Mystic Gemini's BigBrother POV
After a great season, I have to say that was the most disappointing finale in BB history for me. There have definitely been far worse Final 2 pairs, and though I thought Ian played a really good game, I think Dan played a stellar game and completely deserved the win. And even if Ian had won on a close vote, I would have been okay with it. But for everyone except Danielle to vote for Ian, plus with Danielle saying she was only voting for Dan to "keep her word" was just disappointing. And then that disappointment was just amplified by the post-show BY Superpass interviews to have nearly every juror talk about what a great game Dan played and then explain that they voted for Ian because they liked him better, liked that he played a "clean" game, or didn't want someone to win twice. (Today's screen caps are mostly from the BY interviews, just interspersed in no particular order).
When I saw that Dan had given Ian his cross (I figured it out just because he wasn't wearing it, even before we saw him putting back on and certainly before Ian mentioned it) I was pretty sure that he had decided to throw the Final HOH and go with Ian to the end. That probably turned out to be a $450K mistake because it seems he would have creamed Danielle in the end. But I am much happier seeing Ian win than seeing Danielle get anything, so I guess it's all good.
In the end, Ian won because Dan played dirty one too many times. Dan almost lost even Danielle's vote when Ian revealed their F2 deal, and it took away her incentive to try to sway the jury. Though, even if she had tried, I don't know that it would have worked. As I said in my jury analysis, I was going to be disappointed, but not surprised if a few of them voted for Ian over Dan. There are a few I was just flat out surprised at. But it seems that the entire jury decided to vote personally rather than for the best player and there's not much you can do about that. I guess I will take heart in the fact that though my jury prediction was dead wrong, at least I predicted it would be my least accurate prediction ever. 
The jury speeches were both fantastic. I was expecting Ian's to not go well since he hadn't practiced, or apparently even thought about it. But in the end that worked out just fine for him. He had just found out a couple of things that gave him some ammunition, and being a good off-the-cuff speaker really paid off. Not only did he say all the right things, but he came across as incredibly genuine since it wasn't rehearsed at all. That just cemented the goodwill with the jury. And the few points that Dan needed (and tried) to make weren't heard. Ian didn't form the QP, Dan and Britney did, but they had let Ian think all along that he was bringing them all together. This was one of Dan's alliance strategies all year, and he couldn't undo his own fake-out in 90 seconds. Ian outing their legit final 2 deal as Danielle joined the jury, sent her out with the same bad feelings Shane had. And though Dan's speech was full of compliments for all the jurors, by that point they were so convinced that they couldn't trust a word out of his mouth that they weren't even listening.
But the biggest shock of the night came for me with the America's Favorite vote. I really expected Janelle to take it again. She's BB royalty and really does have an army of loyal fans. But if it didn't go to Janelle, I was expecting Britney or Ian...Frank just doesn't seem right to me. But I suppose he got an incredibly kind edit and the TVOVs probably felt bad for him that he got done in by the QP. And I really suspect CBS doesn't give the Favorite to the winner even if they get the most votes (why else do they wait until after the winner is revealed to award that prize?).
The BY interviews were pretty good this year. There seemed to be better organization than there has been in the past, so the interviewer wasn't sitting around with no one to talk to and having to spew filler as much as usual. I think the highlights for me included Jodi, in part because it was the first time she was on the livefeeds so I could actually get screencaps of her that weren't her face on the memory wall. Also, for as much as she got screwed over by the twist, she has a great attitude. After spending less that 6 hours in the house and cooling her heels in sequester for a month just to be sent home, she took to Twitter and has had a great attitude with the fans. She's one of us now.
Janelle was her usual charming self, and she and JoJo both at least made an attempt to call out Danielle on all her lies. Wil and Joe were both as entertaining as they were on the feeds and it was fun to have them back for a few minutes. Kara was sweet and charming, and as nice as she seems, it doesn't feel like she was big loss from the BB14 livefeeds, unless you're just wanting to look at the hot girl all summer (which isn't what I'm here for). Frank's still bitter, and still wants to be seen as a BB great, and is all set to come back for an All-Stars or some other returning HG season. Boogie was just Boogie, still harping on how he got Janelle evicted (she, on the other hand, said it was all game and they're over it now). Ashley was just damn funny, still talking about her dreamboard. She said she put Ian winning on the dreamboard, along with Frank moving out to LA. Shane was as clueless and confused as ever, and it's clear that he's still super-bitter. Danielle was really pissed. I sort of feel bad for what's waiting for her on the outside, but maybe she'll have the sense to stay away from it all. Oh, and Jenn was there too. Kind of like this season.
And we wrapped up the interviews with Dan and Ian. I have to say, these two both made me feel better about the outcome of the season. Dan because he's not bitter walking away with second place. He's got the right attitude. He wanted to win, sure. He also accepts responsibility for what he did in the game, but sees it as simply a game. And Ian is just over the moon with his win. For all the reasons the jury voted for him, I can't feel sorry that he won. But I still say Dan was robbed. I always end my finale blogs this way, and I mean it:
Congratulations Ian and Dan! Good show!
