"Big Brother 8," Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007

Jingle bells, jingle bells, two more shows to go. (After this episode).

So, let’s hit it.

After the recap, it’s Day 76 in the "Big Brother" house and we’re down to the final three of Dick, Daniele and Zach. (Better known as Moe, Larry and Curly).

When we last left the houseguests, they were competing in a Head of Household competition called "The Bunny Hop." (I’m not restating the rules again. Nope, not gonna do it. If you must know, see the previous blog entry for what the rules are.)

In the Diary Room, Daniele, who must be related to the Wicked Witch of the West, says, "Going into this competition, I told my Dad if it has anything to do with cold water, I’m absolutely doomed."

So ….guess what …. it starts to rain. I’m waiting for Daniele to start melting ….melting….

Says Daniele, "The water was, honestly, the coldest water I’ve ever felt in my life. It felt like melted snow falling on me."And, of course, with all this water pouring down, I’m expecting the motorized bunny to short circuit at any time.

Then, they’re pelted with mud and smoke bombs go off.Daniele looks at Dick and says about Zach, "Distract him!" So, Dick , our resident house haranguer, starts to harangue Zach to try to distract him.

Daniele is shivering and crying from the cold water. She looks like she’s about to turn into a snowwoman (wow, the spellcheck actually accepted that word … but it didn’t accept the word spellcheck … hmmm….how about spell-check…OK, it accepts that…)

Daniele is knocked off her perch and goes in to take a hot (I’m assuming) shower. Dick and Zach are losing their minds and start shouting their not moving off their perches. They keep up this screaming and my TV channel’s moving. They can stay on their perches until "Big Brother 77" as far as I’m concerned.

After her shower, Daniele comes out to watch her Dad and cheer him on. The only thing she’s missing are pom-poms. She tells Dick, obviously in pain, "If you can’t do it, it’s OK." And after 7 hours and 32 minutes, Dick finally gives up.

In the Diary Room, Daniele says, "He stood up there for 8 hours, this 44-year-old fart is what I call him and of course, it would have been nice just to sweep Zach right out of the competition, but I’m still extremely proud of him, what he did, and it’s OK." 44-year-old fart? This comment doesn’t sit too well with someone who turned 40 just a couple of months ago.

Dick, in the Diary Room, said, "I don’t know if I would have gone on there as long as I did had it not been for Daniele. I didn’t just let myself down, I let my daughter down, too." Daniele comforts her Dad. I wonder if there’s a Hallmark card for this type of thing.

Zach says, "I just treat him like a drill sergeant. You’ve got that guy breathing down your neck trying to break you, and all it does is build you up. I managed to officially break Dick."

After commercial break (and I having grabbed a second cup of coffee), Daniele says, "Going into the competition, I talked to my Dad. We can chose whoever we want to win to go to Round 3. I don’t think one of us is necessarily going to be stronger in questions than the other person for Round 3, so we both would give it a go."

For the second round, there are two big tanks of water. The competition is called "Chain of Command." (Ch-ch-chain…chain of command. Sorry, it just popped into my head. My apologies to Aretha Frankllin). Dick and Daniele have to collect pieces of a puzzle in one tank, and transfer them to the other tank, where they have to assemble the red line in order that the houseguests held Head of Household. The houseguest that correctly assembles the puzzle in the shortest amount of time will move on to compete against Zach in Part 3 of the competition.

Dick comes out and sees the two tanks of water, Dick, after being pelted with cold water in the last competition, says, "Warm water, right?" Could be worse. Could be battery acid.

When Dick finishes, Dick and Daniele’s times are revealed.Daniele completed the competition in 24 minutes and 9 seconds;: Dick finished in 12 minutes and 48 seconds.

Dick wins the second part of the HOH competition and faces Zach in the third round.

Says Zach in the Diary Room, "For me, it doesn’t really matter who I go against as long as I win. I’ve already taken him down once in the physical, it would be amazing if I could take him down in the mental."

Daniele tells Dick she’s embarrassed about her time in the last competition. "I’m ready to get out of here," she says. So am I, Daniele. So am I.

In the Diary Room, Dick says, "My goal is to take Daniele with me to the final two. One more competition. God …it all comes down to this."

Dick tells Daniele, "Don’t worry, I’m going to do this for you. And we’re going to have a fairy tale ending, I’m telling you." Not everyone in fairy tales has a happy ending. Look at the witch in "Hansel and Gretel." Things didn’t work out too well for HER.

Talking with the houseguests, Julie said in the last competition, Daniele showed incredible compassion for her Dad. She asked Daniele if 10 weeks ago, did she ever think she would have those feelings for her Dad. "Honestly, no, you know, coming in here, I’ve said it a million times. You know, honestly, I probably thought in the beginning that I really wouldn’t care if he left. At any time, it wouldn’t have mattered to me. But, coming in here, you know, it doesn’t change a lot of the things that have happened outside of the house, but it’s definitely a stepping stone and, you know, I’m definitely ready to look for the positive."

After the commercial break (and having snagged my third and final cup of coffee), we go to the Jury House, where the recently evicted Jameka arrives.

Says Dustin, "Now that Jameka’s here, it’s definitely going to be me and Jameka and Amber hanging out, of course, and you know, as much as Eric and Jessica tried to hide it in the ‘Big Brother’ house when all the cameras were there, the walls are thin here, we hear what happens in this house. Though some of us are sleeping, it doesn’t mean we’re not waken up."

They then watch what’s transpired over the last week in the "Big Brother" house.

After the commercial break, Zach and Dick compete in the final HOH competition. Julie will read the beginning of a statement by a member of the jury while they were at the jury house. They will be given two choices of endings of that statement and they have to decide which is the correct one. For each correct answer, the houseguest will receive a point. The houseguest with the most points at the end of six questions will be the next Head of Household. After six questions, Dick is the final Head of Household. (Could Daniele scream any louder????) Dick is like a little kid on Christmas: "Yes! Yes! Yes! … We won …we won everything…we won everything … we won it all!"

After the commercial break (and a nearly empty coffee cup), Zach and Daniele have a chance to plead their case.

Zach says, "Dick, I don’t expect you to use this. I played against the best of the best. I lost to the best. Hopefully, when you guys are winning all that crazy cash in the long run, you’ll think about my inventions."

Says Daniele, "What a summer. Night and day. Who would have thought that we would have worked so well together. I know I wouldn’t have. I honestly don’t believe I would be here without you. I honestly don’t know if you believe you would be here without me. But, amazing team and I would be absolutely honored to be sitting next to you in the Final Two."

Of course, Dick votes to evict Zach.

Outside the "Big Brother" house. Zach talks to Julie about Dick and Daniele, "I went up against the best players in the game. Daniele won seven things, I won three. Dick’s tactics were horrible, awful, totally humiliated many players in this game. Tried to get under me." Asked by Julie if they worked, Zach said, "Not personally, no. He’s a drill sergeant." But they did work against others. "Worked against Amber, worked against Eric, worked against Jameka. I mean, all I can say is, you know, they’re both good people outside of this house. It’s going to take me a little bit of time to really get used to them being in the same area as me, but I think that we all can be friends eventually and who knows what the future holds."

I do. I have a Ouija board and tarot cards. I see all. So there.

Zach sees his goodbye messages from Dick and Daniele.

Daniele says, "Zach, Zach, Zach. Honestly, this has been one roller coaster of a summer for us, from hating each other to liking each other, to who knows where we stand right now. I had some really good times with you. Honestly, I really enjoyed getting to know you. I definitely do consider you a friend. There’s been a lot of things said within the last week that I definitely didn’t appreciate that you probably shouldn’t have said and honestly hurt my feelings. But, it is just a game. I’m trying to not take it personal. And, congrats at getting this far and I’m sorry it just didn’t work out. It’s all a game, and sorry." Well, she’s right. Sorry--yup, that is a game.

Dick says, "Zach, you put up a hell of a fight, man. I’ll give you that. So far as you thinking your this master strategizer, when you see the show, you’ll see how far off base you are. Good luck, sorry to see you go. Not really. Because that means Daniele’s here. So, not in a mean way. You did great, man. Final three. Later."

Says Zach, "It’s touching. I didn’t expect that kind of response from him. Kind of gives me a little tears. But, it’s nice to know that they both are game players and we’re here to play a game. Nothing personal." Can someone please pass Zach the Kleenex?

After the commercial break, it’s still time for "America’s Player." Who do you want Eric to campaign and vote for to win "Big Brother 8"? I want Eric to campaign and vote for Jameka to win "Big Brother 8." OK, OK, I know she’s not in the Final Two, and I should just move on. So, I guess my vote would be for Daniele.

We leave Dick and Daniele talking in the "Big Brother" house. "We did it!" says Dick. "The best team to have ever played this game. Janelle couldn’t even do it with her secret partner. Will couldn’t do it with Boogie. We did something no one could do. Danielle and Jason couldn’t do this. Nobody has done this. The best team to have ever played this game." And the most annoying one, too.

There are just two more episodes left, and all I have to say is, Thank God! What a long season it’s felt like! I’ve had dental fillings done that were less painful than watching some parts of this season.