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Big Brother 8: Why Mike Lostby David Bloomberg -- 07/30/2007
View Printable version of this article Mike was part of the Mrs. Robinson alliance, so we know he did at least one thing right in Big Brother. But how did things go so wrong, so fast? How did Mike go from being safe to being evicted? Why did Mike lose? Although we’ve already inducted Mike into the Reality TV Hall of Shame for his actions, that focused on only one aspect of his time in the house. Now is our chance to look at everything through the lens of What Big Brother 8 Houseguests Should Have Learned. Let’s do it! 
As noted earlier, Mike did one thing right by being a part of the Mrs. Robinson alliance. He schemed and plotted – and he did so quickly. However, Mike faltered by not following the rest of the rule: “The key is to find some way to create alliances that will keep you around until you can figure out your full strategy later.” And: “Later in the game you can rework alliances according to what is necessary to stick around.” Mike failed in both areas. Loyalty is a great character trait to have in real life. On a show like Big Brother, though, it can get you sent packing. Mike needed to realize that the Mrs. Robinson alliance was gone, and with it any loyalty he might have had. Alternatively, he could have stayed loyal to her without making himself a target like he did. There were many things Mike could have done to follow this rule – but he didn’t. The second rule is something of a conundrum when talking about Mike. On the one hand, we just talked about how he didn’t scheme and plot enough. On the other, in this case he failed to keep his scheming secret. Indeed, he showed everybody just where he stood – firmly with Kail and against HOH Dick. This violated the part of the rule that says players should “Keep ‘em guessing, and always make them think you’re on their side.” I guess the right way to describe is that he schemed and plotted… incorrectly. Mike did okay by the third rule. Well, okay, I guess he technically did not act like an adult when he was pretending to be a baby in his attempts to make Dick laugh, but that’s not really what we’re after here. Mike was a nice guy – perhaps too nice to be playing this game. And that takes us conveniently to the fourth rule, which talks about not allowing emotions to control you. Like I said, Mike was a nice guy. In fact, he was so nice, loyal, honest, etc. that he wanted to stand up and show it. As Mike told me in The fifth rule says not to be too much of a threat. While Mike was hoping his loyalty would be seen as an asset, some of the other players were threatened by it – because that loyalty was not to them. Furthermore, when compared with Kail, who has been coming apart at the seams, Mike was indeed the bigger threat. It’s not like he has won a bunch of competitions or held a lot of power, but he simply was viewed as being more dangerous in the long run than Kail. If he had not put himself into the position of being next to her, it probably wouldn’t have mattered. 
Mike really blew the sixth rule, which says to be flexible. We’ve already discussed how he stuck by his original alliance to the point of drawing the nomination himself. He apparently sees this as loyalty. Many of us, however, simply see it as poor game play. Mike made the claim in his interview with me that he was next on the list to be targeted anyway. So what? How often does a list like that change in the Big Brother house?! He further said that if Jen won veto without Dick stepping down, he still would have been put up. Maybe, maybe not. There was no way for him to know that for sure. And besides, that seems to me to indicate he should have been joining the others in trying to get Jen to blow it! All of this was rationalization, when really all Mike needed to do was keep himself flexible. But no, Mike couldn’t do that. In part this was because he also failed the seventh rule and completely trusted Kail. Mind you, it wasn’t like Kail stabbed him in the back. Rather, his actions were driven by his trust in her and her trust in him. As I noted earlier, Mike has already been inducted into the Reality TV Hall of Shame for his actions. He was safe, but caused the HOH to nominate him and the rest of the house to evict him. Mike grasped that he needed an early alliance, but failed to understand that it should not remain the only strategic move he made in the game. He allowed his emotions to control him and decided he would rather be loyal than continue playing. That decision may be on that he is completely at ease with, but it is also the reason why Mike lost. Do you want to see the live feeds yourself? Then click here: If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Big Brother 8 articles here on RealityNewsOnline:
David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com. Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can check out our Big Brother: All-Stars page, and follow Rock Star at our Rock Star: Supernova page; and don't miss The Reality TV Hall of Shame. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store! For more news about reality TV, be sure to check out SirLinksALot: Big Brother 8! View Printable version of this article
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