making their lives miserable with banging pots and constant yelling, and breaking down in tears and begging for forgiveness.

It was Paul's emphasis on friendship, plus his manipulation of Josh, that made me uncomfortable with his winning. Josh is an emotionally unstable man, and Paul used that to his advantage, often encouraging Josh to act out even more, then berating Josh in front of the other contestants when he carried out whatever instructions Paul gave him. This continues to make me unsettled. But still, I have to say that Paul deserved to win. He stumbled on the correct answers in the last competition, and his responses to juror questions in that segment were rather weak. But his final speech was absolutely masterful. He laid out point by point exactly why he deserved to win, and he spoke with precision and just the right amount of confidence. I thought he had it in the bag by then.

Unfortunately, several of the jurors were in no-win situations when it came to the vote. Mark didn't trust Paul, but he nearly came to blows with Josh. Still, he voted for Josh. Alex was blindsided by Paul, who promised to take her to the finals, but Josh was the person who eliminated her. Paul didn't vote for her to stay as a "sympathy vote," he did it so Josh would have to break the tie and be responsible for her departure. Yet Alex voted for Josh to win. Cody hated both of them. In the end, the deciding vote was Cody's, and he cast it for Josh.

Even more disturbing than Josh's win and Paul's loss, however, was Cody winning fan favorite. What.The.Bloody.Hell America? You reward a sullen, combative, sore loser who played arguably the worst social game with $25,000? What did he do to make you like him? Was it because of his romance with Jessica? The admittedly loving and protective way he spoke about his daughter? His tenacity in the battle back challenge? I suppose those are worthy reasons. But not strong enough for me to overcome all the negative aspects of his personality. And what did he do when he found out he won? That he was adored by fans who watch the show? He shook his head and scowled. No trace of gratefulness. No, "wow, thank you America, I'm honored and appreciative." Nothing. Maybe he was too shocked. Maybe he feels undeserving. I think he absolutely is. It makes me sick to my stomach that someone like Cody was rewarded for such poor behavior, while a dude like Jason, a lovable country guy who fell to his knees in tears when he found out his wife was pregnant, walked away with nothing. Okay, I know. Jason is no angel. He made mistakes in the game. He lied. But I would have been infinitely happier to see him take the fan favorite.

I have to say that even Julie Chen let me down in this episode. Julie, who is usually so sympathetic and gentle to the contestants when they leave the house, for some reason decided to open a box of Morton's and dump it directly into poor Paul's gaping wounds. As the visibly devastated runner up stood beside her, Julie grinned and said to him, "A bridesmaid again, huh?" Terrible. Completely unnecessary. And then she announced his arch enemy as fan favorite. OUCH. As least Paul can still say, "I won $25,000 more than Cody did."

It was a crazy, engrossing, fascinating season, with a terrible outcome. But I have to find some light, some good points to end with. Here are a few:
1) No matter how you feel about Raven and Matt, they have a cute, quirky relationship that I think will continue outside the house.
2) Alex and Jason will be lifelong friends I think.
3) Josh, Paul, and Cody were all rewarded monetarily, Josh has the title, but Christmas is arguably the true winner of the season. Somehow she allied herself with Josh all season, she held him, dried his tears, consoled him, cajoled him, talked him off ledges repeatedly, slapped him into shape when he needed it, yet she still cried tears of happiness and pride when he eliminated her. True, she didn't give him her vote, but that was the right thing to do. For Christmas to walk away with nothing and still have a radiant smile on her face - she is my sparkle at the end of this complicated season. Christmas Joy has integrity, she has grace, she has inner fortitude - she is the shining example of #friendship.

Until next time BB fans,
librarianintx