The Lying Game
I’ve been a frustrated Andy fan for a few weeks now. I’ve always liked his personality and thought he was a decent strategist, but—at a certain juncture— it seemed like his game got completely subsumed by Amanda. He was Amanda’s mole.[1] We saw people confide in him, and we saw Andy immediately relay the information to Amanda. It seemed to me that he was giving way too much power to Amanda and McCrae, sometimes in spite of his own long-term game.
But I was wrong this whole time. He used Amanda to eliminate people like Helen; I never doubted that. However, after Amanda ceased being of use to him, he severed ties. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
He is able to move to both sides of the house like Kuwabatake Sanjuro because he is a remarkably good liar. That is his greatest attribute in the game. Amanda thought that, after giving Amanda her wedding ring as collateral, Elissa may have voted her out. Elissa thought that McCrae voted to evict Amanda![2] Everyone is getting duped by this guy.
But Andy’s greatest strength may very well be his downfall, for he is too good a liar. He forges deep personal bonds with people, and then he lies to their face. I don’t know how people will respond to Andy’s betrayal, but these types of circumstances tend to engender a bitter jury. There appears to be some implicit line in the sand when it comes to lying: It is accepted that lying is a part of the game, but you cannot exceed a certain level of intimacy with someone you’re about to backstab.
Personally, I don’t subscribe to this logic.[3] I think that nearly everything that happens in the game should be respected as game play. Sure, I understand the emotional turmoil of these blindsides is difficult to reconcile. Even I (a Dan Gheesling uber-fan) felt disconcerted by the way he deceived Helen, acting offended that she would question his loyalty. But once I took a step back and saw past the emotional component, I realized something: Excessive or not, Helen retracted her threat. It worked.
It is working. Will he receive many votes in the event that he makes the final two? I’m not sure. Either way, Andy has undeniably secured himself a place in the discussion for best player of the season.
Tin Foil Hats
As I was kicking back the other day and enjoying my regular lunch of a peanut butter, ham, and cheese sandwich, washed down with Walgreens’s finest nail polish remover, I began to reminisce about the multitude of the houseguest-generated conspiracy theories.
Here are some of my favorites:
- Judd is a trained actor from England
- McCrae is related to the Olsen twins
- Andy is periodically swapping with his heterosexual twin brother
- Judd is Elmer Fudd’s grandson
- David is a chess grandmaster
- Helen is related to Julie Chen
- Nick is a dinosaur
- Andy’s father is Jerry from Big Brother 10
- Elissa isn’t Rachel’s sister (she is Brendon’s sister!)
Finally, here is my M. Night Shyamalan influenced entry:
Unbeknownst to the houseguests, they are all actually dead. The Big Brother house is purgatory for their lost souls. When they get evicted, they meet God (Julie Chen,) and they are then sentenced to their true afterlife. The winner is given possession of their soul to return to their earthly life.
Now That’s What I Call Out of Context Quotes Volume 2
Spencer: “I’ve always heard that penguins are good people.”
Aaryn: “I don’t wanna be a saboteur. I wanna be, like, a cat.”
GinaMarie: “I love hanging out with beautiful people because they make me feel better."
Spencer: “I hate seeing fat kids with glasses cry.”
Elissa: “I can’t wait to put the confetti in my mouth.”
Judd: “I love frog-related anything!”
Spencer: “I would actually love to get high as fuck with Corey Haim.”
McCrae: “There was a kid in high school who looked like James Van Der Beek mixed with Scot Bakula, and we called him James Van Der Bakula.”
Jeremy: “I’m walking out with my nose up the air, that’s for sure.”
Spencer: “In Diary Room, I refer to you as Aryan instead of Aaryn.”
Big Brother Production: “Amanda, stop using production as your strategy.”
GinaMarie: “Maybe if I go home next week, I’ll be on the same flight as Nick.”
Kaitlin: “I don’t put up with a shit-ton of bullshit.”
Elissa: “[Aaryn’s] heart is not a happy person.”
Spencer: “I’m the mopin’ motherfucker. Shit, I can mope. You watch.”
GinaMarie: “I’ve got tons of hair, tons of make-up—we are rockin’ and rollin’!”
[1] I don’t like the negative connotations of the word, rat. I think there is value in playing both sides of the house.
[2] So, are Elissa fans still asserting that she deserved to win MVP every week?
[3] I should mention that it has been quite a while since the last time someone backstabbed me on national television, and this seems like one of those issues that is subject to change once one has actually experienced it.
