James Huling – 4 strips of Tofu – in case you were unaware – this was not James’s first rodeo. And in case you did not know, James was in a showmance with Natalie. Do you know how I know those facts? Because James said them over and over and over and over and… you get the picture. He kind of Mr. Magoo’d his way to the final 3 (for those of you too young to remember Mr. Magoo, look it up).
James was the most nonthreatening of the returnees, and he did win the HoH to get Frank out, but that was just a long line of moves that James made that he did because “it’s what the house wanted.” His gut was usually wrong, and he gave bad advice to his alliance members, but here we are on finale day – and there is still a chance he will walk away with the money. A very slim chance, but a chance.
Nicole Franzel – 5 strips of Bacon – there has been a lot said about Nicole’s game both inside and outside the house this season, but you cannot deny that she was playing the game hard all season long. She was emotional at times too, but always made smart game decisions. She also played the part of master manipulator several times – not sure how many times it was intentional, but this is Big Brother and you need a little luck sometimes as well as smart gameplay.
If Nicole can manage to win the last part of the HoH and put herself in the final 2 chairs, she could actually walk away with the money. I think she has a good shot against either James or Paul, but only if she can make it there herself. Most of the people in the jury were screwed over by her at some point, and if they take a step back and look at it, they will see these were great moves by Nicole. A bitter jury may not award her the money – so we shall see. If she does win – it was well earned.
Paul Abrahamian – 5 strips of Bacon – “Your Boy”, “Friendship”, “Pissed”, Pablo, Secret Service Man, Paul sure had a lot going on all season. He was guilty by association early on with his alliance of Jozea & Victor, but as soon as they started getting plucked, Paul had to find a way to get out of sticky situations. He used his gift of gab, his best asset, to work his way in and out of favor with the right people at the right times. He proved he was a loyal ally to whomever he was working with that week, and won his share of comps along the way to build the most impressive resume of the final 3. He just needs 1 more win to get himself to the final 2 – and he will be crowned the winner of this season.
If Nicole does in fact bring him to the final 2, he could make a case, but getting himself there will seal the deal. I was convinced early on he was going to be the first boot. Lucky for him Jozea had a bigger mouth & Victor was a bigger physical threat. Week 2 he figured out he had to play along with the rest of the house and turn on his boy Victor. He did it so seemingly well, that Victor was not mad at him once he came back (throwing that vote on Bronte had a lot to do with it).
Paul’s game was one part Andy (BB15) by making sure he was involved with every conversation going on in the house, one part Evel Dick (BB8) by getting in people’s faces and causing confrontations to put targets on other people’s backs and off his own, and one part Dan (BB10), by always keeping his options open and going with the people that could further his game. What do all three of them have in common? They all won their (1st) seasons.
Will Paul’s name go up on the wall along side of them? We will find out for sure in just a few hours.
I would like to thank all of you for reading this column again this season. I hope you had as much fun reading it each week as I had writing it. I usually sign off at the end of the season by saying, we have a long 9 months before Big Brother comes back – but this year, we only have to wait 1 week. Let’s hope that the shorter season will keep up the intensity we saw most of this season. I am glad they got rid of the Battle of the Block, but I am still holding out hope that the Food Competitions come back at some point.
From outside the Big Brother house, I am Adam Poch, have a great day!
Follow me on Twitter to get more updates as the season progresses twitter.com/heavymetalteddy.
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!
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!!!
and especially no more James!
N.E.V.E.R.
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
Dan – no. I would suffer thru Rachel again, to not have Dan
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.
yes, TGJ I loved Janelle.Would take her over Rachel any day
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!
To me, Rachel was to akin to ED in the aspect of loving to hate and hating to love them.
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
Me too – they would be a hoot on 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 that too.
That would be an awesome cast!
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!
Jun? One of the most boring undeserved winners in BB history.
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.
I’m also ready for Survivor! I’m ready for this season to be over
And no more James!!!
Thank you Adam! \m//
Thanks for the posts, great reads and I also agree on the food comps bring them back!
I agree – well done Adam
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!
I hope Victor wins AFP – James thinks he’s a lock and he probably is, which is unfortunate
I don’t understand how anyone likes James, at all, let alone to think he deserves $25k
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.
Oh Magoo, you’ve done it again!
Thanks for getting the joke!
It was perfect and made me lol. I meant the comment in reference to your blog. Great job!
oh no, the end of the season and we finally have the perfect moniker for James, we could have been using Mr. Magoo all season. Perfect. Good one, Adam
I love the Mr. Magoo reference
I definitely remember Mr Magop. That sinister little devil.
LOVE the Mr. Magoo reference… LOL! So funny, but too true as well. :)
I appreciated that one myself. #Magoo’d (Have to put in the apostrophe or else it looks like “good” :( #NotGood
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!
Praying Paul wins HOH tonight
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.
You a smart lady. Nice too. Also good friend. Me love you.
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.
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…
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! :)
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!
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)
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!