Adam Poch’s Big Brother 21 Player Rankings – Finale Week

Big Brother HG - Adam Poch
Big Brother HG Adam Poch – Credit: Greg P Photo

In just a few hours from now – the Big Brother 21 season that would not end will come to an end. 99 days these houseguests have been playing Big Brother – and if you ask me (which, I guess you kinda did since you are reading this) – is way way way too long. When I was on Season 13 – it was only 75 days and that seemed like an eternity. To put that in perspective – Jessica went home on Day 73. Regardless – this season is just about a wrap – all that’s left is confetti on someone’s shoulders.

As you are all aware – Jackson won part 1, and Holly won part 2 – so they will square off in part 3. In all likelihood they will be the 2 sitting next to each other, trying to convince the 9 jurors to give them a half-million dollars on BB21. The only possible drama would be if Holly wants to beef up her resume and cut Jackson if she wins the final HoH – but I do not see that happening.

Gonna do my question of the week now – do you think this will be a group of bitter jurors – and will they spite Jackson to give Holly the win? I am going back and forth on that myself. While there was a lot of personal gameplay this season – there was also a ton of kumbaya moments. This was the only house I can remember that made it a point to do a weekly dinner – also known as Taco Tuesday. And they usually followed it with the gratitude circle. So they were able to separate game from the personal stuff… most of the time.

We had some epic fights, house meetings, live feed leaks, controversial behavior, secret powers, epic deals, and a blindside or two. On the heels of Big Brother 20 – this season could be considered a let down to some – but there were plenty of moments that will be remembered forever.

As I did last year – my final rankings are not based on the gameplay – but instead the ranking on how well I predicted each Houseguest’s game from my preseason analysis. https://bigbrothernetwork.com/big-brother-21-player-rankings-preseason/ we will go in order of evictions.

David Alexander – 4 strips of Bacon. I pretty much called it – David had no clue what he was in for. He was never in a power role – and heck – he was not even a player for more than a few hours. He never really had a chance to get into an alliance – and if not for the Camp Comeback twist – we would have probably forgotten he was even in the house.

Ovi Kabir – 4 strips of Tofu – I thought for sure he’d stick around and get dragged to the end of the game – that role was played by Cliff – not Ovi. He did surprise us by being so vocal against the big alliance. Problem for him was he was vocal about the big alliance TO the big alliance. Apparently he made cookies a lot – and it was a great moment when he tried to stand up to the “bullies” in the house. I was right that Ovi did kind of play it safe before he was evicted – but I cannot believe I thought he’d be final 3.

Kemi Faknule – 1 strip of Tofu – another player I thought would get far into the game – well, at least to jury – but I was so wrong about that. I was right that she would have a hard time pretending to like people. She did however take it like a champion when Jack was browbeating her about the water bottle in the fridge. That was just so so so painful to watch. Kemi’s mistake was saying she’d go after Jack & Jackson – and as the saying goes – loose lips sink Kemi’s game.

Isabella Wang – 5 strips of Tofu – damn – I was soooo wrong about Bella. I honestly should give myself a Tofurkey for this line alone “She will hold onto information without divulging it at the wrong time.” The longest she went keeping a secret was a yactosecond (go ahead and google that). Not only did her gift of Yap hurt her game – but essentially brought Nick & Sam down too. One of the things I am looking forward to the most on finale night – what will Bella say to Nick when she sees him. He flirted with Analyse – and had some sort of weird thing going on in jury with Kat. Last year Swaggy gave Bayleigh a ring – this year, Nick may have to give Bella a restraining order.

Sam Smith – 1 strip of Bacon. I was correct in thinking people would get along with Sam because of his natural charm. But unfortunately hooking his trailer to Nick & Bella hurt his game badly. He was not the target when put up on the block next to Nick – but ended up as collateral damage after Nick won Veto. Sam also hurt his own game winning the first 2 Vetos and became a low-key threat – but they would have been able to look past that had he not been so tight with Nick & Bella.

Jack Matthews – 1/2 strip of Bacon & 3 full strips of Tofu – I was right – he did end up in a showmance. That was not really a huge stretch to predict based on his physical appearance. He also did not seem like he wanted to be in a showmance – and pretty much wasn’t. He was in a different ‘mance… and it starts with an F. None of the relationship stuff – but all of the physical stuff. And that leads me to why I am getting tofu. Unfortunately, the physical stuff he was doing – was not taking place during challenges – and he did not win the challenge he needed to win to keep himself safe. There was no battle back for him to try to get back into the house – and he missed out on my prediction of Top 6.

Kathryn Dunn – 4 strips of Tofu – almost as bad of a prediction as I had for Isabella. Although – I do think that first week of feeds that we missed – and right when they went live – she was struggling to figure out her place in the house. Instead of turning into a Mega… as I thought – she turned out to be the funniest HG this season. Admit it – even you didn’t see that coming. I do see her voting for Holly 100% over Jackson, and could be the deciding vote. If the America’s Favorite Player was 3 or 4 weeks ago – she wins hands down. However that prize is a lock for Nicole with the fanbase rallying around her recently.

Analyse Talavera- 2 strips of Tofu – I shoulda stuck with my first impression as all beauty no brains. Perhaps her beauty swayed me (which is why I didn’t get more bacon) – but she came off well in the interviews. She did get in tight with 1 girl (started with Holly, shifted to Christie) and a couple of the guys (Jack, Nick, Tommy) – and she had a real hard time biting her tongue. But Analyse won as many competitions as everyone reading this combined… ZERO!!! She made it to jury – and should have been a top 6 – if not for the great play from Christie to flip the house vote. She did go home on Jackson’s HoH, so she may still be a little salty towards him and she may not vote for him in the F2.

Nick Maccarone – 5 strips of Bacon – nailed it! “really wanted to like him as he’s from Jersey yo! Unfortunately – he does not seem as authentic. He reminds me of Matt Dillon’s character in Something About Mary – he will try to lie but will go too far and get figured out early. He’ll be able to squeak by a couple of weeks and should make it to become an early jury evictee – but only because other people will overplay more than him.”

Jessica Milagros – 2 strips of Bacon – I knew she’d make it far – and I knew she’d be a bit of comic relief inside the BB House. But it was not like the way Kat kept us entertained with her silly wacky nature. For Jessica it was her shock faces, that epic fall in the wall comp, and who can forget that slow-motion pie to the face. She was a the HoH that went after the Jacks – and walked away from that week with no blood on her hands as she went back in the shadows. Jess would have probably made it further if Christie didn’t make a deal with Jackson & Holly – but she probably would have never won any of the last few challenges to get herself to final 2. Another lock to vote for Holly (Girl Power)… hmmm… those votes are piling up.

Christie Murphy – 3 strips of Bacon – came close to nailing this one too – but winning that first HoH gave her an easy in with the immediate big powerful alliance. Without that protection – Christie is a goner early. She also benefited from Isabella being a faster talker than her. She does win the George Costanza award. Huh??? His famous quote “It’s not a lie… if you believe it.” However – as someone who really does believe in spirituality & karma, it doesn’t surprise me how many of Christie’s intuitions were wrong in the game. Her meltdown when she thought Nick was going to backdoor was caused by her own feelings of guilt for going against him.

(I may lose a few of you here….) One thing that fans will never quite understand is the negative energy that lives in that house and how it can break some people. Christie just didn’t quite know how to control that energy and keep a level head about her. She allowed it to control her – but we did get some killer moments. The Taco Tuesday fight is a Big Brother moment that will live in infamy.

Tommy Bracco – 5 strips of Bacon – I will let my prediction speak for itself again: “we all know there is a previous connection to Christie – so a lot will depend on the rest of the HGs not finding that out. His whole game will be based on that nugget of info being kept a secret or not. I really hate to do this – but I see a very similar game to another HG that came to us from Broadway that also tried to keep a secret all season. If that secret is kept and he can hold himself back from being (as the kids say) “EXTRA” he can go very far. Remember – loose lips sink ships in the BB House. With all of that said – I say he either gets to top 5 – or out in the first 2-3 weeks”

Cliff Hogg – 3 strips of Tofu – to my credit – Cliff could have very easily lost the banishment and I would have given myself 3 strips of Bacon. However, I am glad he didn’t. No, not because I was rooting for him & respected his game – but he gave us some of the textbook “How Not to Play Big Brother” moments. If you are going to divulge your whole game to the cameras – make sure no one is listening,. If you are going to make a big move against a showmance – dont tell them 3 days before you do it. And finally – if you are going to make a Final 2 deal with someone, dont tell them it’s only a 1 way deal.

As I mentioned in last week’s article – Cliff got so power hungry that all of his deals were working out – that he started making bad deals. Looking back at the week 4 deal to do the bidding of Jack, Jackson, and Christie to keep himself safe – we all scoffed at him. But that deal set in motion that you could make a deal with Cliff and it will be kept. If only he kept his mouth shut and voted out Holly – he could have perhaps been in the final 3 or 2.

For the final 3 – I will put them in order of my predicted finish

Nicole Anthony – 4 strips of Bacon – I was not 100% right – but pretty darn close. She won her way into the final 4 – and even final 3 – thanks to some skill, some deals, and some luck. Pretty much dead in the water early – Nicole was lucky that Ovi, Kemi, and Cliff were more expendable early so she never made it to Camp Comeback. Once the big alliance broke up – she was able to keep lines of communication open on all sides. A strange friendship with Nick, Cliff’s Angels with Kat, Jess and Cliff (duh!), and a kid sister role to Jackson (and by extension Holly). She turned on the juice during the Double Eviction and built her resume with some big wins down the stretch. But… but… oh Nicole… but she listened to Cliff and did not stick to her guns to convince him to vote out Holly – she could have been the one walking out with confetti.

Jackson Michie – 3 strips of Bacon & 3 strips of Tofu – I correctly called that him & Holly would be in a showmance – but I thought he’d be more of a Brendan (of Brenchal fame) and fight for his girl more than himself. If there is anything we have learned this summer, the only thing Jackson loves more than watermelon is himself. Jackson knew having Holly in the game helped him more than helped her. However – this is only going to be good enough to get him to 2nd place. I alluded in the opening the possibility of Holly cutting Jackson as her big move – and you Jackson is freaking out about that. What is keeping him from completely losing it – is the fact that he is convinced he is unstoppable, will win part 3 of the HoH, take Holly to the Final 2, and he will win. (Will finish this in the next recap)

My prediction for BB21 winner…

Holly Allen – 2 1/2 strips of Bacon – I was not completely wrong about her getting into a showmance – and one that would put a target on their back. The 2nd half of the game – Jackson & Holly had to go on the offensive as their best defense. Jackson did most of the heavy lifting by winning the challenges and putting the people up on the block and out the door. Holly did her part by winning 1 HoH – but while she was locked in with Cliff & Nicole gamewise – she still remained somewhat cool with the people that were going out. That is what is known as Jury Management.

As noted in a few of the recaps – Holly has 3 votes locked in for her no matter what. Jessica (Girl Power), Kat (hates Jackson), and Analyse (what show am I on again?) – all she needs is 2 more votes from Jack, Nick, Nicole, Cliff, Tommy & Christie. Jack will of course vote for Jackson. Nick, I am almost certain will also vote for Jackson. If Cliff & Nicole are a bit salty – and Holly reminds them she honored their F4 deal by throwing the HoH – she may get at least one of their votes. Tommy was pretty bitter about how Jackson lied (sorta) and created the doubt that sent him home over Holly. Will he respect that gameplay? Maybe. But Christie – maybe not. So we are looking at a possibly a 5-4 Holly win.

Phew – this column felt almost as long as the season – so I thank you for reading it all the way through. As well as thank you to all of you that have been reading along all season. I love interacting with you in the comments section each week. I always respect your opinions and we have had some great conversations.. Last- I would like to give a HUGE THANK YOU to Matt for tirelessly bringing Big Brother Network to all of us – and allowing me a place to share my opinions of the players as the season goes on. There are plenty of Big Brother sites – and Matt continues to bring in fresh perspectives along with informative & timely recaps – and for some reason has kept me around the last six seasons. We appreciate you so much Matt!!!!

For the last time this year – from outside the Big Brother House – I am Adam Poch – have a great offseason… see you in June!!!

For more thoughts on BB21 – follow me on Twitter @HeavyMetalTeddy – and listen to my podcast Big Brothers@BigBrothersPod

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

Commenting Rules: Keep the conversation civil and on topic. If your comment does not add to the conversation, it will be removed. Debate intelligently. Insulting the author, Big Brother Network, or other commentators will result in comment removal and possible ban. Any comments with links or flagged words will go into moderation before approval. Anything we deem as spam will not be approved. Comments left in ALL-CAPS will be deleted regardless of content.