When Josh won Big Brother’s Head of Household, it seemed like the week was predetermined. Josh has been in Paul’s pocket since season 19 began and he has had a long-standing (and obnoxious) feud with Josh and Cody. Josh surprised everyone however, including Paul, by deciding to target Elena for eviction with his Head of Household. While it is comforting to see anyone go up against Paul’s wishes, Elena might not be the best target for Josh.
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The Right Way…
It’s extremely gratifying that anyone in Paul’s alliance, but especially Josh, is doing something other than what the de facto puppet master wants. Jessica and Cody are much bigger and obvious targets than Elena. It would be a waste of a HoH reign for anyone but Paul to try to take “Jody” out at this point. Paul has made himself the biggest threat to Jessica and Cody. If that side of the house is wise, which is a big “if,” than they should let Paul deal with that problem and go against someone they want personally out of the game.
Josh, against all odds, is using his HoH smartly and being that person. Josh is taking out someone that he feels threatens his personal game and not just doing what the house (AKA Paul) wants from him. This is what a HoH should do and it is what has been missing for Big Brother 19.
So far, the season has been so devoted to Jessica and Cody that any other strategizing has been incredibly minimal. The game hasn’t even really started as everything is still in the same place it was in the first week, despite two people being evicted naturally and staying evicted. On paper, Josh targeting Elena sounds like a great idea but in practice there is no reason for Josh to get rid of her.
…To Do the Wrong Thing
Elena is a threat as a floater in the house who blindly trusts Paul. Elena is a worrisome player, even though she hasn’t done much of anything in the house so far. Elena is the type of player that could be taken to the end just because she’d be easy to beat. Elena is only a threat to someone who is aligned with Paul and has been a position of power. This is certainly why someone like Christmas wants to take her out of the game but Josh’s reasons seem to far simpler and much pettier.
Josh wants to eliminate Elena because she is a “liar” and very persuasive. It may just be the way that the episodes are edited, though the live feeds don’t tell a drastically different story, but this doesn’t seem to be the Elena that has been shown in the house. Elena seems to be someone who is just stuck. Elena is trapped between the two sides of the house, mostly against her will. Elena’s isn’t a mastermind, she’s just unlucky. Even Elena’s big transgression against Josh, voting to evict him, was done because the house lied to her and told her that Josh was being evicted. Josh’s decision to get rid of Elena seems to be purely emotional and he is wrapping it up in game talk.
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Ultimately Elena could probably only help Josh’s game as a floater. When the battle between Jody and Paul comes to an end one side will be triumphant but they won’t last in the game for long. Paul will eventually become too big a threat to be ignored or Jody will still be public enemy number one. It’s then that those in the middle should start pairing up and Josh really could use Elena at that point. As much Josh likes to think of himself as being in the inner circle, he is obvious on the edges of his own alliance. He is going to need a back-up plan.
Unfortunately that requires way too much forethought on Josh’s part. This targeting of Elena makes it clear that Josh will always play an emotional game. He is never going to think logically or beyond his immediate future. Even if he is being surprisingly deep about the way he is choosing to eliminate Elena, Josh is making a mistake that will come back to bite him.
But what do you think? Is Josh making the right move getting rid of Elena? What would you do in Josh’s position?
Big Brother 19 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c, Thursdays at 9/8c and Sundays at 8/7c on CBS. Want more news? Like our Facebook page!
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Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
