There has been a lot of talk among Big Brother 18 fans this week all over social media on whether or not Natalie made the right decision when she chose Corey and Nicole over Paul and Victor, and essentially Michelle.
Fans are literally split down the middle and Natalie’s popularity dipped drastically in some online polls after her decision to nominate Paul and Victor. So did she make the right decision? Let’s talk about it. (Warning: Post Veto spoilers ahead)
Natalie decided to nominate Paul and Victor because she heard that Paul was throwing James under the bus. And when Michelle became co-HOH, Natalie easily convinced her to ignore her target Nicole and go with her on the Paul and Victor plan.
James and Natalie talked about how the best move for their game would be to work with Nicole and Corey and target Paul and Victor. OK, so I understand this move. It makes sense. Paul has been playing a great game and Victor has been winning A LOT of competitions. Together they’re a force. Nicole and Corey have been laying in bed all summer doing things I don’t even want to think about. Together they’re a farce.
So there’s no denying that, at the moment, Paul is the bigger threat and targeting him is probably best for Natalie’s game. That doesn’t mean fans have to like it.
See, there’s often a double standard with Big Brother fans. We like when people play the game but we don’t like when someone runs the game. So we start rooting for an “underdog” to pop up and take the person running the game out. I understand that thinking. It would have been pretty awesome to see someone like Donny take out Derrick in Big Brother 16.
But watching Natalie take out Paul and Victor is a less exciting because of what we’ll be left with. Does anyone really want to see two showmances in the final four? I’m getting bored even thinking about that right now.
And there’s another, quite bigger issue with everything that has gone down this week, as well. I’m talking about whether or not Natalie came to these decisions on her own. She revealed on the Live Feeds that production had been pressuring her to work with Nicole and Corey. Fishy, right? Nicole and Natalie have barely spoken all season and Natalie spent two weeks talking about how great it would be to be the one to take Corey out. But suddenly she wants to work with them?
Again, I’m not saying it’s a bad move to work with them. I just don’t know if it was her idea.
To further murk the waters, we’ve got this whole bribery issue to add to the mix. In case you didn’t know, James and Nicole discussed giving the other people in their incredibly boring final four alliance ten thousand dollars cash if either were to win the $500,000. And production shut that down and made them even publicly claim that they won’t be giving out money or gifts if they win the season.
So that brings me to the whole idea that there may have been a pre-season alliance crafted by Derrick. I don’t don’t know if there was any official alliance made up but I do think Nicole and James may have been advised to stick together and keep it unspoken. So that is yet another reason to doubt Natalie made the best decision this week.
I mean think about it. Will James cut Nicole for Natalie at the end? Nicole has even asked Corey if he’d vote for her if she didn’t take him to the end. Do Nicole and James have that unspoken pre-season final two deal locked down? If so, then Natalie did not make the right decision this week.
Right decision or not, it’s a decision I wish she wouldn’t have made. But that’s because I like Paul for entertainment value and Victor has even grown on me. And I’ve never been a fan of rewarding people who play (or don’t play) the game like Nicole and Corey.
The good news is that Paul won the Power of Veto and Corey is now on the block. There’s still a couple of days to break up Nicole and Corey, but right now it’s looking like Victor is the one heading out the door since James is the deciding vote.
I’ll say it again, because I know some people don’t read every thing we write. Natalie wanting Paul and/or Victor out makes perfect sense. They’re a threat to win the game. But it’s going to make for horrible TV. I like good gameplay, but I also like to enjoy this show. Who wants to watch a final four where Nicole and Corey frolic under the sheets, and James and Natalie bicker over not giving the other enough attention? Not me.
What do you think? Did Natalie make the right decision this week and did she make the decision on her own?