In that sense, the fan response to Rachel’s winning Big Brother 13 should be pretty easy to predict. People like a comeback story, and Rachel has certainly filled that quote. From the time she was split from her fiance, she became a new player. That person, the Rachel that won Big Brother tonight, had managed to do something that few thought possible at the start of the season- she redeemed herself.

Besides the big win, much came from the final episode of Big brother. We saw the collapse of a former player’s game become complete with a fairly scathing review of Daniele’s game play from her father. Evel Dick may not be the best of fathers, but he is still a keen analyst and student of the game. His review of Daniele’s game was spot-on, and her fall from “revered player” to “The Empress with no clothes” was made official when The King made his decree.

There was little surprise at the finale, when all was said and done- save for one vote. Shelly’s vote had been somewhat assumed to be for Porsche given her issues with Rachel. Her final vote ended up being alongside the Veterans, which surprised many. Other items of note were Dani’s pettiness (No matter what had happened, her sniping comments simply made her look worse rather than the intended goal), Cassi’s graciousness toward Shelly and her game, and Jeff’s America’s Player win. That he won rather than Jordan was simply the last surprise in a season that had multiple twists, turns and endless drama.

Porsche’s Second place finish was not surprising, save for her even being there. Early on, Porsche was seen as an easy target. The problem was that she continued to be an easy target for ten weeks. When someone is seen as “easy to remove later on” it makes it extremely easy to let them float on. Porsche vindicated her game later on with key wins, and she certainly earned her $50,000.

In the end, how does Big Brother 13 rate against previous seasons? It didn’t have the fireworks of a Big Brother 9 or 6, or as many fights of an 11. There wasn’t as much excitement on the feeds as one would see in previous seasons, and we didn’t get as much of the comedy as we did from previous Houseguests. However, it also didn’t have the bland predictability of a Big Brother 12, and every week the game changed from one power side to another. In that sense, the season succeeded in being entertainment.

In the end, that’s all we as fans can ask for.

Winner of the Season:

Rachel- In more ways than being the overall winner, Rachel came out of this season ahead. The Redhead became a person rather than a caricature on the show, and she’s the better for it. Good on you, Red.

Star of the Season:

Shelly- No one exemplified the seasno’s twists and turns like Shelly. She left earlier than she would prefer, but her game play drove this season more than anyone in the house. She made the mistake of siding against Jeff and Jordan in the end, which cost her America’s Choice. She was, however, this writer’s choice for Star of the Season.

Losers of the Season:

Adam- 3rd place is always a bitter pill to swallow, no matter how it happens. Adam has only himself to blame, and his departure tonight was the icing on a cake of self-induced failure.
Dani- For years now, Daniele has had the reputation of one of the best players never to win. Her game was placed in the area of a Janelle, though she ended up going further than the Blond Bombshell. That reputation is shattered after a season of moving too soon, bitter back-and-forth with other Houseguests and an overall sense that she wasn’t nearly as mature as many believed her to be at the start of the season. Whereas she was seen as one of the better players beforehand,  her reputation now is “couldn’t play without her father.”

Game Moves of the Season:

The moves are ranked in terms of biggest moves to have been made that influenced the season the most. The rankings are purely subjective.

1) Shelly’s turning of Kalia against her own alliance- This early move set the stage for continued dominance of the Veterans, cost the Newbies a key ally, gave Brendon an easy target in his “returning Houseguest” competition and set the tone for the rest of the season.
2) Rachel’s Social Game Adjustment- This was a late game development, but it won the game for Rachel.
3) Shelly’s Betrayal- Although this was the most influential move for the time, it was more the inevitable result of previous actions and Shelly’s realization that she couldn’t win in her current station. Had Shelly gone further in the game, it may have been higher up in the countdown.
4) The House Meeting- This was the meeting that exposed Daniele’s treachery against her original alliance, and set the two sides clearly against each other.
5) Rachel’s Competition Dominance- This was a theme of the season, and in this case it brought her to the Final Two.

A last note, before I go. This season has been incredibly fun to watch, and moreover it has been fun to watch alongside each of you. I have greatly enjoyed sharing this board with each of you, owe a great deal of credit and props to Keith for running this site and look forward to the first few weeks of June when we return for Big Brother 14.

Adam, who lost both preliminary challenges, doesn’t look to have a chance for either $500K or $50K, OR America’s Choice. He’s screwed. But he did meet Tori Spelling and I hope he remembers that when he gets evicted tonight. If, IF he gets evicted. You never know in this game. But things do not look good for him at this point, and it all came down to some really bad deal making the last two days. He threatened Porsche with a jury coup should she not take him to final two. How he could suddenly possess such powers of suggestion I don’t know, but he went for it anyway. Porsche was offended, and let’s face it, who wouldn’t take everyone’s favorite evil redhead with them to the end? Although, despite receiving scathing goodbyes from Rachel, the jury members have probably calmed down a bit and grown respect for her gameplay. Aside from Dani and Kalia, we might see a tide of votes in her favor. I could be wrong though. Very, very wrong.

Speaking of the jury house, why oh why don’t they allow us to have some live clips during the last week? We’ve requested it for years and it still hasn’t happened. There has got to be some exciting stuff going on over there, and we are missing out! Come on, BB. We’re not asking for 24/7 feeds, just a daily recap on Real Player!

Adam. Adam, Adam, Adam. Too proud to make a deal with Rachel? You haven’t gotten over your childish grudge from the first few weeks? I hate to say it but you don’t deserve the money if you are going to let emotions control your gameplay. The second Porsche rejected your deal you should have approached Rachel. But you didn’t, and now it might be the end for you. I hope it doesn’t keep you up at night, but it probably will. There’s always All Stars.

Tonight will be fun and exciting. I can’t wait to see all the jury members! I can’t wait to see who wins! Although this year’s finale is half an hour shorter than previous years, it should be packed full of drama and hilarity. You know, the Fortune Teller lady predicted someone from her parlor would be the winner of Big Brother. I wonder how she knew . . .

The end of the week saw two evictions, Kalia and Jordan. In both cases the writing could be seen on the wall, but in one case the writing was apparently not in a language the extremely verbose observer could understand. In the other, the writing had been there and read thoroughly for weeks.

Kalia’s loss was caused by lack of strategic thinking and play, case closed. This isn’t entirely surprising, given what was observed both in feeds and on television broadcasts. Kalia talked a big game, but when the chips were in her hands she spent them on “big moves” that backfired each time. Witness her initial HoH that resulted in the eviction of her ally and the return of her enemy. In addition, Kalia was entirely too dependent on strategies later in the game that was developed by Daniele, an already-evicted player. Kalia rarely played for herself or on her own terms, and by the time she realized this it was far too late.

Jordan’s loss, on the other hand, was on her own head. Jordan had seemed less invested this time around from the beginning, but the fire came out after Jeff’s eviction. Her partnership with Rachel turned out to be good for both parties, and once again The Jordan Effect worked its magic on the person she was playing aside. Unfortunately, her lack of winning ability this year finally caught up to her as Porsche won the competition that proved to be Jordan’s swan song. It should be noted, in any case, that Jordan was extremely gracious in her first visit to Julie’s Bench of Loss.

As mentioned before, The Jordan Effect has turned a second Houseguest into a potential fan favorite. Rachel has gone from “persona non grata” to “Redemption Story of the season.” Few Houseguests of seasons past have seen a personality turnaround or editorial turnaround as big as Rachel’s, and her season-long story has been a pleasure to watch. The bigger story of the season, however, is Vets vs. Newbies. This storyline has been in place since the first night of feeds, and it has played out once again with the two sides in a virtual deadlock. The final HoH will come down to a Veteran (Rachel) versus a Newbie (either Adam or Porsche), and it is fitting that the HoH will come down to this. Wednesday’s show will be one for the ages, and we can only guess what will happen in the Final Big Brother Battle of the year.

Winner of the Week:

Rachel: She loses an albatross around her neck in Jordan, and has developed as the star of the season. If she doesn’t win First Place, she has a shot at the America’s Choice as a player redeemed.
Porsche: She earned her way into Final Three with an impressive Veto comp win, and is two comps away from winning at least $50,000.

Star of the week:

Adam: The Bestest Week Ever continued into a move into the Final Three and a possible shot at $500,000.

Loser of the week:

Kalia: How she was blindsided is hard to say, but she never saw the veto non-use coming. Fighting to the end, she went out convinced she had a shot to stay in. Kalia was completely clueless in the game and how to play it, and her departure was inevitable.

Game Change of the Week:

Porsche’s Veto Win was the game change of the week, bar none. what was considered a fait accompli was turned on its head when the Veterans both lost out in the Veto competition, and the cotinuing battle would result in the loss of Jordan.

In the final Veto competition of the season, Porsche came out on top, earning another win for her BB resume. On the block with Jordan, it was no surprise that during the live show she used the Veto on herself, with Rachel automatically replacing her.

She then had the sole vote to evict and had to decide who to take to the final three with her and Adam. Rachel, who had been her friend in the house, or Jordan who had never really talked to her. Rachel, the strongest competitor left in the game, or Jordan, the much loved, slightly ditzy woman who crumbles in competitions. Porsche played personal and evicted Jordan.

Porsche has had an alliance with Adam since the beginning of the game. She is probably counting on that, along with her friendship with Rachel, to take her to the final two. Of course she still could win the last HOH herself. At the end of the live show we were left with the final three, Rachel, Adam and Porsche spinning dizzily on an egg beater. It wasn’t long before the feeds returned to show all still in place, though unsurprisingly Adam was visibly in pain. Not long after, feeds were cut and when they returned Adam was out.

It all came down to the girls and Porsche faded quickly. Rachel was rock solid. after less than an hour feeds were cut again and only returned after Rachel won part one of the final HoH competition. Adam and Porsche will fight it out this week, for a chance to play Rachel for the final HoH live on Wednesday, just before the winner is revealed.

In the Final Veto competition of the season Porsche came out on top, earning another win for her BB resume. Though we don’t know for sure who Adam nominated (though all signs point to Jordan and Porsche)  by eviction time on the live show it will be Rachel and Jordan on the Block, with Porsche either having used the Veto on herself or not having used it at all.

Porsche will be the sole vote for eviction tonight, so things are looking good for Rachel, who she has been friendly with (most of the time) during the game. Jordan has never been close to Porsche and voted to evict her, forcing Rachel to break the tie and evict Kalia. Though Jordan seems to be an easier competitor to beat in the final HOH, her lack of a relationship with Porsche will most likely send her to the Jury house.

Porsche has had an alliance with Adam since the beginning of the game, and is probably counting on that, along with her friendship with Rachel, to lead her to the final two if she doesn’t win the last HOH herself. It’ll all go down live tonight, when our Final Three will be revealed.