The Basic Facts:

HoH: Janelle

Original nominees: Mike and Erika

PoV Winner: Mike

PoV meeting results: Mike vetoed his own nomination. Janelle replaced Mike with Diane

Eviction results: Diane was evicted from the “Big Brother House” by a vote of 7-1.

General overview of the week:

On Day 25, Janelle became HoH for the second time this season. Despite having total power for the fourth straight week, the “S-6″ alliance started to dissipate with each member getting, as Will calls it, a ”parachute.” Janelle became friends with Marcellas, James became friends with Danielle, Kaysar became friends with Erika, and Howie “jumped out without a parachute.” For her nominations, “S-6″ suggested “Chill Town” (Mike and Will) should be nominees. However, a last-ditch effort made by Will caused her to think differently. She nominated Erika and Mike for eviction; claiming that Erika was the “pawn,” and that Mike was the “target” because she “disliked him.”

Janelle- Week 4 HoH

Erika (left) and Diane (right)- Week 4 nominees

Mike however, won the PoV and obviously vetoed his nomination. (Unfortunately, this decision wasn’t as obvious for dear old Marcellas on “Big Brother: 3.”) Janelle’s replacement nominee showed how little thought and consideration she had for her “S-6″ alliance. They urged her to replace Mike with Will, however, she refused to do so and nominated Diane instead in his place. This caused major controversy within her alliance and caused James to confess in the Diary Room that he was “done with Season 6.” He later formed an alliance with Danielle, Mike, and Will named “The Legion of Doom.” (I think that the question that still baffles me is why everyone insists on making a special name for their alliances, oh well.)

At the eviction ceremony, Diane was evicted by a vote of 7-1.

The former "S-6" alliance

Analysis of overall strategy: It was quite fascinating to see how the “S-6″ alliance started to disappear despite having power. Normally, alliances will stay intact if they have power which made it all the more interesting. There was one huge factor though that contributed to their downfall, it’s simply that they were just different people. They all had polar-opposite ideas on how to play the game, which caused them to rarely agree with each others decisions. If these people had similar minds however, then this alliance would have been much stronger and could have allowed them to advance to the final four even.

Meanwhile, “Chill Town” continued to influence more and more house guests. As you will see later on, Will’s persuasive conversations with Janelle prove to be quite significant. It is also important to note the alliance that “Chill Town” makes with Danielle and James. This alliance however simply just fuels the hatred that they (James and Danielle in particular) have for Janelle.

Further analysis of select house guests:

Janelle: Simply accomplishes nothing during her week as HoH. She keeps an enemy in the house (Danielle) and by makes a new one (James) as a result of her decisions. In fact, it’s easily arguable that she did more damage to herself this week than she did to her competition.

“Chill Town”: Simply flawless “seed planting” on Will’s part. They did take a mino hit with Mike’s nomination, however, the situation was quickly rectified with the power of veto.

James: It’s easy to understand his frustration when Janelle doesn’t nominate both “Chill Town” members for eviction. However, it is also important to note that he was HoH last week, and he made no attempt to evict “Chill Town,” so the simple question is: Why should Janelle?

“S-6″: Well, it’s easy to say that this alliance is done. They did have success in the first four HoH competitions; however, they didn’t really eliminate any of their major threats. It is therefore questionable if this alliance was even remotely successful.

HoH: James

Original nominees: George and Will

PoV winner: George

PoV meeting results: George used the PoV on himself, James then replaced George with Jase

Eviction results: Jase was evicted by a vote of 9-0.

General overview of the week: James was not afraid to let the whole house know his thoughts about “Big Brother,” about how “it wasn’t a team game and how he was going to play

James- Week 3 HoH

the game for himself.” His original nominees were “Chicken” George, a “floater,” and Will, a member of “Chill Town.” With such polar opposite nominations, it was almost impossible to predict where James’ mind was. The Power of Veto competition could only be summarized in one word: unbelievable. The chicken man managed to pull out a win by completing a series of unpleasant tasks, the most notable one being a decision, made by him, to be on slop for 60 days. At the veto ceremony, while Will gave a “hate” speech to his fellow house guests, while George gave a heartfelt monologue as he vetoed his own nomination. James replaced George with Jase, and he didn’t take a liking to that decision to say the least.

Once Jase was on the block, his fate was sealed. Not even one person voted to keep him in the game and was evicted by a unanimous 9-0 vote.

Jase-Evicted

Analysis of overall strategy: This was probably one of the lighter weeks in terms of strategic successes, the only one being Will’s “hate” speech. To quote Will, “he made his target so huge, that it became practically invisible.” By giving that speech, Will figured that his fellow house guests would start to think of him as less of a threat, which would allow him to start spreading his seeds later on in the game, and for the most part, he was correct. One minor miscalculation in strategy this week (and I use the word “minor” lightly,) was Jase’s outburst before the veto ceremony. It was plain stupid on his part, and accomplished nothing by throwing his fit.

Further analysis of select house guests: James: It wasn’t the smartest move for James to put Jase as a replacement nominee. Since that Will was already on the block, he should have nominated Mike so he would guarantee himself that one of “Chill Town’s” members would be going home this week.

"Chicken" George

“Chicken” George: As a result of his flawless effort and success at the veto competition, he certainly earned respect from his fellow house guests. He showed his competition how badly he wanted to be in the “Big Brother House.”  

“Chill Town”: How they dodged this bullet is simply beyond me. James had the chance of a lifetime to eliminate one of its members, yet James didn’t take the prime opportunity. It’s ironic because later down the road, “Chill Town” will become directly responsable for James’ eviction.

“S-6″: While starting to separate, it is still a solid alliance. They, surprisingly,  haven’t begun to turn on each other. (At least not yet, but you will see one of them “leave” the alliance next week.)

HoH: Kaysar

Original nominations: Diane and Nakomis

PoV winner: Erika

PoV meeting results: Erika chose not to use the Power of Veto, thus keeping the original nominations the same.

Eviction results: Nakomis was evicted from the house by a vote of 8-2.

Kaysar- Second HoH of the Season

General overview of the weeks’ events: On Day 11, Kaysar became the second HoH of the season thus, maintaining the “‘S-6′ Dynasty.” Immediately following his victory, Kaysar was approached by “Chill Town,” and together, they came to an armistice agreement. promised to nominate two “floaters” for eviction if ”Chill Town” promised to nominate “floaters” as well if they were to ever win HoH. He followed through with his promise and nominated Nakomis and Diane for eviction. (It is argued that he chose these particular ”floaters” because they voted against ”S-6′s” wishes when they voted to evict Danielle as opposed to Alison at the first eviction ceremony.)

Co-HoH’s: Jase and Janelle

Original nominations: Allison and Danielle

PoV winner: Janelle

PoV meeting results: Janelle chose not to use the Power of Veto, thus keeping the original nominations the same.

Eviction results: Allison was evicted from the house by a vote of 8-2.

General overview of the week’s events: On Day 1, 14 house guests entered the “Big Brother All Star House.” In total, there were four house guests originally from “Big Brother 6,” three house guests originally from “Big Brother 5,” two house guests originally from seasons 2,3 and 4 , and last but not least, (well, I suppose it could be argued that he was the “least”) there was “Chicken” George from “Big Brother: 1.”

"Big Brother 7: All Stars" cast.

On the same day, the 14 house guests participated in their first HoH competition where Jase and Janelle became Co-HoH’s, meaning that they shared most of the power for the week. They had to decide who would be nominated as a collective pair; if they didn’t agree, then they would become the nominees for the week.

Jase and Janelle- Co-HoHs for week 1.

Playing on this rule, Danielle and Alison approached Jase and advised him to disagree with Janelle so that she (and him) would become nominated and evicted due to her alliance and skill in competitions. Jase however didn’t oblige, after all why would he want to become nominated? In fact, he told Janelle about their plan and the Co-HoH’s nominated Alison and Danielle for eviction due to their “treasonous” acts. 

It is ironic to note however, that even if Jase did follow through with their relatively crazy idea, the plan would have backfired anyway because Janelle won the PoV. At the PoV meeting, Janelle showed little to no remorse towards the current nominees (Alison and Danielle) and kept them the same. On Day 11, despite the conversations about possibly saving her due to her potential usefulness in combating the “S-6″ alliance, Alison was evicted by a vote of eight to two.

Analysis of Overall Strategies: First, it was arguably one of the dumbest moves of the season for Danielle and Alison to approach Jase with their crazy idea. As Jase explained it perfectly, “The dumbest move in ’Big Brother’  history would be taking yourself from the Head of Household position, the highest level in the house, and putting us on the block and possibly get evicted.” It simply wouldn’t make any sense to willfully nominate yourself regardless who is “suppose” to go home, because time and time again the so-called “pawn” becomes the “target” very quickly and suddenly. Simply put, it was a novice mistake, a mistake that cost both of them the game. After that strategic error, their evictions became a matter of when as opposed to if. Even Janelle admitted that, “I was pretty stunned and I’m very offended, it’s so early in the game and I just didn’t think she [Danielle] would come after me so hardcore like that, and she really shouldn’t have because she really wasn’t on my radar at all.” Therefore, as a result of Danielle’s (and Alison’s too, but she’s gone now, so who cares?) attacks on Janelle, she really only acquired an enemy, a very powerful enemy that is, and didn’t accomplish anything for her efforts. I could belabor this huge strategic error farther, but I think you get the point.

Further Analysis of Select House Guests:

Jase: Smart decision on his part to agree with Janelle and form a temporary ”peace treaty” with “S-6.” It would have been plain stupid, as stated earlier, if he willfully took the “pawn” position.

Janelle: Excellent reaction to Danielle and Alison’s threatening actions. By nominating her personal threats for eviction it sends a message to the other house guests: Don’t mess with the blonde chick.

The "S-6" Alliance

Kaysar/James/Howie: Through constant strategizing with Janelle, these four people exposed their alliance; which was a big mistake. They were big enough threats to the house simply because more “All Star” house guests originally came from ”Big Brother 6″ than any other season. By making it common knowledge that they had an alliance just magnified the target on their back. Granted, this mistake doesn’t matter in weeks 1-4, in fact, it helps them because the alliance kept winning the HoH position. However, when the first non “S-6″ alliance member wins HoH on Day 32, you will see this alliance evaporate quickly.

Mike “Boogie”/Dr. Will (“Chill Town”): It was an accomplishment for “Chill Town” not to see one or even both of its members nominated for eviction this week. They were huge threats to everyone when they walked into the house, therefore, they had to be uncharacteristically uneventful this week, which they executed perfectly.

The "Chill Town" Alliance

The “Floaters” (Everyone that isn’t a part of “Chill Town” or “S-6″): It is important to note that only 6 people are in an “official” alliance by the end of week 1, the four people (Janelle, Kaysar, James, and Howie) in “S-6,” and the two people (Mike and Will) in “Chill Town.” In the next couple of weeks, everyone else will be referred to as “floaters,” or people who have few true allegiances to anyone and are not really playing the game. These “floaters” will become the targets of “S-6″ as they continue to dominate the HoH competitions.