Big Brother 12 has come to the end and with it so does the Brigade. Once a force of four, the all-male alliance narrowed to three after the eviction of “The Brains”, Matt. Now Lane, Hayden, and Enzo are all that remains from the season’s entire cast and that pool of three is about to get even smaller with one final eviction.
On Wednesday we saw Hayden take the first round of the final HoH competition when Lane fell from his perch after over two and a half hours. These two competitors acted like there was a half-million dollars on the line, unlike Enzo who dropped after just 19 minutes so he could cook himself a pizza and assorted snacks. You can buy a lot of frozen pizzas with $500K, Enzo.
Thursday presented the second round and last chance for Lane and Enzo to move on to Round 3 in the last HoH battle of the season. Both men surprised me by not only completing in under 2 minutes but also correctly identified all 5 face-morphs. Unfortunately for Enzo, he took a full 30 seconds longer to complete the same task and Lane moved on to face off with Hayden on Wednesday’s live show.
Either Lane or Hayden will move on to face the jury, but the big question is, who do they take with them to that interrogation? Right now both Lane and Hayden have promised each other that regardless of who wins Round 3 they will take the other one to the end. Hayden has “discussed” this privately with the cameras and I believe he’ll hold up the deal. Lane is paranoid enough about Enzo getting close to Hayden in these final days that I’m expecting him to also keep these terms.
Putting aside all other aspects of the game, all 3 members of the Brigade entered this final 3-part battle on a level playing field. Agreeing that the Final 2 should consist of those who proved themselves during these competitions is a very fair way of eliminating the third wheel, but is it the wisest decision for both the men?
Hayden has the best record with 2.5 HoHs (his first one was the result of just being the last person on his team across after a big group effort, so I’m counting that as a half-er) and 1 Veto win. Lane secured 1 HoH victory and Enzo knocked over to Ragan to scrape out his 1 Veto win. Regardless of who Hayden stands next to, should he make it to the Final 2, he holds the best chance of winning on record alone. Even going with the social game angle I believe Hayden will win which makes his selection a flip-of-the-coin. Facing Lane or Enzo, Hayden will win.
Lane’s position is a little more delicate. As noted, he can’t beat Hayden’s record for game play and will likely lose against him in a Final 2, so could he pull more votes if he goes against Enzo? If Lane wins the final HoH comp then that gives him 2 HoHs to Enzo’s 1 Veto. Lane could definitely pull Britney’s vote, though he may doubt that at the moment, but who could Enzo put in his “definite” column? Maybe, maybe, Brendon for befriending him in his last two weeks, but even that’s questionable. Hayden would respect Lane’s competitive achievements even if he did evict him. Matt could still be bitter at Enzo for his admission that he planned to evict him on the eve of the DPOV and therefore gives his support to Lane. All Lane would then need was one more vote which couldn’t be much of a challenge.
Hayden will win against either player and just needs to win Round 3 to secure his half-million dollar prize. If Lane wants to win he’ll need to break his deal with Hayden and take Enzo. Lane will definitely win the $50K against Hayden, so what’s the worst that could happen if he took Enzo? Same situation. He wins $50K at the minimum but at least has a shot at $500K in the latter situation.
My prediction: Lane and Hayden will stick to their deal. No matter who wins Round 3 these two HGs will move on the Final 2 where Hayden will be crowned the winner of Big Brother 12 and walk away with a half-million dollars.