Early in the season Enzo (Meow Meow) formed the Brigade, a secret alliance of Matt (the Brain), Lane (the Beast), and Hayden (the Animal). He then proceeded to do nothing but benefit from the winning union as he gloated from the sidelines. As each week raced by, Enzo was looking more and more like a loser when it came to competitions, but his backstabbing game play became increasingly powerful. Having no qualms deposing the Brain that got them this far, Enzo orchestrated the Brigade coup that had Matt tossed out of the house last week.
Head chopped off and the Brain kaput, the Brigade didn’t suffer. Instead of flailing around in confusion, the remaining members regrouped and dominated the game this week. Continuing their ascendancy, Lane was next in the Brigade to win HOH, like a Beast.
Enzo didn’t see the point in belaboring who was going up—Britney and Ragan, simple as that. However, he didn’t step up to the plate and win HOH as planned so his ideas were shunned. Kind of like his penguin suit if you choose to ignore the true meaning of the word and adhere to Enzo’s lexicon.
Lane chose to keep his sometimes flirtatious, sometimes kid sister alliance with Britney intact and put the intellectual threat that is Ragan up against the Brigade’s weakest link, Enzo. But Enzo didn’t like the pawn position and finally proved himself a worthy challenger by trampling over Ragan to claim the Veto in the OTEV-Veto competition.
It seemed so sweet when Lane decided once again to save Britney from the block when Enzo used the Veto on himself. Lane’s motives, however, didn’t stem from the goodness of his heart, but from pure strategy. He knows her enemy count is going up in the jury house and with her accompanying him to the Final 2, he’s sure to win the half million dollars; he’s not playing or settling for anything less.
Money was definitely on his mind when he opened the (hopefully) last installment of Pandora’s Box.
Affectionately known as the Producer’s Box, they succeeded in interjecting some entertaining houseguests’ moments into the show with “punishments” like impromptu dancing and sock puppetry, but Lane only pocketed a measly $91.17. The lack of eating utensils and drinking cups only added to the Medieval Times appeal of the battle that is Big Brother.
Dancing days were over and Hayden was now on the block as a pawn. The scheming twosome of Enzo and Hayden saw their plan to backdoor Britney disappear and started to question Lane’s loyalty to the Brigade. Ragan sensed an in, wiped his “woe is me” tears, and decided to campaign. He made compelling arguments to both Britney and Lane that he was the smart choice to keep in the game. By getting Britney to vote for him and Lane to evict Hayden in a tiebreaker, Ragan saw a Final 4 possibility for himself.
He cautioned Britney the boys thought she was expendable; she and Lane would go up if Enzo or Hayden won HOH and she would be next in line for the jury house. In turn, he warned Lane that Enzo and Hayden have both played the best social games in the house. Lane wouldn’t win against either and if given the choice those two would take each other to the Final 2.
Sadly, in what has become all too common this season, the logic presented to those controlling the votes is ignored and like others before him, Ragan’s rationale becomes a prophecy; a dark omen of what’s to come to those that didn’t heed his warnings.
Ragan challenged Lane to make a bold move and save him, but Lane chose to stay loyal to the Brigade. Britney inadvertently showed her attachment to the Brigade by voting along with Enzo to evict Ragan out of the house 2-0.
Speaking with Julie, Ragan extolled the virtues of Matt as an excellent human being despite his underhandedness the previous week. In contrast, back at the jury house, Rachel, Brendon, and especially Kathy were wishing Matt burn in Hell upon Matt’s reveal that he lied about his wife’s illness.
Widely debated outside the realm of "Big Brother," many think his deception is no big deal, all a part of ploy to win a game where lying and manipulating is sometimes the key to winning. Others feel it’s deplorable. Seems his fellow houseguests are leaning towards the latter.
His only regret? It didn’t pay out and he was going to donate a portion of the money to the foundation of the disease, Melorheostosis. Highly commendable, but said with a smug smirk and slight shoulder shrug, Matt’s non-apology reeked of disingenuousness. Ragan’s now making his way to the jury house so Matt might want to perfect his “I’m so sorry,” face. His current façade isn’t working. And neither is his misguided grudge holding.
Matt blames Britney for his exit, calling her a “ball of evil” who is deceptive and deceitful, which begs the question, “Project much?” He needs look no further than the Meow Meow, the Animal, the Beast and his allegiance to them to find the answer as to why he’s in the jury house. Britney may be a silver-tongued gossip too busy trying to fit in with the boys to beat them at their own game, but she wasn’t the one concocting lies that got her ordered to the fiery pits of Hell.
Up against two formidable odds, the Brigade and a slightly bitter jury should she make it to Final 2, Britney has a long road ahead. With Enzo and Hayden against her, the upcoming HOH and/or POV are necessary wins or the Ragan prophecy stands a chance of coming true and in a classic case of “I told you so,” the Brigade will be her end game.
Christmas came early to the Big Brother house, but it bore no gifts for Britney. The next HOH winner would be the houseguest who could decorate their individual chicken-wired tree the fastest by maneuvering ornaments through the fencing and quickly top it off with a star. Britney could not keep her ornaments on her tree and as Julie counted her blunders, it became increasingly clear this wasn’t her HOH to win. The show closed with Hayden in the lead so the Brigade was still in place to secure their spots in the Final 3, annihilating all competition and cementing their place as one of the strongest alliances in Big Brother History. The Meow Meow Mafia, as Enzo pegged it in his pre-show interviews, conceivably coming to fruition as the Brigade. Who knew?