Diary Room: Adam Poch’s Player Rankings: Big Brother 17 – Week 2

Week 2 in the Big Brother house was a relatively calm one in comparison to Week 1 – but we still had some drama, another 23 alliances formed (and 22 of them broken), another twist that may not go anywhere, and one secret twist that the rest of the house is starting to figure out. Let’s get right to the rankings kids!

John McGuire – 5 strips of Bacon – 2 weeks in a row nominated, 2 weeks in a row got himself off. While I am not a proponent of throwing challenges when you are on the block – he did a great job of being dead weight when Da’Vonne was trying to win the BoB. Knowing pawns sometimes go home, winning the Veto this week and assuring his own safety was huge. As I predicted in my presason rankings, the rest of the HGs seem to really like him and he is not seen as a threat. I just hope he is not going to be a pawn every week – because eventually he will not be able to save himself. The house may realize that they need to get him out. But for now – ROCK ON JOHNNY MAC!

Jason Roy – 4 strips of Bacon – Jason & Steve killed it in the BoB despite Johnny Mac trying to throw it, it looked like they would win anyway. Similar to Austin last week – despite his number one ally being the target this week, he has not ruffled any feathers to make people want him out next. He does say some of the craziest things, “We need some ratchet twerk music” and people love his Mean Girls commentary. He’s proven he is a good competitor and will be able to protect himself in the game moving forward.

James Huling – 3 strips of Bacon – there were no signs of HoHitis during his reign week 1. James played it perfectly and this week went back downstairs & mixed in with the rest of the peasants. He solidified his alliance with Meg, Jeff, and Jason (The After Dark Crew) which is a good mix of people with side alliances. I just do not know if/when he will make a side alliance himself, but he has not done anything to upset anyone and is sitting pretty right now.

Audrey Middleton – 2 strips of Bacon – Audrey went from being Public Enemy #1 to yeah, she’s still there. Week 1 saw her all over the place spreading rumors, blowing up people’s games, and being the center of all the drama. She dodged a huge bullet when Becky’s HoH was nullified after the BoB. As soon as her safety was guaranteed, she could have gone back into hardcore game mode, but learned her lesson from last week and kept it to a minimum. Will this last long, probably not, but bacon for her this week as she kept her mouth shut (for the most part) and blended in while other stepped up to put targets on themselves moving further.

Steve Moses – 2 strips of Bacon – as with John, Steve has saved himself 2 weeks in a row. This week it was working smarter not harder with Jason in the BoB. He is still a bit awkward socially and that has people nervous. But if his new alliance (SOS – Students of Sound) with Vanessa can work, this will only help him go much further.

Austin Matelson – 1 strip of Bacon – After his number one ally Jace left last week, we wondered if the house would come after Austin. He has done an amazing job of distancing himself from the Jace cloud and seems to be getting along with everyone pretty well & staying off people’s radars. Quick question – did he even bring any shirts into the house???

Meg Maley – 1 strip of Bacon – Meg did not freak out when she became the replacement nominee after Johnny Mac took himself off the block. That is HUGE when you are sitting next to a bigger threat. I see a little bit of a love triangle forming between her and Jeff/James. All 3 are in an alliance together so that could be epic if the guys start getting jealous when she spends time with the other one.

Vanessa Rousso – 1 strip of Bacon – we saw a much more chill Vanessa this week and her power of observation has been working pretty well. She spends a lot more time listening rather than talking. I do not think a lot of the other HGs have a good read on her yet. I do see her blowing up on someone at some point which could lead to her downfall.

Jeff Weldon – 1/2 strip of Bacon & 1/2 strip of Tofu – Jeff has done a way better job than Jackie transitioning from TAR to BB. He is doing all the right things (talking game, getting to know people, building trust & alliances), but he is also doing some of the wrong things (talking too much game & building maybe too many alliances). Perhaps if Jeff knew Big Brother a little better, he could be a little more tactful in his actions.

Becky Burgess – 1 strip of Tofu – Becky won one of the two HoH’s this week – and had a great idea to backdoor Audrey. It looked so easy last week as the house rallied and James backdoor’d Jace – but she put too much trust in Shelli and after being dethroned saw her plan go out the window. It was a quick HoH / Nomination with production moving things around the July 4th holiday – but some better observation skills would have shown that Shelli was still close to Audrey – and should have nominated her from the start.

Clay Honeycutt – 2 strips of Tofu – normally I would give someone like Clay bacon this week for taking over someone else’s HoH – getting the person out that they want without blood on their hands. But Clay made it so obvious to the rest of the house that he was controlling Shelli’s HoH – and he may have put a target on himself.

Da’Vonne Rogers – 3 strips of Tofu – Da’Vonne came into the house and made no bones about it she was ready to play. Week 1 had her sparring back and forth with Audrey and exposing Audrey for the liar/manipulator she is. But it backfired this week as the only person that Audrey still had influence over (Shelli) was HoH. DA’Vonne did get some special powers this week with the Last Laugh twist and she will be able to nullify 3 votes. She is still hustling for 5 votes this week, and she thinks she may have them – but if she really thinks that James will vote out his crush Meg, she deserves to walk out the door. It’s all probably for naught anyway – as the “house” will all vote together (with the exception of Jason) – and she could have the ability to throw away 7 votes and still be evicted.

Liz/Julia Nolan – 4 strips of Tofu – I am pretty sure because of the Twin Twist – neither Liz or Julia are playing smart right now. But then again, perhaps neither one of them have any game in the first place. I am curious to see how it all plays out next week as the rest of the house seems they have figured out the twin twist. Da’Vonne told her/them that they are on to her – and she/they denied it (which is good) but as they are horrible liars – this will not end well. At least this twist has made it longer than the Saboteur from BB12.

Shelli Burgess – 5 strips of Tofu – yes she won HoH, yes she did convince John to throw the BoB, but Shelli also got a huge case of HoHitis and has shown her cards that she wants to be a power player by going after Clay’s… I mean… her target Da’Vonne. This early in the game I think this move will come back and bite her in the ass. She could have done what James did last week, and get rid of everyone’s target – setting herself up for a few weeks of safety. She better hope Clay & Audrey can keep her safe.

That brings us to the Tofurkey of the Week… I am awarding it this week to Jackie Ibarra. Who? Yes there is a Houseguest named Jackie. She looks good in a bikini or at least that’s what I’ve heard. I have yet to see her on the feeds other than sitting in a room where she talks to no one and no one talks to her. While this is a great strategy to get further in the game, it’s not a winning strategy. Not having any solid relationships at all (even Jeff seems to ignore her most of the time) will eventually come back to bite her. People compare her to Victoria from last season, but at least Victoria was trying.

OK – there ya have it – let me know in the comments below what you think of these rankings. Who do you think deserves bacon & tofu this week? There is still time this week for the house to get shaken up so by the time you read this it could all be null and void. We get teased all the time that it will happen, but conservative play usually wins out.

From outside the Big Brother House – I am Adam Poch… have a great day!!!

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