I wasn’t going to write any more posts about Big Brother 14, but I find myself sitting here a day later with plenty to say about the season that had me busy all summer long. First, I want to give Ian a huge congratulations, despite my tweets where I felt Dan deserved the prize, there is absolutely no doubt that Ian deserved it as well. This isn’t like choosing between a badass player and a floater. The best two players in the house were seated in the final 2 chairs, and the best man really did win. This is what reality TV should be about, and I also wanted to give credit to Ian for taking Dan despite all the threats and harassment by Danielle all week. He chose the harder road by facing the master manipulator, and came out on top.
When I say he failed his initial goal, it was pretty evident early on that Ian’s intentions this season was to make a mark someway or another. He labeled himself as a ‘villain’ while playing pool, and this was because he was doing what is done a billion times every reality show, he was playing multiple alliances. It appeared he was just there for the experience and was already auditioning for a call back in a future season. At the final 4, he announced he was now able to coach a future houseguest (because Britney made final 4), but seriously who thinks of that? He then accepted his defeat while sitting next to Dan before a miracle was performed and Shane was voted out of the house.
That said, Ian didn’t win because he was the ‘villain’, in fact he won because of the opposite. Dan was the villain, and Ian was not. Ian appeared to be the kid with the big heart who’s lifelong goal was to step foot inside the Big Brother house, and his passion of the game probably saved his season a few times. Boogie saved him very early in the season, Dan and Britney took a pounding to keep his secret alliance away from Boogie/Frank, and then the big blindside on Shane at the end of the season. Why did they save him? Because he is a nice kid, played smart and aligned with the right people (“The Quack Pack”) instead of the stronger, but bigger targets in Frank and Boogie. Choosing the correct alliance is a skill in itself, and quietly jumping from a sinking ship is not to be ignored.
Boogie was right, Shane/Danielle/Dan/Britney was a very solid alliance, and that’s why he tried to get involved in it. While Boogie managed to use them for a week, he completely screwed himself by already thinking of turning on his alliance a week later. Ian, on the other hand, appeared to be a much more loyal soldier for them and that allowed him to go very far in the game.
In the end, while Dan was the master at controlling every aspect of the game, his big failure was not knowing his market (or in this case – jury). He even joked about it in the diary room about how he can sell ice to an Eskimo.. That’s exactly what he did, and that’s why he lost the game. While Dan was selling ice to people who don’t need it (and then making them hate him), Ian was playing the smart route and setting up shop in Arizona making a killing selling ice. Dan may win bragging rights on who is the bigger con artist, but Ian will be in his ice sculptured mansion rolling in profits.
The trend with reality shows continues, and probably will for many years. Get out the strong people first, promise the world to the weak, use them to get to the finals and then wonder why those upset weak people no longer support you. Strong competitors respect that style of play, but they’re usually sitting on their couch from home watching the season play out. Dan played the stronger manipulating game, made the season entertaining as hell, but failed to learn from the mistakes of people like Russell Hantz crying at the finale of Survivor after he lost to a very upset jury.
If you’re going to bite that hand that can give you half a million dollars, do yourself a favor and just nibble on it.. don’t bite off the whole thing.
Thanks for the great season to any cast members who read this, and thanks to all my readers! I’ll be back for Big Brother 15, I hope you will be too!
she’s so dumb, she probably still thinks she’s playing the game and and the end of the game was just an april fool!!! lol!!
I think if ian was on BB again I wouldn’t watch it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a BB watcher from the beginning, and normally love the show. But after enduring ian swinging thru half of BBAD I started to lose interest very fast, had to turn it off. With his new money he should repay BB for at least two hammocks. Thought he was cool early on but his arrogance(sp) got to me too. I too have a very smart son who I reminded from an early age that people don’t like it thrown in their faces, that they can tell…. He turned into a wonderful man. Dan could come back, Dannielle, slacker… a gullible sheep. Boogie still as slimmy as ever & girlie frank, just plain yuck. Sorry for all this but thanks for letting me write it somewhere.
my thoughts exactly for each, Diane – well said!
I think it’s time to get a life again. Here it is 9/22 and I’m still checking in to read comments and articles. I actually took a long hiatus from BB. I watched seasons 1 & 2 and got very obsessed (there were message boards back then, too). This year I jumped back in and got obsessed all over again. I have to say, though, it’s been a ton of fun! I’ll miss all you guys; see you next time!
Me too Jean! I watched ever season faithfully until Season 10 and didn’t start watching again until this year, just because Boogie was coming back. See you next season! 🙂
Had a fun season! I hope Danielle now understands that Dan played her pretty badly. I want it to be a lesson learned so she will never again allow anyone to rule her. I’m sure with some maturity she will see how silly she was. I’m so mad that she simply threw part one to Dan so she could gain his respect. She tossed her game in the garbage right there. See you all next year!!
Thanks Stevie Beans for the great posts. Thanks to everyone for your opinions and comments. It has been a pleasure and definitely will be back again on this site next BB season. Sadie and Christina like your posts and your interesting opinions. Look forward to next BB season. My final comment about BB14, Ian won because he played a good game!! Dan played a good game but you can only go so far with lying and cheating then it goes over the top. You can look at a lot of the reality TV shows and being a villian is fine but if you go to far you never win. If Dan had laid off the last couple of days and spoke from the heart with the jury we may have won the game. It was a great season overall really enjoyed. Have a great fall everyone and all the best to you. Cheers!!!
http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/09/20/insidetv-podcast-big-brother-finale-ian-dan-danielle/
An interesting interview. Dan had no intention of taking Danielle to F2. Listen to Danielle’s reacting when she finds out.
Scroll down to the bottom of the text and click on the > arrow.
Wow, poor Danielle. Game’s over, and she’s still being hurt by Dan.
Ian played a good game. But he won cause Dan took him into final 3. The jury wasn’t giving it to a past winner!
Dan had no choice but to take Ian to the final 3.
He knew that Shane wouls take Daniellw to the foinal 2.
Dan played a beilliant game, and deserved to win. A poor-sport jury house gave the top prize to Ian.
Proof that Dan deserved to win, and not Ian ? Ian made the biggest mistake by not knowong Dan would backstab him yet he still took Dan to the fin two.
Dan didnt trust anyone – that is hpow a player wins the game.
Well..Ian’s mistake to take Dan to the final 2 let him win the game. I wish I make such mistakes too!
yep, dmc – everyone was playing Dan’s game … he controlled it and everyone else only reacted to it … in the end, Ian reminded me of Frank – all ego and no independent thought – ha ha …
I don’t understand why everyone thinks Dan is a dirt bag. He did not come into this game planning on playing the way he did. By the time of his “funeral” he had no choice. If he didn’t he was done for. And besides, if Ian had not won HoH the week Frank was evicted, there’s a good chance Dan would’ve stuck with Frank a little while longer and tried to get Ian out that week. WRT Shane’s “backstab”, again it was the smart decision b/c he guaranteed himself a spot in the final 2 with Dani or Ian whereas, he would have had to win the last HoH to go b/c Dani & Shane were too close. Brilliant strategy! Ian won more competitions but Big Brother isn’t just about winning competitions. What made Dan’s game so brilliant was that he was able to make it to the end w/o winning that many and by manipulating the ENTIRE house. Ian’s best move was getting Boogie and… that was about it. And to the person who said Dan came off as slimeball at the finale speech… true he initially interrupted Ian, but he didn’t do it again the rest of the way. Ian, however, DID interrupt Dan on more than one occasion while Dan was giving his speech. Ian wanted everyone to think he was this sweet little innocent guy; my guess: he’s probably pretty cocky and arrogant in real life b/c he knows he’s smart and people like that tend to be cocky and arrogant. IMO, Dan should have been the real winner for playing the most brilliant game ever with the cards that was dealt to him (remember, he lost his first two players after two weeks… and him and his remaining teammate made it to the final 3; no one else could’ve done that).
Couldnt have said it better!
Glad Ian won….glad tha jury realized Dan was a dirt bag ….lol
Nice bloging see you next summer. Dan didnt realize how bad he backstabed the juries so he lost. As for ian you did it.
Hey Beans! Thanks for creating this website and giving us the opportunity to chirp in with our thoughts and opinions.
So another season of BB is in the books. What I’d like to see is another season of BB All Stars! The first All Star season was in 2006, 6 years after the start of the show. Next year would be ideal for another one! The winner of Survivor now gets $2 million for 39 days of competition. There’s no reason that CBS can’t ante’ up at least $1 million to entice back some of the premier players from previous seasons. They’ve been paying the winner of BB $500 grand for 12 years now. Time to kick it up a notch!
Hey rob i like your idea for an all-stars 2 season next summer. Just curious who you’d have on the roster?
Hey Corey! I’d love to see Boogie and Will again for sure…even Dan. I have a mind like a sieve and can’t remember the names of a lot of the earlier players, unlike Ian!
Everybody feel free to post who you would like to see in another Allstars!
I wouldn’t mind seeing Dani D back in the house. With or without Dick, I think she is one of the strongest female competetors.
I definitely don’t want to see Ian. I love the kid, but he won’t duplicate his win and I fear he’ll be overconfident going in about his ability and just be disappointed.
cowboy!!!
They should try to get all 14 winners. Then, if that doesn’t work, they could try the number 2 for any season who’s winner won’t do it (or can’t do it, the season one guy might not be physically capable of competing in the new format and I think at least one winner might be in jail now). That’s the only way it would truly be “all stars”. Best players, not fan favorites.
Yeah, Ian won the big prize money but I believe it was Dan’s game to lose –on the very last day … Dan should have used the final days in the household to prepare a better executed plan to win – something expected from the BB master himself … he had to (and he did) assume the worst case scenario – a very bitter jury along with a prepared intelligent (but also very young) Ian … however, Dan chose to use his continued trite approach he uses after each HG eviction (aka the latter 1-6 jurors) – a sycophantic flattery disguised as genuine respect spiel … this only works so far and for so long … when the strong comp jurors are listening to Dan include the useless floaters as also being tough competitors, then they have lost respect and know it is Dan blowing his sweet air up their one-way passage (er, Wil not a juror – heh heh) … hypothetically speaking, I truly believe the votes going in to the final day, with an Ian and Dan as final 2, were 5-2 or 4-3 in favor of Dan … last night on the final show, I thought Dan’s first mistake was interrupting Ian while fielding a question … remaining nonchalant and distant would have shown the jurors confidence instead of disingenuous desperation at hiding something … and finally a better prepared speech that included actual truths that the jurors could actually believe instead of continually getting played one more time … basically, Dan imploded and the $500k was virtually handed to the quirky kid who experienced the time of his young geeky life – gotta love this show!
Geaorge, I think what won Ian the game was that his speech ultimately was unprepared – to some extent. Danielle was the one who sabotaged Dan’s game at the very last minuute with her question of whether Ian knew about her and Dan’s F2. Dan had been hoping to keep them from each other knowing and he finally got caught. Ian’s reaction was his prepared speech PLUS comments off the cuff about how disgusted he was at Dan. the jurors who had had time to cool of had to relive the emotiona of being backstabbed by Dan all over again (through Ian), and this sealed Ian’s win. If Danielle hadn’t blown the top off with her question, you may have been right.
It just reaffirms the old saying, people may not remember the things you say, but they will always remember how you made them feel!
Yeah, Jean, the Danielle question certainly didn’t help Dan any but I thought it was not “the big reason” but rather more like “the last nail in the coffin” for Dan because it supported the jurors belief that Dan continued to play them and now Dan’s loyal soldier ratted him out to Ian … at which point Dan was done – stick a fork in him done … Dan should have exposed himself to the jury and Ian during his final speech and passed it off as part of his master plan but he got caught it another lie and Ian ran off with the prize money rather easily …
Danielle ratted Dan out to Ian, but she ended up being a pawn… again. I believe she was simply very curious to know what Ian really knew and that was all.
This is where both Ian and Danielle were completely clueless to Dan’s game play … both (as were all the HGs) were lost stumbling along in Dan’s game … fortunately for Ian, he won the required challenges, not so much from his all-knowing perception of the game, but also from a little physical and mental skills – and blind luck – the latter what Dan’s plan entirely obviated … this is why Dan is so good … however, I believe his grand plan only accounted for final 2 while his scheme to win was ill devised … I thought he made both Danielle and Ian look somewhat stupid … but then Dan looked a wee sad by choking during the final speeches … it was there for him to win, tho – but he lost thereby giving Ian win …
Almost all said they wanted to give the money to Ian sice he hadn’t won before
of course – they were pissed off and this is a typical statement to cover up their anger … in reality it was “he fooled me and I am mad” …
Thank you so much for a great season of blogging, you really make the show more enjoyable. I will defiantly be back reading next summer I cant wait. 🙂
I also think this is the best site ever!! Everyone can express there own opinions someone once wrote on here we all watch the same game but each of us have very different opinions about it we like different players for different reasons and thats great! The one thing I wish wouldnt have happend as much as it does on here is when veiwers write about the flaws people have and they bring up personal grudges against certain people. It should be about game plays. I dont think that is fair because we dont know how there like outside the house and if u r being filmed 24 hrs a day 7 days your bad habits would also come out. They are trying to live there life about the same way they would on the outside but yet still trying to play a game i bet it is hard. Not everyone has to like who theyre playing with each of us in the real world have friends for a reason. We like the same thing we have about the same personalites thats y there friends. In the house ur throwed together with strangers some people connect while others just dont, it doesnt make them bad its life. With that being said I had a great time reading and watching BB even tho it might have not turned out the way i wanted it too.
I think Dan went a little too far last night and came off as ultra-slimy in his speech and I didn’t like how he treated Ian so rudely when he was sitting next to him as the final two in the house. That may have swayed the voters. I’m really glad Ian won. He seems like a good kid and hopefully he will be smart with the money. Dan got what he deserved, second place for putting on a good show. Dani got what she deserved… nada. Overall, great season.
Hi Stevebeans,
I followed your blog whenever I didn’t have access to Big Brother. This was a crazy season and you did an amazing job. I am glad Ian won – you can tell he will do great things with that money!
Stevebeans – thanks for all the hard work. I enjoyed your posts and the comments from everyone, even those I didn’t agree with.
I was glad Ian won but I didn’t have a problem with the game Dan played. It’s a game and people forget that. Cheating and screwing people are part of this game.
I look forward to next summer.
It was the best season since Big Brother All Stars. It was even better then Big Brrother 10 which was also a classic season. Love this blog!!!!