Diary Room: Adam Poch’s Player Rankings: Big Brother 17 – Week 8

It’s day 63 inside the Big Brother house – and this week was relatively calm after the insanity known as Double Eviction night. Only 8 players have been evicted so far – and one of the evicted jury members will earn their way back in – meaning we still have 8 more evictions to go in the last 35 days.

Adam Poch on Big Brother 13
Adam Poch on Big Brother 13 – Source: CBS

So while this was a ho-hum week, the rest of the season will be intense. But first, let’s see who had a good bacon filled week, and who will get tofu thrown at them (hope they don’t take me to court for that).

Liz Nolan – 5 strips of Bacon – Liz had all the power this week, winning HoH & POV – and did the smart thing for her game by putting up Becky & John. The HG that stays (most likely Johnny Mac) will not target them right away. She has also seemed to lock up Austin in a real showmance now (not the fakemance that she was doing early on). This only bodes well for her because if she is in the final 2 – she will have 2 guaranteed votes in Julia & Austin.

Steve Moses – 4 strips of Bacon – we are really starting to see Steve transform into Ian Terry – and if he can keep it up, he will also bring home the check like Ian did 3 years ago. Remember how Ian got pulled into an alliance and was able to name it the Quack Pack? Now it’s Steve’s turn with the Scamper Squad. People are still scratching their heads at him going after Jackie & Meg during the Double Eviction – but that played into his perception that he is a “weak” player. His 50% fake tears earned him some sympathy and blinded the other HG’s that he is actually playing them against each other.

Austin Matelson – 3 strips of Bacon – early on in the game we were all appalled by his one way love for Liz. But he is probably the safest person in the game right now – and is starting to show his ability to manipulate some of the other HG’s. He will still probably become a victim of the showmance when someone finally puts him up – but who will dare nominate Judas? (you have to read that last line in Austin’s ‘Judas voice’).

James Huling – 2 strips of Bacon – despite being the leader of the Goblins – he was not nominated alongside of Meg or Jackie during the Double Eviction – and was not nominated this week alongside of John or Becky. This goes to show that despite winning 2 HoH’s and being a beast at the endurance comps, he is not seen as much of a threat because of his great social game. James will win another HoH and will not be afraid to go after a big target again. He has a great BB resume so far, so if he should find a way to get to those F2 chairs, he will win. I can only imagine what his victory party would be like.

Vanessa Rousso – 1 strip of Bacon – last week’s Tofurkey of the week bounced back strong after being saved last week. People gave her too much credit for the house flip to keep her. it was really James that got that ball rolling – but regardless she is there, and still scheming hard. While not as good as Derrick last year at planting seeds in other people’s heads, she has done a great job all season of deflecting negativity against her towards the others. The longer the HG’s keep her safe, the more they will kick themselves later if she gets to the end.

Now on to the Tofu earners & Tofurkey Of The Week:

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50 Comments

  1. Agreed that James is the reason the house flipped to keep Vanessa, not Vanessa herself.

      • What Vanessa said was just an excuse for James. He would have flipped anyway bc of that stupid shirt thing.

      • And kudos to James for realizing that he would be Shelli’s #1 target and for getting the house to flip, all for him. If it bought him a week, good for him. If it bought him more time, even better. At that time, he had to look at short term consequences and made a decision based on that. He did do what was in his best interest, all others be doomed.

  2. Seriously, Becky made the biggest move of the game so far and put Shelli and Vanessa on the hot seat at the same time. She deserves 3 strips of bacon for that move alone. It did not work out at all because James, Jackie and Meg flipped. John needs to focus on his game alone until, hopefully, Becky is able to rejoin him in the Big Brother House!

    • She made the biggest mistake that can be made on BB and/or on any of they reality-type shows, when she told Vanessa last week that … She is going play solo from now on and not make any deals, moving forward … Now, in hindsight, sure bit her in her @$$, eh !!

      • Even if Becky did not tell Vanessa, she would still be her target because she put her on the block. Hindsight is 100% after the fact. Like you can tell what is on people’s minds?

    • Before you make a big move like that – you have to make sure you have the support of the rest of the house. She just did it “assuming” she had their support. Thats why she got the Tofurkey this week. Did you read last week’s column? It’s a week by week ranking system.

      • She did have the Goblins support until Vanessa got to Jame’s head and told him about Becky being the snitch.

      • Well, Becky had the Goblins support until, they flipped because Vanessa got into their heads and gullible little fools they are, they believed her! They managed to blow up their games as well as that of Becky and Johnny Mac.

      • I commend Becky for trying to take Vanessa out, but she stopped playing after that. She relaxed. (not Van) A good player should have anticipated and neutralized the vote flipping.

      • They didn’t flip because she got in their head. They flipped because James realized that getting Vanessa out doesn’t help him as much as getting Shelli out does.
        James/Jackie/Meg were the people (other than Vanessa) to benefit from getting Shelli out. She was going for James’ head the next time she won HOH, and if not James then she would have gone for Jackie.

      • And that was definitely a mistake for them, wasn’t it? Jackie is gone and James might have bought himself a week or two, but that’s it.
        Meg is utterly useless in competitions, even Victoria won more comps than her. If James wins an HOH, he can’t compete in the next one and he has to rely on winning POV EVERY SINGLE TIME.
        If they had eliminated Vanessa, Steve would have most likely turned to them for an alliance – he couldn’t have blamed Jackie’s eviction on Vanessa! Austwins wouldn’t have had the numbers to evict Becky, who would have been a valuable alliance member for J/J/M.
        Shelli was far less dangerous for them than Vanessa was. Now Austwins can dominate the game with Vanessa and Steve and JMac and James will be going unless they win HOH every week now.

      • I disagree that Steve would have turned to them. He would have likely turned to the Austwins, just as he is now. I don’t think anyone other than Becky/John were really considering being aligned with the Goblins.
        However Shelli was vocally an enemy.

      • James just got lucky. It could have been him and Meg on the block and he would have been sent to the jury house which would have made evicting Shelli, not really a smart move. He saved maybe, one or two weeks but, destroyed his game and his allies in addition to Becky and John. He is going to be on the block if Vanessa’s alliance wins the next HOH.

      • I like Becky, but she has a big responsibility to control her people. (we know they’re gullible) Three days is a long time. Vote can flip just like that. She got too comfortable, don’t you think?

      • Yep I agree. She’s starting to get on my nerves watching her on the feeds. She goes on and on and it’s all about her. I need some drama because the feeds have been booooring. Only time they’re okay is after HOH when everyone is scheming and after nominations before the POV.

      • At this very moment..Liz is clipping Austin’s fingernails..I can’t..I just cant!!! Feeds are off!

  3. Tomorrow night is going to be exciting. Tonight is a reminder of that.
    The next HoH is VERY interesting:
    If James wins…
    If Julia wins…
    Very different targets.
    If Meg wins…
    Wake up, you’re late for work! Ha ha ha ha J/K

  4. Only thing I disagree with you on is Steve. He’s nowhere close to Ian. Ian had a strategy and made moves. Steve is setting himself up to be the fifth, fourth, or third wheel in an alliance that will cut him out in a heartbeat. Going after James and Meg at this point in the game when there’s a solid 3 person alliance? Idiotic. Also, for a supposed superfan, he gets a lot of details wrong.
    Pennypacker is not impressed with Steve.

    • I think Steve is lying if he says James and Meg are targets. He might use them as pawns, not even sure about that at this point. He lies to the cameras as much as he lies to the HGs.

      • Ah, but isn’t it the lying that works best for the HG’s in this game? Granted, NO ONE in this cast is as adept at lying as Dan Gheesling was. I’ll never forget his funeral. But, lying is paramount in Big Brother.

      • Of course, and Steve is one of the best. He has everyone fooled. He had to have practiced a lot before the show to be so good at it. I envision him at home pre-game rehearsing in front of a camera he purchased for that reason.

    • You’re making the assumption that Steve sees himself in that alliance with Austwins. I would argue that he’s pretending to be in that alliance to be kept safe if one of those 3 win HoH, but if he wins, he’ll put up Liz and Austwin.

      • If Steve wins HoH and puts up two of the Austwins I will recant my statement. Until then he, and the rest of the houseguests are setting themselves up to be outnumbered.

      • I believe what I said to be true, but of course I’m speculating. If Steve wins HoH and nominates James and Meg, I too will recant my statement. Steve’s a smart guy. I think he knows they have to target the Austwins next.

      • I hope you’re right and he does. Seeing Liz and Julia on the block together would make for an entertaining week of feeds. Like oh my gawwduuhh. It would so greaatttuuh.

  5. Can’t disagree with your assessment Adam. This had to be a hard week to try to figure out how to award the bacon and tofu though!

    • The hardest one so far this season. Usually the players separate themselves a little more.

  6. Oh, Adam…I know it kills you to give Jmac 3 (count ’em–three) strips of tofurkey this week…but I’m loving it. Yeah, he’ll be safe this week, but like you said, he needs to start playing his own game. In the meantime, my boy Steve is starting to play HIS game. I’d never liken him to Ian, but I like where he’s going.

  7. PreVeto James said that he preferred Shelli to leave BUT he would do what Becky wanted to keep her happy. They were not going to go against Beckys wishes.

    Right after Veto Ceremony Vanessa exposed Becky as the rat she is. This gave James a reason to go against Beckys wishes. Later that night they decided to keep Vanessa.

    Vanessa DID help save herself. They were going to do what Becky wanted until Vanessa gave them a reason not to.

    • It was when Shelli played the emotional card regarding the sweater that James realized he would be her target. It was more about who was trusted the least at that time, Vanessa or Shelli, and for James, Shelli turned changed that target to herself.

      • That is speculation. According to James’ DR he said Vanessa did help change his mind.

      • It is my opinion, that Shelli would still be there if she had not have made a big deal of the sweater. She made a huge mistake and paid the price for it.

    • I agree with KSJB. James was already talking to Meg & Jackie about trying to keep Van before Van went to talk to him. All Van’s talk did was give James the fodder for his plan.

      • Yes they were talking about it, but said they wouldn’t do it because they wanted to keep Becky happy.

      • It was more that they didn’t have enough ammunition. Shelli going through James’ belongings to get the shirt + Van’s talk was the ammunition that James needed to convince Meg & Jackie. Once he had them on board, he could test Austin. My point was that James was planning it BEFORE Van talked to him. She didn’t convince him.

  8. Steve is sort of like Andy. He has no real loyalties (a floater), both of his final 2 deals are fake and he turned on his Amanda( Vanessa). Everyone thinks he would keep them safe if he’s HOH, even James and Meg when he nominated Meg and Jackie for eviction when he was HOH. He’s starting to manipulate people to do what he wants. He’s even playing Vanessa who played him for weeks and it looks like it’s working. If he keeps the mind games up and doesn’t make anymore mistakes he could and deserves to win

  9. I must be blind. I don’t see Steve playing the game at all. I see him being lucky. He likes anybody that shows an interest in him, now he is enjoying Vanessa. Is that gameplay? No. He’s just stumbling along blindly. He actually DIDN’T know who to put up when he was HOH. He just put up who JMac told him.

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