Big Brother 6: Why Beau Lost

In the back-and-forth game that has been Big Brother 6, nobody is ever safe. Beau seemed like a good bet to make it nearly to the end, as he was fun and generally well-liked. He was not a big schemer, he didn’t make lots of enemies. So why is it that he was sent packing in the first of two evictions this week? Why did Beau lose?

Sometimes, the answers to our questions in this column are somewhat obvious; sometimes, it takes a bit more digging. In this case, we’d better get some shovels as we go through What Big Brother 6 Houseguests Should Have Learned, because we’re going to have to dig in a bit deeper than usual to figure out why Beau is no longer around.

The first and most important rule, of course, is to scheme and plot. Beau didn’t seem to do much in this regard, leaving it to partner Ivette to make (and break) deals. Sure, he was part of the Friendship alliance, but he seemed to be more there because, well, they were friends. He occasionally gave his strategic input, but overall was certainly not the player that either Maggie or Ivette was – and I wouldn’t exactly call either of them brilliant.

What made things worse for Beau was that he was unable to campaign against his opposing nominee, because he was up against partner Ivette. This seriously handicapped him in any strategy that he might otherwise have tried to stick around after being put on the block.

But why was he put on the block in the first place? For a major part of that answer, we can look to the second rule. Beau – like almost everybody this season – failed to keep his scheming secret. Everybody knew where he stood, firmly with the Friendship.

Even beyond that, everybody knew that he was Ivette’s partner. Yes, everybody had a partner. Yes, that “secret” got out early. But we knew that would happen. Partners even under normal circumstances are targets. In this season, that was even more the case. So what did the second rule say about that? “Anybody with a partner left should be willing to downplay it as much as possible.” While they tried a bit – each making offhand comments that they barely knew each other outside the house – it was less than convincing. Their allegiance to one another was obvious, and they had to be broken up.

The third rule, about pretending to be nice, really didn’t play into Beau’s eviction much. While he did have a drunken fight with Janelle, most of the time Beau was a nice guy. If anything, this rule should have tilted things heavily against Ivette!

Why didn’t the third rule help out Beau? Because the remaining players followed the fourth rule of not letting emotions control them. As for Beau, well, he did okay here – at least as okay as anybody in an alliance based on “friendship” and a partnership could do. But what really mattered was how the others behaved.

And they decided to target Beau in part because of the fifth rule, which says to not be too much of a threat. Ivette had not won a single thing up to that point (ironically, she won HOH right after Beau’s eviction), while Beau had been more competitive. From Howie and Janelle’s perspective, Beau was more of a threat to win the HOH competitions that they truly needed to survive.

From the other houseguests’ perspective, there was likely another factor at work – Beau was a threat in the end. Because he was generally a well-liked guy, he could win more easily with the jury. Ivette, on the other hand, tends to be more of a bitch. I know if I were in the final two, I’d rather stand next to Ivette than Beau. Mind you, the Friendship members might not really have voiced this opinion, but they should have been thinking it.

The sixth rule says to be flexible. Here, Beau failed like so many others in this house. The lines were drawn. Everybody knew who was on what side. Any amount of flexibility was not only frowned on, but sought out and destroyed as though it were evil! There was no way Beau would ever consider jumping to the other alliance. As such, he was stuck with the Friendship, whether is sailed or sank. The alliance overall is sailing – but Beau had to walk the plank.

Seventh is to trust almost nobody, and the eighth advises against being lazy or showing bad habits. Beau really didn’t have a problem in either case.

Beau didn’t seem terribly upset to leave. After all, his friend Ivette got to stay and continue her play. But willing sacrifice or not, there were reasons for Beau’s eviction. He and Ivette were targeted as the last partnership – the last two people who absolutely under no circumstances would turn against one another. Once they were on the block, it was easy to see that Beau was the bigger threat of the two. That is why Beau lost.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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