say it ain't so, joe

At one point yesterday, Joe went to speak to Dan in his Godfather office (aka the Arcade Room) and mentioned that he'd prefer if the veto were not used, and said he'd offer safety if Dan didn't use it. Dan said it was something to think about, that usually one wasn't offered something for not using it, so that was an option to consider. After Joe left the room Dan turned to the camera and mouthed "liar!" and then went back to whatever he'd been doing.

So before bed last night, Dan went back to Joe and asked who he would nominate if he won HOH. Joe said he hadn't thought about it, and he needed a minute. Dan said, okay, he'd be back in a bit. He came back a few minutes later and Joe threw out various pairs of names like "Ian vs. Shane" and "Jenn vs. Danielle." Dan just said "okay" and left the room again. Joe turned out the light to go to sleep. A few minutes later Dan came back into the room and climbed into the bed he's been sharing with Shane. Joe's in the next bed, and Dan got in on the side Shane's been sleeping on, farther from Joe. So, in the dark Joe couldn't see who it was and said "hey." Dan responds "what's up, Joe?" Joe asks where Dani is, and Dan says brushing her teeth. Then Joe says "come closer, I want to tell you something." Dan moves across the bed and Joe goes "Dan followed me in here before I went to bed." Dan goes "Who?" and Joe says "Dan!" To which Dan responds, "this is Dan!" Oops! A few minutes later, Shane comes in and Dan says "hey, Joe there's the guy you wanted to talk to." Joe just kind of mutters, and Dan tells Shane the story.

Almost as amusing as the incident itself were the retells this morning. Joe went and told Ian, and Joe's convinced that Dan did it on purpose, that he somehow set him up. In Joe's mind not only did Dan intentionally get into the wrong side of the bed, but Joe's sure he actually said Shane's name, and Dan "pretended to be Shane." Listening to it, I really don't think Dan realized Joe thought he was Shane, and it certainly wasn't deliberate. In fact, when Dan told others about it today, he said he should have just let Joe keep talking and see what he was going to say. But since it really wasn't intentional, he didn't think to play along at all. It doesn't really tell Dan much he didn't know about Joe, though it does let him know that Joe for sure talks to Shane. The Comic Relief Alliance strikes again!

They did have the veto meeting, and as planned, Dan vetoed Jenn, Ian acted shocked and pissed off, and Joe went up as the replacement. This cemented the deal between Dan and Jenn, and Jenn's now meant to approach Danielle with a Final 3 deal of the two of them with Dan. When Jenn first talked to Danielle, she actually just reaffirmed their F2 deal and said Danielle would have to decide if she wanted them to roll with Shane or Dan. At first I thought Jenn wasn't sticking with her deal with Dan, but later on Jenn checked in with Dan and explained that she had done this because she's trying to get Danielle to see that Shane's not good for her game. But rather than just tell her that, she wants her to figure it out for herself. Dan also lets Jenn in on the Joe situation, and the fact that if Joe wins HOH, he'll nom Jenn vs. Dan. Jenn starts talking about how they have to get Joe out and Dan agrees. Again, at first I thought they were maybe actually reconsidering, but then I realized this is probably part of the Dan/Ian plan to force a tie and kick Frank. Once again, things couldn't be going any better for Dan. If it is a tie, and Ian sends Frank out, Dan gets Frank to jury without directly breaking his word. And if Joe does pull out an HOH win and noms Jenn vs. Dan, he's got the votes to stay, no doubt.

In other news, they celebrated Labor Day by flying a flag. It actually took a tremendous amount of effort to first get the flag on the pole, and then find a place to stand it. There were even a couple of casualties, including a broken flower pot in the backyard, not to mention a lot of panicking any time even a corner of the flag came in contact with the ground. I get that you're not supposed to let it touch the ground and all, but Ian kept screaming like somebody was bleeding or something. But it was a nice gesture all the same.

Dan and Danielle have been playing a marathon session of gin rummy, demonstrating that neither one of them is a particularly good loser. Dan's also been taking lots of little jabs at Danielle over the past few days. I'm not really sure what, if anything, he's trying to accomplish game-wise, but it's pretty damn funny. Maybe he's just exercising his Mist, seeing how far he can push her before she gets completely pissed at him, and then how much it takes to reel her back in. He also might be trying to figure out how to gauge when she's really mad at him and when she's acting. Or I might be reading too much into it. But probably not. It's Dan. I'm sure he's up to something.

As far as Frank and Joe, it's way to early to start making assumptions. Right now they're each thinking they're staying, but neither is completely comfortable. Frank's had too much experience with being on the block to just sit back and relax, and Joe doesn't know enough of what's going on to realize how likely he actually is to stay. Frank believes he has Jenn, Dan and Danielle's votes because he thinks their F4 deal is still in place. He's also going to work on Shane as a backup, and he's even tried talking to Ian about breaking a tie in Frank's favor if it comes to that. (His pitch to Ian is about getting floaters out, which is something Ian cares about. But Ian cares more about getting Ian to the end, and getting Frank out is probably better for him in that regard.) Joe feels confident he's got Shane's vote, and he's pretty sure he has Danielle's though he believes that to keep her, he needs to make sure she stays close to Shane, and doesn't "go back to Dan." So every time he sees Dan and Danielle getting along he gets nervous. And though Joe doesn't think he has a shot at Jenn or Dan's votes, he does believe Ian will break a tie in his favor. He'll still probably work on Jenn/Dan though. At the moment, Joe's really heated at Dan, calling him evil and accusing him of "hiding behind the Bible." It's all fine and good to feel this way, but it's not smart BB gameplay. Right now Joe's up on the block and Dan's got a vote. Even if he hates him, he ought to be working to show him how it's better to keep Joe in the game rather than Frank. Of course the funny thing is both Jenn and Dan actually do want Frank out of their way, so Dan in particular will be working to make sure Joe stays even if they don't technically vote for him.