Big Brother 11: Jeff's Mistakes Have Caught Up With Him

My addiction to the uber popular CBS Reality Show Big Brother has evolved through various stages. Initially I was completely amazed by the concept that a group of 13 people would willingly be locked up in a house without any type of electronic leashes (iPhone, notebook computers, PDAs) or any type of access to the outside world.

The House Guests (HG) can't even take in paper or pencils because they are not allowed to write anything down. In fact, the women are stripped of lip and eye pencils or lipstick which can be used to track dates or events. Games of memory are very big in the BB game so the producers try to prevent any types of recording by the House Guests.

After I recovered from the shock of them living inside this house completely surrounded by microphones and cameras I became less in awe of their daily experiences. I was able to become more focused on the different personalities and interactions developing in the house.

As the "game" continued from the very first week my obsession drove me to sign up for the Real Feeds which give you a constant peek inside the Big Brother House. I also faithfully Tivo-d the Showtime2 AfterDark segments everything night from 11 pm - 2 am CST. Finally, I read blogs and Tweets about the Houseguests.

Although everyone in the BB House kept reminding each other that it's a "game" the behaviors of each of the HGs were fascinating to watch. I started to form my own opinions about the true etchics, integrity, personality and showmanship of each and every member of the BB House almost as if I was living there.

On many occasions I found myself talking to the HouseGuests from my living room wanting to warn them of the underhanded moves of their friendenemies. I was stunned by the exit speeches by some of the HGs as they were voted out of the BB House and impressed by others.

Yes, I keep reminding myself it only a game and there is a lot viewers are not allowed to see.

Ultimately I developed my own favorites which included Jeff, Jordan, Michele and Russell. Not everyone will agree with my wishlist for the Final Four but America seems to have a special love for Jeff and Jordan due to their budding but chaste showmance. Jeff and Jordan are the All American couple. He played football in high school and college and loves his family and friends. Jordan is blonde and beautiful with an undying devotion to her divorced mom, her friends and family.

Michele and Russell have walked their own challenging life paths but are fierce competitors and willing to do just amount anything to win. Michele has endured the petty and evil backstabbing from the "girls" in the House, specifically Lydia and Natalie. Russell was truly playing "a role" which he admitted in post-eviction interviews was a combination of several of the most successful personalities of past Big Brother winners.

What does this all say to me? Besides it being a game it's very likely that due to editing by Big Brother, the characters are amped up to capture the interest, imagination and ire of the viewing audience in a similar matter to how ABC runs their Bachelor and Bachelorette reality shows.

Regardless of any network editing or outside manipulation, ultimately to win the grand prize of $500,000 the House Guests have to either use brain and or physical brawn to win competitions for Head of Household (HoH) and Power of Veto (PoV). Without winning competitions there is only so far HGs can actually go towards the end unless they form a iron clad alliance and don't stab each other in the backs.

Jeff was initially assigned to the Atheletes Clique and shunned by Jesse, Natalie and Russell. He turned to Jordan who was in the Popular Clique. Although they had the makings of a true Showmance, Jordan resisted any actions other than kissing and light touching because she had promised her family not to have any intimacy on national TV. She has remained true to her word to her grandfather to not have any "booger" as she calls it with Jeff.

Jeff and Jordan became one of the tightest alliances in the house. Although Jeff was a much stronger competitor than Jordan, he successfully fought her to keep her safe from eliminations. Whereas Jordan was initially Jeff's strength, she became his downfall in the end.

Jordan began to believe all the lies that Natalie, the human cockroach, told her about Russell. Even though Jeff and Russell had a gentleman's agreement to make it to the Final Four together, Natalie was determined with the help of a lying, cheating Kevin to fabricate a story about Russell. Natalie and Kevin agreed that Jordan was the "weak link" for Jeff and set about filling her pretty head with lots of doubts about Russell.

In the end Jordan believed all the deliberate lies Natalie and Kevin cooked up about Russ and she went to Jeff with them. Ultimately Jordan convinced Jeff to backdoor Russell, which meant breaking his promise to him to go to the Final Four. Neither Jeff nor Russell realized they had been played by Natalie and Kevin and that sweet Jordan was the messenger of the broken alliance.

Not only did Russell become borderline violent when Jeff betrayed him, he started yelling and screaming at Jeff. Again Jordan became his undoing by getting involved in the verbal argument. Jeff had it under control but Jordan physically bumped Russell in the Big Brother backyard in a physical confrontation. She also let her emotions explode by crying and railing at Russ in the Diary Room and after he was evicted.

Once Russell was evicted from the house Jeff's back was exposed and Kevin immediately broke his promise to keep Jeff off the block by putting him up there with Michele, Jeff's only other alliance. Meanwhile Natalie and Kevin were working overtime to put doubts into the head of Jordan about Michele who appeared to have been fond of Jordan.

As she did with Russell, Jordan turned on Michele and bad mouthed her non-stop to Jeff. As Jordan verbally went after Michele, Jeff lost faith in her and the Jeff/Michele alliance which had worked so well in the past was dashed.

As we go into the next eviction round at Big Brother it appears certain Jeff will be evicted. Even though Michele has promised to vote for Jeff, and I believe she will honor her word, Natalie is determined to be standing in the Final Two with Kevin.

Of all the people staring in the Big Brother 11 House Natalie has been my least favorite. She started the game lying about her age and proceeded to backstab and continuously lie to everyone in the house except Jess and Chima. She is over the top vain bragging about her poweress as a poker player and fighter yet she has not won a single competition during the course of this season. Not one. in many instances it appeared she was letting her teammates win so she didn't have to.

Meanwhile Jeff's mistakes were to trust Jordan because "The Mole" as Natalie and Kevin refer to her, has brought him back several pieces of incorrect but damaging information. In the case of Russell and Michele her misinformation caused Jeff to trust Kevin instead of Russ and ultimately it will get him evicted from the Big Brother House.

Jordan also appeared to lead Jeff on throughout the entire BB game. Maybe she will take the relationship to the next step after leaving the prying eyes of the cameras but maybe not. It could have all been a game for Jordo as Michele calls her with regard to Jeff. Maybe she was just playing him so he would protect her, which he did.

Although Jordon has won a few contests, in one case she won Head of Household because Jeff threw the game for her. In another case she won Power of Veto because Michele threw it for her. Would Jordan have won on her own merits? Most likely not.

Don't get me wrong. I like Jeff and Jordan. I had always hoped to see Jeff, Jordan, Michele and Russell standing at the Final Four. Unfortunately it has appeared that Jordan has undone Jeff and both will be going home over the next two weeks. Hopefully Michele will beat out Natalie and it will be Kevin and Michele standing in the Final Two.

Although Big Brother 11 is tightly edited by CBS and competitions are designed to manipulate and play with the House Guests watching this show has been a huge eye opener for me. I wonder if the Big Brother Game which rewards lying, cheating, backstabbing, disloyalty, name calling, dishonorable behavior and lack of integrity has infected modern society?

While I'm sad to see Jeff and Jordan leave the Big Brother house I'm grateful to have gotten to know them as characters in the game. I learned a lot from watching both of them and getting new insights into how different age groups probably think.

What do you think about Jeff and Jordan? Did Jeff trust Jordan too much or was Jordan too innocent to recognize she was being ultimately used by Natalie and Kevin to take Jeff out of the game?