Big Brother 6: Why Janelle Lost

Janelle was the last Sovereign standing, and the only way she could have made it to the Final 2 was by winning HOH. That didn’t happen, and she was sent packing, the final juror. But how did she get into that position? Why did she make it so far and yet leave just one short of the money? Why did Janelle lose?

The answers to these questions, as always, lie within What Big Brother 6 Houseguests Should Have Learned. Let’s take a look for the last time before the jurors vote.

The first rule, of course, is to scheme and plot. Janelle learned quickly how important it was to have allies when her partner Ashlea was the first to be sent home. Shortly after, in-house boyfriend Michael left as well. But in that time, Janelle had become a solid member of an alliance with Kaysar, Howie, and Rachel – with James and Sarah added in and then subtracted out. Janelle knew she could not stand alone and plotted her path along with her allies.

Janelle even gave it a shot in the end, first trying to bring April to her side and later trying to talk Ivette into taking Janelle into the finals rather than Maggie. She made perfect sense and was completely logical – Ivette would have had a much better chance to beat Janelle than Maggie. But this season will not go down in history for its players use of logic. Ivette made a promise to Maggie and they were friends – that was that. But we’ve got to give Janelle credit for trying.

But one of those allies made a key mistake. Howie chose to nominate James and Sarah, who had recently joined their alliance but made Howie nervous. (You can get all the details in the Reality TV Hall of Shame Moment for Howie’s HOH decision that was just posted yesterday.) Sometimes when you have allies, those allies can hurt you. Howie’s backstabbing too soon made it nearly impossible for any of his allies to win – and in the end, they didn’t.

But what about Janelle’s own actions? She didn’t scheme and plot too much, and she didn’t backstab too soon. But she – like almost everybody this season – did break one part of the second rule: She failed to keep her scheming secret. As I’ve discussed before, in this highly-divided edition of Big Brother, everybody knew where almost everybody else stood. It was this fact that made James so threatening – nobody knew for sure where he stood. But it also meant there was never any doubt as to who the enemy was. And since figuring out the enemy is half the battle, it meant targeting was fairly easy. In the end, it meant she was in a desperate battle against three enemies, none of whom would likely take her along for the ride.

The third rule says to pretend to be nice and act like an adult. While Janelle had many fans, an objective onlooker must admit that she was not nice and did not act like an adult many times. Her famous quote, “Bye bye, bitches,” for example, may have felt good to say, but was not very smart in game terms. Sure, she had the power when she said it, but she should have known that power in Big Brother is almost impossible to hold onto.

For a long time, Janelle was fairly hated by the Friendship. Eventually, when all outside distractions were removed and they were down to just a few people in the house, her opponents got to know her better and got past the problems they’d had. But in the meantime, they had formed a bond that she could never be a part of – and it was that bond, not logic or strategy, that decided who would go to the end.

Part of the problem was that emotions ran so high in this house, and Janelle ran along with them. She and Michael hooked up, and so she would not forgive or forget those who booted him. She enjoyed Kaysar’s company and sought revenge for him by getting rid of Jennifer rather than targeting the better and smarter players. She played almost as emotionally as the Friendship members, though she definitely understood the game better than they did.

The fifth rule says to not be too much of a threat. Janelle’s abilities in challenges and in strategy were not necessarily recognized early in the game. As such, even though she was nominated several times, there was always a bigger target sitting next to her. In other words, she did quite well as far as this rule was concerned.

Part of the fifth rule notes: “Another way to be a threat is by being too nice … people want to go up against somebody who is unlikable in the Final 2.” I guess we need to change that to most people, as we’ve already discussed how Ivette chose to keep probably the nicest Friendship member, Maggie, as her opponent rather than making the smart move and taking Janelle. Obviously, that is not Janelle’s fault.

Sixth is to be flexible. As we’ve discussed in previous columns, this edition of Big Brother was not made for flexibility. The rule notes, “you can’t tie yourself to one alliance and hope it survives.” But in this season, that’s exactly what most people did. Obviously, only one alliance can survive in such a situation. And even then, only one person within that alliance can win. But they did it nevertheless. Like I said, this season won’t go into the history books as one exactly filled with logic.

The seventh rule says to trust almost nobody. I don’t think Janelle had a problem here, as she knew exactly who was on her side and who wasn’t. Similarly, the eighth rule about not being lazy was not a factor. Sure, there was complaining from the Friendship about her not doing this or that, but it wasn’t a reason for being voted off in the end.

No, in the end it was as it has been all season: all about friendship and the Friendship. Emotions have ruled this game, and they made the final decision for Ivette. We can’t say it was completely out of Janelle’s hands. She had the opportunity to play nice with them earlier but instead chose to stick to her own side while taunting and insulting her enemies. But Janelle was unable to pierce the Friendship. She was on the outside, looking in. Ivette chose with her heart instead of her brain and may pay the price for it on Tuesday. Janelle paid the price immediately. That is why Janelle lost.

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

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