Diary Room: Adam Poch’s Player Rankings: Big Brother 18 – Finale Week

Paulie Calafiore – 2 strips of Bacon – one of the most polarizing HGs this season – Paulie went from being the mastermind, to being the most hated person in the house. He was saying & doing all the right things early, even volunteering to go on the block twice. He was so worried that Tiffany was playing her sister’s game & instead of trying to team up with her he went against her. Once he had all the power in the house, he got too cocky and felt untouchable.

As we have seen in the past, you get confident in the BB House, you end up going home. That is exactly what happened to Paulie. He started to lash out at everyone, even his showmance partner Zakiyah. This prompted Natalie to say something to Z, which as we all know led to an epic fight. All that said, Paulie was a great competitor and brought so much excitement to the show. Just not all of it positive for him!

Victor… nope, not yet… keep reading.

Michelle Meyer – 1 strip of Tofu – Big Meech – oh boy, where do we start? She was the biggest superfan on this season – and he admiration to the vets kept her safe early on, and her crush on Frank went unnoticed until he teamed up with Bridgette instead of her. I honestly think that if Michelle won the 3rd HoH instead of Bridgette, Frank would have teamed up with her. She did cry a lot, she threw up after a comp, and had some scorching eviction speeches – but still she hung around.

Michelle’s game actually went south once she got the Co-HoH from America’s Care Package. Instead of doing what she wanted (nominate Nicole), she went along with Natalie and they put up Victor & Paul. How did that work out for her? Well, considering Nicole won the following HoH and was the tie breaking vote to evict her, I’d say not too well!

Natalie Negrotti – 2 strips of Bacon – just like her other Spy Girls, Natalie did not do much early other than flirt with the boys. Which was her plan right? But she ended up getting into a “showmance” with James. That wall of protection helped her for a while – and she along with Bridgette were responsible for the downfall of Paulie’s game. Natalie showed she was not going to be walked on, and as soon as she perked up her game was on point.

For a few weeks there, I thought she would be a lock for the Final 3 – then her biggest mistake of the game was trusting James’ gut – and turning on Victor & Paul. That ultimately led to her demise – and in a rare move, the girl in the showmance was evicted before the guy. One thing about her game that goes unnoticed is her power of observation. She was more aware of the pulse of the house than the rest, just wish she did not go against her gut. She was the last hope for a NY/NJ person to win the game.

Victor Arroyo – 4 strips of Bacon – finally – evicted for good the 3rd time. yes, plenty of people were upset that he got not just a 2nd chance, but a 3rd chance too. Hey, that’s the way the game was setup this season, and being such a comp beast helped him when his social game couldn’t. After his first re-entry into the game, he did change his attitude and behavior, and toned it down a bit. He did get a little lucky that the house was already in a power struggle between Day & Frank, so he sat back and observed from the sideline.

Victor just about always kept his cool and played very strategic, never making emotional decisions. Sure a lot of that had to do with teaming up with Paul. But his trusting nature caught up to him and Vic found himself walking out the door the last time by the people he had protected a week earlier. I am hoping that Victor wins America’s Favorite Player because of how hard he fought all season.

Corey Brooks – 3 strips of Bacon – for most of the game, a lot of us thought Corey was nothing more than a dumb jock. He made us think that way because of his dazed glares & spending more time canoodling with Nicole and not really getting to know most of the other HG’s. Not sure it was by design, or pure luck, but Corey did have himself well protected most of the game. His two biggest allies were both bigger targets in Paulie & Nicole. He was “bro” enough in the middle of the game with Paul & Victor when they were in the Executives alliance – and then teamed up with them again to form the Final 4 Alliance.

For one of the most athletic people in the house to never really be a target says something about Corey’s overall game. 3 PoVs & 2 HoH’s wins under his belt – he sure did build an impressive resume going into the final 4. But coming up just short in the final PoV may have cost him $500K.

Rankings continue on the next page…

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50 Comments

  1. I am so very glad this season is finally over. Ready for Survivor and watch people actually play the game to win. So very sick of Nicole – I’m for James and Paul final two – Paul for the win!

  2. So ready for Survivor!!! BB powers that be – No More Vets Please – unless it’s an all star cast and then PLEASE No More Nicole!!!

    • Ideal All-Stars 2 Cast:
      BB2: Will
      BB3: Danielle
      BB4: Jun
      BB6: Janelle
      BB8: Daniele
      BB10: Dan
      BB12: Rachel
      BB13: Kalia
      BB14: Ian
      BB16: Derrick, Zach
      BB17: Vanessa
      BB18: Paul, Victor

      • No Vanessa. And as much as I love Vic, I don’t think this is his forte, so I’d go with Paul. Zach is definitely entertaining, but from the game aspect, I’d love to see Derrick play after other’s have studied his game. He’d have a much more difficult time using the same strategy and I’d like to see what he is capable of when put in a complete different scenario and vulnerable state right off the bat.

      • I think he (Derrick) would have a harder time of it the second go around. He would have to come up with a very clever strategy (like Will did in season 7) to stick around long. I would love to see Janelle come back and finally win BB!! :) That is one woman who played hard. In fact, she outplayed most of the boys consistently and was eliminated 3rd in back to back seasons b/c she was the best player by far and everyone was afraid to take her to F2.

      • Oh most definitely. Don’t get me wrong…RR definitely improved her game from season 12 to 13, but her histrionics were tiresome, where Janelle was just an all out, gung-ho great player! She is one of my ALL-TIME faves!

      • Exactly K…she drove me nuts sometimes, but I had to admire her tenacity and her willingness to play BB with everything she had!!

      • You’ll need a bigger house to hold all those egos. And earmuffs to handle Zach and Paul in the same house. Personally I’d rather see Paul and Vic in TAR

      • Hahaha! Yes, I think egos are usually a problem in All Star casts, but if you’re clever (like Will) or a comp beast (like Janelle) it’s an exciting season of BB!

        I hope *crosses fingers* Vic and Paul get signed for TAR as well. They would be ab-so-lutely-A-may-zing!! ;)

      • I would love to see a “1st person voted out” each season cast. Can only think of Glenn now from this season. Who were all those other “out the door 1st” people? They should be given another chance!

      • Really? I thought Jun and Allison both played great games. They both knowingly played the twist to their advantage. The only way they failed was by not thinking about jury, but because they were there together it didn’t matter.

  3. Great summary Adam, you reminded me of some things I had forgotten. Your summary shows what an interesting trajectory Paul’s season has been and how he has learned and adapted over the course of it. The first night I thought that guy is so irritating, he won’t last and he ends up being one of my favorites. He has worked the hardest all season and been the most entertaining. Paul FTW!

    • Yeah – I am fine with Nicole or Paul winning because they played all season long. Too many people lay too low early – but it is effective. Should be a heck of a show tonight!

      • Extremely unfortunate and disheartening as well…. I simply cannot imagine the thought process behind voting for James for ANY reward this season. Last season, I actually loved him, but this season… I simply can’t give him my vote for anything. As a BB fan for over 11 seasons, it truly makes me wonder what the people (voting for James) look for in BB, b/c it obviously is not strategy, social game or comp wins; James has not had any of those this season.

  4. Thank you Adam! Very well written. You hit right on all their game play and lack of. I really like Nicole but would not be upset if Paul were to win. Just don’t want James in the F2. Thank you for all your work this year! Look forward to more!

  5. I definitely agree with Paul being an amazing player who realllyyyyy fought this whole season. His social game really propelled him from underdog and easy target to being connected with the top players in the game when necessary. I just don’t understand how he could possibly be seen on the same level as Nicole, when her game didn’t seem nearly as intentional as Paul’s. I really think that other people just happened to go after the targets she wanted out, with no convincing from her, it was sort of dumb luck. Which like you said, is a part of the Big Brother game, but I don’t see how her skill level could be compared to Paul.

    • I, for one, think Paul is a much bigger BB fan than he lets on. He knows too much about BBCAN and other things. That’s cool if he is downplaying it. – A much better secret than being an aspiring mathematician! Lol

      • I have noticed a few times during the season when he has been casually conversing with someone and brought up something that happened in a previous season. It just seemed to come to him naturally. I remember thinking more than once that this guy knows more than someone who has just watched a few episodes of BB while being cooped up waiting for the show to start.

    • I don’t know, she certainly seems to believe it was intentional based on her practice final 2 speeches. Obviously she can say whatever she wants and that doesn’t make it true, but I’m willing to give her the credit.

  6. Loved your summation of the season, Adam! Spot on and you brought up some terrific points about both Nicole’s game play as well as Paul’s. I also agree with you 100% about James…if he wins ANYTHING this season I will be dismally disappointed in either the viewers or one of the HG…

  7. Adam, thank you so much for your fun assessments each week. I usually agree with most if not all of them so that feels good. Sometimes you change my mind, too!

    I really want to see a Paul & Nicole Final 2 and want to see Vic win AFP!

    PS: I had Nicole as one of my picks Week1 (I was thinking a vet would win and I thought she was coming to play BB & would be one of the small group running the show and I believed her when she said she would not look for love here. I was “disappointed” by her play early on because I was feeling like she was (sigh) looking for love rather than playing. But she made her move and I’ve enjoyed her second half a lot.)

    By that same token, I had Paul pegged as going out early so what do I know? ;) Ha ha. But glad I was wrong about him. I enjoyed him & Vic most of the time. (Didn’t like Vic initially either but I saw the light.)

    Looking forward to next time, Adam! Take care! :)

  8. An excellent final assessment of this season’s cast, Adam. And despite all the ups and downs of the season, all the arguing back and forth between fans of who’s playing the best game, I think we can all agree that this was one dynamic cast and one that we will not soon forget.

    Thank you once again, Adam, for taking the time to share your thoughts with us week after week. It’s always so amazing when former Big Brother Houseguests chime in on the current cast, and it’s an added bonus when they interact with the fans, like you do. Hope your family is doing well, and I hope you have enjoyed the summer as much as we have!

  9. Spot on as always.

    And actually I can honestly tell you that during the intro videos, Paul was my immediate favorite to win, and he was again as soon as he went up as a pawn and got Paulie to use the veto on him (was that to backdoor Vic?) Obviously I can’t prove this but I think I am one of the few truly die hard Paul fans, and I voted for him in several of the early favorite hg polls.

    As for Nicole, my friend who introduced me to Big Brother had her as his pick to win all season long. So between the two of us we actually got 2/3 (and hopefully 2/2 if the final two goes as it should)

  10. Adam, thanks for another season of excellent entertainment….which was most appreciated THIS season! Seriously though, you always brought many a smile to my face, and Brother—you’ll never know how much I needed those.
    Have a great year…look forward to your wit and wisdom (?) next season. Take care, Man!

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