Final day in the Big Brother house... wow, what a summer. So as I grab my morning coffee, giddy with anticipation for the final day in the house. I expect they will be all-a-twitter with excitement at leaving the house today, I expect they will spend the day chattering about all their plans for the future, I expect they will be contemplating who will be outside the house to greet them.... then my feeds load up and they are sound asleep. It looks like I have no daytime recap to write as they feed soon vanish and are replaced with trivia questions.

So since I have no hamsters to watch, I thought I might do my own contemplation of the season as a whole. I must admit I haven't seen a father and daughter this dysfunctional since Angelina Jolie and Jon Voight. Dick had the ability to endear himself to people because of his blunt honesty and straight forward, no-nonsense attitude, but when it turned dark, turned to name calling, insults and humiliation, he lost a few folks along the way. Until week five, I think most people would have asked "who's Danielle?". She spent all her time with Nick in bed or out in the sun, but certainly not interacting with others in the house. After Nick left, she admitted to hating everyone in the house but forced herself to interact with them or she would have been long gone from the house. So love them, or hate them, Dani and ED both deserve to be where they are and both deserve to win.

Although I would like to have seen more intellectual discussion and real debate, over all I enjoyed the season. I liked the AP twist and voted to further Eric's game, though I understand other folks voted with a different agenda and you sure cannot blame anyone for that. Everyone in the house gave us something to say, something to discuss, something to argue about. Everyone except Mike. I think he might be an armchair in real life, though a noble one with a very honorable fabric. Personally, I am not very cynical or jaded, so I found Eric and Jessica to be adorable.... and kudos to them for keeping everyone else ignorant as to the depth of their relationship, it might have hurt them even more had everyone known. I know a lot of people think the game is rigged or at the very least slanted to favor certain contestants, but given our litigious society I somehow doubt it is really rigged at all. CBS has better lawyers than that and would never allow themselves to be placed in the line of that kind of fire, but that's just my opinion and as we found out this summer, we all have those. :D

One last thing before the live show starts, I want to say how much I have enjoyed this summer. Thank you to all those you came to Joker's for Big Brother, thank you to all those who will be sticking around for Survivor and the other reality shows, and thank you to all those who posted to the feed updates and wrote recaps. Most of all thank you to Jokerette for providing us a great home, a great place to come and talk about our guilty pleasure and find kindred spirits. I know the discussions got a bit heated at times, but that like Big Brother goes in fairly predictable cycles and it should never be taken personally, we love you all and hope you stick around for the rest of the year, even if it is only to check in once a week or so. Well the show will be starting soon so enough of my rambling, it's time to hear the questions from the jury, the answers from our final two, hear who won season eight of Big Brother and oh yes... how they all react to the revelation about America's Player.

Julie is standing on the front steps of the house, she tells us that three months ago, an estranged father and daughter entered the house and they became one of the strongest alliances ever. There is then a recap of the season, beginning with the hgs being separated, the rivalry revealed, Carol and Joe evicted, the LNC formed, Mike, Nick, Kail, then Dani and ED on the block, ED goes on the offensive, Dustin evicted, Jen and Amber evicted, Jess and Eric evicted, Zach becomes a muscle, Jameka evicted, Zach wins part one, ED wins part two, ED wins part three and evicts Zach. ED and Dani are the final two. Julie welcomes us and we see the studio audience behind her.

We see the jury house as they await the final evictee.... the anticipation is delicious.... Eric points out it is ironic the six of them are pulling for Zach. Zach arrives and they are all disappointed it is him but they hug and let him know they wish it had been a Donato. They seem so torn on which Donato to vote for. Eric gets his last AP task and it is to campaign and vote for ED. Eric is having a tough time convincing them ED should win, the personal attacks are very much in the forefront of discussion. Dani's winning so much plays into it. Amber brings up the point that ED played for two people, he is an arsehole but an awesome arsehole. Finally they decide that ED was the junkyard dog and Dani had the leash, he did the work, she held the leash and reaped the benefits. So who wins... Evel or Evel spawn?

Commercial

The show returns and we see Janelle sitting front row in the audience. Q&A time.

Dustin - Dick, knowing your daughter said I will carry my dad with me because he is a terrible person and sitting next to him will be an easy win. How do you feel now? ED - I feel great, it doesn't really matter what she said, nobody has as hard a game as we had, nobody really carried anyone.

Amber - Danielle, why should I give you my vote given what you did to your boyfriend with Nick on national television? Dani - her personal life has nothing to do with the game, and if Amber wants to base it on that, she doesn't want Amber's vote.

Jessica - Dick, if there could be one other person you could be sitting next to right now, who would that be? ED - I never envisioned anyone but Danielle, I didn't lie to you Jessica. Jessica reminds him he did lie, he said she was safe and Jameka was leaving but this will be a tough decision.

Eric - Dick, tells me why each jury member would deserve to be in the final two? ED - Dustin doesn't deserve it, Jen does not deserve it, why would Amber deserve it... no real moves just sliding through as the "Good people", Jess made some moves, but tried not to blood her hands. Eric you were the best player in this game and force to be reckoned with . Jameka, we gave her the opportunity to stay in this game longer than she was going to and I think she respects that. Zach came on huge on the end and almost eeked through to the final two.

Zach - Both, What have you learned from the jury members and will take with you outside of the house?
Dani - Eric, sense of humor, Jess happiness, Amber motherly instincts.
ED - Dustin, be careful with over confidence, Jen no matter how a person seems on the outside, there is a real person deep down in there, Jameka is probably the best hearted person in the place. Zach gave us a run for our money, not to underestimate someone's will and heart.

Jameka - Danielle, What exactly do you credit yourself for, as your biggest move? Dani - Its really hard for me because I know that a lot of people have seen us as one person, the Eric thing was all my plan, backdooring Jen was my doing what was best for me.

Jen - Dick, Do you think this has helped you build your relationship with your daughter? ED - Wow, very odd question coming from you. This has been an amazing experience to share with someone I love. To have this be something I can share with someone so dear to me, that I love so much, having this as a beginning to building some normalcy. That means more than being here in the final two, which I think I have already shown and if you don't see that, you're an idiot.

Dani says her final words, she says it has been an amazing summer, she is happy to be next to her dad and whatever choice the jury makes, she is content with that. ED says he played hard, from the beginning, he says the deal he made with Eric changed the game. He says turning on them was the one thing he feels worst about. He says he did a lot of the dirty work, he did what needed to be done, he is there with Dani and as far as he is concerned, he won.

As the jury hears the answers to their questions, the do not seem impressed at all. They roll their eyes, laugh or just shake their heads. After the Q&A, Dani thinks it was crappy, she feels ED threw her under the bus to make himself look better to the jury. ED goes out to smoke and says "Great, something else for her to be pissed at me about".

Dustin enters, Jen enters, Amber, Jessica, Eric enters and does a few high fives along the way, Jameka and finally Zach, they all take their seats and prepare for the final vote. As we cut to commercial, we see marcellas in the audience.

Commercial

We see Chicken George in the audience as the show returns. Julie says hello to ED and Dani in the house. They both feel great, they enjoyed their time alone in the house. Time for the jury to cast their votes. They are each to step up and insert the key of the person they want to win, they get to make a statement first. Eric says it was a clear cut choice for him [of course it was, we told who to vote for], Jameka congratulations and says her vote goes to someone she respects, Dustin says someone in the house told him actions speak louder than words, he is voting on actions, Jen says honestly she would prefer to vote for anyone else but them, but she has to vote for one of them. Zach says he was in the house longest and got to know them personally and competitively, and votes. Amber says her vote is on game strategic purpose. Jessica says she is voting for the person she enjoyed most in the house, may the best Donato win!. The first five evicted houseguests will arrive when we return.

Commercial

We see Howie and Kaysar in the audience when we return. We meet Charlotte and Vincent, Charlotte feels it's a miracle that they have gotten along in the house. Vincent is asked about his father's provocative game, he says he is like this and he played his game and it got him far. The first five hgs are brought in, Carol, Mike, Joe, Kail and Nick. Nick is asked about the PoT and if he wants to talk to her now, he says hi and she says "Awkward!". Carol is asked about seeing Jess get so far, Carol said she was happy she made it so far, she said some things were hurtful but it's just a game. Joe said watching Dustin play was fun, watching him fall apart and put himself up and congratulations to Dustin. Mike is asked if he was rooting for Zach and he says yes, he was behind him all the way. Kail says she is not surprised ED made it so far, she knew he was so strong. Julie hints about them all knowing about America's player.

Julie builds up to the twist being revealed. Eric comes on a screen and admits to being America's Player.... he talks about all the different tasks, who gets mustard in their shirt, who got nominated, who got evicted.... all the tasks that succeeded, like mimicking ED and those that failed, like the silent treatment for Jess and the sleepwalking into Joe's bed. They all laugh as it unfolds on the screen before them. When asked about it, ED is blown away and admits he thought he had made a big move and it turned out it was the viewers instead. Dani claims she knew... she knew about the votes and the mustard and she thinks it is hilarious. Dustin was not upset... or said he was not. Jess still trusts him and Jameka says things make sense now. It seems they all enjoyed the reveal and now better appreciate the game Eric had to play. Julie reminds them that one of the votes was from America.

Commercial

Julie says she is about to count the votes.
Eric voted for ED.
Jameka has voted for Danielle.
Dustin has voted for ED.
Jen has voted for Danielle.
Zach has voted for ED.
Amber has voted for ED.
Jessica has voted for ED

Evel Dick Donato has won Big Brother 8!

ED and Dani exit the house to big hugs from Vincent and Charlotte and Nick. The other houseguests then jump in and all hug them and each other. It is very chaotic as Julie tries to grab ED and Dani to say she will have more with them when the show returns.

Commercial.

Julie reveals Jess' vote was for ED. ED says he is going to travel. Dani says we won and it doesn't matter if she was first or second. Julie thanks the hgs and everyone else. She will talk more with ED and Dani on the Early Show tomorrow morning.